Saturday, April 30, 2016

THE GOOD, THE BAD and JEFFREY

I wrote this post several weeks ago and never published it.
I suppose the reason was because I was hoping for a more complete ending.
Well, I finally have one!
You will find an update at the end of the post
and I can finally hit the Publish button on this one! -

The GOOD:
The Humane Society brings in animals to our clinic that they find or who have been released to them, who need medical attention.
It happens all the time.
Right now there is a kitten who was impaled on a fence.
He suffered damage to the area around one of his eyes and wounds to his belly.
He's doing great now. All fixed up, the eye was saved and his wounds almost completely healed.
Sometimes these animals get patched up and then sent back to the Shelter where they have capable staff to care for them.
But as we all know, the shelters are always full so sometimes we just keep these animals until they are more fully healed and adoptable.
We also have another kitten, who is fast becoming a cat, who was paralyzed on her lower body.
Her owner had a stroke and fell on her.
After a lot of care, chiropractic and laser treatments and therapy work, she's regaining use of her hind legs.
Not full use but if you set her on the floor, she flies across the room!
They seem to think there's a very good chance of full recovery.
Both kittens have people interested in adopting them as soon as they are given the green light to go home.
That should be any day now.

Then, just the other day they brought in a little Pitbull.
The woman that cares for the animals medical needs at the Shelter is a friend of mine.
We've become friends through work and the fact that I've rescued several pets through the Shelter.
So she was coming out of an exam room as I was walking by.
This little guy was so small that I thought he was a puppy but he's in fact a year old.
Sadly he doesn't really have use of his legs.
Right away I noticed the weird twist on one of his front knees.
My friend assured me that he could still maneuver around quite well in spite of his limbs.
I couldn't stop myself and I scooped him up and held his soft squishy body against my chest.
He had such a dopey wrinkly face.
If you've never embraced a Pitbull, I should tell you that they feel wonderful.
It's a soft smooth warm feel.
So I had him snuggled up to me and
my friend said "Oh my God Cindi NO!" and laughed.
I told her not to worry, I'm not acquiring any more pets.
I set him down and looked at his legs and she told me how Doc said the one knee might need some work done on it, some surgery, but it was very hopeful.
I looked down at him again and picked him up and handed him to her.
"OK!" I said, "I know you'll find him a great home!"
and then I went back to my work area.

I was glad to know that they were going try to get him better and adoptable.
Of course I did have that brief thought about how I could get that garden cart I've been wanting and pull him around on it....
I told that to one of the vet techs who is a friend and she laughed and said she had been thinking about getting a kids wagon.
So, that's all the good things.

Then there's JEFFREY.

Jeffrey came in as a kitten with a hole in his belly.
A big one.
They weren't sure, but most likely a dog got a hold of him.
So Doc stitched him back up and gave his antibiotics and pain medication and the staff cared for him.
I'm not sure who named him Jeffrey but one day, that was his name.

He had such a BIG personality for such a little kitten.
During lunch hours and after the clinic closed, the techs would let him run around.
Apparently one night as they pulled a blanket out of a kennel, Jeffrey jumped on it for a ride.
So the girls pulled him around the lab area and laughed that he was on his magic carpet.
They said that Doc turned from his computer and watched and LAUGHED.
It wasn't much longer after that, that Jeffrey was ready to go back to the Shelter
but then Doc told the girls to call and let the Humane Society know that the bill was covered and we were going to keep Jeffrey!
So Jeffrey became the new clinic cat.
There is one cat up in the reception area, Cinderella, but she just sleeps on the counter all day and only wakes up for meals.
Jeffrey was EVERYWHERE
and when he would finally need a nap, he crawled into one of the file bins and snoozed.

He claimed it as his own so the girls made it his bed, complete with a name tag.

So many people played with him and loved on him and dressed him up.
For Veteran's Day:

and Thanksgiving:

Here he is, joining in for the staff meeting:

He could be a rowdy boy and quite the stinker.
A couple of the staff teased him though and I'm sure that added to his behavior of giving a scratch here and there and little bites.

Back in my area, I have a cat room.
In the cat room are my Kanga, and Doc's very elderly cat and another elderly girl and another cat that Doc didn't want to put down during an appointment for euthanasia and asked the owner to sign the cat over to the clinic instead, which the owners gladly did. Apparently that cat peed outside of the box and they were moving and didn't want that happening at the new place. (Although she has never done so since she's been in the cat room...)

THE BAD.
So Jeffrey could be annoying at times.
There were times when SOME people were working and I could see them getting mad, even angry at Jeffrey, so I'd pick him up and carry him back to the cat room with me.
Then at some point during the day, Doc would ask the techs where Jeffrey was and they'd come back and get him.
So it became a back and forth thing.

Some days he was up front and some days in the back with me.
Then finally the day came when the girls who loved him, would come back and pick him up and carry him to their area and he'd immediately ran back to my cat room door.
Rumor had it that some others would get so mad at him that he just didn't want to be up there anymore.

Truth be told, he was very rowdy in the cat room too.
I'd come in many times to messes he made.

But how can you get mad? He was just a young cat full of pent up energy.

I would have to cover the paper instruction sheets that hung outside the cages and kennel name tags with packing tape as a sort of lamination because he would climb the cages and rip them into pieces.
Other times he'd climb up and reach into the cages and steal food.
He was very crafty.

Then he started jumping on the old cats, trying to wrestle with them and they would get angry and a cat fight would break out.

Finally one day when Doc came through the cat room I asked him if we could find Jeffrey a home.
He went over to pet Jeffrey and Jeffrey let him for a moment,
and then tried to grab his hand and get mouthy.
Doc laughed at Jeffrey and  then sighed and said that, Yes. that would be alright since he just got into trouble when he was upfront.
We had a home in mind for him but then that home fell through because
they had four cats already and the husband said that was enough.

Then just recently, a family decided they wanted to adopt a cat.
The wife/mom is a friend of one of my workers so my worker told her to come in and see our cats.
The Mom came in and looked at the eye kitten,
and the partially paralyzed kitten and
a pastel calico cat that we also have and who is very laid back and
at Jeffrey.
The family has three boys and two rowdy cats and old dog.
After the visit, the wife told my worker that she was interested in the eye kitten
and that was who they would like to adopt.
So we got the paper work ready.

I felt sad because every day when I'd pull up to work in the morning, before anyone else was there,
I'd see Jeffrey's little face in the window.
Just looking out.

I would make me want to cry, to think of him growing up in a single room.
I even thought about bringing him home, and only because my big cats would stand up to him and hopefully play.
But then I worried about my older little tiny dogs
and of course about the fact that I don't want to adopt anymore.

The GOOD and JEFFREY.
Then I got a phone call.
It was from my worker and her friend the wife had called her.
Apparently her boys told her that they didn't want to adopt the kitten!
They knew that other people had wanted that kitten too but they were worried about Jeffrey!
They didn't know who else would adopt him.
They told their mother that they wanted "The Naughty Cat!"
The husband had said the Toys R Us Giraffe mascot was named Jeffrey
and he said "We need to adopt the Toys R Us cat!"
So the mom apologized for not requesting Jeffrey from the start and asked if they could adopt him instead.

Yesterday the mom dropped the boys off at school and drove directly over to get Jeffrey.
She said the boys had been asking for Jeffrey so she came in to get him.
We walked into the cat room and Jeffrey was up in the cat tree.
The mom set her cat carrier down on the floor and opened the door.
As she stood up,  we both turned to Jeffrey.
He was on the cat tree in front of the window and he jumped off the tree and ran across the room and right into the carrier!
We both looked at each other and laughed.
"I guess he's ready to go!"

I reminded her if it didn't work out, she should bring him back to us.
She agreed but didn't foresee a problem.

That's the agreement we always have.
If a pet doesn't work out, they can always bring them back...
I have another story,
for another day about that agreement and what happened with a different cat.

I hope it works out, but I have a GOOD feeling it will.

UPDATE -

Jeffrey has fit in perfectly.
Here he is with his new brother/buddy George.



I love a happy ending.



22 comments:

Janneke said...

A great story about Jeffrey, the naughty funny cat. I also should have chosen for him. And the best thing of this story is that it has a happy end!

Anonymous said...

Cindi

Awww. I'm so happy Jeffrey found a home. I volunteer at a shelter and work only with the cats there. In the past 11 or so years I've been working there, I've adopted 6 older cats because I knew they were so old nobody would want to adopt them. A couple of them had been adopted from our shelter as kittens and then returned several years later. I lost 3 of them to cancer -- all of them were in their teens. So, I currently have 3 adult cats and I had told myself that was my absolute limit. But then this past November the shelter did a TNR event at a nearby feral colony and 2 2-month old kittens were accidentally trapped. Normally, kittens that are still nursing will be released right away but these two had visible signs of ringworm and were severely underweight so they were brought in to see if they could be saved.They were little tortoiseshell sisters. It turned out only one tested positive for ringworm but they both had roundworms and fleas. They were both treated and kept in foster care until they were 3 months old. Then they were brought back to the shelter to be spayed and put up for adoption. One of them got adopted right away. The one left behind started to lose weight and look sickly. It was obvious she was sad and lost without her sister. It was heartbreaking to watch her decline like that. I kept trying to get people to adopt her. Whenever anyone would ask about a cuddly cat, I would steer them in her direction. But she looked so unhappy and didn't make a good impression on anyone. After about 3 weeks of that, I finally broke down and filled out the adoption application myself. I just couldn't stand the thought of her spending any more time in a cage. She was feral as it was when she first came to the shelter and as much as we tried to socialize her, putting her back in that cage every day was keeping her from really trusting and liking people. She is still a bit of a wild thing but my three adult cats have been really good about teaching her some manners. She has gotten my 3 adults to be better friends with each other because she's so affectionate and loves to groom everyone. So, now they all groom each other and they never used to do that. All these years that I've worked at the shelter I have often felt a little impatient with people who are only interested in the kittens. But I have to admit that this kitten has introduced fun and spontaneity (I didn't even know was missing) to my family of cats.

I think it's so wonderful that the clinic you work for works so closely with the shelter and does so much for homeless cats. The pictures of the Jeffrey bin and all the costumes are so sweet but the ones of him with his new brother almost made me cry.

Grace

Cindi Myers said...

Janneke,
He was definitely a naughty boy at times but I'm so glad for the happy ending too! I would have hated for him to grow old at the clinic!
:)
xoxo

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I love this post! I'm always grateful when people like you are there to help these little ones find their way and be their voice! I'll admit that I'm more than a little partial to Jeffrey because one, it's my brothers name, and because I also have a ginger-foster boy right now. So, I'm thankful Jeffrey has found his forever home, and I will hope the others find their forever homes too. I have a feeling that because of you and the others advocating for them, they will! I love happy endings!!


--And I have to add, that I was at "my SPCA contact" home the other day picking up food for my foster, and she had a young cat that was missing his front leg because someone shot him. What is wrong with people?? But I'm thankful the shelter and the SPCA were/are there to help him....

Cindi Myers said...

Grace,
I'm SO glad you adopted that little feral kitten/cat!
You are like me, wanting the ones nobody else wants.
Right now we have a 16 yr old cat in the cat room and her name is Angel but I call her Gertie because that is what I'd call her if she lived in my house.
If I ever leave, I'm taking home my Kanga AND Gertie.

I agree, I feel like crying seeing Jeffrey's photos with his new brother but not as much as I did, seeing his little face every morning looking out that window and being so sad.

And it's certain people at the clinic that feel that way. It's an ongoing situation. Half who love cats and others not so much. Sigh.
Luckily Doc likes cats and sometimes can be talked into keeping a few for a bit of time and/or he turns a blind eye to it.
I've got a few more cat stories to someday share!

Thanks for commenting and CONGRATS again on running the race and getting a medal!
Wahoo!
xoxoxo

Cindi Myers said...

Kim,
Yes, I'm a bit of a nut about the cats and Doc knows it.
His 19 yr old cat is back in boarding with me (because when he was a house cat he peed wherever he wanted to). His old cat is in renal failure ans really is a finicky eater. He finally stopped eating everything. He wouldn't touch the dry or the canned. One day someone donated this expensive cat fool in gravy pouches and the old guy loved it. So one of the techs asked Doc how much he loved this cat and he was like "What?!" and I quickly asked "Do you love him a dollar a day much?" to which he replied "Of course!" So me and the tech said then that means we can order these special pouches of food for him? and Doc nodded and said Yes!
So, my point is, I have a group of girls that feel the same and we try to help them the best we can.
The little "eye" kitten went back to the shelter and was quickly adopted and the little paralyzed one is still at the clinic, except for weekends when one of the techs takes him home. We all know that eventually he will just stay home with her! Although she tries to deny it. (She's even rigged up this harness thing, that's a sling under his belly and he walks on the end of a leash with it. He gets more mobile everyday!

And as far as people and the cruel things they do.. I can't even think about it, much less talk about it or I lose my mind.

Finally, look who's talking! you do the same with all your rescues!
XOXOXOXOXO

tammy j said...

oh cindi
i think i was holding my breath through this whole wonderful post!
the ending brought tears to my eyes. but not as much as that dear little face peering out that big window.
omg.
you know... doc may not be that good with people and raises and handling dissension and such... but he truly DOES love animals. and i'm glad you work for him now. i understand why you stay i think.
what a beautiful post this is from beginning to the very end!
and what GREAT kids to realize that they needed jeffrey!
it's late here as i write this and now i'm turning in with a huge smile in my heart tonight! XOXOXOXO♥

CheerfulMonk said...

I love happy endings too! Thank you so much for this story.

Anonymous said...

Cindi,

I know -- that picture of Jeffrey's little face at the window is a heart-breaker, for sure! He looks so happy in his new home now. I love the belly shot of him on the couch. : )

Let me tell you, I "power-walked" through most of the race. There were over 8,000 people in that race and it wasn't easy trying to run in that crowd. I kept slamming into people who would suddenly slow down in front of me. So walking it turned out to be the safest thing. The good thing about that is that I was not at all sore or painful afterwards! I'm just glad I did it because doing the 10K doesn't seem at all scary now.

Grace

Cindi Myers said...

Tammy,
Yes, Doc can drive me nuts and upset me greatly but I can handle that because I know he cares about the animals.
He will always try, no matter what, to save everyone even when others say to give up.
If he ever tells someone it's "time" you can be sure that it's time.

And yes, those little boys are wise beyond their years.
Thank God.
Gives me hope.

XOXOXOXO

Cindi Myers said...

Jean,
Yes! We all need a happy ending every once in a while!
;)
I'm glad you liked the story.
xoxo

Cindi Myers said...

Grace,
Yes, his little face...
But I'm so glad it turned out so well!

Even if you didn't "run" but "power-walked" instead, I still think it's so awesome that you did it! (For many reasons.)
That's just the coolest and obviously just the beginning!
You go girl! LOL!
XOXOXO

shortybear said...

wonderful post

At Rivercrest Cottage said...

Cindi, loved this Jeffrey story. He certainly looks like he's making himself at home.

I'm wondering if, in the future, you might do a post about things that people might donate to shelters? Like I was surprised about the fancy cat food donation, but it makes sense. I have some old towels and hand towels I'm going to drop off at the shelter, but thought maybe I might have other things that would be needed that I hadn't thought of. Thanks for all you do for animals in your care.

Cindi Myers said...

Thank you Shortybear!
XOXOXO

Cindi Myers said...

Sharon<
Yes, Jeffrey is happy.
Since this post, I've seen a few more photos of him, sleeping and lounging around his new home with his cat brothers.
I'm so glad you enjoyed his story.
:D

I would be glad to do a post about donations for shelters.
Two things that pop into my head immediately is 1- kitten food.
So many times people donate cat food but you can't feed a kitten adult food but if they are in a pinch, they can always feed the adults kitten food.
and 2 - Bleach. They always need bleach for the laundry and for cleaning.
There are a lot of other things too but I'll put together a post about it!
Thanks for the idea!
XOXOXO

Christer. said...

Young cats with lots of energy and no where to get rid of it can be a bit naughty :-) My friends and I have also noticed that especially ginger cats are the worst :-) I'm glad things went well for him :-)

Yes there is a special feeling when holding a pitbull :-)
Have a great day!

Christer.

Cindi Myers said...

Christer,
Yes! Jeffrey was naughty but who could have blamed him?
I'm happy for a happy ending too.
I agree, Everyone needs to experience holding a Pitbull!
One of the best feelings ever!
Thanks for commenting!
xo

Doreen@foxdenrd said...

It was meant to be. Jeffrey is home, and apparently very happy to be there! This was a heartwarming story Cindi, and I'm so glad you finally hit 'publish' :)

xxx

Cindi Myers said...

Doreen,
Yes, I agree!
It was meant to be.
I was so worried and it all turned out for the best!
:D :D :D
xoxo

leslie said...

omg, i was so afraid jeffrey's story was going to end badly… (what does that say about me?). hurray for the boys who wanted to adopt him. that makes my heart happy.

Cindi Myers said...

Leslie,
I think it's because we hear so many sad stories.
Even on the News, they like to report more on the sad.
But yes, those boys give me hope for the future
and makes my heart happy too!
xo