Sven the Sweetheart is Pet of The Month

About Sven the Sweetheart is Pet of The Month

All About Me and My Unique Personality: Hi, I’m Sven! Do you like food and pats? Are you quiet and gentle? Me too! We’re gonna get along great. My hobbies include breakfast, snuggles, playtime, treats, pats, napping, and dinner. Calm quiet homes without little children and other pets: that’s my happy place. And treeeats. Got any treats?

I love pats around my head, neck and tummy. I have a wonderful strong purr and I purr a lot. I’m a happy guy. I’d love to hanging out with you on the couch and sometimes I even climb on laps to get the best pats. If it’s alright with you I might sleep on your bed.

My daily play routine is important to me. All I need is someone to wiggle a string around the room so I can chase it. It’s the best thing. If I don’t get my 15 minute play time almost every day, I might start to pounce on your ankles or gently nibble on your toes as a reminder!

I’m a bit tubby these days, and my paws are big so everyone thinks I’m going to grow up into a big sweet boofy boy.

While I generally prefer to be in the same room as you, I don’t need your attention every minute. I’m ok being completely alone in the house while you go to work. If you're busy with something I’m comfortable wandering off to have a nap or to play with a toy. No problem.

Surprise quiz!
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* Vacuum cleaner? It’s a bit scary. I’ll take cover until it’s gone.
* Being picked up? Ok if I know you, and I’ll probably even purr. But please let me go if I’m not in the mood.
* Food? I love it.
* Litter? In care (over a month) perfect gold class litter user. No accidents. In my old home I got severely stressed over a long period due to environmental factors, it escalated to me peeing around the house. Once removed from that environment, I’m happy and calm, and zero litter problems!
* Climbing? A little, not so much.
* Plants? I like to chomp them, and most indoor plants are toxic to cats so plant lovers will need to adjust for this.
* Scratching? I only scratch scratching posts. I haven’t shown any interest in scratching anything else.

My Ideal Home: I'm looking for a gentle human family with no little children and no dogs. My ideal family will have time to pat me and play with me daily. A couch-loving homebody family in a calm household would suit me very well.

While I’ve had no issues in foster care, I can get anxious. It would help if my family had cat experience so they can spot early signs of stress if they start to appear.

For my welfare and that of the wildlife in the neighborhood, I must be homed safely 100% indoors forever. That means a home with secure windows and doors, and screens in good condition. A full enclosed cat run is ok if you have one but I don’t know if I would use it. It’s unlikely I’ll be suitable for harness training.

What is Known About My Background: In January 2020 I was adopted as a 10week old kitten by a loving family. After several months it was clear something was making me increasingly stressed. It escalated until I started peeing in places that were not the litter box.

The vet gave me a clean bill of health, so even though they didn’t have any other cat experience, my family tried to tackle possible behavioural factors. They tried everything they knew of, with no luck. The result was that I was in a crate for several months and they knew it was no life for me. It must be something environmental - maybe the combination of indoor dogs and toddler? Eventually the family made the difficult decision that the best thing for me would be to try a different environment. Very upset, they chose to surrender me into HAR’s care.

I moved into a quiet HAR foster home with no other animals and only one human. To everyone’s delight and relief, I started to feel better right away. I have had no behavioural problems in care, and have been a wonderful smoochy companion for my foster mum. She says I’m a beautiful snuggly good boy!

I’ve shown perfect litter tray use since arriving in care, not a single accident in over a month. Within 48 hours I was happily roaming the whole house and purring for cuddles and pats. On night three I started sleeping on my foster mum’s bed and have done it most nights since.

I’m very glad to be feeling better, and hope that I can find a quiet home and quiet family to love me forever.

My family took good care of me - I’m microchipped, vaccinated, desexed, and up to date with all my flea and worming treatments. I have all the paperwork from my healthcare. I’m even lifetime registered, so all I need now is my forever family.

How Do I Interact with Kids, Dogs, Cats and Other Pets: As I haven’t been around other cats since I was a kitten, I don’t know how to make cat friends. I immediately clashed with a friendly male cat I met in care. While I sort of got along with a little friendly female foster kitty at first, my anxiety escalated and within a month we both ended up annoying each other and getting into fights.

Dogs seem to cause me stress, and are likely to have been a factor in my behavioural problems in my first home. I sometimes take cover if I hear the big dog bark next door.

The energy and love of one toddler is likely to have contributed to my stress, so it’s best if I am not in a family with small children. I should be ok with quiet gentle older children (say ~10 and older?) who can respect my space.