Barney’s Story

This is Barney……….rather a handsome young man, a British Shorthair neutered Silver Tabby and he is 7 years old and has a bit of a story to go with him.
Barney had a super home with a male and female of the same breed, and when introduced to his new friends, he was the youngest of the gang back in 2011. They all came to the cattery for several visits a year and the two boys would have a chalet and the female would have her own chalet. Back at home, they always got on very well and all ticked along nicely until Barney became ‘almost mature’ and then he decided that he wanted to be King Pin.
The whole household ambience changed, the other male and female spent life hidden away because Barney chased them and was generally ‘unkind’ in the way cats are to each other sometimes, which made them almost reclusive from their humans, whilst Barney became ever more assertive. Spraying then occurred within the house which after a while becomes unexceptable to the most loving and caring owners, especially when you have to renew wooden floors that have become sodden underneath………its not funny, and then the humans become tetchy as well….anyone familiar with this will understand completely!!
His owners spent a fortune on him, every suggestion, any treatments including hormone was carried out to no avail, but place him in the cattery in his own chalet and he was happy. So although he was Billy no mates, he had his own space. No spraying, no aggression, he became the original Barney again.
So what to do with Barney? He needed a new home with no other cats so he could be King of his own Castle, and as heartbreaking as it was for his owners (even to this day) they made that decision.
After several weeks a previous cattery customer came to me in a light bulb moment during the night……..some of my better ideas happen then!
I contacted her and after the whole story, warts and all, she decided to give him a go and settling very quickly, now 6 months later, Barney is ‘King of the Castle’, loving his status and hasn’t even come close to disgracing himself. Old and new owners are in touch with emails and the odd pictures and it is a happy ending to what was a difficult but right decision. Maybe a lesson to us humans that we shouldn’t always expect to understand what is going on between their ears!