This shelter cat who loves to be held has found his forever home
Meet Dougie, a 15-year-old ginger cat in Maine who just wants to snuggle 24/7. When Dougie landed at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland this past summer, he was in rough condition. He had feline inflammatory bowel disease, and he also was something of a cuddle-monster. According to the shelter, Dougie cried and meowed any time he wasn’t being held or petted.
“When he’s not being held, his meow can be heard from galaxies far away,” read a Facebook post the shelter wrote about Dougie.
So Robert Weimer, one of the shelter’s staff members, came up with a creative solution to appease the social and people-loving cat. He would carry Dougie in a baby Bjorn against his chest. That way, Dougie would get the snuggles he desired while Weimer could continue on with his work caring for other animals.
When the Animal Refuge League wrote about Dougie and his love of snuggles on their Facebook page, Dougie’s story and photos quickly went viral. It attracted a lot of attention, including from local resident Ashley Perkins, who was interested in adopting Dougie! “I had been looking at the website earlier with my mom. We said, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s a little old man, and he needs a home,’” said Perkins to ABC News.
After meeting Dougie, she decided that no other cats compared and decided to adopt him. Dougie now lives with Perkins and her other cat, Jax, and still loves to be “held like a baby.”
“Senior cats have just as much love to give as kittens and younger cats, and need us so much,” said Perkins to LoveMeow. “Dougie has IBS and has meds daily, but honestly it is no problem to manage. I found out that Dougie had been at the shelter for months and he needed a home and a human to call his own, and a bed to sleep in each night. I feel lucky to be his cat mom now!”
Although Dougie has now found his fur-ever home and is no longer available for adoption, check out the Animal Refuge League’s website for more cute cats and dogs in the Maine area that are in need of families.