I was so excited to go back to the shelter today because it has been quite a while since my last visit. Today was supposed to be the day where some volunteers were going to help remove all of the Holiday Decorations from the shelter. However, when I got there, one of my supervisors was already finishing up the packing of stuff and she indicated that all of the stuff was already taken down when she got there. Today was also her last day of employment at the shelter but she will continue as a volunteer. She is very sweet and very caring about animals and the shelter wont be quite the same without her there as much.
I must say that I wasn't too disappointed about the decorations because it only meant that I was able to go back and play with the kitties!!! As I walked to the Purrfect Inn I noticed that there were no kittens to be found and both kitten houses were closed down. I must say that it is very nice to see so many empty cages right now because I very well know that in a couple of months, the shelter will be bursting at the seams during kitten season. I peaked into the Purrfect Inn and noticed the cat log indicating that these kitties had not been outside of the cages since Wednesday. The weather has been quite awful with heavy rainstorms pounding the entire state of California and therefore I think a lot of volunteers have decided to stay at home where it is warm and dry.
I noticed Oscar, a 7 year old Russian Blue kitty who has to be the most affectionate older cat ever. He was apparently surrendered to the shelter because his previous owners were moving and could not take him with. I just can't imagine giving up this love bug! He was not interested in playing and just wanted to be petted and stroked all day long. He was so adorable as he stood next to me as I stroked his back from head to tail and he was just doing a little dance with his front paws. It seemed like he was doing the kneading dough with his front paws as he was standing tall and arching his back against my hand moving along his body.Next up was another new cat to the shelter, PJ. He is about 8 months old and was also
surrendered to the shelter, apparently because his previous owners had too many animals. His markings and coloring remind me very much of my own kitty, Sophie. I apologize for the poor picture, but I didn't bring in my own camera today, and since he has only been in the shelter for a few days, this is the only one that has been taken so far. PJ was extremely shy and obviously scared to be where he was. He enjoyed me petting him within his cage, but his tail was firmly tucked away between his legs and he just wanted to be curled up into a ball. I gained his trust over the next 15 minutes while standing in front of his cage and caressing him. I decided to pick him up to try and take him into the playroom. He did not struggle out of my hands at all and just curled up into my arms. PJ is really not a good cat to be left at the shelter too long and I hope a new family takes him home soon. At first I though he was de-clawed because I did not notice his nails. After further inspection, it seems that the last people to cut his nails did a very bad job and cut them WAY too short. I could see the quick exposed at the cut line and this might explain his composure. He did not seem to want to walk around at all and was very content being held in my arms like a baby. Such a doll!!! I wish I could take him home with me.
Joy was her usual self. She is a somewhat independent cat who doesn't like being told what to do. I am still not sure if it is her normal attitude that she displays or if it is merely a show due to the stresses of the shelter life. She is a fairly plump kitty even if you are to discount her long fluffy hair. She is absolutely beautiful but she definitely needs to find the right kind of family. She seems like she can take charge of whatever situation she is in and is most certainly not a pushover. I was pleasantly surprise at the end of our visit together that she did not try to attack me as much as she usually does. She did try to bite my wrist at one point but when I firmly said "No!" she immediately stopped.
Last but certainly not least was Vanessa who was so very eager to get out to play. She is such a sweet kitty and is very affectionate and also very playful! I had her running an obstacle course which started from inside the cat condo, where she would jump out and over the cat grass (which was new to the playrooms and gave some of the cats much enjoyment!) and onto the bench, down off the bench and onto the floor, through the triangle scratching
furniture, across the room and through the cat tunnel where she would make a right hand turn and circle the outside of the room, up and over the triangle cat scratching furniture, up onto the bench and into the cat condo. I was flicking a string on a stick toy with a noisy mouse toy crudely attached to the end and that had her going around the room at lightening speed. It was hysterical to watch her make these laps and slip and slide across the floor due to her "soft paws" on her nails which caused her to loose traction.
