Rachel is mum to Purdie, who is listed separately. Her story with us begins at the end of September last year after I received a call about a young cat, accompanied by a kitten of about four months, and who was now also nursing five newborns in a garden. It was just so fortunate that Rachel had found some good people who were offering her food and also asked for help because the chances are her older kitten, Purdie, was the only survivor from her earlier litter. It took a couple of days of putting out flyers and choosing which doors to knock without alerting the wrong kind of attention to gather the wee family together because Rachel, for some reason known only to herself, had taken her kittens further afield. However, she then decided that had been a big mistake and returned her babies to the garden where the nice people lived in the hope that the food was still on offer. It was. Cats aren't daft - they just aren't always that lucky though.

As mentioned in Purdie's story, the whole family had to be vet treated to rid them of the giardia intestinal worm infection. That can, and did, take a while but it's good to say that they never showed any signs of actually feeling unwell and now all that is behind them. Left untreated, giardia can cause severe diarrheoa and dehydration so the chances are, if the family hadn't been found, the kittens wouldn't have survived. Rachel is such a shy wee girl - goodness knows what she's been through - and will need a home with people to understand how it must feel to have your whole world turned upside down again. We provide a list of tried and tested suggestions to help a shy cat settle, but by far the most important factor is to be with people who will give them the time and patience to feel safe. The cats, whether they be shy or confident, don't know they're in foster care, after all, so can feel quite overwhelmed when newly rehomed. Rachel is described by her foster mum as being "quiet but not aggressive", and it's become clear that she's become quite withdrawn and possibly a bit depressed by the confinement of a shelter and open-aired play area so could feel quite overwhelmed by the new environment, scents and people when newly rehomed. The truth is that what was initially a very welcomed safe haven eventually can feel like a 'prison' and it really is time for Rachel to find her Forever home. Her younger babies are now all homed and it would be wonderful for Rachel to also find that happiness. Doesn't she deserve that just as much as her babies? To be homed with her daughter, Purdie, would be a great bonus but the girls could be homed separately. Given her shyness, Rachel shouldn't be homed with younger children (let's be honest - human toddlers are really scary. Ask any human parent), and a home away from busy roads with access to the outdoors once she's very well settled (and we're talking months, not weeks) is an absolute must for a girl fed up with confinement. Rachel is now spayed, of course, so has put all childcare behind her, and is fully vaccinated and microchipped.