Cory & Margot (RIP)

For many, many years, we’ve been spending our weekends at the shelter: one “shift” in the morning and one in the evening, Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes, we do oversleep and we get there half an hour later, as it happens to anyone, at least once in life.

However, on this Saturday, 5th July 2014, nobody overslept. It was already very hot in the morning, the sun was burning, and we knew exactly what we would find in front of the house, even before we got there: a box of cats. A neighbour called us to ask what she should do until we get there – she was afraid they would suffocate to death, poor cats; she knew what was in the box, being already used to the type of gifts we usually received.

Five minutes later, we took the box into a room and opened it with great care, behind closed doors. We found two beautiful black cats, with big eyes, extremely scared, barely breathing, who exploded out of the box searching for a way to escape. We don’t find it easy either to see the desperation of cats who feel trapped, hopeless… What they must have felt then, being in a small closed room, unknown to them, after who knows how many hours in a box, in the sun, without light and air, waiting for their salvation or death? This, we will never be able to imagine.

One seemed to be an adult, although small of stature, and the other one still a kitten, a bigger one already. And that’s how it was: Margot, the mom, 2 and a half years, max 3 years old, was – still is – a beauty without equal, dainty, smaller, flatter nose, but very wild when you try to touch her. The kitten, Cory, must have been around 5 to 6 months old back then, also very scared, skinny, and always looking for his mommy, the only one who made him feel safe.

Years passed, yet Margot stayed the same, any attempt to touch her was futile. She allows us to get close to her up to 1 meter without running away but any other step is considered a threat. The only occasion when she makes her presence felt is food o’clock, when you see her on a shelf, staring at you and waiting for you to give her a bowl of food. Cory grew into a handsome big tomcat, with a similar behavior to his mom’s: doesn’t allow petting, doesn’t come near us, but he also waits for a separate bowl of food, somewhere high on a shelf, to not get bothered by other cats.

And exactly as when they came to us, you often see them together. Cory is searching even now for the protection of his mother, even though he is much taller than her, and Margot accepts him still, something she doesn’t do with other cats from the shelter. That’s how they spend their time together, our Margot and Cory, far away from everybody and everything. All we, the volunteers, can do is to take care of them the best we can, love them and accept them as they are, and give them all the time they need, hoping that, one day, they will allow us to get closer and they will accept us – even if this would take some more years.

UPDATE August 14, 2024: Today we said goodbye to her, our perfect cat named Margot; the princess who was by our side for 10 years; the beloved that we will never see again except in memories and pictures, until the day we all meet again.