By Lee-Ann Meyer, volunteer at the Burlington Humane Society
Dear wide world of Burlington,
Let us introduce you to one of our longer term residents….Astra. This gorgeous tortoiseshell girl is unique in that not only is she a tortie but she’s a dilute tortie! (Fun fact: dilute coat colours in cats are caused by a recessive gene; fun fact #2: torties are 99% female.)
Found with another cat, Mercury, who is very likely her sister, and their kittens, Astra has been with Burlington Humane for over seven months and we feel that she’s been overlooked due to her shyness — she’s extremely sweet but very shy.
She’s come a long way in her seven months here but still shies away from human touch. To her credit, this gorgeous girl, with her grey and cream colouring, now leaves her cage and climbs to the top perch on her cat tree. (Believe us, this is PROGRESS!!) This girl, given the chance, will thrive in a loving adoptive home; she’s come as far as she can in a shelter setting.
Astra beat the odds by surviving outside while nursing kittens. She beat the odds when she was spotted by a kind stranger who chose to get her to safety rather than shoo her away. She beat the odds again when she landed at BHS where our amazing socialization volunteers have shown her love and kindness and now she’s hoping to beat the odds one more time….can you see past this shy scared girl’s exterior to the loving kitty that’s hiding inside? Can you give her the time and space to blossom, continue to develop her confidence, and recognize that she no longer needs to be afraid? Do you have a cat friend that she could meet? She’s cat-friendly. (Or perhaps she could be reunited with her sister, Mercury, who’s also still looking for her forever home)? In short, could you be her hero?
Astra is available for adoption through the Burlington Humane Society. If you fall in love and want to adopt one of the pets featured in “Adoptable Pet of the Week,” go to the Adopt a Cat or Kitten or the Adopt a Dog or Puppy page on their website for more information on how to proceed.
