My name is Konstantine!

KONSTANTINE
2- 4 yo male Brown and Black Tabby Maine Coon

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It was lucky I got him. I was at the shelter to get another kitty who wasn't available. " Do you have any other kitty at risk that I should know about?" I carefully asked. After a moments thought I was led to this guy. He had been there a whole month in a 24" x 30" cage. He was lucky in that unlike most he had a little natural light in the gloomy room. "Why have you kept him so long I asked?" With only a 5 day hold required and so many homeless kitties coming in to be allowed to stay for 30 days in a shelter is unusual. "We liked him and hoped he would respond to us and sell himself so we could put him up for adoption but he just lies there depressed and unmoving. We need the space now and can't keep him any longer. He has had his chance."

He was an owner surrender, a perfectly healthy, beautiful cat. "Yes" I said " I will take him." I wondered if his owner had died and he was mourning or whether he was another foreclosure story cat who couldn't handle the abandonment or he couldn't take life in the shelter itself. I wondered what he had been like when he first came in. Whatever his background his demeanor in the shelter was passive and unresponsive. The photo's below taken the first day in foster show that. He made no eye contact, showed no particular awareness or interest in his surroundings, did not respond to petting or even being held. He is a young, healthy , neutered boy in good condition. Someone had been taking good care of him and something went wrong. Poor kitty.

So we set to work trying to seduce him into coming to life again. The first two days we had no change - he lay under his table and turned his back to us. We gave hi catnip. We gave him a tiny hamster in a well protected cage to intrigue him.( the hamster is - like all hamsters we have had over the years - entirely oblivious of the cats around them - too many generations bred in captivity is my guess). He ate wet and dry food and used his litter box but we never saw him out and moving. Today is day 4 and in the last two days he has begun to change. One of our cat cuddler volunteers fed him individual pieces of dry food under his low table and he ate them one at a time and began to look at her as though to say where is the next piece? He was relating to her. She gave him some kitty junk food similar to Froot Loops for humans . He liked that. He relaxed a tiny little bit when being petted but still didn't incline his head. He is coming along. Maine Coons are full of character and personality and soon I hope we will see his.

Physically he is quite big, over 15 pounds I would guess. He got an upgrade on fur -his is very fine, soft and silky. You can see his lush, plush curly tummy hairs. He is a magnificent looking cat. Notice his marvelous ear hair that curls out. from inside his ear. He is a beauty and someone will enjoy snuggling with his big soft body. Meanwhile we wait and watch to see him unfold himself and take up his interest in life again. Who are you Konstantine ?- he is sort of like an amnesia victim. We have seen frightened shelter cats - like Chloe recently - who suddenly turned the switch , she on day 6 and went from scared to loving. "Hello! This is ok ! I'm back Come pet me now.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" His return may be that sudden too.We wait to see. Stay tuned for updates . We will send more photo's and news.

Day 10 Update: Things are going very well with this wonderful kitty. He comes out to see us from under his low table where he likes to sleep. He will stretch and roll 360 degrees to show off his inordinately fetching tummy. We can pet him the full length of his body and his tail. If we put him on anything higher than the floor he immediately jumps down and goes back under his table. But we can hold him a bit.

He won't chase a feather but he definitely would be happy to eat it. He is not playing yet.

We tried moving him to a very sunny room thinking he might love the warmth after the gloom of the shelter cage and his current darkish room. To our surprise and chagrin and he simply hid and didn't eat for 24 hours til we moved him back at which point he started eating immediately. He may be a kitty that doesn't do well with change. Is that an understatement? Probably. He isn't yet confident and any sound can spook him into a quick retreat but he is moving quite quickly in the right direction.We couldn't be more pleased.

Now that we can see him we see that he is a big kitty with a fairly dark long Maine Coon body set off by a lighter regal ruff or mane all around his neck. His tummy, in contrast ,is beige with tinges of red.

He may be a big guy but somehow he has the faintest squeaky little high pitched voice. ( "Is that HIM?") His beautiful face looks unusually like the tigers in his ancestry but at the same time has a look to it that moves humans like his new friend Wendy to say "Look at him. He looks like a BABY" and he does. A tiger and a baby both. Beautiful boy.

MY 14 UPDATE

Heeeeeeeere's Konstantine. He's back.

Look at him, he even poses for photos with his big gold eyes OPEN. At last. He will play and chase feathers. Love up to strangers. Roll around and flirt with his enticing tummy. Let random kitties eat out of his food bowl with barely a flicker of possessiveness.

He seems to know he is gorgeous and I think there is a little of the diva in him. I expect he was well loved in his past life. He seems to expect it. He is sort of a gentle giant with his mildness and tolerance as long as he is being constantly admired.

He does still need time to settle and regain some confidence. I would guess he is at 75% and the remaining 25 is all Maine Coon quirky character and personality yet to emerge. We have a number of great adopters interested in taking him home, so soon he will take up duties ruling his new empire. A close call for this big guy and a happy ending just around the corner. I am sending a copy of this email to the shelter caretakers who tried to help him. Nice to have him back.

Contact Harriet at (831) 336-2983 or toharrietjane@comcast.net if you have questions, or send an Adoption Application