Update 7/8/26: Lily is coming into her own at the SPIN home! She is a glorious, ready-made, little housemate. I think she is a bit miffed at having to be in a cage. She will give me a look as if to say, "why the heck am I in this thing?" When she does get out to explore the SPIN home, it is as though she owns the place. She decidedly does not like Benjamin, or other cats in general, so we will be adopting her out as a single adult cat. She is a cute little gal who will most likely settle in swiftly at her real home!
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Here's a little look behind the curtain at the Stray Pets in Need. When a kitty comes into our care, there is a period of time when they are separated from the rest of the adoptable cats just so we can make sure they are safe and healthy. As you may imagine, this can be an extraordinarily stressful time for our new feline friends. Once we are certain the cat is ready for adoption, they move into the main part of the SPIN home where they are now showered with the love and affection from our volunteers and guests. Many cats undergo a remarkable transformation at this point as they begin to emerge from their fearful and self-protective cocoon, into warm and loving companions. This is what we are watching happen to Lily right now!
Lily is a beautiful mature tiger kitty who came in from her first home with her housemate Benjamin. At first they were roomed together at SPIN, but it quickly became obvious that Benjamin's presence was not comforting to Lily. In fact, Ben kept trying to steal her food! We separated them to give Lily a chance to decompress, but she spent a lot of time obviously confused at her situation and growling at us. A bit of delicious wet kitty food and some out-of-tune human songs sung at her calmed her down quite a bit though.
Lily (and Benjamin) came in to the main SPIN home for adoption. As soon as I had a chance, I picked Lily up out of her condo and put her on the perch in front of the window and took a seat next to her. She instead moved on to my lap where she sat looking around the room at the other cats. Although she was still quite tense, I noticed that she was highly comforted by being with a friendly human. We sat there quite a while like that and I could tell she was relaxing a bit. Eventually I put her back in her space with a can of kitty food which she scarfed down.
Lily's stress level is decreasing, and what is emerging is an incredibly sweet, curious, friendly, lovely kitty! Her and Ben, although still housed separately, are like an old married couple. She hisses at him when he gets in her space, but otherwise tolerates him. He keeps an eye on her and occasionally steals her food. We do not necessarily think they need to be adopted together, but it is okay if they are. If you are looking for a low-to-moderate energy pal, who is highly comforted by the presence of her humans, is quiet and possibly best as an only pet (or with Ben), and who no doubt is going to flourish like an emerging butterfly once she settles in, please come talk with us about Lily!
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Stray Pets In Need (SPIN) has weekly open adoption hours where you can drop in and meet our cats at 5 Overbrook Terrace, Natick, MA Fridays 5-7pm and Saturdays/Sundays 3-6pm.
If you are thinking of adopting Lily or any other of the SPIN kitties, before you come by consider first filling out an application to speed up the process. The hardest part is providing proof that you either own your home or that your landlord approves you having a cat, other than that it is easy! Find it here:
www.straypetsinneed.org/adoptions/adoption-application.
Don't worry if you do not hear back from us right away! We are all volunteers and sometimes it takes a bit to get through everything. If you see a cat on our website, then it is still available for adoption! Just swing by the SPIN home during open adoption hours and you can meet your potential new kitty then.
All of our available cats are listed at: www.straypetsinneed.org/adoptions/adoptable-pets.
We look forward to meeting you and your family!
FIGARO
Domestic Short Hair
🇺🇸
Natick, Massachusetts
male, large, young
Domestic Short Hair
Natick, Massachusetts
