Today I stopped by the shelter to visit Sweetie. I'm not sure I should have, but I'm sure I can't not. That's just the way I am. The kittens have all been adopted, which is a good thing, I suppose.
Sweetie is housed in a nice room with four other cats, a tall cat pole with multiple levels for roosting, some overturned litterbox tops, like turtle shells, for hiding under (what a great idea), and litterboxes, and food, of course.
Her roommates were very pleasant. Several of them greeted me, and one, a three-year-old female who is a mini-Madeleine, spent most of the visit in my lap, presenting her spay scar for me to admire.
Sweetie was crouched in a litter box, looking rather unhappy, I must say. I sat and talked to her, and after a few moments a look of recognition crossed her face and she gave me "kitty kisses," that slow eye squinting thing cats do to recognize you. She let me pet her briefly, until she moved into a turtle shell with a large tuxedo cat who looked remarkably like John.
During all this she let out strings of sneezes, so she has obviously caught a cold, which accounts for some of her miserable demeanor.
I worry about lots of things, but now I am most worried about how she will compete in the adoption race with her unremarkable tabby coloring (at least in her present state of scruffiness) and her cold. Especially against all the kittens who will soon be flooding the shelter. People, spay your pets!
Like PFS says, I'm going crawl away to sob for awhile now, before I dust myself off to return to the fray. But I think I had better stick to the orphans. The mommas' lot is too hard for me to bear.
4 comments:
But do they keep them in the adoption program indefinitely? Or is there a time limit? If she is sick, they will make her better and then it will just be a matter of time until the right person comes along.
But I hear ya.
(sniff)
I really truly admire all of you who foster the kitties and cats. I know I could never do it because I would have such a hard time letting them go- particularly the ones that might have a difficult time finding a good home.
There has been a recent change at the top of the biggest shelters in our area. Change is always scary, but there is a lot of fear here that one thing that may happen in the near future is time limits. I think the uncertainty of whether Sweetie will get a chance to get better and be adopted, often a long process for adult cats, as you know, contributed to my depression yesterday. For now, I'll just keep visiting and hope for the best.
I'm tempted to call up that shelter and ask them to ship her out here. Sweetie is a sweetie.
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