I adopted Jumi in Istanbul in October 2023. Bringing him to Germany took a total of seven months. The reason was that the rabies vaccine cannot be given before the third month, and after that, the blood sample, test results, and waiting period take around three more months. So according to EU procedures, I can say that Jumi truly became part of our life in April 2024, when he was seven months old. I will also tell this process in a separate post.

The reason we decided to adopt a second cat was that we felt Jumi was getting bored. So around November last year, I started actively checking the Instagram, Facebook, and websites of animal shelters in and around Düsseldorf.

That was when I came across Coco, who had once been found covered in mud on the street and is now whiter than a marshmallow. He was a British Shorthair, around one year old, and still very much a baby. At the shelter, he was sharing a room with six or seven other cats, but he was by far the most timid one. Who knows what he had gone through while living on the street before he was found. We will never fully know. But the fear he carried was, to me, a clear sign of how traumatized he must have been.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Jumi & Coco (@jumijetluv)

After seeing his post on Tierheim Hilden’s Facebook page, I contacted the shelter by email and got the first appointment. Then I went for a second visit. During that second meeting, I filled out a form about the conditions in which I would keep the cat, including questions such as how I had secured the balcony, if there was one, and other details about the home environment.

After receiving a positive response, I booked a third appointment in January, this time to bring Coco home. At the time of adoption, you pay a little over 100 euros to the shelter. In return, they hand over the Tasso registration and the local pet passport.

Right after that, I transferred the Tasso registration into my name. And just like that, Coco became the newest member of the Jumijetluv family.

Jumi was not very happy about it at first, but now that he joins in the chasing games, it seems he has grown to like Coco too, even if in his own slightly distant way.