Visiting Mau

Our original goal of visiting the shelter on Sunday afternoon was to visit Mau. We had a lovely time with him. He doesn’t mind the kittens and apparently likes other cats, although one of his previous housemates, Virginia, did not like him. He enjoys being brushed and, when taken to the interaction room, evidently knows about lap time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snap a photo of him climbing into Aaron’s lap.

One of the volunteers suggested that he be renamed Frankie or Sinatra because of those beautiful blue eyes!

Compared to Garrus and Charlie, he has big paws! He’s also heavier than I expected, given that he is on the skinny side. On this visit, we were able to pick him up and hold him. He also purred! Cue warm fuzzies.

Kitten Palooza Part Two

As promised, here are more photos of the kittens Aaron and I visited yesterday afternoon. It’s hard to get photos of 9 scampering kittens, especially when occasionally one’s hands are full of said kittens.

The bicolor tabbies were Ragdoll-level super chill and enjoyed being cradled.

This one had an adventure on the new cat tower.

Must investigate ALL the things!

I found a spot!

Hide-and-seek?

Who could resist that face? I could not. I babbled inanely at her and gave her lots of lovies. (That’s the official term.)

Kitten Palooza Part One

Aaron and I visited the Pflugerville Animal Shelter for two hours this afternoon, originally intending to see Mau. We’re still waiting for him to be transferred to APA and receive more intensive treatment for his dental issues. In the meantime, we get to visit!

When I visited last week, there was a litter of seven kittens. Two of them–the black and the white and grey bicolor–were adopted last week. The grey will be adopted tomorrow. But now the adoption room has four more kittens–9 total! I can verify that they were indeed most precious.

These three were mellow and super-cuddly and freely demonstrated their excellent purring technique. (You can see the third’s rear end sticking up. He took kneading on the bed very seriously.)

This little girl was positively loquacious! Her brother had been adopted late last week so she did not like being by herself, and let everyone know how unfair it was.

“GIMME ATTENTION NOW!” The grey tabby (the only girl in the litter of seven, now five) was a little diva.

“Love me please?” These orange and grey furballs wanted all the smooches.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Rainy Day Shelter Visit

Aaron decided to take the afternoon off to fix our garage door. We went to Home Depot to pick up parts and, while we were out, stopped at the Pflugerville Animal Shelter to visit the cat adoption room. What a lovely way to spend a gloppy afternoon!

Mau really enjoys his box. Here he is demonstrating the swishy magnificence of his tail.

While we were not able to get photos of it, Mau did come out of his box and we brushed him. He has thin patches of fur on his sides, likely evidence of stress-related overgrooming. While he apparently eats, he is quite skinny. Amazingly, he refuses to eat wet food and insists on dry food, even though that must hurt him. The volunteers I spoke to suspect he does so because that’s what he is used to eating. He reminds me of Garrus when we first got him. Aaron agreed with me that he looked sad, a bit scraggly, and in need of our help.

While we were there, two other volunteers, Carolyn and Grandma Jean came into the adoption room. Both had worked more with Mau than I have, so I asked them questions about his temperament. When he first came to the shelter a month ago, he was terrified (understandable). Gradually, he started softening and demonstrating that he is a calm but friendly cat who likes to be held and brushed. He has toe floof! Evidently he has been handled a lot more than Garrus was, so that’s a plus, but he’s also quite a bit older than Garrus and Charlie and presumably spent years with his previous owner.

Mau doesn’t like new environments so being taken out into the open space of the adoption room is overwhelming. Grandma Jean said that he does better in the small interaction rooms. As Carolyn reached into the condo to pet him, he started licking her hand repeatedly, which I thought was an odd quirk. When Aaron and I held a kitten, he didn’t seem to mind them at all, whereas his neighbor Chester growled at the the mere sight of the kittens.

As to if and when Aaron and I will be able to foster Mau, we’re waiting for him to be transferred from the shelter to Austin Pets Alive!, since he needs extensive dental work. I contacted both the shelter director and APA and have been approved as a foster (yay), and let APA know that I wanted to foster this particular cat from the Pflugerville Animal Shelter. In the interim I’ll visit and love on him.

Peace…for about 3 minutes!

Shortly after I took this photo, the grey tabbies woke up and started yammering for attention. Obviously we had to plunk on the floor and hold kittens because I couldn’t resist giving these babies lovies. (Who would?)

The tabbies had adorable spotted tummies (!), and all of them had eaten recently, so they had little fat bellies begging for rubs. The black kitten was calm and cuddly today and, mercifully, not so pointy after having his nails trimmed. The orange bicolor and grey bicolor were chatty and bold little explorers. They are clearly used to climbing into volunteers’ laps and being adored. The orange tabby was a genuine extrovert and threw a squeaky, wiggly tantrum until he was picked up again. Once held, he wanted to chill and started to doze off against my chest. There was much internal squeeing on my end.

OMG Kittens!

I realized that I had not volunteered at the shelter recently because I had been preoccupied taking care of Boudicca for the last several months. With that in mind, I gathered up several cans of cat food that we weren’t using (Boudicca had not liked the brand or texture) and took them to the shelter for donation. Since their policy changed a bit, I filled out a couple of forms but once that was done, I was ready to go. After all, there were SEVEN KITTENS that were now in the adoption room. Obviously I had to visit them.

Such emphatic little squeaks!

I love black cats so I had to hold this one first. (I totally squeed with joy.) Note: s/he looks concerned because s/he got stuck on my shirt with those needle-sharp little claws!

Being this cute is most exhausting. Note: the all grey one was extra fuzzy-wuzzy. There may have been some swooning over this.

These tabby babies are being held by the cat volunteer mentor extraordinaire, Grandma Jean. (Everyone calls her this.) The tabbies had a lot to say about their nails being trimmed but they behaved well. Grandma Jean had little chats with the kittens in pairs so everyone received proper amounts of adoration. They also had lovely blue eyes but I couldn’t get a good photo because they were rather squirmy.

Day summary: I visited three adult kitties (see forthcoming post) and seven exquisitely cute kittens! Everyone got loved on, smooched, and babbled at, and I had the pleasure of rubbing some full kitten tummies too. I definitely came home on a kitten-high.

National Pet Month

Did you know that May is National Pet Month? In addition to celebrating pets around the world, the holiday has several specific aims:

  1. Promote responsible pet ownership;
  2. Raise awareness of the benefits of living with pets;
  3. Increase public awareness of the role of pet care specialists;
  4. Promoting the value of service and companion animals.

Photo courtesy of Pexels

You can celebrate National Pet Month in a variety of ways and involve your community too! Think of it as pawing it forward!

  1. Volunteer. Help out at adoption events at your local animal shelter or rescue group. Love on, play with, walk, and socialize shelter animals, as these experiences will help them get adopted faster.
  2. Adopt. If you’re thinking about adding a pet to your life, please consider checking out an animal shelter or rescue organization. There are many lovable animals waiting for the right home and a person to love them!
  3. Foster. Whether you have a pet at home or are unsure whether having a permanent pet would be right for you, consider fostering. Giving a homeless pet respite from being in a shelter is a fantastic demonstration of compassion and altruism.
  4. Donate. You can donate time, skills, supplies, and/or money to a shelter or rescue group. Non-profit organizations like Friends of the Animal Shelter would be a great place to start.
  5. Fundraise. Organize events like community dog walks or puppy play dates, pet photography, pet wash, or animal-themed walk or marathon. Be creative and have fun!
  6. Teach. Do you like educating others? Are you an experienced pet owner? Have you had success in training commands to your dog? Share your expertise with others. Teach children (and adults!) how to properly introduce oneself to new pets and interact with them safely and respectfully.
  7. Share. This goes hand-in-hand with #6. Share articles on social media about pet homelessness, shelter events and programs, and pet welfare. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper and/or city council. Spread the word by mouth and by social media about adoptable pets, and, if you play your cards right, you might end up being a matchmaker for pets and humans! Use the hashtag #PawItForward.

Photo courtesy of Pexels