Today is Gotcha Day for JD (short for John Doe) and Callie (short for Calico) so “named” by my husband as he cared for them at the plant where he worked. They were feral cats. Yet, this man with a good heart made sure they had food, water, flea medicine, and shelter from the cold. He worked daily to gain their trust. When one of them was injured he trapped him and took him to the vet and paid for his care. He also trapped them for their spay/neuter which was facilitated by the Montgomery Humane Shelter in their efforts to reduce the feral cat population in Montgomery (note their little clipped ears in their portraits). After two years of watching over them while at work he came home last year and said, “I’m bringing them home with me over Labor Day Weekend.” I was horrified. I really didn’t think it would work. Everything I’d heard about feral cats was they couldn’t adjust to a home life. Boy was I proven wrong!
We followed Jackson Galaxy’s (the Cat Daddy) recommendations to integrate them into our home life with our 3 other cats we’d adopted from shelters. It took a lot of time and patience but they are now part of the family. They follow my husband around like they’re dogs!! They turn their bellies up for rubs, sleep at our feet most nights, and seek love and attention. They will go outside occasionally when my husband is with them, but much prefer the indoor life. (I find that fascinating since they lived outdoors for 2 years.)
To celebrate their first Gotcha Day I made a hand-rendered mixed media portrait for each of them. This is a type of portraiture that I love doing for pets and people. I can often work from an image you have already of your beloved pet. I’m including the original images so you can see what I started with as well as the finished product.
For more information on hand-rendered mixed media portraits for your pets and to see more samples please visit my Heirloom Portrait portfolio.
Here’s a link to the first in Jackson Galaxy’s series on introducing cats: https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/cat-introductions-part-1-before-the-introduction/