Written by Tabitha Stewart
Professional photography by Paul Hamberger Photography
I had to leave my anxiety support cat behind at home with my family in KwaZulu-Natal when I moved to Cape Town to study. I knew I needed some companionship here, but I didn’t want to put a cat through the stress of living in an apartment and having to move out every time I flew home, so I decided to foster cats in need.
I did my research and found a variety of options. By complete chance I was greeted by a PlumPets volunteer one day and she told me about Paulette Bousfield, founder of PlumPets Animal Shelter, and the wonderful work she does – and I knew that the Lord was calling me to be a PlumPets foster mom.
Fostering Addison
Addison arrived at my house on the 28th of March 2022 with her five beautiful babies. She was named “Addison” as it means “rom the earth” and is associated with strength, which I thought was quite fitting for her because of her feral status and the fact that she’d had babies on the streets at the young age of around nine months and then managed to get them to safety.
It took a few days for Addi to trust me. She stayed under my bed during the day and would only come out and eat when I wasn’t there or couldn’t see her. As we hit the five-day mark of them being with me, she allowed me to touch her and even brush her beautiful long fur. After a week, she trusted me enough to lie on my bed with me and, from then on out, her personality shone through and grew in leaps and bounds. She’d follow me around and wait at the door for me to return home from running errands.
Time continued and our bond grew stronger; we spent every possible minute together, learning how to gently take treats, play and be a kitten once again. I knew after two weeks together that my heart would be absolutely destroyed when I had to let her go.
Sadly, she’d picked up a disease known as Giardia from living on the street and had started to show symptoms, so Paulette and I made the decision to put her and her babies in the shelter to receive the best possible medical care.
Missing Addison
A few weeks went by and I’d gotten a new litter of kittens who kept me very busy, but I missed Addi terribly, and my family could see that I did. At the end of April, I messaged my family to tell them that Addi still hadn’t been adopted. My dad said that Addi deserved a home… and that home was going to be with us.
I called Paulette extremely excited to tell her that my family had agreed to take Addi and we finalised the adoption. I went the next day to give her a collar which was very special. Her collar is purple as the colour represents bravery.
Getting Addison to Hilton
Paulette arranged everything – she was absolutely incredible. Addi needed to be sterilised and her vaccinations needed to be done before she could fly. After lots of paperwork and hard work by Paulette, Addison’s ticket was booked and her homecoming date was set.
I flew home a week earlier for the end of semester and got the house ready for the arrival of our new family member. A friend of mine took Addi to the pet lounge at Cape Town International and passed on all of her paperwork. My family and I left our home in Hilton to get to Durban in time to meet her. We met her at the pet lounge at King Shaka Airport and made our journey home. On the way home, she devoured some wet food and took a well-earned long nap.
Addison at home
Addison has settled in beautifully. She’s starting to get used to my cats and vice versa, and she’s being treated like the queen she is. She loves her tuna treats and her bed and has bonded to her new mom (my sister, Anabelle) – the two are inseparable. Addi loves to climb under Anabelle’s duvet to be close to the heated blanket and has claimed her spot next to the fire.
She’s getting to relive her kitten years without having the stress of having her own kittens, and she’s learning how to play with toys and has explored each and every nook and cranny in the house. She’s so loved and will be until the end of her days.
A huge thank you to Paulette and PlumPets for all the hard work you put into making this possible!
