Rescue Tails / Poez, The International Cat

Contributed by the FKSPCA Staff

She was a dog person, he was a cat person, and “never the twain shall meet.” Or one would think!

Sara and Hendrik are from the Netherlands and moved to Key West when Hendrik was assigned to a military post here. Being military and never knowing where the next post might be, they had chosen to be pet-less.

Sara had been immersed in working with dogs in the Netherlands so shortly after they arrived, Sara came to the shelter to volunteer with us. A conversation quickly revealed her level of experience and expertise. Her humane approach to training was perfectly aligned with our shelter’s mission. She loved dogs, but her interest in cats was mostly a non-starter.

During their early days in Key West, Sara spent much of her time at the shelter working with dogs and Hendrik’s job kept him busy. The thought of an animal companion was probably not a hot topic of conversation between the couple. But as time passed, the idea began to percolate in Hendrik’s mind that having a cat might be something he would like. He was an experienced cat person who enjoyed their companionship. Although the idea of bringing a cat into their home was definitely not on Sara’s top ten list, she knew it was something her husband wanted. So, one day in 2019 they came to the shelter in search of a cat.

Curly was a young cat who had originally come to us as a stray teenager and was eventually adopted. He was a fearful cat. His reluctance to interact with people was most likely his downfall, causing him to be returned to us after six weeks. Despite Curly’s history, Hendrik was drawn to him and decided the handsome tabby was “the one.” Sara supported his choice, and the cat went home with them.

The couple did everything they could to help Curly feel safe, but there was no convincing him. He had to be caged initially to prevent panic-driven escape. He flattened his ears and glared at them as they moved about the room. It didn’t start off great and was pretty discouraging. But Hendrik stayed the course and soon Curly, now called Poez, began to develop trust in him. Eventually, he started to play and sit on the couch with Hendrik. They began to see his potential as a companion. Sara was accepting of Poez but admitted she was not in love. She established some rules. No cat upstairs. Definitely no cat in the bedroom. And NO WAY IN you-know-where will a cat EVER be allowed on the bed! (Right now, we can hear all you cat lovers laughing since you know exactly where this story is going, which it did!) Over time Poez made tiny, calculated steps towards his ultimate goal, and finally ended up with his rightful place—in bed with his family!

When Hendrik’s Key West assignment ended and their return to the Netherlands was approaching, the couple’s concern for Poez mounted. Did Poez have the emotional resiliency to deal with all the change that was about to happen? Would he regress and lose all trust? We got our answer months later.

From Sara: “After two years in our house in KW, then three weeks in a hotel room in KW, a long flight across the globe, six months in one house and now 2.5 months in the new house, we can say he is pretty resilient! No bad bone in this cat. He is such a sweetheart and we are grateful that he is in our life.”

Update: Sara credits Hendrik with Poez’s amazing transformation and also with turning her into a cat lover. Amazingly, an outdoor cat had been left behind in their newly purchased house.  Poez now has a beautiful new girlfriend, and Sara and Hendrik have two cats!

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