Abandonment has many forms

Abandonment has many forms

Abandonment has many forms. It’s not always the person who, without remorse, leaves their cat on the street or drops them off at a shelter with the excuse of not being able to care for them. There is an even sadder, more unjust kind of abandonment: that of elderly cats who, after a lifetime of love and companionship, are left alone when their human dies.

It breaks our hearts to see a cat, used to the warmth of a home, to the rhythms of the household, to the voice and affection of their human, left waiting in vain. First restless, then confused, and finally in a painful silence. Because cats feel absence too. They don’t understand death the way we do, but they understand that someone who was their whole world is no longer there. And they search. And they wait.

And when someone finally decides to “solve the problem,” it’s rarely done with the care and tenderness these cats deserve. In the best-case scenario, they are taken to a shelter. In the worst, they are abandoned on the street — with no understanding that a house cat doesn’t know how to survive out there. They don’t hunt, they don’t defend themselves, they don’t understand the cold of the outdoors. And the saddest part: the older they are, the less wanted they become.

Senior cats in adoption programs are the forgotten ones. Kittens get adopted in the blink of an eye. Young adults still have a chance. But a cat that’s ten, twelve, fifteen years old… who adopts them? And yet, they are the most loyal, the noblest, the most grateful.

At El Salón de Mi Casa CAT CAFE, we refuse to look the other way. We will not allow our cats to end up abandoned. When someone adopts from our CAT CAFE, they don’t do it just out of excitement. They do it with responsibility. We require every adoption to include a designated “heir of the bond” — someone who commits to caring for the cat in case the original adopter passes away or can no longer look after them.

But we also know life is unpredictable. And that goodwill is sometimes not enough. That’s why, as a last resort, we take responsibility for every cat adopted through us. If a cat adopted from our café is left without a home, they come back to us. Not because we want them back — but because we want to guarantee their well-being until the very end.

It hurts to see how many senior cats are left with no one. How many are discarded when they need us the most. Every story of a loyal cat ending up in a cage or on the street weighs heavily on our hearts. But in our CAT CAFE, that’s not going to happen.

If you’re looking to adopt a cat in Bilbao, if you truly want to give a feline a home, come and get to know our philosophy. Here, adoption is not a transaction — it’s a lifelong commitment. Because a cat is not an object or a whim. They are a companion, a member of the family. And their love does not deserve to be orphaned.

Adopt responsibly. Because their story should never end in abandonment.

Marta RO