Sometimes one of our rescue cats is so painfully shy that it makes OUR hearts hurt, and even though eye-catching Irene was housed indoors for nine months prior to her arrival, she is still incredibly timid.  Initially she was picked up as a stray out near Fruitridge and 13 Mile Rd. NW in May of 2021 and spayed as part of a TNR program, but when it was discovered that she wasn’t feral—just afraid—her rescuer Cheryl took her home to socialize her.   However, even with the best of intentions and efforts, Irene preferred to lay low and out of arms reach, so to speak;  since I estimate she was born in the late summer of 2015, she had many years under her belt with what we suspect as little to no real human interaction.  It is a shame, as she really is a gentle girl who desperately needs an environment that is less boisterous than ours at Crash’s, as she tends to keep her distance and perch herself up as high as possible until things settle down.  When all is quiet, she will make her way down to ground level and wander about, and during her weekly cat checks she is easy to handle and doesn’t scurry off immediately there after, but she most definitely needs a home where she can come out of her shell at her own pace.  Placing her with another shy feline would be ideal—someone she can chum around with who is also a calming, confident presence.   She will have to go into a home with another cat, as too much time spent alone has made her wary of getting too involved with the others, though she is slowly acclimating.  She has been extremely healthy, other than needing 2 teeth extracted upon intake, and honestly she is extremely low maintenance;  as long as we can find someone who is patient and kind, who has no expectations for her, and will allow her to determine her own comfort level, we feel Irene will be content and continue to let her guard down.