Shelter cats, gray and white

            There is an odd phenomenon that I have noticed over the past ten months as I volunteer at my local animal shelter. We seem to go through periods with many cats of the same or similar coloring: sometimes we have a lot of black cats, sometimes a lot of tabbies, etc. These pictures are of two cats in the same community room, both gray and white. When I took these photos, we also had gray and white kittens and gray and white adult cats in the other community room as well.

            These two handsome fellows are Patches and Pongo. How do I know which is which? Well, looking at these photos... I don't know. The way I tell when I'm there in person is that Patches is smaller and less skeptical of me when I come over to brush him.

            These two are often found lounging separately: Pongo in the windowsill, Patches on a bench across the room from him.  But when they feel like playing they find each other in the middle and the games begin.

            Patches and Pongo were very shy when I first met them. They hid in corners and behind the cat tree, eying me distrustfully and flattening their ears. Pongo was so worried that the best profile photo I was able to take of him came out with those flattened ears and wide-eyed stare. But as often happens, they slowly came out of their shells. I am able to brush them now, and I do that every Saturday. They do shed a lot, but then again it is spring. They seem to like being brushed now that I am not such a frightening apparition to them.

            They make an adorable pair, but they do not have to go to the same home. I could not resist taking these photos when the opportunity presented itself, though. I hope they get adopted soon. I hope that someone who thinks gray and white is the nicest pattern for a cat comes in and falls in love with them.

Shelter cats, Bella

            I volunteer two days a week at my local animal shelter. I am lucky enough to have a No-Kill shelter near me. No matter which way you slice it, re-homing animals is a tough job. But I like to do what I can to help the critters feel more comfortable during their time in the shelter. I focus on the cats, brushing them, petting them, cleaning their litter boxes, and getting to know them. I try to give them a voice by writing what I've learned about each of them and posting it with their information card at the shelter. I don't have enough energy to do this for every cat, but I try to help the ones who have been there the longest.
            I also take lots of pictures. Each cat gets one picture for his or her profile on the shelter website, so we try to pick the best one. But then I often have leftovers - good pictures that didn't show the whole cat, or adorable pictures of the cat yawning that wouldn't be appropriate as The Picture That Defines This Cat. I hate to discard these, so I post some of them to the shelter's Facebook page. Sometimes, though, the cat I just photographed on Saturday gets adopted on Sunday. And then I have these pictures, but no need to post them. It's the best possible news! I love it when that happens. I do still want to share some of my pictures, though.

            This cat got adopted a number of weeks ago. She was a long-time resident at the shelter. Her name was Bella (her new family may have changed it, I'm not sure). Bella was a mad scientist cat. She could open anything, given enough time to work out the latch mechanism. She would open the door of the community room and go flying through the shelter, zigging and zagging and ducking past people's ankles. She never shut the door behind her, either, so then there was a mass exodus of cats who would quite happily go exploring.

            Bella did not always open the door herself. One of her favorite things to do was to wait just inside the door for some hapless potential adopter - especially someone with children - to open the door. Then, Zing! Out she goes. We put a sign on the door warning about her ninja capabilities, but it did no good. Bella could out-dodge even experienced cat people nine times out of ten, especially the first time she met them.

            For a little while, we swapped Bella out of the community room and into a cage in the lobby. We hated to do it, but it was pure mayhem having her letting the other cats out all the time. But no matter, Bella figured out how to open her cage, too. These are the stiff, cranky cages that new volunteers spend a couple of weeks learning how to open and close, so Bella has a learning curve similar to human shelter volunteers.
            Finally, we had to put latches on the outsides of both doors to the community room. Bella still found the occasional (i.e. at least twice a day) opportunity to go gallivanting about the lobby, but it made things a lot more manageable. And just after that, I came in one Saturday to find she had been adopted. Perfect timing! 

Our current household crew

            My home is full of furry creatures. My partner and I are currently living with three cats of our own, and two foster dogs. We recently returned two foster kittens to the SPCA of Hancock County, Maine. These are our beasties:

            Warbear, shorthaired silver tabby. She's about a year old, sleek, shiny, and loves to be snuggled. But... she wishes most of the other critters would go away. She will grudgingly tolerate their presence in her home, if we insist.

            Brenna, longhaired tortoiseshell. She's about two years old, silky, talkative, and loves to be brushed or just hang out nearby. Brenna is a mellow, easy going cat. She hides from new things for about two weeks, and then magically reappears once it seems like everything is safe again. Brenna likes to sing in the stairway, where her voice echoes loudly.

            Wren, longhaired tabby. Wren is about eight years old, and mostly blind. But she is the friendliest cat I've ever met. Anyone can just pick her up and hug her, and she is delighted for the attention. She likes to keep to one or two rooms, and snoozes in the same spot most of the time. She likes dogs, kittens, humans, and the warmth of the wood stove.

            Alice, foster dog. We are fostering Alice for Peace Ridge Sanctuary (where I also work). She's about twelve years old, but still enjoys a good run. She weighs about sixty five pounds, now that she has lost some of the excess weight she arrived with. She is a lifetime foster, which means that this is her forever home, but the sanctuary provides for her care. Alice likes getting brushed, trying to convince us to let her eat mussels she finds on the shore, and spending every waking moment with her humans. She has separation anxiety, doubtless from being tossed from one home to another and into the shelter. She is not a big fan of other dogs, especially in her house.

            Penny, foster dog. Also for Peace Ridge. Penny is available for adoption at the moment! She is a very smart little cattle dog mix, about six months old. She is shy in new situations, but is learning that the world is actually kind of fun to explore. She loves clicker training and playing with other dogs. She tries very hard to convince Alice to play with her, but Alice won't have it. We keep them separate to reduce the stress on Alice while Penny stays with us.

            So these are the furry creatures who are living here! Penny might have an adoption pending, but I can't say for sure as I'm writing this. If so, hooray! If not, you may be seeing more pictures of her here, and stories about her, too. She's a great little pup, and I'm enjoying working with her. Some lucky someone is going to have a wonderful companion when she gets her forever home.