Arianna & Quinn -Shy Cat Whisperers

Ari & Quinn

Adapting has been an ongoing theme for many of us during the pandemic.  One particular couple has used their experience adapting to help CAR’s cats do the same!  Ari and Quinn, engineers who met in Iowa at college, recently moved to Illinois, settled into a new home, started new jobs and began fostering for CAR, all during Covid.  Each had a senior cat who had passed on, leaving them catless.  When Ari learned that her employer sponsors volunteer hours, she pounced on the opportunity, located CAR in a search, and submitted an application.

Within a week, CAR contacted Ari with an urgent need to foster Tigger who had lost his human.  He was understandably shaken and in need of a quiet home in order to adjust.  Ari and Quinn worked with Tigger for three weeks, providing him with tenderness and socialization until he learned to trust again.  The little orange guy was moved to CAR’s space at PetSmart to increase his chance at adoption.  After two days without him, Quinn said to Ari, “We have to go back and get Tigger!” They adopted him and are living happily ever after as a family.

Quinn & Tigger

Ari and Quinn, realizing their therapeutic knack with extra shy cats, have continued to foster felines who need an extra dose of TLC:  Shadow & Dash, Tiger Lily, and Samson & Tito.  Their biggest success?  Tiger Lily, they say.  She was relinquished to CAR after being confined to a basement, virtually forgotten, due to her medical condition.  While fostering her, Ari and Quinn helped restore her health and confidence with several trips to the vet and much loving care.  Tiger Lily was later adopted and lives in the lap of luxury with her forever human!  

What better people to understand cats’ individual needs and help them adapt during their journeys to their forever humans’ hearts!  We at CAR (feline and human alike) cannot thank this ambitious duo enough for their volunteer services this past year.  We also heard that there are wedding bells in the near future as they plan for their wedding this spring!

written by Stacey Field