On Display - Jenga

I arrive to my shift only to find the shelter is closed 90 minutes beyond its normal 11 am opening. Oops. No reason given. I snag a staff person to let me in the locked side entrance. The shelter is eerily quiet and deserted. I have to confess I kind of like it that way – it’s like some childhood fantasy of sneaking around a giant cat house.

Whole rows of cats need visits. Ideally each cat gets at least one volunteer visitor a day, but some have gone three days since their last socializing session. It’s the time of year, people get busy, plus the Macy’s holiday windows [http://www.sfspca.org/adoption/macys.shtml] are in full swing, taking up many volunteer hours.

I head for some scaredy cats (those unlikely to ever set paw in Macy’s), starting with Jenga. There are several cats in hallway 4 classified via "felinality" as Private Investigator, the most timid rating. But the system falters here – the other cats are cautious and slow to approach; Jenga is the absolute extreme.

She’s a two year old dil tortie who’s been at the shelter since May. The first few times I saw her she stayed fully hidden in a cat cozy, and she hissed and swatted when I made the mistake of offering my hand in for a sniff. In the intervening months the cozy has been removed so her best hiding spot is on a shelf of her climbing structure, where she spends most of her time.

She doesn’t run away, but crouches, eyes wide, ever wary. People have mistreated her, that’s for sure, although I have to guess her nature hasn’t helped. She has quite the stubborn streak. I try to wear her down with soft loving talk. She will allow herself to be touched only by the wooden handle of the dangle toy. This she clearly likes, and each visit now I manage to ease a hand in for some behind the ears stroking (which she enjoys till she realizes what’s happening then stiffens with a mortified expression).

She has the tiniest little purr, just a soft little clicking sound. But she does purr every time I’m there with her. Unless a door opens or someone walks by or something. This is a cat who does not deal well with being on display. I watch her watching me as I bond with Maya, who’s housed across from her. Her eyes meet mine then turn away.

After awhile everyone returns from wherever they were, and cat shoppers wander through, mostly just looking. I’m in with Tara, a frisky eleven year old, when a large group troops by and someone official says, "There’s one of our volunteers playing with a cat!"

Everybody stares in and I self consciously keep dragging the toy around for her to chase. Fortunately Tara is cute and entertaining – nothing like a bunch of strangers seeing your attempts at play disdainfully ignored. But it makes me think of Jenga, how she’s so nervous with eyes upon her. Wish she got it that I get it.