Zippy’s Adoption Story: Oh, my sweet friend Zippy! I first met Zippy while volunteering on a Sunday morning at New Beginnings Animal Rescue in East Brunswick NJ. He had just arrived and was in the Sunshine Room, where cats are kept due to illness or to recover from surgery. Turns out that even though Zippy was about 4-years-old, he had not been neutered until he arrived at our rescue and he was recovering. Zippy was so skinny and incredibly nervous. I didn’t even see him at first. He had been allowed to freely move about the small room and was peeking out from behind some boxes. When I reached out my finger, he did lean over to sniff me, but I could tell he was skittish, so I just talked to him quietly and went about my tasks. When it was time to eat though…Wow! This cat plowed through his breakfast like he hadn’t eaten in days. Unfortunately, because he ate so fast, most of it came back up. I later found out he had come from a hoarding situation and I wondered if that was why he ate so ravenously. Did he have to fight to get his share of food in his previous home? When I went home, I told my family all about Zippy.
Zippy soon made his way to the main adoption room and I was able to see him every Sunday. He would scream at me through the bars until I served his breakfast. When I let him out, he would jump from his upper cage to a lower cabinet and back again. Very quickly, back and forth, back and forth. True to his name!
Zippy would let me pet him and his purrs were more like very loud trills. I had never heard a cat purr like this before. I would go home after my shift every week and tell my family all about Zippy. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and I couldn’t wait to see him again. Maybe he would get adopted soon but so far there hadn’t been any serious inquiries. After some convincing, (my family was worried how our resident solo cat would react) I brought my husband to meet him and Zippy came home with us as a “foster to adopt” in June 2017. I was so excited! We were going to have some fun #catdaysofsummer.
Zippy hid in our basement for 4 days. He was so scared. I would sit quietly on the basement floor and he would gingerly come out from his hiding spot so I could pet him and give him treats. Then he would run away and hide. Lots of time and patience‚ and treats‚ and Zippy eventually joined us in the rest of the house for longer stretches. Our older cat Ringo wasn’t overly fond of this new addition, but the two boys learned to peacefully co-exist. We would occasionally catch them napping side by side as if the whole “not getting along thing‚” was just an act.
Within a couple of months, we officially adopted Zippy and he has been with us for six years. He is still anxious, especially where loud noises, heavy footsteps and visitors are concerned and will find refuge in the basement. He still eats too fast, but we use a full-size dinner plate to slow him down. I do wonder, however, if we should change his name to “NotSoZippy.” He has put on a few pounds and spends most of his days moving from one comfortable blanket or cat bed to another.
I am so thankful that I met this nervous, sweet, quirky Zippy cat and that I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He captured my heart from the first time we met!
About New Beginnings Animal Rescue: The mission of New Beginnings Animal Rescue (NBAR) is to provide a safe haven for homeless animals through meeting their medical, physical and emotional needs. We accomplish this mission by matching homeless animals with qualified loving adopters; providing daily essentials for residents to alleviate financial burdens of pet ownership