The Difficult Hard Reality

You may have noticed that so far that I still had yet to talk about the cats. We do adopt out Dogs, Cats and Rabbits and I do love them all and I do have my fav's out of all the species but I have always had the most connection with the dogs and tend to spend more time with them

The issue I have with the cats [and now come to think of it, some similar behaviours with the wiley fuzzy bunnies (just like our poor angry Mistress just biding her time to exact revenge at this point, on any 2 legged monkey she could, having been a test bunny) ] is that I am not good at reading the shifty snipery little buggers. They can look at you with a sweet look and an invitation for affection and from out of nowhere an evil demon rises up within them and out come those claws (or better to be described as RAZORBLADES) faster than a streak of lightning across the sky right across your hand/arm/ face/jugular or wherever else they can reach for blood. That's much better than when they strike that head forward (or Launch at you) quicker than a viper trapped in a corner and hit you with those bacteria infected cat butt laced needle teeth of death. Even if they don't hit a vein you'll be lucky not to bleed to death or get a staph infection where you'll end up having to remove a part of your body you would really rather keep.

Sometimes they are kind enough to me to give an obvious sign of displeasure like a hiss or a growl which I gratefully appreciate and respect and then there are those who will love you to love on them but do it a little itty bitty to much or just in the "wrong" spot and BAM! they wrap their mouth, front arms annnnnd claws around that arm of yours with the grip of a Hulk Hogan head lock. You could only pray it ends there, but usually it follows the act of scratching the back claws, I mean razorblades, up and down your arm like it was it's human scratching post.

With all that, I did the cleaning of most of the cats today. There were plenty of newbies around that I had not met before and few others I did know, but out of those, knew which ones not to screw with. Let me tell ya, we have had some FEISTY and I dare say "mean" little hairballers. Well we do again. Mar Gareet our little pretty is "OK" with other cats but I describe her as the Lucy Van Pelt of the rest of the Peanuts Gang in the cattery but with a touch more maliciousness. She likes to swat at all of the other cats. Today I had been able to pet her and correct her and tell her NO when she's trying to start trouble and then pet her face a couple of strokes as I told her good girl for stopping her antics. I did this several times in the room while I was cleaning and she was a good girl for me but I know her history and she has bitten before and can get quite easily overexcited it seems and then it can go very bad from there so I didn't over do it. I left without incident and felt I had made some good contact with her and felt like it was a sign of her improving. Sadly enough not 20min after I had left a volunteer went in with them and Mar Gareet had bitten her several times in a row. She has an aggressive history and is so unpredictable that she is unfortunately shown herself to be a danger to the public and is now on what I have dubbed the green mile. It's the span of time where you already really know what needs to be done but don't have final word yet on if there is any other rehabilitation available or even possible.

One of, if not the most difficult thing I do in the shelter is euthanizing an in house animal. It's an inevitable reality that we will occasionally encounter animals in our place that are just not able to live harmoniously with humans/society or it's own emotional state. In those cases the hardest decision is made to put the animal down with the intention to prevent any more suffering. Not only it's own suffering but the suffering that is all but guaranteed to happen to another should this animal be adopted out. I loved them all and wished they weren't the way they were or that more could be done so this didn't ever have to occur but that wasn't reality. The truth is, it will happen again and to get through it, I just aspire to instill in them as they go through the transition that they ARE loved and that the end to their suffering is almost here.

Well the first newbie full of piss n vinegar I encountered was a big orange tub o lard who's name I must have blocked out for a reason. While attempting to clean his room, and get the damn kitty litter (that they like to fling everywhere like it's confetti at a parade) off his blankets he bats me hard 3x. I jerked my hand away automatically expecting to pull back a bloody stump only to find no pain or scratches. Oh kind universe! the quick little wanker didn't have his claws. Now we do not perceive declawing as humane to a cat since it's actually removing the first BONE out of each of it's digits that can result in chronic pain and other issues but I was thankful at that moment for him not having his claws.

Last psycho kitty to encounter today was of course the doozy! We have three cats in a room and they are all out roaming around and I needed to get some supplies so in I go and here is this white and grayish black Satan spawn in disguise looking up at me and coming to me all slow and sweet like. He lifts his head up to me like "pet me" and like the gullible one I am I took the bait. I got one stroke across his face and CHOMP! he bit my arm like he was a shark taking a chunk out of a surf board then spitting it back out from disgust. All I had heard was that he's a little shy and here I am like oh hey look at me he's not afraid of me, he likes..OOOOUUUCCCCHHH
Not a good day for in house cat's. 2 on the green mile puts a serious damper on morale for awhile even when we believe what we do is for the best for all.

Dogs vs Cats.....Granted, 2 attacks with one mild one, out of all the other cats I encountered today one might say isn't a bad ratio but that's just today. In 2 1/2 yrs I have had many many attacks on me by cats aaaaand rabbits whether it was bites or claws but when it comes to the number dogs that have tried to harm me the total is 2.

I'm not saying it couldn't be me..or even that I don't love all of them including the ones who are the kind of cats you don't want to run into alone in a dark alley I'm just saying me n the mutts have a better understanding..They don't bite me and I give them lots of love...that seems to be working for us.

There may be a new fav of mine with the cats and once I socialize with him again and come back unharmed I'll tell more about him. So far he's the first cat in a long time who loved his belly rubbed and accepted a LOT of lovins and never got tired of it. But that was only our first encounter but maybe more to come on the cats..:)
Because of the crazy cat day and other things I didn't get much time with the hounds today. Hopefully tomorrow.

Though.....Bucky has caught my attention..a shy sweet white Shepard Lab x maybe, who must have had a rough life as his teeth are all worn down and his tongue is all mangled. Who knows, maybe he chewed on a gate of some sort or rocks and since he is tearing up all his blankets there is worry he could have some form of separation distress. Stay Tuned