Taddy and Judy Yablonski: Furry Friends Fur-Ever

Furry Friends has a number of cats, either elderly or ailing and unlikely to be adopted, who are placed in permanent, loving foster homes. Occasionally, “angel” adopters appear who open their hearts and homes to them and give them their best fur-ever lives. One such adopter is Judy Yablonski.

“I have always adopted older cats because they deserve to have a loving home at the end of their lives,” Judy says. “My last cat, Esso, was 12 when I adopted him, and he passed at 15.

“Taddy is a 14-year-old ‘marmalade-coated mister’ whom I adopted four months ago from his foster home. He suffers from dementia, and the cat behaviorist at Furry Friends has been extremely helpful, giving me ideas as we work on making our lives more compatible.

“Slowly, he’s beginning to feel comfortable in my home as we navigate this disease together. At first, though, as part of his dementia, he would start crying, loudly and pitifully, at 4 AM. I actually called his foster mom to see if she would take him back, but she had no room. Knowing I could never put him in a shelter again, considering his condition, we’re working through that issue as best we can.  

“In the beginning, I tried ‘reaching’ him by cuddling him, only to find he didn’t like it. I talked to him reassuringly. I meowed back at him. I pulled the covers over my head. After four months, Taddy’s crying is still loud, but now it doesn’t start until between 6 and 7 AM. Some days, he no longer runs and hides when I come home. Some days, he treats me like a total stranger. His eyes are always big and black as if he expects something to happen any moment.  

“He has a blanket that he loves, and he seems so content whenever he lies on it. These days, he sits with me and lets me pet him for long periods of time while he even purrs once in a while. He loves catnip and clearly loves playing with various toys at night since I find them all over the place.

“Better still, Taddy sleeps on my bed and close to me! Except for the crying, he’s truly settled in here because of my love and patience. I give him space to be the Taddy he wants to be. He has my love and caring for whatever time we have left together, a home until it is his time to go. I believe, with all my heart, that he knows it.”

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Furry Friends Fur-Ever Stories are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.