Julie White is a dear friend of mine. Her Silver Linings: Covid Edition story involves a cat named Raket. In her own words:

‘I live in an apartment building in a beautiful seaside community right outside of Boston. I heard from a neighbor that our local pet sitter was taking care of a cat whose family was stuck in Turkey while visiting their families when CV19 broke out and travel was upended. Kitty had been alone, except for his twice-daily, 30-minute visits, for almost 3 weeks when the decision to find him a home to spend his waiting time in and to receive the love and attention that he deserved. That’s where I come into this Kitty Saga!

The Leadup: I spent a week visiting him so we could get to know each other. Even after being mostly alone for so long, he was open, trusting, affectionate and just the sweetest boy from the moment we met. He would lie on me, lean into me and even head butt my face for kisses!

But we knew him being alone like that couldn’t continue, and with the shutdown of everything for what looked like 2-3 months, we packed him up and wheeled him into my apartment.

Since coming to my house he has shown himself to be nothing but confident, kind, warm, smooshy, funny, silly and adaptable, to say the least.

I’m kind of mind blown at how easy this transition has been for him…his family pretty much disappeared on him (not by choice), he’s had strangers coming into his home for weeks and then he gets removed from his house only to be moved to a new one…this is not for the weak of heart!

Animals are so incredibly resilient, especially when their needs are met! But when they are in unclear territory and all familiarity is gone, all bets are off. Their behavior is their language: their communication of their feelings and comfort level. And while I know dogs—cats not so much…they’re mysterious and elusive. But Raket, oh my goodness…simply put he exudes pure LOVE, a testament to the love and care his family gives him.

His dad was concerned that whomever took him in might not give him back…and while that will never happen, I now understand why he felt that way…I’m totally smitten!

Follow RaketMan’s journey at Camp Julie at The Adventures of RaketMan on Facebook.

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Julie is the Founder and Head Human Trainer at Puppy Talk Consulting. She will teach you how to understand and interpret your puppy/dog’s language to assist in training, correcting and eliminating unwanted behaviors. Fetch a Sesh with her at http://www.puppytalkconsulting.com.