THE ANIMAL SHELTER REPORT

By Thetis Reeves

Remember Maya, the beautiful young deaf kit? First she was taken home by Barb, our Cat Lady, but Barb’s territorial grown-up cats refused to accept this pleasant little newcomer and acted out in very unpleasant ways. So back to the Cat Center for Maya. Then a wonderful stroke of good luck: A woman wanted Maya and, as a companion for Maya, adopted Ivy. Maya and Ivy became inseparable and happy in their new home.

But then things took a bad turn (long sad story) and both kits had to be retrieved for their own safety. A foster mom cared for them and was charmed by how friendly and playful they were. Then she had to return to the States. Back to the Shelter for both kits, where they sweetly await a new loving home. It would be especially wonderful if someone would adopt them together. They are each less than a year old, healthy, beautiful and truly special.

While we worried about the special case of Maya and Ivy, in comes a man only days later with an adult cat in his arms. He told Geoffrey that it was his neighbor’s who was leaving the next day. Without further ado, he thrust the cat at Geoffrey and turned and left. Suddenly we had a grown-up cat whose history was unknown to us; we weren’t even told her name. You know we’re not set up to take in adult cats as they often don’t adapt to life in our main cage. So far, “Olivia” is no exception.  Nevertheless, she is a lovely, friendly cat with short white hair, in excellent health, spayed, and about 16 months old. Her life has changed abruptly. Used to a home of her own, she’s obviously yearning to have one again.

A short time after Olivia arrived, we broke our own rule and took in two more adult cats. We had room and the circumstances were sad: The Mexican husband died suddenly and the widow’s relatives came to take her back to Florida. The grieving woman was further upset to have to give up her pet cats, but had no choice. It cheered her a bit to know that they were safe with us. Nefertiti is a gorgeous seal-point Siamese, 2 1/2 years old. Isis is about 7 and is one of those intriguing-looking Maine-coon type cats. We realize that Siamese and Maine coon cats are particularly popular with our cat-loving friends, so we have hopes that Nefertiti and Isis will find new and loving people.

So here we are with five special cats, once with homes, now unexpectedly under our roof (and, for Maya and Ivy, back under). Please come in to meet them. Please consider them for adoption.

We want to call your attention to something new being offered on our website. You can now see the lovely dogs looking for foster or permanent homes that we haven’t room to take in to our center. Give them a chance, too. Go to www.lakesideanimalshelter.com. As for the dogs currently in residence at our Dog Center, trust me, they are an exuberant bunch. So pretty, so smart. Sometimes we wonder how adopters can resist any one of them. More about them next time.