After spending more than three and a half years of her life in the CPW shelter, little 11-year-old black tortie Juniper has finally found the most amazing and loving forever home!

Heidi, as she was known in the shelter, was found as a stray and socialised by another rescue group before coming to us in December 2017. She was fearful of strangers, so ended up staying with us for almost a year before being adopted in October 2018.

Although her new folks tried really hard, she never fully settled with the other cat and then the arrival of a baby. She was then rehomed to a house with multiple cats – not all of whom liked her. Very sadly and reluctantly, Heidi was surrendered back to the shelter in April 2023.

She was initially located in the Timids wing, but showed she wasn’t prepared to share space with other cats, so she was moved to her own room and sundeck in the West Wing. She had lots of snuggle time with the team leads and other volunteers, but as she continued to hide away from new people under her blankets, visitors rarely stayed long enough to really get to know her or to hear her rumbly purr when she was happy.

Eventually, after another two and a half years at the shelter, CPW President Iona Anderson adopted Heidi and took her home on Boxing Day 2025 to live with her and her husband after their last cat had passed away due to old age.

As they expected her to take some months to settle in with them, they were hugely surprised when, only a few days later, Heidi appeared purring and snuggly on the bed overnight. She remains skittish during the day but has come a long way from completely hiding away. She’s often seen exploring her new garden, chasing moths up and down the stairs, or lying in the sunshine on the deck. In the evenings she enjoys lap time, and she loves her heated bed in the window where she can supervise her new domain.

She also has a new name to reflect her new life – Juniper.

Iona says she has “a quizzical gaze and strong personality”, loves good head rubs, has the softest fur, and the biggest purr: “It’s been an absolute delight to see her becoming herself again!”

Iona admits that Juniper gave her “a minor heart attack” when she decided to fully explore her territory on her fourth day out.

“Her collar Airtag pinged her as having travelled all the way down the hill where we live, some three-quarters of a kilometre to Norway Street where she settled for a day. Just as I was about to set a trap, it pinged her again as having travelled all the way up the other side of the hill.

“Now getting anxious that she was heading in the wrong direction from home, I visited that location, too, but as no-one was home, I couldn’t leave a trap. I decided to return there the following morning… and guess who arrived on the bed at 1.30am in the morning as if she’d always been there…!”

We’re all pretty happy that after waiting patiently at the shelter for so long, Juniper has finally got a home where she can roam and explore for the rest of her life!