28/01/2026
This is a post we hoped never to have to make, but we need to look for a new home for Prickles. We just can't get her to integrate with the other cats as a neuter.
Over the past two years we've tried every integration method we could find, and she's come a long way, but we just don't seem to be able to get over the final hurdle of stopping her stalking the other cats. It's not even as if she's attacking them, now (which is what she did originally), just stalking them and making them unhappy. Some of our others are shut away because of it: Cloudling was so stressed out that she started biting herself, and Fiona, our eldest, has stress cystitis, though she's never been a stressy cat in the past. Even the ones who are least bothered are wary around her, and sidle past as if she might attack at any moment.
The only reason we've kept trying this long is because she's so attached to Matt (she fell for him before I did, when he was just a voice on the phone). She learnt the ringtone of the app we used to call eachother, and would come running to roll over and over beside the phone, purring madly. She's part of what brought us together.
She's adorable with humans - loves to come and settle down on a lap, and will follow you round the house to keep you company. When Matt and I took her to visit his parents she spent her days sitting on a chair between us while we worked, then would move with us to the livingroom when we chatted with his parents, and curled up on a spare dining chair when we ate dinner. At night she loves to sleep beside us on the bed covers.
Her coat is impressively long but actually requires very little maintenance - she sometimes gets litter caught in her bloomers, which needs groomed out, and I try to give her a comb every few weeks, but it's often a couple of months between brushings and I've never known her to have mats or serious tangles.
Her favourite toys are the cage-style balls with a bell inside, and she loves to play fetch with them if there's someone available to throw it for her.
She's always been a very healthy cat and is up-to-date with her vaccinations (they're due in May). She'll be 7 years old in April and potential owners can meet her dad and grandma (16 later this year), and a son, daughter, and granddaughter. Her mum had to be rehomed because she, too, wouldn't settle into the group when she was spayed. She was fine with boy cats, it was the girls she didn't like, and she now lives quite happily with two boys. Unfortunately Prickles doesn't seem to have a gender preference when it comes to which cats she picks on.
We're looking for a home where there's someone around most of the time, because she's never been without company of some sort (human or feline), though it seems the company of other cats is no longer an option.
If you know of someone who might be interested, please pass on our details.
