Typical Holiday Madness

At the cat shelter, of course.

Yesterday, being Independence Day and a holiday, was certain to be "different," and indeed, it didn't disappoint.

The morning caretakers, those in charge of changing and scooping litter boxes, giving morning medication, and checking up on the place first thing in the day decided not to come.  It seems they didn't realize that cats don't take a holiday from doing their business.  They are recent volunteers, and had no clue that if they were going to be out of town for a holiday, they needed to let someone know so a sub could be found.

They knew the shelter was closed for the day, so they assumed that meant they had the day off.  Gads.

Mid-afternoon, i get a text asking if i can do boxes when i go in to feed and medicate.  Everyone had plans for the day, since the place was closed, and someone had taken time to run in, give morning meds, and that was it.  Sap that i am, i told Carol i'd take care of it.

Also mid-afternoon, i got a call from Ms. R, the lady who owns The Lorax's parents.  She wanted to visit with him.  So i agreed to take him up to the shelter and let her spend some quality time with him.

We arrived to find the place looked almost as bad as i had feared, and smelled worse.  That's why the non-clumping litter gets dumped and replaced every single day, and the clumping litter gets scooped every day and more added twice a week with the whole box cleaned out after two weeks.  The only way to have over 100 cats and kittens in one building without being knocked out with the smell is to stay rigorously on top of all that.

There was also a note stating that Harley was outside and to please try to get him in and to his cage before we left.  A Harley who doesn't want to go in is a very snippy critter, so i wasn't looking forward to that.  He's bitten me before, and i have no desire for a repeat.

Just as we were getting started, two cars pulled into the parking lot.  Stopping to open the door, Ms. R came in, followed by another volunteer and her daughter.  They had come to get cat food for their own fosters.

Explaining the mess and smell as best i could, the other volunteer said, "Oh, we're in no hurry.  We will help!"  Talk about the cavalry!  She does Sunday mornings, so she knew the drill.

As Ms. R was oohing and aahing over Lorax, i apologized that i hadn't had time to give him his bath yet this week.  She said, "Well, I have to bathe his parents once a week, so I know how.  Let me give him a bath while I'm here!"

Just as i got her set up on that, another car pulled up.  A nice lady and her daughter wanted to know if the shelter was open.  They will be looking to adopt a cat when they get back from vacation, probably in about two weeks.   Although i told them we weren't open, i could let them in to look, figuring it was enough of a circus in there that a couple of other people wouldn't hurt.

Showing them that there were two isolation rooms off limits, and apologizing that the bathroom also had a cat in isolation in it, we let them pet and play to their heart's content.  They left with a promise to come back, they were very interested in a couple of promising looking younger adults that both are good with dogs, since they have a dog already.

Then Little Girl yelled that Chloe had escaped.  That was a problem, as is medicating her.  She will take your hand off if she's in a mood, and she was in a mood.  Distracting her with a laser pointer, i dripped the medicine she needed on the top of her head straight from the bottle onto the area, hoping i got sufficient coverage, then let her howl and scream like a banshee as she ran and took refuge in one of those covered cave style cat beds.  Once she was comfy, i picked up the whole bed from behind, hauled her back to her room, and unceremoniously dumped her in there.  She promptly screamed at me, hissed at the other cats, and climbed the walls onto the top shelf.  Chloe needs a barn home, poor thing.  No people skills at all.

By now we were hitting our stride, scooping boxes, changing boxes, cleaning cages, feeding and watering, and stopping to admire the now clean Lorax, who kept getting away while he was damp and running all over, shaking to get more water off.   The other volunteer even did a load of laundry, which is as perpetual there as it is in our house.

The other volunteer also let Harley in, trapped him behind the dryer, and she got him into his cage without getting bitten.  More power to her.

By the end of it all, the place was clean and tidy and smelled a whole lot better.  Everyone  had a nice, clean place to go potty, and being cats, of course they christened each of their boxes as soon as we were done with it.  All of them had food and fresh, clean water, and every cat was in the right room/cage, and garbage taken out.

Medications were given, isolated cats were treated last so as not to spread anything, and we went home with a clean and fluffy Lorax.  We arrived in time to find a Red-headed Alec was there, along with #1 Son, #2 Son, Young Jacob, and fireworks to set off.  The mayhem had just begun.

Clean and fluffy, although he won't stay still so i can get him in focus!

Today is

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Constitution Day -- Armenia

Feast of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Graham Cracker Day -- birth anniversary of inventor of graham flour, the Reverend Sylvester Graham, in 1794

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship -- Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, WI, US

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N.

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Rockport Art Festival -- Rockport, TX, US (top artists from around the country line the waterfront today and tomorrow, with good music and good food to add to the fun)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolithic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

St. Pauls Carnival -- Bristol, England (annual African Caribbean Carnival; a richly multicultural celebration)

The Dam Experience -- Warsaw, MO, US (fireworks viewed from land and boat at the Truman Dam)

Tour de France -- through Sunday, July 27

West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association Anniversary -- Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, ME, US (including US Coast Guard supervised lighthouse tower climbing, for the daring!)



Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)
Edie Falco, 1963
Huey Lewis, 1951
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage, 1951
Jackie Robertson, 1944
Eliot Feld, 1942
Shirley Knight, 1936
Katherine Helmond, 1934
Warren Oates, 1928
Janos Starker, 1924
Georges Pompidou, 1911
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902
Jean Cocteau, 1889
Clara Zetkin, 1857
Cecil Rhodes, 1853
P.T. Barnum, 1810
David Glasgow Farragut, 1801


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica(Publication date), 1687


Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295
John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687
The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865
Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934
Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937
Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937
Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947
National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948
The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950
William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951
The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954
Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975
Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998
The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003
Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004
Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009
Europe's tallest, habitable, free-standing structure, The Shard, which stands at 1,016 feet (309.6 metres) officially opens in London, England, 2012
In Rome, Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII are canonized by the Vatican, 2013