shanti's beanie baby
Shanti is fierce
Shanti is one very mean cat. She growls and hisses and
attacks at the slightest provocation - where provocation
could just mean sliding the food dish into her cage. She was
surrendered by a man who tried to deal with her but she
literally cornered him in one room and wouldn't let him out.
she has a pet beanie baby
She keeps pretty much to herself at the shelter - rarely
coming out of her cage. One of the volunteers gave her a
Teenie Beanie Baby flamingo, which has become her favorite
toy (why a volunteer would give such a valuable artifact of
the 90's to a mere cat is beyond the scope of this entry).
She is fiercely protective of the beanie baby. Nobody can
get near it. The surest way to shed blood is to try to touch
the beanie baby. Roberta and I were laughing and joking
about how we could have an initiation ordeal where we told
new volunteers to get the beanie baby out of Shanti's cage -
they pass if they live thru it!
the cage door is opened
While we're joking about this, Dawna (ever the optimist)
opens Shanti's cage door to encourage her to come out. We
think this is a bad idea because Puddums is in the vicinity
- talk about a personality conflict Shanti and Puddums do
not get a long at all. Dawn leaves the door open anyway.
We all go back to our tasks.
a confrontation
Suddenly we hear bloodcurdling shrieks coming from
Shanti's cage. Puddums has climbed in the cage and gotten
between Shanti and the beanie baby! Both cats are enraged.
Hissing, yowling, claw swiping. Not a pretty scene. Finally
Dawna covers Shanti with a towel so Roberta can reach in and
cover Puddums with a towel and slide her out - in the litter
box. The beanie baby stays where it is.
the cage door is closed
Dawna closed the cage door and Shanti resumed her
guarding of the beanie baby. Never a dull moment at MRFRS.
they can open the fridge?!?
the fridge door is open
We kept finding the fridge door open inexplicably.
Neither Roberta nor I opened it since Roberta put her lunch
in there first thing in the morning. Roberta: "do you think
a cat opened it?" Me: "naw, they can't open the fridge".
the chandelier cats
Each time the door was open, one of the chandelier cats
was nearby. We call them the chandelier cats because the
woman who surrendered them claimed it was because they broke
a $4000 chandelier. Personally, I've never seen a cat
hanging from a chandelier and don't give this story much
credence even though the chandelier cats are very acrobatic.
fridge open again
After we've had this whole conversation about how Roberta
must've left the fridge door open when she got out some
chicken from her lunch bag to feed to Slinky, and the door
is verified closed, I walk over to get something from the
sink. The door is open again and one of the chandelier cats
is rubbing up against it furiously. Me to Roberta: 'I told
you they could open the fridge door!' We are both convinced
the chandelier cats did it. Dawna doesn't believe us. But we
know...
Kibby lays claim
Kibby likes me. When I come in she rubs
against my ankles and purrs. Today she followed me around
rubbing me the whole time and circling around me keeping the
other cats at bay. Slinky advances toward me. Kibby hisses
and meows and makes threat displays. Slinky retreats. Jaguar
advances and retreats. Jaguar is my favorite. He thinks
he owns me. Kibby thinks she owns me now. She lays
her claim. Jaguar advances again. Kibby growls, hisses, and
swipes at poor Jaguar. He looks up at me confused and
imploring. I reach to pet Jaguar. Kibby comes between us.
Jaguar retreats. Sigh.
purrfect
Despite feeling totally wiped out after
cleaning today, I was showered, changed, fresh and energetic
for the Purrfect Companions meeting at 7:00. I redid the
cover letter with a better resolution version of the logo,
which Richard e-mailed to me during one of the rare moments
when the network was working.
Dawna did the photo shoot for the brochure and it looks
great.
The
article in the
Newburyport
News yesterday was huge. I didn't expect such a big
spread. PK looks like one happy kitty.
jaguar at the meeting
I let Jaguar out of his cage and he followed
me to the conference room. He spent most of the meeting
sitting by my left elbow or snuggled against my chest.
Toward the end of the meeting he curled up in a ball in the
crook of my arm - his body pressed tightly against my chest,
and went to sleep purring. I didn't want to leave with him
so happy like that. I stayed around awhile until he got up
and went back to his cage. Martha almost convinced me to try
bringing him home to see if Wilbur would tolerate him after
all. Like I said I was almost convinced. When I got home to
my possessive little demento I came to my senses. Wilbur
would never let Jaguar near me!
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