Pulling up to the shelter we saw Clint waiting in the window. He didn't run this time.

Walking in it looked a bit better than last week. Someone had rearranged the decor again, and most of it matches now. The ugliest tree ever is still there. It's not the tree so much as it is the decorations. They are hideous, and be glad you don't have to see them. Bigger Girl claims she is scarred for life.

As i walked through to check on everyone, i found a note on the kitchen door saying that Grady was in there. It was a yellow sticky note and thumbtacked up on the door. No explanation, no food or water in there with him, a temporary cardboard litter box, unused, and no paperwork. So, what is the deal, i'm wondering. Did he get moved? Is he without food and water because he is being fasted before vet work of some sort? Did he escape, and the people there at the time didn't want to deal with it so left him in there with a note, assuming that we would put him back? If the latter, i could understand, as he is a bear to put back in the big room when he doesn't want to go.

So, as i am told to do, i tried to call Miss W., who is in charge of the actual cats and what happens to them in the shelter. As usual, she would not answer, nor did she call me back, even to this moment she has not called me back. I called Leigh, but she did not answer. Finally, poor Meg, who is in charge of kittens and really doesn't know what is always being done at the shelter got the call. She agreed with me that it was okay to put him back in the big room, since that's where i found the paperwork. We both agreed, he got out and couldn't be caught earlier.

Leigh did finally call later, she had been in her daughter's Christmas play, so i get why she didn't answer. I do appreciate that she called, and she agreed with putting him back. If i did wrong, i've covered my end of it, i did ask.

We decided not to put him back until all the work was done, and he appreciated it, wanting petting every time we went in the kitchen, and even following #2 Son into the office, where Frieda made it known she was not happy about that. Even he scooted out when she howled! He is a great cat, as long as you don't try to put him where he doesn't want to be.

When I finally got to go check the rooms, i popped into the first room and saw JuJu and...Tiger? Where is Bowie? Oh, the window was open between the two colony rooms, which is a way to get the cats used to each other before moving them all into one room. Okay, on to the next room to find Buddy and Bowie. Everyone was happy, and even JuJu didn't look so mad, although she still won't come down and be touched.

Tigerlily and Dolly, across the hall, were ensconced on their respective soft beds. For new residents they seemed quite happy and friendly, not scared like so many that come in.

The room next to that has an example of some formerly scared boys. Dora wasn't in the room, and wasn't on the list of those in the adoption center at the pet store, nor was she on the list of adopted, which has not been updated. So i can't say for sure, but her triplet brothers, Heathcliff, Squirt, and Peepers are doing well. Squirt and Peepers stay on the upper shelves as they have since they arrived, but come right down now as soon as your hand is on the doorknob.

Sophia and Roxanne, Maimie and Maisie, Angel and Dusty, Iggy and Francie -- all doing well. Iggy still won't come down, though, but they all look healthy and those that do want petting want lots of it.

The cages were full on this night. Belle is on meds for a UTI. Bebe has been vetted, and is waiting for a spot to open in the rooms. Harley is still depressed, so #2 Son plied him with catnip. It mellowed him out, but he still didn't eat while we were there. It did look like his bowl had been nibbled at, but he is eating very little for such a big cat.

Bunny is new, and is waiting to be vetted. She and Belle look to be about the same age, maybe 8 months, and very petite both of them. Lucky is back, and he looks like he is about to die. Literally. He is skin and bones, back on meds, and his skin is covered with sores. Whoever adopted him obviously didn't treat his overactive thyroid and let the poor guy just go to pieces. It infuriated me to see such a beautiful long haired tabby look like that.

The big room. I went in cautiously, and there was Prissy, as usual. She lives up to the name, a prim and proper girl who tolerates no nonsense from the other cats, and demands attention. I began to look for everyone else, and squatted to peek around for Baby first. She didn't hiss! I stayed squatted down and totally still while she got out from under the table and sniffed my left knee. Several sniffs, then started to walk off, hissed, turned and sniffed the right knee, hiss, and walked behind me where she rubbed against me! Progress.

Clint didn't run when i peeked behind the curtain in front of the window to say hello. He is getting better, too. Gidget has gone from being vocal and demanding attention to hiding and not wanting to be petted. I couldn't figure that one out. Candy was her usual "I'm going to play with your hand" self. "No petting, let me eat your hand it is my toy!"

Frieda talked long and loud when i went in the office, and, as noted before, voiced her displeasure with Grady in no uncertain terms and very unladylike language. Grady also, when he found he was going to be put back in the big room, left off being friendly and dove for cover, to be dragged out hissing and also using ungentlemanly words. I'm glad, sometimes, that i don't know the actual words of Cat as they would translate into our understanding.

So with only a couple of exceptions, everyone is doing well. As there are only a few more adoption events before Christmas break, it seems the house will stay full. At least, they have a place. The ones i am sorriest for are those which will remain outdoors during the coming cold.


Today is:

Bake Cookies Day

Be a Friend Day

Eponalia -- Roman Empire (feast of Epona, during the Saturnalia)

Flake Appreciation Day (snow or human, your choice!)

Independence Day -- Qatar

International Migrants Day

Mother Goose Day

National Roast Suckling Pig Day

Nuestra Senora de la Soledad -- Oaxaca, Mexico (Our Lady of Solitude, Patron of the lonely, of Oaxaca, and of sailors who bring her pearls)

Republic Day -- Niger

St. Flanan's Day

Wear a Plunger On Your Head Today Day (Observe at your own risk!)


Anniversaries Today:

New Jersey becomes the 3rd US State, 1787


Birthdays Today:

Christina Aguilera, 1980
Katie Holmes, 1978
Earl "DMX" Simmons, 1970
Rob Van Dam, 1970
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, 1964
Brad Pitt, 1963
Leonard Maltin, 1950
Steven Spielberg, 1946
Keith Richards, 1943
Ossie Davis, 1917
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, 1917
Douglas Fraser, 1916
Betty Grable, 1916
Ty Cobb, 1886


Today in History:

Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic, BC218
Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan", officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China, 1271
The Mayflower lands in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts with 102 Pilgrims on board, 1620
Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand, 1642
Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children", 1719
Empress Maria Theresa expels Jews from Prague, Bohemia & Moravia, 1774
The first celestial photograph (of the Moon) is made in US, by John Draper, NYC, 1839
William Bond obtains the first photograph of Moon through a telescope, 1849
Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Mesa Verde, 1888
The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic, 1900
The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is supposedly found in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson, 1912
Japan joins the United Nations, 1956
Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker, 1966
Dominica joins the United Nations, 1978
HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium, 1997