貓鎮的小公寓
Where Hui & Little Cat Dwell

November 11th. This is *still* Tasha.

I gathered the, err, courage? to go to the shelter again, on November 4th. I guess sometimes you just got to, like the old-timers always say, “think about the positives”?

I didn’t take any pictures that day.

I did notice a sleeping kitten, who looks extremely like LC.

For a brief moment, I thought Tasha was adopted; later I found out that she was moved to one of the bigger cat rooms.

This is Tasha.

She has only one eye.

She also has asthma, that’s how I noticed her, ’cause she was making noises, trying to breathe.

It seems like, her owner of 9 years surrendered her because… well, the reason wasn’t quite clear.

This picture was actually taken more than a month ago, on October 14th. That’s also the day I got my official volunteer badge.

I didn’t go to the shelter for more than two weeks after that day.

Summary

I was at the shelter all by myself (translate: no other volunteer was there) for the first time. Everything seems to be ok, except that I do have to take clients here and there once in awhile.

A lady came to the back cat room where I was hiding a little after I got there. She was “looking for her cat”.

At first the staff who’s also in the room and I thought the lady’s a bit strange, now that I think of it, she’s probably just very anxious. She said her granddaughter’s cat gave birth to a litter of 5, and her granddaughter then surrendered the mama kitty 10 days after she gave birth (!(@$&%) and kept the kittens.

OMFG.

The lady was on vacation, and didn’t know about this until after she came back. Ironically, she originally scheduled an appointment for the mama kitty to be spayed on this day, but she ended up coming in to look for the mama kitty.

She did find her kitty (*fortunately* not adopted by anyone yet), and in her words, “bailed the cat out” of the pound. She was all teary eyed when she held the kitty in her arms…

Another old couple happened to be around when I show the lady her lost kitty, and asked me if I can showed them the kitties they have in mind.

The first boy was way too active for the old lady. She wanted a lap cat, and he growled at her when she tried to sit him down on her lap.

The second girl is an extreme lap cat, you can pretty much to anything to her on your lap.

But she’s way “too” lap-cat for the old gentleman.

Then came Figaro, the cat who “got the look and energy” for the old man, and can stay on a lap for an acceptable period of time for the old lady.

Cats find their people (and vice versa.)

On a side note, I think more Katrina pets have arrived today. There were PILES of carriers sitting in the cleaning area, along with a small bus.

and then I played with as many kitties as I can ’till I left…

今天選了一個比較冷門的時段, 以致於在場的義工只有我一個. ~”~ 還好已經不是那麼完全的菜了, 所以也還算沒有什麼問題.

比較不一樣的是, 由於沒有其他更有經驗的人在場, 所以偶爾我得幫有興趣看貓咪的人把貓抱出來看.

我到了沒多久, 一位看起來有點恍惚的女士就出現在後面的貓屋裡, (我還以為我躲的很好呢 ~”~) 說要找她的貓. 她講的斷斷續續的,我跟另一個在場的醫院的工作人員一開始都搞不太清楚她在說什麼. 後來想起來, 她大概也是急得不知道該怎麼辦吧.

事情是這樣的, 她的孫女的貓生下了五隻小貓. 由於太多隻了, 她的孫女就把貓媽媽帶到 shelter 來, 只留下小貓們. 而她送貓媽媽來的時候, 貓媽媽才剛生產完十天.

!(^#$(*^!(@*$(%)!$#(*@&%

好我們不氣. 這位女士說她前兩個禮拜去度假了所以根本不知道有這回事, 等她發現的時候貓已經被送走了. 所以她今天才急忙的跑來, 看還能不能找回這隻貓咪.

諷刺的是, 她本來已經安排了今天要帶貓媽媽來醫院結紮的.

約莫二十分鐘以後, 她又出現了. “I think I found my cat!”

我幫她把貓抱出來讓她確認一下. 她看到貓咪眼眶都紅了.

很”幸運”的這隻貓咪在過去的兩個禮拜中都還沒被領養走.

旁邊有一對老夫妻看到我在幫忙抱貓咪, 問我可不可以也幫他們抱他們心儀的貓咪出來讓他們看看.

第一個男生是個黑白貓. 對老太太來說太好動了.

第二的是一隻三花女生貓. 老太太說, 這對老先生來說太不好動了.

左看看右看看, 老先生又看中一隻黑白貓.

Figaro 被抱出來後好奇的東看看西看看, 一開始還不想坐在老太太身上. 不過老太太跟他說說話, 幫他搔搔頭, 他也安靜了下來, 閉著眼睛躺在老太太身上享受著.

貓咪都會找到適合他們的人類… (反過來也可以成立吧?)

在前後的貓屋間跑來跑去的時候, 我注意到好像又有更多從紐奧良來的 Katrina pets 被送過來了. 一大排籠子放在消毒區裡等著被消毒, 數量是平常的十倍有吧?

之後, 我繼續躲在後面的貓屋裡陪大家玩… ^_^
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Summary

Obviously I don’t have a fixed schedule yet. Well, I guess that’s another reason why I need a car badly.

Things are getting smoother and smoother. I actually lost count of how many cages I cleaned and how many kitties I petted. I guess that can be considered as some progress? :)

A few other long-time volunteers were there, too. It’s really helpful to have them around ’cause I can observe how they deal with things happening around us and try to learn from them. They were also moving kitties around from room to room so the weaker kitties can be in a room that’s closer to the hospital. LOTS of work there.

I also came to a conclusion that, I am really fond of active kitties with green eyes.

Especially when they’re around 4 month old.

雖然一直很想找個固定的時段去 shelter, 但目前似乎還是採取機動策略比較不麻煩一點點. 唉, 真的該買車了… ~”~

還有, 每個禮拜去兩個小時其實好像是不太可能的. 每次一待不知不覺三個小時就, 咻一下的過去了.

不過去了幾次, 三個小時內能做完的事情也就多了起來. 今天已經可以清理一整排的貓籠了, 還有時間跟每隻貓咪講講話 (當然是在他們願意理我的狀況下…)

同時間在的還有另外三個已經做了好多年的義工. 在沒有那麼多人來看貓的狀況下, 跟著這些老義工真的是可以學到不少. 她們今天還幫醫院把貓咪們大搬風, 這樣醫院可以把身體狀況比較不好的貓咪放在離他們比較近的貓屋裡觀察. 她們後來好像花了整整一下午才做完喔.

ㄟ, 為什麼義工幾乎都是女的啊…

然後我發現我真的偏愛四個月大, 有綠眼睛的好動小貓喔…
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Summary

掃樓上貓砂還會掃到樓下貓籠裡的菜鳥又去當義工了. ~”~ (真是對不起樓下的貓啊…)

其實一個禮拜只需要去 shelter 一次就可以了. 但因為我想要找一個固定的非週末時間, 所以昨兒個下班後又去了一次, 想要探探拜二傍晚時段是什麼情況. (其實是想要去看看 Bandit 吧… ~”~)

本來以為非週末會比較清靜的. 並不會. ~”~ 人才剛到, 就從一個忙的分不開身的義工手中接下了一對母女. 她們要去前面的 Kitty City 看小貓. Shelter 裡人手不足的情況好像真的有點嚴重. 正式的 shelter 員工更是忙的不見人影. ㄇ.

小女孩本來是要去看藍眼睛的白小貓的. 但剛好另一個中途家庭把他們的五隻小貓帶來了. 小女孩一眼就看中了一隻長毛 Calico. 奇的是, 小小的兩個月大 Calico 被小女孩抱著溫溫順順不停的呼嚕, 不像別的小小貓會愛在人身上爬來爬去.

在等待辦手續的過程中, 小女孩連貓咪的名字都想好了. Tuscany.

之後去清大貓屋, 一個父親帶著他兩個小兒子在研究一隻大虎斑貓的紀錄卡.

五歲的大虎班貓在 shelter 待了兩個月以後, 被小男孩們歡天喜地的帶回家了!

當然在把該清的貓籠都清好了以後, 我又花了十幾分鐘陪陪 Bandit…

But for the most part, I think I wanted to go simply because I want to check on Bandit…

That doesn’t mean I wasn’t getting some work done. I got to take a mother-daughter pair to another cat room because the volunteer in the room they were in was surrounded by clients and couldn’t make time for these two.

And the little girl just fell in love with a 2-month-old calico when she first set her eyes on the tiny kitten!

She named her already while waiting for her mom to deal with all the paperwork: Tuscany!

After that, I helped answering some questions about flea control medication to a father and his two little boys. They later decided to adopt a five-year-old kitty! It’s really neat to get to witness this kind of things happening in the shelter!

… and of course, after all the cleaning and everything, I spent a few more minutes with Bandit, just petting and talking to him…
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Summary

Today’s is the first day that I’m actually making myself useful at the shelter. I cleaned six cages (very slowly compare to the others), socialized with the same six kitties, fell in love with one of the kitties, helped a family to figure out what to do to adopt a dog named Ren, and that’s about it.

The veterans said I’m lucky, ’cause today is a little slow, thus not overwhelming for a first-time volunteer. They seem to worry a lot about new volunteers leaving. This must happen quite often here.

All in all, a good experience. I like the kitties there and enjoy chatting with other volunteers. Maybe I should come here twice a week…

老鳥們說我滿幸運的, 由於這個週末是長週末, 來 shelter 的人並不是很多, 我也可以慢慢來不會被嚇到. 他們一直問我覺得怎麼樣, 好不好玩, 有沒有 enjoy, 好像很擔心我會再也不來了似的. 這是不是常常發生呢? 新的義工來幾次就不來了… *thinking*

其實我真的覺得滿好玩的. 可以跟貓咪玩, 還可以跟其他義工聊聊貓咪的事情. 雖然被一個大陸女客人拐了我的電話, (說要問我貓咪的事情結果根本是要做直銷, 難道他不知道我們這些台灣人是被騙大的嘛, 說要跟我連絡告訴我賺錢的機會難道我還會繼續跟你哈拉嗎, 哼.) (厚有沒有搞錯呀, 我要賺錢我還來當義工喔. 厚… *氣*) 但我想今天還是一個不錯的經驗.

“The Love of My Life” of the Day . 今日最愛

ht was worried that I’m gonna start bringing kitties home, and, oh, I myself was worried, too. Today I met this ugly little furball named Bandit, which suits his look perfectly. But after you pick him up, he just kept kneading and wanted to kuddle. The cutest thing! I was already telling myself that if he’s not adopted, I’ll take him home…

ht 一直很擔心我義工當一當會開始帶貓咪回家. 嗯其實我自己也滿擔心的. 每隻貓咪都 *這~麼* 可愛, 真的好想統統包起來! ~”~

我們之前在 shelter 的網頁上就看到了這隻貓, 他叫 Bandit, 長的還真的像個小土匪. ^_^ 可是我在清貓籠的時候, 他一直呼嚕一直呼嚕, 還來蹭我的臉. 後來我抱著他, 他好開心啊! 一直在我身上踩踩踩, 頭靠在我的肩膀上好~舒服的樣子. 嗯心理已經暗暗的在想, 要是沒有人把他帶回家的話, 是一定要把他帶回來的…

Quotes of the Day . 每日一句

“Mommy said no black cats.”
“媽媽說了不能選黑貓.”

“Honey, we’re not getting a pitbull.”

[English version] [中文版]

今天負責訓練專門照顧貓咪義工的訓練員是 Scott. Scott 的自我介紹是這樣: 我是 Scott. 我最常被問到的兩個問題是, 我當了多久的義工, 跟我有幾隻貓. 答案是, 七年, 十二隻貓.

訓練結束後有機會跟其他資深的義工聊天. 他們都是在做貓中途的, 有些照顧小小貓, 有些專門照顧生病需要靜養的大貓. 其中一個男生說, 他上個禮拜得把一隻他在照顧的貓帶去安樂死, 因為經過很多的檢查後發現, 除了大小毛病外, 貓咪已經得了癌症.

另外一個貓中途媽媽安慰他說, 大家也都不想這麼做, 但以現在的人力也實在沒有餘力去照顧所有的貓咪. 她還說, Scott 以前做中途的時候曾經帶回家一隻病小貓. 結果當時在他家所有的貓都因為這樣而不合乎被領養的規則了.

後來, Scott 把那一整批貓都留下來了. 一共有十二隻.
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[English version] [中文版]

Scott is the trainer for “Cat Care Specialist” today. He started the training by answering two questions he said he’s mostly asked: He has been a volunteer at the shelter for seven years, and he owns twelve cats.

I chatted with another long-time volunteer, Luvonne, later during the day, talking about her experience fostering kittens. She shared some stories when a foster dad told her he had to put one of his foster kitty to sleep last week.

She said something about Scott bringing a sick kitten home one time. All of his kitties got ill because of that kitten, and became unadoptable. He ended up keeping all the kitties, all twelve of them
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We’re asked to spread the words, so I guess I’ll do my share…

August Hot Summer Days Pet Adoption Fair!
Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005
10 am - 5 pm
Dozens of dogs, cats & rabbits available for adoption!

There are also pet stuff on sale in the shelter pet store! Do give this poster a look for more details, will ya? ;)