In December 2020, Angela Rafuse began posting a merry “Merry Christmas” video of herself and her calico cat Mackenzie to her family.
“But before I got to that part, Mackenzie scratched my face… very dramatic,” she said. “I posted (video) on Facebook and said, ‘Merry Christmas from my killer cat.”
Rafuse’s cousins commented that “this is going viral”, and suggested that she send it to a wider audience. She did and indeed it went viral with over 75,000 views.
“A lot of people have said, ‘what a weird cat. Do you have more videos? ‘ So I started posting different ones during the year. And a lot of people started commenting and saying, ‘Why did you name your cat Mackenzie? Because that’s not a normal name for a cat. So I said, “she’s my grandfather’s cat.”
Rafuse photographed Mackenzie when her grandfather died. When she revealed that information, people started sharing their stories of how their grandparents’ pets ended up in shelters.
“I’ve worked in nonprofits for most of my career, so I’m very used to finding resources for people when they need them,” she says. “I used resources on Google to send them out to these strangers…and nothing existed.”
Rafuse, who works in marketing, said she thinks of pet housing as a simple marketing exercise.
“Those are just marketing cats, and it can be completely virtual. It’s just finding a home. I can do this,” she said. “I don’t know where my confidence comes from because I don’t consider myself a confident person. I actually consider it more or less a divine intervention that I’m like I’m going to start a business. I will call it My grandfather’s cat. “
Some good things come from grief
Rafuse says the story begins in September 2018 when her grandmother passed away.
“She left behind her 13-year-old cat, Mackenzie,” she said. “And then Mackenzie became very attached to my grandfather. My grandparents have been married for nearly 60 years, so after my grandmother died, my grandfather lost his best friend, he lost his life partner. He also slowly started to decline. And within a year he was in the hospital, and we knew there was a time when he wouldn’t come home.”
Mackenzie, aka “Grumpy Mack”. Photo courtesy of Angela Rafuse
Mackenzie was 14 years old then and still living in her grandparents’ house while Rafuse and her parents were taking care of the aggressive cat.
“But she needed a home,” Rafuse said.
And Mackenzie is a big, cranky cat that is quick to stroke if she’s unhappy.
“I thought she was going to spend the rest of her life in a shelter, and no one would adopt her,” Rafuse said. “In my family, everyone travels a lot or has pets of their own, all these very good reasons that everyone in our family thinks no one can adopt her. it”.
“I was moving from Toronto to Halifax at the time, and I just casually said to my dad on the phone, ‘What about Mackenzie? And he said, “We’re going to find a good home for her and I said, no, I’ll take her.”
When Rafuse moved home, she and her father went to their grandparents’ house to pick up Mackenzie.
“My father is a welder. He had welding gloves on to use them to get her into a carrier,” she said. “That’s the unfriendly way of a Mackenzie cat. And we brought her back to my parents’ house.”
Since her parents had two elderly cats at the time, Rafuse and Mackenzie moved down to the basement. She was about to move into an apartment but then the pandemic hit so she and Mackenzie stayed.
“Over the next year, I really got to know Mackenzie and I were working from home and we developed a bit of a friendship, like we went there… she hit me less, and she was also building. build a relationship with my parents, more than that with my dad. “
When Rafuse’s parents’ cat died, Mackenzie was allowed to run away from home.
“The first time I took her upstairs, she was just screaming the whole time,” Rafuse said. “She was just scared and that was all. She’s just scared, and she has to be with someone she trusts.”
Fast-forward and Mackenzie now runs the family business.
“She really loves my dad,” Rafuse said. “They have a very special relationship, and she is also the last of his parents, so she is very special to him. “
Rafuse often visits “Mack Grumpy” and the two even enjoy outdoor adventures together, from kayaking to hiking.
More special release date
Before Rafuse started My Grandfather’s Cat, she thought of it as a small side project. She already has a logo and everything is set to go official. She just needs to pick a date.
“It must have been a memorable day to launch this and force me to launch this too,” she said. “And my grandfather’s birthday is a few weeks away, and he loves his birthday, and I can’t think of a better day than his birthday to launch this.”
She had planned to premiere everything on May 18, 2021, which is her grandfather’s 85th birthday.
“I got everything ready and launched it, and I haven’t slept a full night since,” she said. “We just snowballed and it was unbelievable.”
So far My Grandfather’s Cat has placed 50 cats with new families.
Pets for adoption are posted on social media. Photo courtesy of My Grandfather’s Cat
Volunteers are the binder
When an elderly or terminally ill person needs to find a home for their pet — dog or cat — they contact website.
“I call them, talk to them, make sure they’re a good fit for our service, then I match them up with a volunteer,” says Rafuse. “We have more than 15 volunteers across Canada, all of whom are amazing women.”
The volunteer will talk to the person, learn more about the situation, and get information about the cat.
“People love to talk about their animals, so sometimes these calls can last up to an hour with people just describing their pets,” says Rafuse. “Then volunteers take that information, write profiles and get some photos, working with seniors to ensure their animal composite profile.”
That profile is then sent through email lists, social media, and the My Grandfather’s Cat website.
“Once someone is interested, they sign up and the volunteer reviews them, and we do everything through phone calls so the volunteer will schedule a time to talk to these people. Just learn more about the family, their circumstances,” Rafuse said.
Since many seniors with cats are seniors, it’s important to make sure the home is a quiet place.
A happy ending. Photo courtesy of My Grandfather’s Cat
“If volunteers think they are suitable for animals, they pass their information on to seniors and we let them check if they see fit,” says Rafuse. “Sometimes it’s a phone call, sometimes they like to meet at a coffee shop first. “
Rafuse says about 95% of the time she works with adults’ children or children rather than with seniors themselves.
“They are adults like 40, 50, 60 years old who are working to help parents move into retirement,” she said. “So they are there throughout the process. They can meet and greet with the animal. I let them do whatever they see fit to determine what is the best home for their animals, then ultimately they choose who they want to adopt their animals with.”
No service fees and no adoption fees.
“It’s all done through kindness and compassion,” Rafuse said. “And we’re funded through the generosity of donors and through merchandise sales.”
A nurturer cannot avoid failure
@ angrafus3 Reply @ _saraswati81_ he is an adopted son from @My Grandfather’s Cat ♬ original sound – Angela Rafuse
Transportation is arranged between the senior and the adoptive family. An experience Rafuse had early on helped her decide that My Grandfather’s Cat would not transport cats.
She had just launched My Grandfather’s Cat when she received a call from a man saying he was moving and couldn’t find anyone to take his 14-year-old barn cat away.
Rafuse said: “He planned to kill him.
Rafuse couldn’t let that happen, so she picked up the ginger cat with the unusual name, “Bore” and brought it home.
“He was just the sweetest, most lovable, most cuddly guy,” she said.
Within three days, she found Bore an adopted family and she agreed to drive him to his new home, a 90-minute drive away.
“And when I took him there, they changed their mind and decided they didn’t want him anymore,” she said. “So then I locked this big fat 14-year-old cat in my car, pulled over to the side of the road, called out to my mom, and rolled my eyes. And I thought, what am I going to do? This will not work. I will be stuck with all these cats. “
She brought Bore home again and My Grandfather’s Cat found him yet another adoptive family. But they called two days later and said he wouldn’t get off the couch.
Rafuse, who decided “Bore” was more of a “Bo”, returned to the house and when she called Bo’s name, he stepped right out from under the couch and snuggled into her arms.
Bo chose his family.
“I feel it’s a divine intervention, that this is the best case scenario,” Rafuse said. “So I decided to adopt, and now he’s a lot like me, my little orange best friend. He’s not small, but he’s my orange best friend. “
Snugly Bo now has its own social media presence.
The future is cats
Rafuse emphasizes that the service is available across Canada to anyone who is unable to care for their pet due to health reasons.
“I just wanted to make sure that was clear,” she said. “Basically, you can’t care for your animal because you’re at the end of life, no matter what age you are.”
She said she is constantly asked if the service is coming to the US, but until she can expand to the entire US, she doesn’t want to expand.
“From personal knowledge and experience and reading case studies… the chapters don’t work. Everyone starts to enjoy, but then the chapters fall apart,” she said. “So one day we will expand to the US, but I need to make sure all of our ducks are in a continuous state, our service is impeccable. And then we’ll go to America, but when we’re ready. “
Photo courtesy of My Grandfather’s Cat
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