Catspiration

February 25, 2012 at 9:55 AM

I volunteer at a cat shelter and honestly believe that it might save my faith in humanity. This four-wall structure is full of more love than most cities. Their policies are strict and logical:  no-kill; every new cat is spayed/neutered; every new cat in placed in a 2 week quarantined area for the safety of the others; each potential adopter is carefully observed, to see how they respond to the cats and questions that arise—no one who mentions de-clawing a cat is allowed to adopt. 

But their standards are even higher still. The care of these cats is weighed like we treat people, which shouldn’t be a rare thing. There are separate areas in the shelter based on requirements: kittens have a special room, overweight cats have a “slim and trim” exercise room, and special needs cats are handled based on disability or abuse-induced fear. 

But the cats themselves teach me the most. Some are so scared of us that I can’t bear to know what happened to them. Some, despite the horrific stories I’ve heard, still approach people with curiosity and affection. It’s easy to learn quickly who are the cuddlers and who prefer to be left alone. All their personalities are as complex as ours; we learn this by watching eat cat interact with the others and seeing how much it reminds us of our own day. 

And then there’s the shelter’s spokescat, so to speak. She is the face of the shelter and known to all by name. She once belonged to a woman whose angry ex-boyfriend decided to shoot all of her cats; one survived. A bullet hit her spine so she cannot use her back legs. She wears a diaper and gets around simply by dragging her back legs. 

But she doesn’t hold a grudge against her abuser. It doesn’t matter if you say animals can’t remember or they just aren’t bothered by the past. The result is the same: they live in the moment. They don’t waist all their time moaning about how much the world sucks, which it does. They don’t let the past dictate every new decision. They forgive, move on, and continue to love. 

I wish I could be more like her, and I am practicing daily. And I wish there could be a shelter like this in every county. 

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