All was not happy in Shelterville this day. We arrived for our weekly cleaning in the middle of a bit of commotion.
Two cats, Ollie and Felicia, had just been adopted a half hour before. Another caretaker volunteer was there, waiting for a friend of hers, who showed up at the same time we did. There was also a meeting going on. Meg took me aside and said that, depending on that meeting, she might be turning in a resignation effective immediately. Talk about walking into it.
The other shelter caretaker's friend turned out to be someone i knew also. A very wonderful lady named Paula who, since her parents became unable to do so, has devoted her life to working as an attorney and taking care of her mentally disabled younger brother, Jerry. Jerry used to attend the same clinic for neurodevelopmental therapy that Bigger Girl attended, and so we had a nice reunion. Jerry will never be any better, although he is able to hold down a small job sweeping and raking and fetching and carrying for a lawn service. Paula has given up any kind of personal life she ever could have had and takes care of him as if he were her child, dropping him off at his daytime caretakers in the mornings, picking him up in the evenings, and getting only occasional weekends off when one of the other sisters takes Jerry. He is like a small child mentally, and needs constant watching. We paid a lot of attention to him as he paid attention to the cats.
Paula and Jerry had two cats until recently, when both of them died of advanced age -- over 20 years old each. Jerry keeps saying he "needs" a cat, and Paula loves cats, too, so they came up on a non adoption event day to look around. It is better that way for Jerry, who could be easily overwhelmed if the place were crowded with lots of other people looking at the cats also. They went from room to room, spending time, asking questions, and Paula will come back again and decide. She is leaning toward Devon, and Jerry loves Heathcliff. They might take both, Paula is sure they will adopt at least one cat.
More commotion commenced when Bigger Girl let Grady out, and then i went in the big room and found him, Gidget, Baby, Ginny, Prissy, and Candy, but no Clint. I searched that room three times, and finally found out he has a new hiding spot, perched way up high on a shelf in the window where he can play king of the hill. Better, i guess, than hiding under things all day long, but i didn't like not being able to find him for so long. It made me nervous.
Lucky has been designated the shelter mascot, which i guess makes him very lucky indeed. He still takes anything you put in a pill pocket, so he gets his thyroid medicine regularly, and eats tons and holds his weight. Not much more you can ask for an ugly, 15 year old cat.
Frieda was happy, as the meeting was going on in the office, and as i cleaned near there i heard our Executive Director smoothing ruffled feathers a bit. He has the makings of a peacemaker, which is a good thing. Meg came out of the meeting saying everything is fine for now. Dodged a bullet there.
Rocky kitten has only one more week until he can come off of cage rest, and i know we will all be happy to see that. Tyler was going crazy in his cage because he just got neutered and was ravenously hungry, having traded breakfast for surgery. He got a bit extra when no one else was looking. Turtle needs to be called something else, she is one messy eater in her cage, i hope she turns out neater in her room, when she gets one. Conan, meanwhile, is not sure what he thinks of this new shelter gig. Some cats don't know how good they have it, off the street and safe and warm.
Monty and Scottie have been sent to separate rooms not because of anything bad, but because no one had seen Monty eat for a while, and he seemed listless. The answer is that yes, he is eating, but not much.
Bowie has been spooked by having to get medicine for so long, and hides on a shelf now until he is sure you have no nefarious plans. It seems JuJu is rubbing off on him, which is a shame, he was so ingenuous and friendly.
Molly, Katy, Corrie, Roxanne, Sophia, Tiffany, and Rosie are all doing well, i'm glad to say.
Poor Angel is not. Dustie seems fine, but Angel is sneezing, with a runny eye again, and is limping from the shoulder. We're not sure what would cause that, it's not her paws this time.
So a bit of commotion this week, let's hope it calms down and things go at a more even keel for a while.
Today is:
Answer Your Cat's Questions Day
Celebration of Life Day
Dance of the Seven Veils Day
National Blonde Brownie Day (I thought these were just called "blondies.")
St. Vincent's Day (Spanish martyr and patron of winegrowers, schoolgirls, vinegar makers) - a sunny day today indicates a good wine crop next season
Unification Day -- Ukranian
Wellington Day -- Wellington Province, New Zealand
Birthdays Today:
Steven Adler, 1965
Diane Lane, 1965
Michael Kelland Hutchence, 1960
Linda Blair, 1959
Steve Perry, 1949
John Hurt, 1940
Joseph Wambaugh, 1937
Sam Cooke, 1935
Bill Bixby, 1934
Piper Laurie, 1932
Ann Sothern, 1909
George Balanchine, 1904
D.W. Griffith, 1875
Grigori Rasputin, 1869
Nat Turner, 1800
Lord Byron, 1788
Sir Francis Bacon, 1561
Today in History:
The first contingent of Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican, 1506
Postal service between NYC and Boston is inaugurated, 1673
The Native American Iroquois tribes renew their allegiance to the British against the French, 1690
Spain ceded the Falkland Islands to Britain, 1771
A severe earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands, 1837
The Zulus attack the British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa, 1879
The Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" is erected in Central Park, 1881
After 63 years, England stops the sale of Queen Victoria postage stamps series and begins King Edward VII series, 1901
First live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury, 1927
KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California, 1947
Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space, 1968
The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service, 1970
Fuzzy commotions! It's amazing, you see the same thing I do with the cats, one cat can 'adopt' an attitude of another cat, after being around them. I have found this to be pretty true, generally.
ReplyDelete"Answer your cat's questions day". I think Buzz's would probably be something along the lines of why Tux isn't around anymore, and why the big furry guy (Husband), insists on holding and petting her. (Husband insists she doesn't act like a "cat", I insist she very much does.)
Hope that things settle, so you don't have to get new volunteers. That can get crazy. (New volunteers with old ones, fine. New ones when you don't have enough folks to begin with can be the pits.)
Cat
Thanks, Cat, we hope to get some new people soon, as we are starting to wear around the edges.
ReplyDeleteI tend to have an idealistic view of people who Do Good Things e.g. work at a shelter. It's naive, since they're still people, i.e. just as likely to not rub along well with other people as the rest of us. Halos are not included when you work or volunteer for a non-profit.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think people who work for non-profits tend to get /more/ fractious than people who work for large anonymous multi-national corporations. Something about working in an environment where you know all your co-workers quite well tends to exacerbate personal differences.
I have got to give you kudos for all the hard work you do helping these kitties, especially if people are getting fractious.
Hoping, too, that things get back to an even keel at the shelter. Prayers that Angel gets better, soon. You are an angel for all that you do for the cats and kittens in need in your area. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteMerry, i do believe you are correct. The more closely you have to work with people, the more likely that tensions will run high. Thanks for the good thoughts.
ReplyDeletePonyGirl, as many critters as you rescue, with no help, it's you who are the angel.
Thank you, Mimi. Many hugs!
ReplyDelete