How I Ended Up Adopting a Spanish Cat

If you've ever wanted a pet on vacation, this post is for you. Share on X

If you’ve ever been on a vacation or lived abroad and dreamed about bringing your pet or taking home a stray animal you find there, this post is for you. I had no intention of adopting a Spanish cat when I moved to Spain, but a sweet little boy found me and waited at my door step for three days before he walked into my house and my heart.

Stray Cats and Dogs in Spain

So many stray animals in Spain
The first time we went to a bar for 5:00 snack, we found this cute puppy under the bar stool

All the stray cats and dogs wandering around my little Spanish village of Olvera shocked me. Everywhere I went, it seemed like a puppy followed me. Cats are shyer and more hesitant by nature, but I found them lurking around every corner too. It took me about two months to realize many of the dogs weren’t strays. Spanish people aren’t as strict with their pets as my American neighbors at home are, and they let their dogs run free knowing they’ll come back when it’s time for dinner or bed. After my first week in Spain, I tried to convince a puppy to follow me home. It ran off, so I decided it must not be a stray.

Puppy following me home
This little guy followed me for about 5 minutes before turning back to find someone else to beg food from

Meeting Fred

Then, about two weeks later, I saw a cute orange kitten eating a bowl of dog food outside a sewing shop around the corner from my house. I stopped to pet it and the owner of the shop rambled off something in Spanish to non-bilingual me, so I smiled, mumbled, “Lo siento, no hablo espanol,” and walked off. Later that day, I told my British neighbor about the adorable kitten the sewing shop lady had. Luckily, my British neighbor was bilingual and knew about the cat. She also knew the cat was a stray and the sewing shop owner just shared her dog’s food with him.

Adopting a Spanish cat

Had my British neighbor not been a cat lover, I may not have ended up adopting sweet, starving, flea-ridden little Fred. But Fred started following me home and we all made such a fuss over him he decided he’d start hanging out on our front stoop instead. We fed him turkey, water, and milk. Much better than dog food for a little kitty. After three days, I took him to the local vet, who I had many fun Spanglish conversations with trying to decipher medical cat terms, and Fred was mine.

Adopting a Spanish cat
Feeding Fred turkey and water lead to James and I adopting a Spanish cat

Adopting a Spanish Cat

Adopting a Spanish cat was one of the best things we did in Spain.
Fred was soon comfortable and at home.

Poor Fred had been living on the street but was seriously domesticated and immediately felt at home. He tried to sleep in our bed, jumped up on my stomach when I laid on the couch to read, and begged for food at the refrigerator. He knew where his litter box was before we even had one for him, and made the corner of our broom closet his first litter spot.

Adopting a Spanish cat gave me a friend.
Fred’s favorite spot to sleep was on me.

Now, James grew up with dogs. There’s a difference between dog people and cat people. I’ve found that most dog people aren’t cat people and don’t understand or trust cats. It took James a long time to open up to Fred. At first, we had to block off the stairs so Fred couldn’t come up and jump in bed with us. Side note: he managed to jump our blockades every night and found his way onto our pillows. His stomach problems from living on the street meant that if we didn’t clean up his litter right away, we would have preferred an atomic bomb to go off instead. And if we tried to pick his food bowl up before he finished, we were likely to lose that hand.

This baby girl kitten was starving and came in our open door to eat some of Fred's food. Fred was NOT a fan.
This baby girl kitten was starving and came in our open door to eat some of Fred’s food. Fred was NOT a fan.

However, Fred soon realized we weren’t trying to hurt him or steal his food. His trips to the vet were to help him. And we eventually accepted him sleeping in the bed with us. We looked forward to coming home to him after school. He helped us celebrate Thanksgiving. He made our house a home.

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Fred Moves to England

Adopting a Spanish cat in Spain: Fred moves to England
Fred looking back on his old life and ahead to his new life. (I’m tearing up as I write this. I miss you, Freddy boy!)

One thing we didn’t think about was a babysitter for Fred while we traveled. Cats are independent, but still need someone to feed them and give them water and clean up their litter. It really cut into our travel time on weekends. Our British neighbor had moved to India for 6 months (she follows the sun). We were in a foreign country and had no other friends or family to watch him while we were gone. It felt wrong to keep him cooped up in the house alone for three to four days at a time. We had a dilemma on our hands.

Fred happily sitting on my lap on our way to meet the pet transporter.
Adopting a Spanish cat was sadly short-lived. Here’s Fred happily sitting on my lap on our way to meet the pet transporter.

We made the difficult decision to move Fred to our British neighbor’s sister’s house in England. She already had an adopted female cat from Australia, so Fred would have a friend. She loves all cats, and especially orange cats. This wonderful woman happily adopted Fred and gave him a good home. She even offered to let us come stay with her and visit him! We still keep in touch with her to this day and she gives us updates on Fred’s progress. I hope to make use of that invitation one day.

Fred loves his new life in England. Look at that fat belly and those bright eyes!
Fred loves his new life in England. Look at that fat belly and those bright eyes!

Fred has adapted well to life in England. He loves watching birds, laying on the stove heater, and keeping his new mom company. He’s now a well-traveled, multicultural, bilingual cat! And he has gained a lot of weight and gotten much healthier. I miss Fred every day but I know he has a wonderful home and with a wonderful mother. I wish we had more time with our friendly, loving boy, but I’m happy to see him doing so well and living a great life!

Fred has a pond with fish in the backyard and he can come in and go out as he pleases. He's king of his castle!
Fred has a pond with fish in the backyard and he can come in and go out as he pleases. He’s king of his castle!

Fred has a big yard to play in with lots of wildlife to play with. He's a happy, bright-eyed boy!

Have you traveled with a pet? Have you ever adopted a foreign pet or lived abroad with a pet? Tell me about your experience in the comments below!

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How I Ended up Adopting a Spanish Cat

P.S. You might also enjoy 6 Unexpected and Surprising Things I Learned While Living in Spain or Discovering the White Villages of Andalucia

2 thoughts on “How I Ended Up Adopting a Spanish Cat

    1. Aww I love to hear that you foster kittens at home…it’s the sign of a beautiful and good person! I was definitely a sucker for Fred but he was worth it all! 🙂

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