Jered Molinsky had been looking for a cat of his own for a long time. He’d grown up with cats and loved another cat while he lived with some roommates. “It felt therapeutic to have a cat to come home to at the end of the day,” he said.
So, when he moved into his own apartment last summer, one of the first things he did was to look for a kitty to share it with. He wanted to find a cat who would be okay while he was away at work and be glad to see him when he came home.
Sabrina, meanwhile, was waiting somewhat impatiently at Animal Aid for her forever home. Despite being a volunteer favorite and gathering
adoption interest, she had been a shelter resident for going on 16 months. A sweet but mischievous cat who likes things her way and no other, Sabrina had yet to meet the human who was ready for her energy and antics.
When Jered saw Sabrina on Animal Aid’s adoption page, he fell in love with her. He filled out the adoption application, learned more about her through a phone call with an Animal Aid staff member, and made an appointment to meet her at the shelter. During that visit, “she was standoffish at first, but then she decided to give me a chance,” he said. “She crawled in my lap. She let me pet her and didn’t try to bite me.” He was hooked.
After Jered took Sabrina home, he decided to change her name. “She was at the shelter for so long,” so he thought she should have a new name for her new life. He named her Sugarfoot, after an old black-and-white television show and in memory of his previous girlfriend’s cat, Footfoot, in New Zealand. He likes to imagine that Footfoot is a long-lost sibling of Sugarfoot.
During the first couple of days after Sugarfoot arrived at Jered’s apartment, she was nervous. “She hid behind the couch and was scared of everything, like noises in the hallway,” Jered said. Since then, she has become more confident, and she loves to cuddle with Jered, “which is what I was hoping for.”
Cuddles aside, Sugarfoot is all about activity and playtime. “She still has kitten energy,” Jered said. “She wakes me up at 3:30 or 4 most mornings. If I don’t get up, she starts clawing at the bed and digging in the covers.” Perhaps not surprisingly then, Jered has gotten skilled at holding a wand toy with one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He has also set up a paper bag obstacle course in the living room, sometimes hiding a wand toy in one of the bags to give Sugarfoot another challenge. When she pounces, she does an extended butt wiggle for two or three seconds before launch.
“She makes me giggle with her antics,” Jered said. Such shenanigans also include knocking a toy duck off the edge of the tub when Jered is taking a bath. She cuffs it into the water, waits for Jered to place the duck on the edge of the bathtub, and repeats. “She’s a goofball.”
Jered says that Sugarfoot is easy to get along with. She sometimes claws at the couch or bed to get his attention, but hasn’t made a mess of anything while he’s at work. She isn’t picky about what she eats, either.
Jered is overjoyed that he found his furever friend. “This is just the best decision I ever made. I still feel that way. I took a long time to make sure I found a kitty that was right for me and would be a good fit. I found her.”
Is there a happy tail in your home? We’re always excited to hear how our former Animal Aid cats and dogs are doing! Email us at contact@animalaidpdx.org wi