Tue 16 Mar 2010

The Bambinos’ Bambinos’ Birthday

Posted in Cats, Good news at 21:05

Last June, the Furry Bambinos of northern Ohio took in two kittens to foster. Well, not long after that, kittens Cookie and Caramel found a permanent home all right — with the Furry Bambinos.

The former fosters marked their 1st birthday earlier this month, and to celebrate, their human staff made a generous contribution to the Humane Society of the United States. In addition, they held a drawing for gift certificates to The Animal Rescue Site store, and Caramel herself pulled the name of “It’s all Good.”

On behalf of our Good Cats, Pat and I want to thank Caramel and her human staff for this gift, and we wish all the Bambinos many more happy years together!

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Fri 5 Feb 2010

One day at Tabby’s Place: Post #6 of 7

Posted in Cats, Good memories, Good news, Tabby's Place, Winner of the Day at 0:05

Not long after I started volunteering at Tabby’s Place, I began carrying a cloth hand towel everywhere with me during my Friday shifts, and for more reasons than one. The primary reason, of course, is to wipe up messes when and where they’re found. But when there are no messes, it’s still useful as a pillow when I’m lying on the floor.

And what am I doing lying on the floor? Because lying down is just the best way to approach some cats. I learned that at home from Lizzie; when I stand next to her, looming over her, she runs and hides. But she will approach me if I am lying down, so I’m guessing that it removes the size disadvantage and she feels less intimidated.

That knowledge has been useful during socializing sessions with Ali, who usually – not always, but usually – makes herself comfortable under a couch in Adoption Room #3. So I lie on my left side, say hello to Miss Ali-Ali-In-Free, then reach under the couch with my right hand. I gently scratch along her neck for a little while, then rub my thumb on her forehead in way I hope resembles another cat licking her. She responds to the scratching, stretching her neck and leaning toward my hand, but not as much to the thumb-licking, although she does accept it without walking away.

Now through most of this, outgoing Cali has crawled over my outstretched legs and seated herself on my hipbone, purring, as though to say, “Why bother with her when you can love on me?”

And I will, I will, but a mutual friend has joined us, and I especially want to spend time with him.

Angela has written on the Tabby’s Place blog about Webster, first the gray tabby’s grieving when he arrived some months ago, and then the way he has opened up to the humans there. There was a post just a few weeks ago on this quiet corner of cyberspace that showed Webster’s progress.

And it was sometime in December, while lying on the floor of Suite A after socializing with another cat down there, I closed my eyes just for a moment, or maybe two — you might be surprised how comfortable a towel pillow can be sometimes — and I opened them again to find Webster sniffing around my legs and feet, his natural feline curiosity returning and his grief receding into the past.

So on Friday I rolled onto my back, put the towel behind my head, and shared some good Quality Time with Webster. Sometimes I call him Shwebster, using the all-purpose “sh-” prefix like Mooch the cat refers to Shnelly and Shtinky Puddin’ from the comic strip Mutts. But mostly, he’s just plain Webster, as in, “Webster, you are such a good cat.”

TOMORROW: Time to go home, but there’s one last good surprise.

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Thu 4 Feb 2010

One day at Tabby’s Place: Post #5 of 7

Posted in Cats, Good for a laugh, Good news, Tabby's Place at 0:05

It’s 20 after noon. I’ve been at Tabby’s Place for close to 3 and a half hours, and am starting to think of getting on the road for the drive home, so on this day I skip Suite A (farthest left among the suites on the virtual tour map). I don’t often do that, because this suite, the current residence of several cats on weight control diets (did someone say “Fat Cats”? For shame…), is where you can find the ebony Sarafina, who purrs, rolls and twists in pleasure whenever I pet her. I’ve stretched out the process of calling her by her name, probably due to the extra time spent with her over the weeks, and what began as “Sara-Sarafina-Fina”, is now up to “Sara-Sara-Sara-Sarafina-Fina-Fina-Fina,” fading in from the beginning, reaching a whispering crescendo in the middle and fading back out at the end like an echo chamber. (Every so often it comes out instead “Sara-Sarasota-Sota” and “Sara-Sara-Sara-Saratoga-Toga-Toga-Toga!“)

Reluctantly I bypass Suite A and walk down the hall to the three small Specialty Care Rooms, which are also known as Adoption Rooms.

In Room 1: Steve, who used to share the room with Chandler and Monica before their recent adoption, now has new roommates, a trio of creamsicle kittens named Marigold, Petunia and Zinnia. All of them appear anxious, and Steve in particular is looking for a hiding place from this intruder, so I back out and close the door.

Room 2: Half of the population greets me warmly. That number does not include Trey (alias “Dessert Trey” and “Trey Bien”), who is napping, and Cypress, seen on a couch earlier this morning, but who has returned to her accustomed spot, crouched toward the rear of a cubby in a cat tree. However, Angelo climbs down from the cat tree and approaches me, joining My Good Friend Max on the couch. Max is not usually this mellow, so the photos here are as much for documentation of this mood as for preserving this big man cat’s handsome visage…. and his toes.

Several minutes later, I slide next door to Room 3. One of my responsibilities is to help socialize timid Ali, but as I enter she is nowhere to be seen. My guess is that she is probably back under the couch, and I start to sit on the floor to check whether my not-exactly wild guess is correct…

… and suddenly I’m looking straight at two cats curled together in a basket next to — not under — the couch: the more-social, but still-reclusive Eloise and, amazingly, the painfully shy Lady Grey. (Later, I asked Jonathan and Angela if anyone had ever reported seeing Lady Grey anywhere except under the couch, and they both answered no.)

If you’ve been reading this series or this blog very long, you can guess how much I wanted to get that picture of them. And at the same time, I knew that the only slim chance I’d have would be to move slowly, so as not to alarm them.

I began inching my right hand toward the camera in my pocket, barely moving, but it was still too much; both lady cats immediately got up and scurried back under the couch.

But Lady Grey was out! It’s a start…

TOMORROW: Being sociable, and plenty of unmixed emotions.

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Sat 9 Jan 2010

Good Things: Progress

Posted in Cats, Caturday, Good news, Tabby's Place, The Good things in life at 0:05

About a month ago, there was a photo posted here that showed Ali and Eloise, two timid cats at Tabby’s Place, in the spot where they usually could be found during a day — hiding underneath a couch. Here’s how they looked then:

And here they are in pictures taken yesterday morning, after frequent individual socializing sessions with dedicated Tabby’s Place staff and volunteers: