Ava

Ava is around a year old now, and was one of the first kitties we welcomed in 2026. We had received a plea for help from a local senior who ended up with five young, unsocialized and unaltered cats after a family member left them with her. She was not able to care for the cats, and so reached out to us for assistance. It was perfect timing too, as there were four females and one male, and they were at the age where, if we didn't help, she would have found herself with many more kittens very, very soon! These young cats were very skittish and often spent time upstairs away from people. Upon visiting, it was clear that even though the kitties were indoor-only, they were still unsocialized to the point that we wouldn't be able to just walk over and pick them up - we had to use a combination of canned cat food, cat carrier trickery, and humane live traps to catch them. After a few trips back and forth on different days to help them set/reset the traps and pick up trapped cats for transport to our shelter (including a trip on New Year's day), we finally caught them all! Coming to us without names, I named them Trinket, Tasha, Izzy, Gus, and Ava. Ava was the last one we caught, and she is now the last one of the group to be adopted. <br/><br/>You might call Ava a "spirit cat," which is a term often used to describe cats that may be a bit unsocialized or may be extremely shy, may take longer than the average cat to adjust to change, and may only bond to one or two humans. They are often independent and not used to a lot of visitors or a lot of commotion. Many spirit cats may even have once been feral kittens that were brought in from outdoors and either were past the ideal socialization window or weren't socialized properly, and so grew up seeming as though one paw was in both worlds - they're not exactly feral or capable of living outdoors anymore, but they're not exactly a regular ol' confident housecat either. <br/><br/>While Ava is still pretty shy, she really has come a long way! She now enjoys being petted and will purr on occasion. She has tolerated me picking her up but doesn't love it. But she does love bird watching out the window! She doesn't like her belly rubbed and will let you know if you try it anyway. A quiet home with one or two adults that are patient and willing to allow a kitty plenty of time and space to adjust to a new home on their own terms would be the best fit for Ava. We think she will progress much more in a home. She has lived with other cats before, but gets annoyed by kittens. A mellow cat would be a better fit than a hyper or nosy one. She has seen and heard dogs on occasion at the shelter but hasn't lived with one. <br/><br/>We just know that Ava's story has to have a next chapter in store for her beyond our shelter walls <br/><br/>(*Because a kitty like Ava would be even more traumatized by being adopted and returned than your average cat, please don't apply for Ava if you have small children, frequent visitors, loud dogs, or just an overall hectic home, or if you aren't open to the idea of a cat that may never sit on your lap. Nothing at all against any of those things - they just aren't in the recipe for what would be best for Ava. However, there are many other shelter cats and kittens out there that would be a perfect fit for you instead!*)<br/><br/>(All of our cats are spayed/neutered, up-to-date on age-appropriate vaccines, microchipped, de-wormed, tested for FeLV/FIV, and treated for fleas before adoption.) <br/><br/>Our adoption application and policies can be found here:<br/><br/>www.secondchancear.org/adopt-1

Ava is around a year old now, and was one of the first kitties we welcomed in 2026. We had received a plea for help from a local senior who ended up with five young, unsocialized and unaltered cats after a family member left them with her. She was not able to care for the cats, and so reached out to us for assistance. It was perfect timing too, as there were four females and one male, and they were at the age where, if we didn't help, she would have found herself with many more kittens very, very soon! These young cats were very skittish and often spent time upstairs away from people. Upon visiting, it was clear that even though the kitties were indoor-only, they were still unsocialized to the point that we wouldn't be able to just walk over and pick them up - we had to use a combination of canned cat food, cat carrier trickery, and humane live traps to catch them. After a few trips back and forth on different days to help them set/reset the traps and pick up trapped cats for transport to our shelter (including a trip on New

Ava is around a year old now, and was one of the first kitties we welcomed in 2026. We had received a plea for help from a local senior who ended up with five young, unsocialized and unaltered cats after a family member left them with her. She was not able to care for the cats, and so reached out to us for assistance. It was perfect timing too, as there were four females and one male, and they were at the age where, if we didn't help, she would have found herself with many more kittens very, very soon! These young cats were very skittish and often spent time upstairs away from people. Upon visiting, it was clear that even though the kitties were indoor-only, they were still unsocialized to the point that we wouldn't be able to just walk over and pick them up - we had to use a combination of canned cat food, cat carrier trickery, and humane live traps to catch them. After a few trips back and forth on different days to help them set/reset the traps and pick up trapped cats for transport to our shelter (including a trip on New Year's day), we finally caught them all! Coming to us without names, I named them Trinket, Tasha, Izzy, Gus, and Ava. Ava was the last one we caught, and she is now the last one of the group to be adopted.

You might call Ava a "spirit cat," which is a term often used to describe cats that may be a bit unsocialized or may be extremely shy, may take longer than the average cat to adjust t