Tripping the Light Fantastic at the Rainbow Shelter

Eau de tomcat urine – that was my perfume by 5 p.m. Aug. 16.

More on that later.

As Tullamore Dew is to a dedicated Irish whisky drinker, so are shelter kitties to a crazy cat lady. That’s as poetic as I’m likely to get about my afternoon at the Rainbow Shelter. I had a wonderful time – rainbows and kittens and all that stuff – but oh my, so many felines who have no hope, save for those humans who can make room for yet another one.

I won’t bore you with the details of helping shelter staff make sure every kitten and cat went up on the website (but do check out http://gsshelter.ca/meetcats.html ) Suffice it to say that with more than 10 coming in on Monday, 20 on Tuesday and more than 10 today — in addition to the existing crew — that’s high math for a number-phobe like me.

It is easy to get discouraged when the Shelter already has more than 150 cats for the month of August and it’s only half way done — so I will focus on the happy dance stories.

Shrapnel — the orange tabby cat in the isolation room: Shrapnel (not likely her real name) is maybe six months old and already expectant. She came in with what appeared to be a pellet gun wound on her back. We don’t know. What I do think is if a dog came in with a pellet wound, the city will be up in arms.

If I tried to make a news story about this cat, I’d be as likely to get anonymous emails offering to finish her off. Her wound was cleaned up and is healing beautifully AND we have a foster home for her.

Notre Dame Boys and Girls — the cats and kittens abandoned at the SPCA: There are 20 of these. The babies are so flea infested that even after a flea treatment, there were still numerous lousy things running all over their faces. Three of us took to flea-crushing, laughing that the primary requirement for kitten helpers should be good thumbnails (for squishing.).

What’s the good news? There is a lot of interest in these critters (the cats, not the fleas) and in Sudbury getting a low-cost, accessible spay/neuter clinic. Trip the light fantastic.

Gizmo, Jersey, Lorna and Cammie — four female cats who’ve been at the Rainbow Shelter since July. I phoned our vet and got their spay appointments booked. Four out of more than 150 doesn’t sound like much to some folks, but to these cats, it’s their whole world.

They’ll go to my house to recover from their surgery. And then to Small Things CATS for adoption. The next group of kittens that I want Small Things fellow volunteers to foster out are the Frood Road friends. See http://gsshelter.ca/adoption/AC21171-74A.jpg.

And talk about an unusual situation — their mommy was adopted before they will be. (She was spayed first.) Hip hop.

Emmett — the tomcat who would be a queen: At the end of my volunteer shift, in came a crate of five more kittens and a momma cat. Momma had had a massive “pee,” so I needed to bath the whole crew. The kittens didn’t mind too much — kittens aren’t all that clever, I think. But when it was time to wash Momma cat, I thought I would have real trouble. She was a MASSIVE black-and-white cat. Biggest female I’d ever seen. I dunked her hips first into the wash basin, ready for all Hades to break loose and instead of hissing, she simply cried. I felt terrible.

Then I thought. “wait a minute, something is not right here, and I got a shelter worker to help me check her “nether parts.” “She” is a “he” — and the most gentle “he” you can imagine. Alas, even after washing him, he still stank.

I wrapped him up in two towels and still managed to get soaked with Emmett excreta. Oh well. He just melted into my arms and I carried him around like a gigantic baby for more than a few minutes. Dance a jig.

I was sad to put him in his cage — the last one available for cats at the Shelter. Eek. But the adopt-a-thon is coming and having Shrapnel fostered will free up a cage. And I put my name on him in big bold letters. It will be two weeks before I can get him fixed. My big baby boy has to stay healthy and that means he cannot get depressed. If a cat — especially a big cat — doesn’t eat for two days, he or she can start developing fatty liver disease. Kitty can be fatally damaged within a week. Eek!

I am off to visit family for four days. Beannacht Dé leat, mo mhúirnín bán Emmett! (God’s blessing with you, my fair darling Emmett).

Jan Carrie Steven is a volunteer with Cat Adoption Trust Sudbury (CATS) and the co-ordinator of Small Things: Cats & Books. For more information, go to www.smallthings.ca.