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Life isn’t easy for a stray cat, especially when you’re not prepared for it.

For one cat, he found himself at the age of seven suddenly on the streets and having to fend for himself. He was thankfully not declawed, so he had least had those defenses, but that wasn’t enough to keep him safe against the feral cats out there. So, by the time he found his way to Wayside Waifs animal shelter, he had an abscess on his right hip, most likely the remains of a deep bite wound. Also, he was missing some teeth, including his canines.

For a shelter cat, he wasn’t the luckiest. He had many strikes against him that kept him from finding a home. He was old, not some cute kitten. He had an injured hip that still caused him to twitch if it was accidentally touched. And perhaps the biggest strike of all, he’d tested positive for FIV.

Feline Immuno-deficiency Virus will affect his immune system slowly as the years go by, but he could still have a full life ahead of him! Many rumors say that you can’t have other cats with FIV+ cats (which is a risk, but only if they inflict deep bite wounds will the disease spread) or that they will be sickly and unhappy all their lives. Rumors that probably kept potential homes from seeking him out, especially when the neighboring state of Kansas won’t even allow FIV+ cats to be adopted, feeding the negative connotation of the disease even more. The workers and volunteers at the shelter all knew him and loved him, but he’d been there since December and yet, no home.

Enter a trio of ladies who own a collection of rodents, small animals and a dash of other small critters who wanted a sweet, mellow cat that wouldn’t bother them much. They’d talked to various rescues and decided to go visit Wayside first.

Needless to say, the rest is history.

As one of the three, we asked first to see Camper (his shelter name) which seemed to elicit a bit of surprise and hope from the volunteer. We’d been given the name of two mellow cats and we wanted to see him first, because we knew he had a lot going against him.

Camper had his own special room in the shelter, one of the few perks of being an FIV+ kitty there. Armed with our sugar gliders, we went in for a visit and fell in love with one of the sweetest cats ever. The staff seemed impressed- we’d researched FIV+, we knew what we were getting into, and yet- we still wanted him. As for the small-animal test, he passed that with flying colors when one sugar glider decided to jump across the room and Camper merely inclined his head up in curiosity.

By that point, we knew we wanted him. The other cats we were considering had a way better chance of getting adopted- they weren’t old, they weren’t FIV+ and they weren’t for no-children homes (a specification the shelter noted due to his hip). When we told the staff, the reaction was nothing but pure excitement. In fact, the staff was holding a meeting that night and they went and announced there that Camper had found a forever home. Many of the staffers came and said goodbye, some crying because they were so happy for him, and gave us many ‘thank yous’ and wishes well. Another staffer who was working on our paper work even told one of us that we’d managed to impress some of the pickiest workers there and that they knew Camper was getting a great home.

Since coming home last Wednesday night, Cambridge (we wanted something similar to his name there) has been nothing but a loving lap-kitty. He’s made friends with one of our chinchillas and enjoys sitting and watching some of our other animals poke around. We’ve had hamsters out and sat one on his back and he just doesn’t seem to mind at all. Each night, he takes turns sleeping at the end of each of our beds.

In short, he’s perfect and we’re more than happy to be his forever home.