It was a joint decision by Mum and me to donate all proceeds as unfortunately, it isn't selling as well as we'd hoped. It's been available for a few years now. But as I'm not a famous cat maybe no one wants to hear/read my story. I don't understand why, as I'm a beautiful, elegant and enigmatic goddess cat - and not forgetting the very wise and graceful! Mum says I'm funny too 😸 And just as many cats do, I have helped my human mum with her struggles.
So, here's is a little bit of my rescue story.
I was abandoned in someone's garden in North London. A kind person found me and I was taken to Wood Green, the Animals Charity in London. At the same time my now Mum Marie was grieving for her dear dad whom she lost 9 months previously. Mum was a lost soul in many ways and so terribly depressed with how her life was going. Her anxiety levels had hit an all-time high. She was feeling so sad and longed for a little light in her life. That light was me. I was also lost and abandoned. I was sad too. I longed for love and happiness.
In this sorry state, I wondered what was going to happen to me without a mum to take care of me. I am grateful to the staff and volunteers at Wood Green as they looked after me extremely well. In July, on the 19th, the woman destined to be my human mother walked into the shelter. She came to me first (I was in the first pen, along with my sister Lily). I made sure Mum saw me and wouldn't miss what a beauty I was. I wanted her right away! I must have been doing something right (I was trying to climb the mesh door to get to the top as I wanted out of there!) We touched finger to paw. It was awesome! Such an electrifying sensation of love. Mum was asking the man that took care of us some questions. She couldn't afford to take both Lily and me. She regretted it terribly and she still does. Though I miss Lily I kind of like being an only cat! But I hope she is happy and safe too. On the 21st of July Mum came back to collect me and I was so happy because she fed me more than what I was fed at the shelter and she let me sit on her lap. She stroked me and loved me and I purred with delight. The best part was at night when I fell asleep on the pillow next to her. Mum was very happy too. She felt loved.
By rescuing each other, this has started us both on this journey to blog and write in order to help other homeless animals. We do the best we can to shine the light on animal charities and pets awaiting adoption. Not only via this blog and my book, but also on social media. Mum has a Pinterest board devoted to Pet Rescue. And via our Twitter accounts @mariesymeou and @athenawisekitty we share and retweet other rescues using mostly the hashtag #adoptdontshop.
We want to shine the light on the great work that all charities do. As Brits, we start with animal charities in our own country. But we care about animals all over the world. As Mum is of Greek descent (parents from Cyprus) she feels drawn to helping the cats of Greece and Cyprus, because she knows how bad it is for most of them out there. She isn't proud of her heritage when she sees how animals are treated there, I can tell you! We are not saying everyone is bad as it's obvious now on social media there are so many kind-hearted souls carrying out some major important work and really care about animals that need our help. We admire those people!
Here in England, Mum is a member of Cats Protection. We have so far donated food via their Amazon wish list with the money we've made from the book. Not much as we have said, but we're sure they appreciate it. We've also donated food and cat toys to the Wood Green Amazon wish list. And another great charity we support is The Greek Cat Welfare Society, which is excellent and based in the UK but helping the homeless cats of Greece. These three charities will benefit from the donations of my book.
So let's all join together today, and every day, to help save these precious lives. Without us speaking up for these poor souls, they will have no voice. Without us sharing and caring, they will be forgotten. And that is so wrong.
💚💜
BLOG HOP We're also joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop hosted by our great furiends at The Cat on my Head.
