The Cat Report (W.Sept 17th)

The arrival of LEGO our new three-legged 'tripod cat' and DEXI brought us up to a full house again: ten cats. But Dexi got adopted before I even met her, leaving us with nine and, by the end of my shift this morning, back down to eight.

Started the morning with walks for LEGO (his first walk, I think -- he objected to the collar but found the exploring rather interesting), SMITH / 'Perry'-the-Winkle (who humored me), PHOENIX (who was alarmed but tried not to show it), and MOLINNI (who mistook the glass wall for a door. Twice. Only her dignity suffered).

Back in the room, I discovered that LEGO loves to put himself in a box with catnip and claim it for all his own. He's very friendly with people (myself, visitors, everybody) but hisses when he sees any cat approaching. I think this is not just because his missing leg forces him to stand his ground but that he's the youngest and smallest cat in the room, as well as the only male. He was quite interested in the whole cleaning-up-a-cube business, and supervised closely. A great little cat; despite his injury I think he'll find  home quickly.

Little SMITH [Perry] wanted to go high and then wanted to burrow under not just the pink blanket but under the foam mini-mattress beneath it. She was very pleased with herself when, with a little judicious help from me, she succeeded.  She's been having a lot of trouble lately, throwing up on everybody's shift but mine over the last eight or nine days, so I bought some cat-grass first thing that morning on my way into the PetsMart and put it in her cage with her -- my thought being that if she needed to throw up she might as well do it the old fashioned way, by eating a little grass first. And that by giving her the grass as soon as I arrived there'd be a good chance it'd do its good work before I left. Turns out Cher and Shari arrived to take her up to Arlington for the folks there to see if they can find out what's behind the vomiting (stress? or something physically wrong?).  Hope they'll be able to help her and we'll soon see her back at the cat room in Tukwila. Poor Smith: abandoned by her owner after twelve years so they could have a new kitten instead. Some people . . .

The LITTLE SISTERS (Little Pants and Little Feet) are still shy but came out more, and enjoyed joining in games. They're beginning to suspect that Lego's hisses don't mean they have to run away but just circumvent him. The bolder of the two enjoyed a roll in the catnip.

MAEBE and BUXTER were majestic and mellow, each atop her own preferred cat-stand at opposite ends of the room. Buxter enjoyed snoozing, being petted, and snoozing some more. Maebe enjoyed games -- any game anyone else was playing, she wanted to play too, but without having to move from her comfy spot (what my wife and I call a Lazy Predator).

TAWNY stayed in the first hour or so I was there, then came out and explored a little, played some, and rolled in catnip with great enthusiasm. She and Molinni no longer seem to like the bench -- not sure why. Her back-up place is the mid-level of the cat-stand by the cabinet (between Phoenix below and Buxter above).  She lets me pet her a little now, sometimes.

MOLINNI is standoffish as usual, but calm and well-behaved. She's been here long enough that she knows what she wants; the only things that throw her is other cats sometimes getting in the way of her plans and my wanting to pet her (she would Prefer Not To). She did get quite interested in a game, and took her turn politely.

PHOENIX was her usual quiet self: came out, went directly to rondel, slept curled up in rondel, reluctantly went back in at end of shift. It's not a v. exciting routine, but seems to work for her. Maybe I shd add a petting session for her while she's in her favorite place and see if she likes it.

Great, great, great news that Mr. Scruffs finally got adopted, after nine and a half months (most of it at our cat-room in Tukwila). A happy ending for a great cat who had to wait far too long for his turn to come around, but is enjoying his new home at last.
--John R.