Cat Shelter Notes & Meet the Popcorn Brothers

This little gray boy is my muse and assistant at the New Rochelle Humane Society. I’ve blogged about him a few times since he was rescued over a month ago from hoarder hell. No name seems to stick. First called Gary then he and his cage mate became Joe and Frank (The Hardy Boys). I just call him Sweetie and he’s the reason I began to volunteer there. When a local news station aired the unbelievably horrific story, he calmly posed for the cameras oblivious his neck and back were raw and bleeding.

I met him the following week and many of his wounds had healed. He was the first of the hoarder cats to dart out the crate for a taste of freedom. For an older cat of about seven his spirit is kittenish. The shelter was full with the intake of 62 cats and he was housed in a meeting room. His green eyes glittered with hope and uncontained joy except when he yowled in pain from scratching a healing wound. Tightly coiled with an intelligent otherworldly energy, he stuck out in this motley crew of survivors. Too wired to sit still, he accepted petting right away and accepted his lot in life had vastly improved. If you’re ever feeling sorry for yourself, go volunteer in a shelter, you’ll instantly feel better.

Every time I visit he gets preferential treatment. Always a play and exercise session out of the cage and lots of petting. He’s a killer hunter of Neko Flies but loves to kiss and headbutt. On Friday, I pulled a cushion onto the floor and wrote notes in my shelter notebook. His fellow Hardy Boy, a less adventurous ginger guy peeked out the open cage but would not join us. Gray Boy had had dental work the day before but was perky as ever. His distended abdomen concerned me if not him. Nothing gets him down. I guess when you’ve seen hell, anything else is a picnic.

Fascinated by my notebook he plopped himself on top of it and scent marked it with his claws and of course played with my pen. I patted the pillow and invited him to sit beside me. He’s not quite lap ready and figured the cushion is next best thing to real furniture like a sofa or bed. He was in a cage so long who knows when or if he’s ever seen a sofa. He curled up beside me and begun his rumble purr. It was the first time he settled down from his manic energy and just hung out. Now if only we could get his pal to join us.

My fellow shelter volunteer and Reiki cohort Leslie often show up at the same time but we didn’t plan this crazy cat lady moment. It was hot last Friday and I had nothing to wear. I’m a catvocate for World’s Best Cat Litter and they sent me this t-shirt awhile back. I never felt right about wearing it until last week. Great minds think alike. It’s not about being labelled a crazy cat lady but simply being crazy about cats. And anyway the cats don’t care what we wear as long as we’re helping.

This was taken in a small cage-free transition room with about six cats called the Sunshine Room. It’s bright but there’s no window to the outside. My dream is to get everyone out of their cage, into more foster homes and of course forever homes. Leslie has taken a ginger female named Gabby home to foster while I remain undecided. I’m leaning towards a pair but which one?

Meet the Popcorn Brothers, Cheddar and Butter. This week’s #AdorableAdoptables. Can you believe this gorgeous duo was rescued from a hoarder? At first glance, the brothers look alike but they’re very different. Cheddar is more orange, has large blue eyes and if more outgoing. Butter is more buttery in color, is slightly cross-eyes and extremely fearful, often hiding behind his brother. Their fur is thick, soft and luxurious. Both have distinctive beauty spots on their nose leather.

There are two other similar looking pairs of Flame Point Siamese. One pair is at a foster home and Lucinda and Aragorn are the other pair available for adoption. Remember them from the “name this cat” post? I’d really like to see both remaining pairs in foster homes soon. They will require time to warm up to humans but I believe their naturally sweet personalities will blossom quickly in the right home.

Earlier last week, I spent about an hour with Cheddar and Butter. They’re in a double bottom cage. What you see image at the top of the page is all they have. What you don’t see is the litter box which removed so I could lean inside and do the Reiki. I opened the doors and Butter hid behind his brother. They didn’t want to be touched but they needed to be on their own terms.

I got as comfortable as I could on the floor and put out my hands in a Reiki position near them and mentally communicated what I as doing (sending calming healing energy, and telling them they are safe and loved). Shockingly quickly, Cheddar moved away from his brother and closer to me. I’ll have some more of that please. He let me touch him and I continued the Reiki. Within a few minutes he showed his belly, purred up a storm and wanted scritches as the love-starved boy that he is and the cuddle bunny that he could be. Meanwhile, Butter soaked up the vibe and his fear melted like butter. He wasn’t as trusting but he let me pet him and things can only get better.

Deep down, every cat no matter how abused, standoffish or fearful wants love.

My dream is to get as many of these hoarding survivors into real homes soon where they can see the sky. Please help by sharing and cross-posting this post or the images. If you any questions email me [email protected], call the shelter at (914) 632-2925 or visit their website New Rochelle Humane Society

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