Family Fun - Tiger

It’s Spring Break, which means lots of kids hanging out at the shelter. There is an SFSPCA sponsored mini camp going on, with children in tan aprons visiting the mellower cats. (The program seems to be assisted by "camp counselors" who are kids, too, but I guess they’re older than they look, teenagers probably.)

A fair number of young guests are visiting as well. I’m in with Tiger, a lovely and playful orange tabby boy, when two kids skitter into the hallway. They seem barely attended by a man who is talking loudly into his phone ("We’re at the shelter! We’re looking at the cats!" and so on.)

I’m ready to be irritated, but then the children spot me and Tiger. The older one, a quiet and fair skinned girl, is smitten with him and urges her father to come see him. The boy, a cherubic blond of maybe three or so, is less interested but approaches the window with his sister.

I wave the toy toward the window so the kids can see the cat. Cats are often nervous with kids pressed up on their windows, but not Tiger. He walks right up and rubs himself in the direction of the boy, who cracks a small smile. The girl drags her father over, insistent that he see this wonderful cat.

At that point, a staff behaviorist comes by and cautions them that Tiger may be a handful for a young family. He’s young and playful, and is being trained with only limited success not to nip. But they’re game, so in they come. Tiger does fine – he purrs loudly and rubs against all of us, he allows Dad to hoist him up, and he stands patiently while the boy attempts to pet his back, rubbing his fur kind of sideways.

They tell me about the old cat they had that died. A much calmer kitty, all gray, who had been part of the family long before these kids. There’s also a dog in the household, and a teenage brother. It sounds like an active place, but these are nice animal people.

We go in to visit a couple other cats, both of them younger and more timid. Max, a small gray and white 7 month old, mostly leans on my lap. But when he sees the boy playing with the hot wheels cars he brought with him, he starts to bat at them too, at one point leaping up and over the boy’s back, which totally cracks up the sister.

It’s toward the end of my shift and they still have half the hallways to cover, so I wish them luck with their selection. I hope they choose Tiger; it seemed like a good match. But I’m not worried about him, he’s the kind of cat that will get picked fast. In any case, it’s nice to see a family spending a pleasant afternoon together.