Furry Friday

[mellowtigger]

Animals arrive in a variety of temperaments, just like people do. In this issue of Furry Friday, I will point out some nice animals at each extreme. At the time of this writing, all of these animals are available for adoption at our central site in Golden Valley, Minnesota, USA.

These first two animals are both needing some special attention. Each is fearful right now and might not make the best pet in a home with small children.

Black Jack is a 2-year-old Labrador retriever. He is hesitant with a cautious demeanor, and he has tensed eyebrows that give him a sorrowful appearance. I don't know his history, but he clearly needs a little bit of happiness in his life. AHS officially recommends that he not enter a home with children under the age of 8 because of his skittishness. As another visitor noticed, though, while I waited at Black Jack's door: "He really likes you!" I'm sure that he would be a nice companion to a patient person in a low-key home.

Similarly, Tapioca also needs a gentle introduction to the world of humans. She is a 12-week-old female who was formerly a stray cat. She is very unhappy about her stay here, but I think she can easily turn a new leaf in the right home. With my hand in her cage for only a few minutes, she learned to not cower away from me and to not fold back her ears in fear.

Two cats that I had during my childhood years were also feral kittens, and they grew up to be very loving animals. Tapioca just needs a quiet owner to give her some gentle attention so she can unlearn whatever hard lessons she's faced outside in the recent cold winter weather.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are two social go-getters.

Skippy is a rabbit so unfearful that I've seen her poke her nose through her cage bars so that nearby people will pet her forehead. I think that this 6 month old rabbit would be an excellent choice for any first-time rabbit owner.

Ping is another brave youngling. This 9 week old Labrador Retriever mix is friendly and social, wagging his tail and inviting interaction from everyone who comes to visit him.  He is surely looking for an energetic companion of any age.

The story: I promised last time to give the details to a curious situation that I experienced at work recently. I went downstairs to our veterinarians' office to install a new Windows profile on a pc there. They had their office door closed to keep a cat inside. It was a very friendly cat, so it hopped up into my lap and purred away, all while I was busy typing at the computer. A few minutes later, someone propped open the office door so they could haul some equipment out of a storage area in back. Since the cat was peacefully ignoring the escape route (why give up a warm lap and a backrub?), I decided to not worry about it.

A few more minutes go by, and then I notice a disturbance at the doorway. I and the cat both look over to find a pig looking back at us and sniffing the air of this new area. It oinks at us a few times, and I notice that the cat has its eyes opened widely at this strange creature. Then a human quickly apologizes to us and wrangles the pig back into the hallway for its appointment elsewhere. The cat quickly calms down, and the office door gets closed as the hauler gets their cargo out of storage. I finish my installation on the computer and have to inconvenience the cat while I stand up and leave.

This tech support job (because of the pager, mostly) requires a lot more of my attention that it should for few work hours and little pay, but the interesting things that happen here do make a great compensation package.

Next issue: The tale of a rabbit resurrection... and it's not even Eostara yet.

Comments

[cosmomn.livejournal.com]

That cat is sooooo cute

[mellowtigger]

And today I had a few minutes to spare during the day so I went to visit her again. She started out all cowering and flat-eared again, but she warmed up a lot faster this time. She even purred and licked my finger, although she still refused to budge from the far corner of the cage. Baby steps. :)

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

If I lived up in Minnesota I'd probably snag that bunny.

[mellowtigger]

She was the first critter that I checked on when I arrived at work today. Her cage already had an "animal on hold" sign up on it, so somebody's going to be taking it home soon. :)