On the Edge - Summer

A dressed up staff member nabs me right off the bat to help a waiting older man. (Ok, that’s relative, probably he’s my age but just rougher ridden.) He wants to see his old friend Stubby, a former feral that he had been feeding, who’s now come in from the cold.

Stubby has been rated a Secret Admirer, ie she’s shy, and she’s hidden, rump side out, in her climbing structure. Doesn’t matter, the dude is delighted to see her and reaches in to pet and coo at her. She’s a chubby black and white Manx (hence her less than flattering name), and she squirms around purring with the attention although nervous about coming out of hiding.

I tell the guy that’s normal shelter behavior, especially for a shy cat. He tells me she was part of a group of cats he feeds out near the ballpark, saying he has three cats home in his room and another 40 he feeds, this being his main occupation. We stay for awhile, chatting about cats, petting Stubby and encouraging her to eat and roam around.

He asks whether someone could take her picture, so he can remember her. I start to talk about the website but realize from things he’s said that this is not someone with a home computer and internet access. He resides in a room and lives check to check on SSI. And while he’s clean and reasonably articulate, this is surely someone living on the edge.

The man takes off, saying he’ll come back again to visit. And I’m left thinking about the huge number of people, local and nationwide, who are just barely making it. Which brings me to the thrilling inauguration earlier this week. I do think President Obama (OMG, yay! President Obama!) is well suited in both temperament and philosophy to take on the myriad challenges facing the nation just now. But it’s going to be a rough ride. I worry about homeless people as well as homeless animals.

Hallway 5 has some other hard luck stories. There’s newly arrived Meow-Meow (gorgeous long hair with patches of fur shaved who hasn’t been eating), Morgan (10, FIV positive, and only one eye), and sweet little Summer, who’s been here for awhile now.

Summer is a 10 year old orange tabby and white girl, a cheerful lap cat, with a lame hind leg. She gets around ok, and it’s the kind of thing you’d get used to if you saw her every day, but it can be startling when you first see her move around. She claims my lap right away, nudging my hand with her little head to keep me petting her. She watches me swish a toy around, but she’d rather sit and purr.

A pair of adorable five month olds across the hall scrutinize our every move. They capture the attention of everyone walking by. They’ll be fine, gone by the end of the weekend, I’d bet. It’s these marginal creatures who need extra attention – they need somebody to step up.

check out the spca's updated website: www.sfspca.org