From Maggie:
It’s not so bad here at all. Compared to living under a building and having trouble finding food, this is a relief. Food, water, a clean bed for my babies and me. And lots of nice people coming by to check on us. They all say we are quite beautiful!
The babies are playing a lot now. It wasn’t that long ago that I was playing like them. Practicing my fighting skills, my hunting skills, my walking sideways with my fur standing up (to make me look big and ferocious!).
Then the babies came along. Instinct kicked in and told me how to take care of them. When they are big enough to go out on their own, (to a wonderful home these people will find for them!) I will have a chance to play again too. After all, I’m just a big kitten myself! I’ll be batting all these toys around!
I hope my babies find homes quickly. I hear that since I’ve been here, six more black kittens have come in, and two are in foster care. And oh yes, the cage next to me has one black kitten in it….I’ve noticed two black cats they call ‘shelter cats’ that are free to stay outside of a cage. They’ve been here a long time.
One is named Rowdy. He’s the only male shelter cat. He came in January 2004, as a tiny kitten that got burned on a car engine. He must have been cold and climbed under the hood to get warm. But, he survived with help from the vet. He’s scarred up but happy. He likes to race out the door and eat grass but he always lets someone pick him up and bring him back in! Waterbaby is the female black shelter cat. She has been here since January 2007, a tiny baby. She loved to throw water out of her cage! But, she was never one to like to be held so they let her become a shelter cat. She’s getting nicer and not scratching people so much!
I plan to be very sweet and loveable if someone wants to hold me! Maybe that’s the key to get a good home!
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On May 22nd, we got a call that a mother cat and five kittens had been found under a building that was being renovated. Luckily, there was one more cage in the former sick room, now the mom and babies room. We had no foster homes for moms with babies this year so we decided to take a chance and let them stay here.
When I went back to see them, it was thrilling, then sad. The mother cat was no more than 7 months old, thin and tiny. And solid black! She had 5 black kittens, maybe three weeks old. The first thing I thought was that, being black, you will all be here a very long time!!! The mother cat was very affectionate. I name her Maggie.
She tested negative for leukemia and AIDS. Her babies are just learning to play, wobbly but determined. As I walked back to my office, I told the other 19 black cats all about the new family. We all sighed........
Authored by.....Vickie Frain, Animal Facility Director
