At the end of April last year, Helen Woodward Animal Center Adoptions Director, Kendall Schulz, received an urgent call from one of the Center’s local rescue partners. An individual had come onto the partner’s property wanting to euthanize their almost three year old, perfectly healthy cat. If the Center couldn’t take in the kitty, the partner would be forced to euthanize. Of course, the Center didn’t let that happen.
Within a day, the tuxedo cat now known as Gumdrop made his way to the Center, and made his way to safety. The Center’s intake staff suspected Gumdrop had a horrible start to his life. Schulz said whenever someone would so much as raise their arm, the tuxedo kitty would defecate in fear.
“We all suspected abuse,” Schulz said. “We knew we had to do everything we could to give this guy a better life.”
For days Center employees noted how traumatized the poor three year old kitty seemed. He would hiss and cower in fear whenever an Animal Care Technician (ACT) would try and touch him. In order to hopefully curb his fear to touch, ACT’s started using a fake hand to pet him.
After several weeks of this, the Animal Welfare team decided Gumdrop would have the best chance at healing his heart in the calmer environment of a foster home. They knew Gumdrop’s healing wouldn’t be overnight and that they needed a foster volunteer who is okay with a long term assignment.
Veteran Foster volunteer Robin Leigh stepped up to the challenge.
Leigh had fostered with Helen Woodward Animal Center since 2020, and had multiple long term fosters. She also describes herself as incredibly patient, and said she feels there’s nothing more rewarding than helping a shy cat come out of its shell. She was perfect for the job.
When Leigh first took Gumdrop home, she let him have her bathroom as a space to decompress. He didn’t leave his carrier. After a couple of days, she caught him using his litter box. Leigh started to sit in the bathroom with Gumdrop so he could get used to her.
As Summer turned to Fall, Gumdrop became more and more comfortable with Leigh. He started to emerge from his shell. First he left the bathroom to hide in Leigh’s closet. Then he came out of the closet and jumped on her bed. He still didn’t want to be touched, but he could be in her company.
After a while we would accept her pets, but not seek out attention. But then, as the beautiful San Diego turned chilly and the holiday decorations went up, he started to seek out snugs.
Now, Schulz feels Gumdrop is ready to find his forever home. He’ll require a patient family who is ready to give him the time he needs to get comfortable, but according to Leigh, he is absolutely worth the work.
“[Gumdrop’s] life is important,” Leigh said. “It’s a life that, thanks to Helen Woodward is gonna be happy and fulfilled and comfortable, and I just appreciate having a hand in that.”
Those who wish to adopt Gumdrop should reach out to the Center to arrange a meeting with him.
