SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ – Nine months since Camper was left dead on a snowbank in Manville, he’s now got a new life.
He is gaining weight, loved, and recently found his “lord” when he was adopted from Raritan by his foster parents Nancy and Paul Gedbaw.
A Good Samaritan found the elderly cat, weighing only 3 pounds, in a snowdrift on Camplain Road in Manville in late February. He was taken to the Somerset Regional Animal Shelter where he was nursed back to health. Continue reading: Starving cat in a snowdrift, rescued by the Good Samaritan in Manville
Gedbaw used to work for the shelter and now volunteers as a foster home. She accepted campers because she has always preferred the older cats as nobody wants them.
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She started caring for campers on March 5th.
“He was isolated initially because he was sick. Then one day he sat on the floor and crawled into my lap and chest and started purring,” Gedbaw said. “I fell in love straight away.”
Gedbaw said her intention is to bring campers home and keep them there until he recovers. But plans have changed.
“Yeah, we just fell in love with him,” said Gedbaw.
Gedbaw adopted campers on July 20th. Since then it has been slowly increasing. When he first came to Gedbaw’s home, he weighed 5.5 pounds. The vet said campers should weigh around 9 pounds.
“We just wanted to get him out of the shelter to relax and gain weight in a nice setting,” Gedbaw said.
Camper is a tall cat who loves to eat despite her mouth problems that require high doses of steroids.
Since September, Camper has continued to gain weight and weighs around 7 pounds.
“He’s a super-loving cat, still a bit scared,” said Gedbaw. “He’s super affectionate and really a social eater. He doesn’t eat when no one is around.”
Camper is also a “counter surfer” who likes to jump on the counter.
Camper is estimated to be around 12 years old, and by his age, Gedbaw said it was better to have him at her home than to stay at the shelter.
“It’s a better lifestyle, less energy,” Gedbaw said. “He’s better in a quiet household. He breathed life into our household.”
To learn more about Somerset Regional Animal Shelter or to make a donation, visit srasnj.org or facebook.com/FOSRAS. The shelter at 100 Commons Way in Bridgewater is open for adoptions from noon to 3:30 p.m. daily
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