The Cat Report (W.2/13-13)

With the transfer of Mr. Niko (hope he's settling in well in his new room), the adoption of Stache (yay, Stache. a great mellow cat who deserved a great home), and a bunch of new arrivals, we're back up to a full house: ten cats. Our two veterans are Edna and Lemura, and maybe Pascale (she's been here about a month or so). Genesis (black/orange mix) and Katniss (orange/black w. white face, bib, and paws) are pretty new. And five more are brand new: Tattoo (a dark tabby) and Kelvis (solid black tomcat), both of whom I think arrived the day Niko left, plus three more since then (I think just within the last day or two: Silly Sam (a big old yellow tomcat, very mellow), Grant (a sleek grey fellow who demands much attention), and Butterscoth (a beautiful fluffy orange cat with huge wide-open eyes).

Our demographics now skew older than they did last week, with two senior cats (Sam and Tattoo, both 13) and two more middle-aged cats (Genesis and Grant, both 8); the rest are relatively young (between 1 and 5). 

We also have another survivor cat whose owner passed away (Grant), like Genesis, and a cat whose owner had an accident and cd no longer take care of him (Sam). And then there's Butterscotch whose owner thought she'd been eaten by a predator before bringing her to the shelter (some backstory there I cdnt quite follow). 

Pretty much everybody came out, except Butterscotch, who only did so briefly and reluctantly when I needed to clean her cage and was desperately grateful to go back in again. We'll have to make sure she doesn't become another Mr. Niko. Very gentle, though, and enjoys being petted. Otherwise stares out at you with those big worried eyes. 

Edna is coming out of her shell: she came out on her own, later shifted to what's become her new favorite place (atop the cat-stand by the cabinet). She likes best being (1) out of her cage, (2) atop a cat-stand, and (3) burrowed under a blanket (though apt to swat at me if I try to help with the blanket). She's emphatic about not wanted to be touched or petted, but otherwise much improved over just a few weeks ago. Now if we can just get her to accept being petted, a cat this beautiful shd be able to find a home in no time -- though that may be a pretty big if.

Lemura was mellow: spent much of the morning atop the cages, then came down and enjoyed the cat-stands. Didn't need an intervention today, for which we were both no doubt grateful. 

Pascale spent almost the whole morning out of her cage, which is great. The place she liked best was inside one of the baskets atop the bench. She pretty much stays out of everyone's way but doesn't let the occasional hiss scare her off for long. Slow but steady progress.

Katniss and Tattoo both went up high along with Lemura. Tattoo shared the cage-tops with Lemura, peaceably enough, while Katniss claimed the cabinet top. Didn't pet Tattoo much but she enjoyed the occasional attention. Katniss likewise, though I got to pet her more since it's easier to reach the cabinet-top than the cage-tops. I'd been afraid Jane might want to go up there and wondered how I'd ever get her down, but she didn't express any interest in that at all, which is just as well.

Little Genesis loves attention -- she settled atop the cat-stand nearest the door -- and objects to sharing it with any other cat. Sweet, but demanding of her rights. And altogether adorable: one of her favorite tricks is to sit atop a cat-stand and leave an arm dangling down. The General (Grant) similarly wanted much attention and took it ill when any of it got diverted to someone else. He made a tour of inspection of the room, never quite settling in any one spot. He simply cdn't understand why I'd want to pet any other cat when I had him. Oddly enough, he'd buried a toy mouse in his litter-box -- don't know what that was all about.  Sam found a spot he liked -- inside the other basket on the bench, facing towards Pascale's -- and stayed there: happy to be petted, happy to just hang out. Think maybe his name shd have been Sunny Sam, he's such a mellow cat. 

Kelvis got atop one or the other of the baskets (think it was the one Sam was in). He also had a short walk, just to see if he really wanted out or was just interested in the door, and a longer one after the others had all gone in. A charismatic fellow, very friendly, quite vocal. Be careful when walking him, though: something spooked him at one point and he suddenly took off, got away from me, and led me on a merry chase for about ten seconds, until he got curious and stopped to examine something. After that he had to go back inside. Didn't hold it against me, though. At one point put him up in the cabinet on the shelf with the blankets, and he loved it: rather than burrowing in he laid out stretched to full length with his head against one; wd have made quite a picture. He also explored a bit and avoided confrontations.

Health concerns: none, really: no throw-up or sneezes or wheezes while I was there. All ate their little spoonful of wet catfood at the end of the morning. Some of the newer cats didn't seem to have eaten or drunk yet, but don't think that's unusual for the first day or so.

We do have a vocal group of cats right now: the cries 'let me out, let me out' when I first came to the cat-room were many and beseeching. 

A few visitors, all of whom stayed outside the room. We did have someone come by who said she used to volunteer here several years back, before moving to Olympia, but I forgot to ask for a name. 

Note: the contributions box is getting full; we need it exchanged for an empty.

--John R.

UPDATE (2/14-12)
It occurred to me, belatedly, that folks might want to see pictures of the cats mentioned herein. Here's the link to Purrfect Pal's website and the Tukwila cat room; click on each cat's name to get a mini-bio of whats known about him or her, and then on the mini-photoes to get a larger picture.

http://www.purrfectpals.org/CatsByLocation.asp?fid=51