Beam Me Up - Harry

Looks like June’s "Adopt a Shelter Cat Month" [http://www.sfspca.org/promotions/adopt-a-shelter-cat-month.html] is really taking off – Maddie’s is buzzing with activity the whole time I’m there.

I spend a few minutes alone with my new buddy Harry, a charming nine year old Siamese mix with pretty blue eyes. He's very affectionate and a bit drooly. He gets too excited to settle on my lap but rather paces back and forth on it, then puts his paws up on my shoulder and climbs up to drape himself around my neck, front paws flexing in a passable shoulder massage. Cute and relaxing, if a little wet...

Next encounter is with two older gentlemen in hallway 4. The more dynamic one is reading the cats’ descriptions out loud and pointing out how great various of them are. The other shakes his head no to one after another till he halts outside Diamond’s condo. "I’d like to see this one," he tells both of us.

Diamond is a cute little three year old black and white girl, friendly and talkative, just your basic cat. The guy talks cat talk to her for a few minutes, smiling broadly and stroking her, then he tells me that this is his cat.

He’s had cats before. He recently lost one after 18 years. And he knows what he wants; he doesn’t want to see anyone else, this is it, she’s coming home with him now. He heads off to the front, but the friend wants to take a look at Pixie. He has dogs, he explains, but he was just intrigued by her looks.

Pixie is quite striking, a two year old torbie with lovely coloring, and a sweet little round face. One ear tilts to the side like a puppy, and that with her big hooded eyes give her a bit of an ET look. She was shy at first, but she’s gotten more used to her situation here. She can be a bit ornery, but only because she’s clearly used to ruling the roost.

She likes commanding two people’s attention. The man scoops her into his lap for some cuddling, before taking off to find his friend. I pet her in a more dignified fashion. Then eight or nine pre-schoolers come skittering down the hall, excited but regularly hushed by their minders. A bunch of them press up to our window, and Pixie tolerates this just fine, even rubbing her face up toward one awe struck little boy.

Moments later, a woman seeking a companion for her cat at home asks to see several kittens. Hallway 6 is swimming in kittens at this point, five and six to a room, playful and funny little fur balls. We visit a couple different rooms, squeezing in and out to avoid escapes and entertaining the visitors outside with their antics. She mulls over the choices. She says her other cat seems bored. That’s about to change.

I show kittens for awhile; there are plenty of people interested. But I do make it back to finish up my time with little Pixie. She admits in her dainty way to being glad to see me again. I tickle her under her ears and tell her she’s sweet. All the rest of our cats look like cats, but somebody out there is going to prefer the one who kind of resembles a space alien.