Tex: My Uncommon Rescue Cat

Tex is an adult male, tuxedo kitty, not typical markings, but close enough, and he has a particular story to tell. I adopted him as the seventh of my rescue cats over the last 25+ years. Four of my rescue kitties have traveled on to their own hereafter. So now with my three remaining, Abby--a beautiful Rag Doll, Callie--a feisty Calico, and Tex--a shy, big, softhearted, dressed-up-to-his-nine-lives guy, we are a family, including all that unexpected groupings bring with them.

The unexpected is all about embracing the unknown. Rescuing an animal often comes quickly, with intuitive reaction, and that is a beautiful thing to experience. But each rescue brings an as-yet-unknown story with them, as did Tex. The knowledge I have learned from him is so uncommon because it is the truth of his history of life abandonment and how this has psychologically impacted him. But the reality is that, as my vets have taught me, cats display psychological effects in their behaviors too.

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When I found Tex, he was in a cage at the local pet store as part of a "Rescue Cat Adoption Weekend." These events are pretty much the last straw for cats when a shelter is overcrowded. The cage info named this big tuxedo cat "Sherman" and explained that he had been at the animal rescue center for four years. I reached in through the cage to pet his chin, but he backed away in fear. I said to him, "What is your story, Mr. Sherman Texas?" Sherman is an actual town in Texas where my Grandmother lived. Intuition happened. Was I planning to rescue another cat? No. Did I? Yes. Obviously. It seemed meant to be with a family connection, and I named him Tex.

I called the shelter to inquire further. Tex was about five years old and had been adopted out four times from this same shelter. I give the shelter credit in being a no-kill facility that actively places animals in hopefully loving homes. However, his duration living in a cage at the shelter over four years encompassed the majority of his life! How could he be adopted out four times previously in such a short duration?

The shelter offered the explanation that Tex came to them initially as a street kitten. His markings are dramatic, so he was immediately adopted but returned shortly thereafter when the people moved into an apartment. (Not Ok. So, pay the extra cat deposit, I thought!) Then a family adopted him but returned him due to "undisclosed behavior problems."

Another family adopted him, and then simply returned Tex in a box at the shelter door with no explanation. Then the apartment people felt remorse and were glad to find Tex still at the shelter, not realizing his agonizing goings and returns, and readopted him. But, again, due to "problematic behavior," returned him so they would not lose their apartment damage deposit.

I was horrified in hearing his abandonment and rejection experiences! He felt them, was changed by them, and I chose to figure him out.

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Tex was skittish, shy, and surely felt unloved. He was big too, with a long neck, a long and lean torso, a very tall tail, and long, lanky legs! I would consider Tex weighs about 17 pounds and is about the size of a medium sized puppy. Yet he was painfully shy, could hardly stand being touched, curled up against pillows for security, and had lived for the entire history of his life without a loving home.

He has been a part of my cat family for about the last eight years, but his "undisclosed behavior problems" became immediately apparent.

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Enter Cat Psychology Knowledge 101 here: When cats like you, they want to mingle their scent with yours.

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Tex decided he liked his new home with me and my son, who was just starting high school. Gifts are a great way to display happiness, and in Tex's case, hopefulness that we would like him and let him stay. His gifts, however, amounted to poo deposited on quilts, where our human scent was strongest due to the duration of sleep, or so explained my vets. OK. Well, not OK, but certainly nothing that would make me return Tex to the shelter. We just simply had to figure this out because he also normally used the litter box.

But this "I really like you people and want to stay" behavior continued. He added to this what could only be described as "nervous vomiting."

We had shut bedroom doors, eliminated couch throws, wore slippers in the morning so as not to step on any surprises, but Tex still found something with a strong human scent with which he mingled his scent. When we kept cleaning it up, he got nervous and threw up. Poor kitty! But I was beginning to understand him by entering into his cat psychological mindset.

While the gifting episodes became less and less over Tex's first year with us, they still arrived as unwelcome surprises. Love and security had helped him. He let us pet him and would choose to sit next to us on the couch, but never on a lap. Tex would often hide on dining-room chairs that had ladder backs, peering out as if he were still in a cage. We figured out he had insecurity issues and worked on making him feel secure, but I knew there was probably more.

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Again, I had to enter into the mindset of Cat Psychology Knowledge 101: When a cat has repeated problematic behaviors, determine if there is an underlying physiological cause. So off to the vet we went and did a full blood panel of tests. These were revealing.

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Tex had a low thyroid count and revealed potential kidney issues that were not yet in a problematic range, but something to watch. I learned that a specially-compounded thyroid medication for cats can be administered by rubbing each dose on the inside of the cat's ear. Uncommon knowledge, indeed! For anyone who has had to give a cat a pill down the throat, this transdermal application is heaven!

Tex responded very well to this transdermal thyroid medication, and he, pretty much, became a very different cat! Over his lifetime with us, the specially compounded thyroid cream has had to become stronger as Tex ages, but he will be on this medication for life.

Tex began to show his bright side to us and his "cattitude" when the thyroid medication helped his behavior. He hates canned, soft, cat food. He wrinkles up his nose at it and backs away! It is like he is meowing, "What are you making me smell! That's disgusting!"

Now, Tex does well on a fairly limited diet due to his developing kidney health, but he has transitioned to his special prescription kidney diet food. It has less potassium in it that traditional adult cat food. I found this out because Tex likes to lick potato chips--and I wish I recalled when or how he first revealed that behavior. Sodium is OK for him, but not Potassium. His loudest meows occur when he hears anything plastic rustle, since this could mean he is about to get a potato chip treat!

Tex is a tremendous gift in patience and in the value of taking the time to unravel the past, even for a cat. I am so glad to have been the one to rescue him for I cannot bear to think about what his life might have become. He still seeks out items with our human scent on them, but this is a manifestation of security through his expectations being met. We are his security blanket with which he no longer has to mingle his own scent.

Tex is a valued member of my family, and I am so glad he knows this!

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