Unwanted cat Oscar may well have just found his purr-fect new home
STARTING A NEW LIFE IN SCOTLAND AFTER STORY ON WEBSITE
OSCAR, the cat no one wanted, has found a loving home 300 miles away in Scotland after his plight went viral.
A team of RSPCA drivers formed a relay up the country to safely deliver the ginger cat to his new home in Glasgow.
His new owners heard about Oscar through Burton Mail website Staffordshire Live after his story went viral last October and was shared 5,000 times, reaching more than 320,000 people.
The ten-year-old was spending his third stint at Burton’s RSPCA animal shelter after he was returned because he bit his new owner.
RSPCA staff warned he couldn’t be around other pets or children as he had a “feisty nature”.
He was dubbed the cat no one wanted by the charity because not one single person had taken an interest in him, despite him eagerly spending most of his days trying to get the attention of staff through the glass door to his cage.
His new owners are Liz and Ian from Glasgow.
Liz said: “We first heard about Oscar probably the way that the rest of world beyond Burton heard about Oscar; the newspaper article explaining he was back at Hillfield for his third time.
“He appeared to have a ‘bit of a reputation’ and this had made him more challenging to rehome. What I got from the article was that he was a cat who just wanted to live life on his own terms. This didn’t sound that different to most cats!
“We previously had a cat (health issues had taken him from us far too soon back in February 2020) who would, with someone else’s eyes, have sounded just like the description of Oscar.
“Anyway, I was 300 miles away in Glasgow and we were all in lockdown, what could I do?
“So, I watched the website and every week the number of weeks Oscar was with the animal shelter just increased. And each week a little more detail was posted about him and another photo was added and each week my heart broke a little but more thinking nobody would take this little guy home and give him a chance.
“I even called the animal shelter a couple of times, but the distance was always an issue, especially in lockdown. “Over the conversations with the team I learned that people from all around the world had contacted them about Oscar, even from as far away as Australia perhaps Glasgow wasn’t that far after all?
“And then the lockdown restrictions finally eased and Oscar was still waiting.
“When the team said that if we could resolve the transportation issue would we take him there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation. A relay of RSPCA drivers took him from the shelter up to Carlisle where we met them and brought Oscar home.
“The team have been incredible throughout. They helped us with everything related to the adoption, we can’t thank them enough. They gave Oscar such a lovely send-off and I have no doubt they are all missing him already.
“He has only been here less than 24 hours but he is exploring the house, getting to know us and is now asleep on the chair near where I have my ‘working from home desk’ set up.
“Don’t get me wrong, we have already seen some of the behaviours that might have led to him getting that reputation in the first place, but after a very long journey in multiple vehicles and the stress and anxiety he must have been feeling, really it is nothing. He even sat on my lap for a couple of minutes yesterday evening without any encouragement or coaxing, he is a lovely, friendly guy.
“It’s all good and we will keep telling him he is safe here with us, he has nothing to worry about, we are not going anywhere, and in eight weeks, when he is finally able to get outdoors to the garden - he looks super keen to get out there - I have no doubt he will be a much happier boy with a lot less frustration. But right now he is just as good as gold, which matches the colour of his beautiful coat.”
He is exploring the house, getting to know us and is now asleep on the chair.
Oscar’s new owner Liz