The cat who climbed down for friendship

A rumbling purr echoes through the catio in Cat World, where hundreds of cats are cared for at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. A purr itself isn’t an unusual sound for Cat World, but the cat making that happy noise? That is an unusual incident, indeed.

When he arrived at the Sanctuary from a shelter, Grog made it clear he preferred to observe things from afar rather than get too close to people. He claimed a perch up high, watching the world from a distance. It would be a long journey of learning to trust.

“If I got too close to him, he would start shaking like a leaf,” says Best Friends caregiver Patrick McMillan. “But I would comfort him by saying, ‘It is OK, big guy. I am just cleaning near you, and I am not going to do anything to you.’ I think he understood that because he would stop shaking, and he would sit there until I moved on to the next area.”

Shyness can make it difficult for cats like Grog to stand out to potential adopters. Pets who need a boost to overcome challenges and land new homes are the reason Best Friends made a goal for all shelters to reach no-kill. Grog was safe at the Sanctuary, but that was only the first step.

Hoping to show Grog that humans aren’t scary, Patrick would offer other cats in the area baby food — a delicious treat for them. “Grog would be on the opposite side just watching ever so quietly and observing our interactions,” Patrick says. “I would ask volunteers to do the same thing. And so I think with him watching that happen for a few months, he started to explore the room more and feel braver.”

[Cat goes from shy to showman]

One afternoon, Patrick decided to try something bold. “I saw him getting ready to jump into his favorite cubby,” Patrick says. “On a whim, I scooped baby food onto my finger and offered it. He stood there confused. We had a five-minute pause before he started eating it from my finger.”

That was the moment everything began to change.

Longtime volunteers Kim and Mark Spragg have spent many years helping in Dogtown, the area of the Sanctuary where the dogs receive the care they need to be placed in new homes. Kim and Mark are especially talented at helping shy dogs blossom — a skill that would soon come in handy with a certain feline.

Although they hadn’t spent much time with the cats, Kim and Mark offered to help when the Sanctuary took in 80 cats from a shelter that needed support. Then, they decided to spend the afternoon in Cat World, and that’s how they met Grog.

Having learned from caregivers that Grog is shy, Kim wasn’t expecting much that afternoon — maybe a curious sniff or a slow blink. But Grog had other plans. “He walked in the room, and I thought he was the prettiest cat I'd ever seen,” Kim says with a stunned laugh. “I was just looking at him, and he was looking at me. And then he just started walking over.”

[Shy cat’s leap of faith leads to love]

Though cats were new territory for Kim, the heart of the work felt familiar. “Shy dogs take a while. We always let them make the move,” Kim says. The same, she found, holds true for cats like Grog. He needed a little time, and he chose that moment with Kim to investigate what it was that all the cats were so enamored with — that tasty baby food.

As Kim sat offering him baby food, Grog made his move — climbing into her lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “He looked at me, put his paws onto my pants, and helped himself up,” Kim says, laughing. “I was just shocked. I’d heard he didn’t want to hang out with people, but he said I want to hang out with you — and the baby food.”

For Kim, the moment was more than a surprise — it was a spark of connection she won’t soon forget. “It was magical,” she says. “That’s probably the best word — magical.” She went back a few more times, and Grog came out to see her even without the baby food. He had learned that people could be pretty great after all.

Patrick couldn’t be happier with the milestone and Grog’s newfound confidence. “Grog is now a part of the welcoming committee when meals are passed out in the room,” Patrick says. “Sometimes he will greet me with a head bump.”

These days, that low rumbling purr echoes through the Sanctuary a little more often — a reminder that trust, no matter how long it takes, is always worth the wait.

“Grog’s favorite things nowadays are baby food by the jar. If I could get him a baby food fountain, I would,” Patrick jokes. But Grog’s transformation didn’t happen just because of one person or one moment — it was a combination of patience, routine, caring people, and the comfort of watching other cats model trust.

“Patience is key,” Patrick says. “Another important thing is to cherish the small victories because they will lead you to a big milestone when the time is right.”

For those lucky enough to earn Grog’s trust, his quiet affection is a reminder that patience and kindness can coax even the most guarded hearts into the light. And if baby food happens to be involved? Well, don’t be surprised if Grog comes right up to ask for a taste and maybe a few scratches.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.