The Cat Report, and a cartoon

So, here's a brief Cat Report I wrote up last week following my session with them Wednesday morning (the 30th), followed by a cartoon I wanted to share.

Happy to report that things are much calmer in the cat room this morning. Zoe wanted petting, then went up atop her cat-stand by the cabinet and ignored all the other cats for the next three hours. Flurry stayed in her cage with the door open, coming forward to be petted several times, and enjoyed playing with her feather. The Boys (Myles & Billy) came out and explored the ground level; Myles went everywhere and flirted with every visitor, while Billy investigated the possibilities of various hiding holes. I had the big gloves out and ready for use, but they weren’t needed. 

Zoe did kick up a fuss when I made her go back in her cage at the end of my shift; aside from that she was well behaved other than a tendancy to be a bit standoffish (swatting when disturbed). After all the rest had gone in she had a string game and the room all to herself for about fifteen to twenty minutes, dashing back and forth in pursuit of yarn: think the one-on-one time with her favorite game did her good (we did the same thing last week, and she seemed to enjoy it just as much then).  

A fellow volunteer came by and gave Myles a walk, and I gave him another: he was a bit nervous but did pretty well. I offered Billy a walk, somewhat to his surprise, but he didn’t stay out long: too much noise and scarey stuff, he indicated.

Flurry was very sweet, grooming me while for my part I cleaned up her eyes. She loves canned catfood* and the feather game (a peacock feather swished along the ceiling or side(s) of her cage). She spent a lot of the morning sitting atop her little stand, looking v. regal.  Query: is her eyesight okay? Thought she might be really near-sighted: she seems not to track on things further away than the edge of her cage. Or maybe she can see but just ignores everything outside.

Everyone got a healthy dose of catnip, which went down v. well indeed.

—John R.

*they all did, something I forgot to write down in the record book.

P.S.: Happy to hear that things are going well with Mr. Dermot. Congratulations to Linus for finding himself a home of his own after all this time. Also glad to hear about Brie — it took me a while to figure her out back when we had her in our cat-room, until I realized that all she want was to have things her own way. Commiseration for poor Houdini; hope he finds another and better home to make up for the one that didn’t turn out.

UPDATE: turned out Brie's adoption didn't stick: her new owner brought her back and un-adopted her after just three days. Poor Brie.

So much for the slice-of-life of specific cats in a specific adoption room of a local no-kill shelter; I also wanted to share the following cartoon, which gives a wider picture. And yes, just about all the reasons it gives for why cats wind up in shelters I can confirm from cats who's passed through the Tukwila cat room during the time I've volunteered here.



http://www.breakingcatnews.com/breaking-cat-news-special-report-shelter-cats/


Or, to sum it up another way: people can be incredibly thoughtless and lacking empathy, and people can be thoughtful and kind.  Most cat-shelters are started by the latter trying to limit the damage caused by the former.

--JDR