The rescuers were delighted that the cat had found a loving forever home.
Sadly, 5 years later, the rescuers had the heartbreaking surprise of seeing her family return to the shelter...
Back to square one
They brought her back in the same box she had left the shelter in, 5 years earlier. The sudden change of circumstances deeply unsettled the cat. She wouldn't let the rescuers approach her in her kennel... Shelly didn't understand what she was doing at the shelter.
However, the cat gradually began to make gentle progress with the rescuers. She agreed to be stroked. When she was picked up, she would bury her little head in the crook of her rescuers' arms, as if she wanted to disappear as close to her human as possible. As one shelter rescuer said in a video: "All she wants is to disappear". Shelly simply wanted to find the warmth of her old life again and leave the kennel.
Wonderful progress
Once Shelly had given her trust to the rescuers, she became deeply attached to them. As the cat made progress, she began to receive numerous adoption enquiries at the shelter.
Eventually, just a few weeks after arriving at the shelter, Shelly was adopted by a woman called Natalie. Since settling in with her new human, Shelly has been making the most of the cuddles and comfort of her forever home at last!
