Netta, like most of our companion animals, is normally very good at keeping secrets. But recently, she let the cat out of the bag -- literally!
Netta is a 2-year-old, distinctly marked black and white cat. She is spayed and current on vaccinations and also microchipped. She has been at the Adoption Center for about four months and is one of our gold star cats. Gold star cats are a select group of cats that are allowed free roam of the adoption center during closed hours.
They have adequate supply of food and water and there are many beds to lie on and perches to climb as well as several litter boxes to choose from. Most of the cats develop their special space and they are very respectful of each other and the environment. However, the current group, more than any other, also has a few clowns among them.
While I'd recognized a few weeks ago that we have several strong personalities in the current social group, I didn't think much about it until the other day when I was in filing paperwork during closed hours and I stopped to observe.
What caught my attention first was the sight of Spencer walking past me with a roll of packing tape stuck to his backside. Spencer has an obsession with tape -- this I'd discovered a few days prior and I'd gotten into the habit of putting all of the tape away at night but I'd been boxing up some files earlier in the morning and had forgotten that I'd left it on the front table.
As I stood wondering how I was going to remove it, I noticed Roscoe on the back desk chewing the erasers off the pencils and Turtle taking the name tags from the volunteer mailboxes and hoarding them in his bed. Alex was pulling tissues out of the Kleenex box and I could hear Iana "helping" the fax machine receive a document.
At about this time, the mailman slid a few items under the door and Lydia set off to shred them to pieces. (I can only imagine her delight when she discovered the catalog -- her favorite thing to shred!) While still contemplating what to do with Spencer, I picked him up and began to walk toward the phone so I could make some calls and brainstorm the easiest way to remove tape from a cat.
As I was placing the first call with Spencer in one hand and the tape roll in the other, I saw Netta out of the corner of my eye leap from the top of a cat tree WWF-style onto a grocery bag just below sending a very surprised Riley who'd been sleeping soundly inside flying across the room.
The excitement startled Spencer and I just enough that he went one way and I -- with the tape roll -- went the other. Fortunately, it was not pressed very tightly against him and it seemed to release fairly easily, or at least very quickly. I decided that it was probably a sign that I should head home for the day and at that moment, Henry trotted past with my keys proudly in his mouth. After only a few minutes chase, I'd recovered them and gathered my things to leave.
As I was locking the door behind me and looking at all the faces wondering where I was going, I realized just how lucky I am to work with them and for them. I truly have the best job in the world and would not trade it for anything.
Please visit the Adoption Center during open hours and let us help match you with just the right feline friend for your lifestyle. They are all so distinct and their personalities so different we have something for everyone! We look forward to seeing you soon!
Amy Christiansen is the Executive Director of the Companion Animal Resource and Adoption Center (CARAC). CARAC is located in the upper level of Southridge Mall and is dedicated to saving the unclaimed strays from the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission.
Amy grew up on the South Side of Milwaukee and now lives in Muskego with her husband and son and their three cats and three dogs. She also takes in the occasional foster dog.
