Rescued by my rescue: The born-again cat lover who was converted by her rescue cat
In a new series, Stomp speaks to furparents who adopted rescue pets — and found that they were the ones who were rescued instead.
Even now, Sammi can recall being “traumatised” by stray cats while dining with her family at hawker centres as a child. “They kept jumping up, peeping at the tables and trying to take our food,” she said.
Decades later, Sammi, who declined to reveal her last name, has become a born-again cat lover.
She is joined at the hip with her rescue cat GouGou, a nine-year-old Persian mix. She also fosters other felines and even hopes to open a cat boarding place with other cat lovers who can chip in for rent and other costs.
Now in her 40s, the executive assistant told Stomp that she overcame her phobia of cats entirely by chance: the serendipitous appearance of GouGou in her life.
Before GouGou, Sammi believed that dogs were more loyal and affectionate. Now, she sees things a bit differently.
“I learned that cats do love deeply, just differently. Their trust is quiet and intentional.”
The 10-day exposure therapy
In 2017, a couple close to Sammi was unable to find a cat sitter to care for their rescue cat while they attended a 10-day phone-free meditation retreat.
The couple had found the feline at a playground and nursed it back to health, though it continued to suffer from a chronic autoimmune disease. Due to overgrooming, it would also get sores and wounds that required dressing.
Though hesitant, Sammi rose to the occasion. She prepared by reading books and online articles on cats, and also watched many videos by American cat behaviourist Jackson Galaxy.
Nonetheless, the first day left Sammi in a nervous sweat as the cat hissed while she changed its dressing. “I was counting down the days left to go,” the artist recounted animatedly.
However, by the fifth day, the cat had become her “best napping buddy”, crawling on the bed to accompany her. “I realised cats are actually very sweet and (can grow) very attached to you.”
It was the start of Sammi’s role as a short-term fosterer. At the time, she was working in the aviation sector, which required her to travel regularly, and was planning to pursue further studies in Italy.
The cat that stuck around
In 2018, she began messaging cat rescuers to offer her home for fostering. Soon, Sammi received a message from Joanne Cheong, an independent rescuer at the time, about a black cat discovered at a Bukit Panjang stairwell in 2019.
This was GouGou.
While GouGou was friendly, according to Ms Cheong, she was scrawny, had a cleft palate – a hole in the upper part of her mouth – a misaligned jaw, and a visible bare patch of skin on her neck. Some of these injuries were thought to have been caused by a fall from height.
With Ms Cheong advising her to cat proof her home, Sammi — whose flat is located along a corridor — promptly meshed her exposed windows and committed to keeping the windows facing the corridor shut at all times.
She even assembled a small camping tent for GouGou: a “little house with cat litter and other cat stuff”. It turned out that the cat enjoyed roaming about her home and was rather relaxed.
Though Sammi worked with Ms Cheong to find suitable adopters for GouGou as she had no intention of keeping pets, there was just one small problem.
“Every time somebody comes to see her, she’ll hide away so they don’t get a chance to,” recounted Sammi.
Ms Cheong, now a rehomer with Purely Meow — the cat division of animal welfare group Purely Adoptions —eventually suggested that Sammi adopt GouGou herself, as the cat appeared to have bonded well with Sammi.
Almost eight years later, GouGou and Sammi are inseparable.
When Sammi travels — now only twice a year after leaving the aviation industry — her friends who help take care of GouGou say that the pet will sit by her bedroom door, meowing loudly. It also grooms itself more to manage separation anxiety.
“GouGou showed me that rescue cats are just as beautiful, loving, and worthy as any breed,” said the executive assistant, who used to think that pedigree cats were more “special”.
The ultimate dream? A cat boarding place
Her current role as an executive assistant allows Sammi to spend more time at home with GouGou and the cats she fosters. She also runs an online business and sells her artwork. Unsurprisingly, GouGou is her artistic muse.
With these multiple streams of income, Sammi hopes she can eventually open a cat boarding place.
She also envisions a programme for people who love cats and want to keep them, but are unable to do so in their family homes.
Interested parties can pay a monthly fee that will cover the cost of caring for the cat, as well as monthly one-on-one sessions with it, and sponsors will be given priority should they be ready for adoption.
Sammi hopes for a place that is easy for potential adopters to commute to, and big enough for many cats to roam about.
“Hopefully there’s a very rich person who owns property that can extend the help,” she joked.
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