Unboxing Helena

For every problem there exists a solution, unfortunately for me, it took me months to realise what my own particular solution was going to be!

Hmmm.. cute right? Well not when they are freely entering my home and becoming a serious problem!

Living beside the Aussie bush, we have our own fair share of problems, not the least of which is the prolification of annoying little pests.

At the time that we built our home, we choose to keep a hen house in our backyard. Our happiness at having fresh eggs was quickly replaced by frustration at having our home full of mice poop and tiny scampering feet.

So we tried setting up mouse traps for the unwelcome visitors, much to our disappointment. There just didn’t seem to be a way of controlling the pests who had infiltrated our home!

One night, as I sat in my bed eyeing the mouse who stood in my doorway staring at me, I decided that it was time to up my game if I wanted to reclaim my home.

So the next morning I approached my children, telling them that since they’d been so well behaved, I’d decided to reward them by getting a cat! 🎉🐈 Needless to say there were cheers and happiness all round!

Later that day we arrived at the local pet rescue in Cranbourne. I was amazed at how massive the facility was, with every type of cat and dog imaginable.

We lined up with all of the other adoptive parents, and waited patiently for our turn to find a cat. I already knew exactly what I wanted to get, since I needed a fully grown cat to hunt for mice.

Since we were looking in the mature cat section, it was easy for us to get straight into the shelter. I remember walking up to a particularly stunning grey cat, who peered at us from behind his cage. The lady helping me pointed out that the cat’s ears were back, and that he was reacting badly to my children. Taking her advice, I asked to see cats who were good with kids.

The caretaker brought us to see a mixed breed cat, one with tortoiseshell colouring and a very placid disposition. Compared to her fellow felines, this cat was not near as pretty, but the cat had been raised around children and was very welcoming.

“We call her Helen,” the caretaker had said, “It’s an inside joke at the shelter!”

As it turned out, Helena had been named after the movie, ‘Boxing Helena,’ because the rescuers had found her dumped in a box, heavily pregnant.

My heart went out to the young cat, who had been neglected due to it’s pregnancy. So I made the decision to adopt Helena and give her a new home. When we returned to the office to collect our new pet, the caretakers informed us that Helena had been on ‘death row.’

Apparently Helena had been at the Lost Dogs Home for 11 months and 21 days, which meant that in 1 more week she was scheduled for death. 🥺

I felt shocked! The staff at the shelter apologised to us for not being able to disclose this information, since it was against their policy to influence our decision.

We were so glad to have picked Helena, especially since the lovely animal took to our home like a duck to water! And as soon as we introduced her, the mice began to mysteriously disappear!

Added to that, there was the development of an unlikely friendship! The first time we introduced Helena to our old dog Billy, the two animals became the best of friends.

Not only did Helena bring happiness to our home, but she quickly became our loyal old dog’s, new best friend!

Helena has been with us for over 7 years now, and she is still keeping our home pest free. We’ve had a lot of love and laughs, and we will never regret the day that we adopted our lovely cat.