the mellow tigger's musings

Story:  I dramatically misread a human this week, or I could have been a bit more helpful.  I drove out to the east metro to replace a bad pc.  The pc desk in the exam room was crowded because a group of young visitors were there getting a nice tour and demonstration.  I stood out of the way to wait until they finished.

Someone had a young cat on the exam table and was showing everyone how we give animals their id microchip.  (No actual insertion was involved, just mimicking of the process.)  I noticed one youngling acting strange, so I started watching that human instead of the cat.  I was thinking maybe zhey was "just like me", so I thought nothing of it when zhey turned aside to face the wall alone.  Yep, just like me as a kid. When zhey seemed to trip and fall, again I thought "just like me", none too graceful or coordinated.

My mistake.  Nearby adults got involved, and that's when I came to realize that the poor little one had fainted after succumbing to all the unfamiliar sounds and smells and ideas.  I've fainted before, and I remembered that when my mind is out of phase, a drink of very cold water helps to snap my attention back into focus as the sense of coldness travels down through my body.  So I went on a hunt for iced water.  It took a while, and it was a small adventure to wash a cup clean and gather the ice while in an unfamiliar building, but I finally got it to the adults and child.  I hope it was useful to them, even if it was rather late to arrive.

Animals:  I've found a natural lap cat.  Sophie is a bit of a runt, somewhat on the small side for 1 year of age.  This spayed female is a shorthair mix with fur that is mostly white.  Very friendly and with a loud purr, Sophie will make a great companion for a person of any age that's looking for a close friend.  I've never seen zhem hissy with the other cats in the colony room.  More the reverse, actually, I've seen Sophie reach out slowly with a paw trying to touch another cat on the shoulder.

In the same colony room, Puma was actually the first animal to approach me and climb to my lap when I sat down.  What I noticed right away was the very soft fur.  Around the shoulders, the black fur is as silky as a rabbit's.  This middle-aged (5.2 years) female is pleasantly friendly with humans but has some issues around other animals.  The paperwork cautions specifically about sharing space with dogs.  Even in the colony room, however, Puma dislikes having other cats approach too closely.  Not one to actively seek out trouble, Puma will still get hissy if anyone else crosses into zheir personal space.  I think Puma should go to a home where there are no other animals to require sharing food bowls or the adoration of humans.

As of this writing, Sophie and Puma are both available for visitation and adoption at our Golden Valley facility.

How You Can Help:  I ran across another story at work this week about a cat brought to us after zheir owners moved away and just abandoned zhem outside the door to the apartment complex.  I think it was a neighbor who brought the cat to us.  Please, if you see domesticated animals without a human caretaker, take just a little time to exercise some responsibility yourself.

It doesn't mean that you have to take the animal into your home.  Cities in warmer climates have spay-then-release programs that would be good for roaming critters.  Here in the frozen north, however, you'll probably need to bring the abandoned animal to your nearest shelter system.  Bring animals in sooner rather than later.  Healthy and friendly animals have a better chance at placement than injured, ill, or ill-tempered street fighters.  When freezing weather arrives, I start seeing animals on our adoption floor with missing ear bits and tail bits... I assume from frost bite.  It makes me wonder about the other animals that didn't survive the harsh lesson of winter.

Story:  I haven't been posting much of anything lately, somehow distracted by nothing of great import.  How did I miss a whole month of Furry Fridays?  Well, at least there was this one incident last week that's worthy of sharing.

I was walking the hallway downstairs (separated from the adoption areas that are upstairs) after dealing with printer problems in the Exam room when I heard a sound sort of like a human child cry but not exactly.  It had the right pitch and volume but wrong timbre and duration.  I looked around and saw someone walking down the hallway with a large blanket.  I had a suspicion, so I dallied at the end the hallway before turning a corner...

The human reached the scale at the other end of the hallway and then lifted up the blanket.  Sure enough, a fawn was there.  Zhey was none too happy about the journey to getting weighed.  I don't know the story, but I figure our Wildlife department got the deer moved along quickly to volunteer rehabilitators who can care for injured or orphaned animals until they're strong enough to release back into the wild.  This job doesn' t pay much, but it does have its occasional perks with unusual surprises waiting around any corner.  :)

Animals:  Jem has been waiting at the adoption floor for a few weeks already.  The patch of skin and fur that's sloughing off at the shoulder probably doesn't help encourage human interest.  For those who are curious anyway, the further revelation of ear mites and additional medical treatments must chase off any remaining desire.  But truly there's a very friendly kitty waiting behind these inconveniences!

Jem is a 2-year-old spayed female with a pretty grey, yellow, and white coloring.  Zhey has been cautious but adorable every time that we've visited together.  I think Jem would be good in a home with people of any age.  Zhey likes lots of petting, although rubbing the ears does cause a flat-ear-and-head-shake reaction because of the uncomfortable ear problem.  I think that maybe a course of medication is provided during adoption, but the adopter does still need to apply ear medication until the problem is cured.

Also waiting a few weeks, Earthquake's stay on the adoption floor is a little more difficult to understand.  Not that you could tell from this crouched mug shot, but this 7-month-old neutered male is actually extraordinarily friendly.  (I'm guessing that the bow tie was unappreciated only because it was unreachable by paws.)  The name, however, is very appropriate.  With a purr that isn't easily heard but is very easily felt throughout zheir whole body, this active guy enjoys lots of play time.   Earthquake is very willing to cuddle and provide attention just to get a chance at bounding around the floor chasing everything that shakes and crackles.  I think that zhey would be great in a home with either kids or active adults.  Earthquake even seemed curious about the other cats nearby, although there were cage doors separating everyone so I don't know how well zhey tolerates other felines in close proximity.

Definitely a solo cat, however, is Summer.  I saw this pretty kitty and figured that even by the end of the day, zhey would be gone to a new home.  First day went by, and then second day went by... it must be the "only cat" designation that discourages human interest.  That's too bad, because Summer has been quite curious and affectionate with me.  I think humans of any age would do well with this wide-eyed wonder.  Soft and cuddly, Summer is a 1-year-old spayed female Siamese mix who deserves a home among humans that can provide a lot of attention.

As of this writing, Jem, Earthquake, and Summer are all available for visitation and adoption at our Golden Valley facility.

How You Can Help:  If you know someone trying to find a new home for their family pet, please do try to help them find a suitable adopter.  It's in the best interest of the animal to avoid the whole stressful ordeal of moving through any shelter environment.  If the pet can move directly from one home to another, without having to spend time among hundreds of other unfamiliar animals in a shelter, then there's less opportunity for disease transmission or stress related illness.  If someone asks you, then please just take a minute to sincerely consider options for where their animal could be placed.  Yes, your local animal shelter can offer a useful opportunity for someone's pet, but it might be better for the animal if a well-placed recommendation could find a pet a new home without involving the shelter system.

I usually sleep 2am-10am, so being at work at 7am made it a "caffeine day" for me.  :)  I was tuckered out by the time the day was over.  I came back home and slept afterwards.

The official news is that we exceeded our $1 million goal!  We had about 5,000 animals and 10,000 people.  We were billing it as the largest animal/person walk fundraiser on the planet, and I'm guessing that we succeeded there too.

Last year, I posted photos of the 2009 Walk from everywhere that I could find them, whether I took the images or not.  This year, since I actually had the opportunity to go outside and see the event near my building, I'll include only the collection of photos that I took with my camera.  Other people had photos of the horse, goat, baboon, guinea pigs, and other species, but most of what I saw was the traditional domestic animal.

Here are my Livejournal galleries:
http://pics.livejournal.com/mellowtigger/gallery/0002fr59 (26 images, Walk For Animals 2010, my photos)
http://pics.livejournal.com/mellowtigger/gallery/0001hsbr (26 images, Walk For Animals 2009, not my photos)

( Cut just to save 9 images from loading... )

Other public galleries include:
www.facebook.com/animalhumanesociety#!/album.php?aid=203820&id=35867734713 (Facebook, official page)
www.flickr.com/photos/animalhumanesociety/sets/72157623826653179/ (Flickr, official page)
www.flickr.com/search/?q=ahswfa&w=all (Flickr, user-tagged images)

It was fun and rewarding, but it was also stressful and I'm glad that it's over with.  It's grown so huge that I've recommended next year they move it out to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.