The Cat Report (W.12/16-15)

With poor Sams and Sugar back at the main shelter to get treatment for their colds, and the recent string of adoptions (CoCo came and went without my ever seeing her), we had just three cats in the cat-room this morning: ZOE GIRL (white and black, fluffy), Mr. DERMOT (fluffy black tuxedo cat), and newcomer FLUFFY (a sort of cream-colored tortoiseshell with very intense blue eyes).  

I started out by offering Zoe and Dermot walks, but both were too scared of the Big Room Outside and asked to come back inside immediately. Oddly enough, Dermot seemed particularly worried at the sound of birds in the distance (they're going to get me!).

Back in the room Zoe settled on the cat-stand near the cabinet while Mr. Dermot moved around a lot. At first he stayed near the door — sometimes on the floor, sometimes on a cat-stand, before shifting to Up High in a box on the cagetops (he knows all about using the steps). Before going up there Dermot let me put him in my lap at one point and purred. I discovered he has dirty ears and cleaned one of them for him, which he didn’t appreciate. He also has a sore on his chin that we’ll need to keep an eye on. Dermot loves games of all sorts, but seems to like feather games best. At one point I had the feathers on a fishing pole swinging back and forth between Zoe at one end of the room and Dermot at the other both batting at it when it came by. But I think his favorite was crunching down on the peacock feather, which is now somewhat worse for wear.

As for Zoe, she sometimes played and sometimes snoozed, sometimes purred and sometimes batted away the extended hand — in short, a typical Zoe-morning. She’s no fan of Dermot but is willing to ignore his existence for the most part, content with a hiss or growl if he gets too close. Her favorite game turned out once again to be the string game, which had her running back and forth the length of the cat-room as well as tearing up her favorite cat-stand in hot pursuit. With Fluffy hidden behind her blankets and Dermot hard to spot up high in his box, Zoe got most of the attention from passers-by.

Our newest arrival, Miss Fluffy, is very shy. She stayed in all morning, hidden under the blankets in her cube but eventually let me re-arrange things so she could peep out without being too exposed. Twice she came over to her food dish and ate a little while being petted. She was adamant about not coming out, so I straightened and cleaned her cube around her. Later on she expressed an interest in joining in with games, so long as it didn’t involve coming out of her cube. She likes the feathers best, but thought string games good too; her favorite seemed to be the gopher game. Interesting to note that Fluffy perked up when Willie arrived for the early afternoon shift and looked much more alert and confident.

heath issues: none, other than Dermot’s ears, and Dermot’s chin.

—John R.



P.S.: Not having written up or posted a cat report for a while, here are the names of other cats who have passed through the Cat Room since I posted last: Mr. Apollo, Lucee, Suri Reese, Hopkins, Grimsley (aka 'Grimsley Addams'), Tazz, Trouble, & Thumper; Louie Louie, Houdini ('Houdin'), James Dean ('Dean'), Miss Timmie, Opus ('Opie'), Purdy Samms & Sugar Baby; Chase & Deuce.


I'm particularly happy that Mr. Apollo, a majestic fluffy grey cat with a lot of presence, found a home after what seemed a long wait; came down to see him one last time when he came by Banfield (the vet's inside PetsMart) to get his checkup a few days after his adoption. Here's hoping that it's Miss Zoe-Girl's turn soon. Also that Samms and Sugar, a bonded pair (Samms is the ten-year-old son of thirteen-year-old Sugar), feel better soon; Samms had been an enthusiastic walker when he first arrived, so his disinterest in going out last week, along with Sugar's lethargy, was a bad sign. It's hard for cats to be looking for a home at that age, so hoping they're soon well and back in the adoption room in hopes of making that right connection with just the right person.

--JDR