Beam Me Up - Trudy

The staff at Maddie’s had a clean up day earlier in the week. It’s hard to put a finger on the particulars, but the whole place seems neater and cleaner. They’ve also moved a lot of the cats around. Apparently that can help prompt the longer term residents out of their shells. (Sometimes they rename the cats too, this presumably more for the human visitors.)

Trudy is now in a nice big space, with a TV and main hallway window. She’s a pretty little five year old, gray with faint tabby markings and large wide set eyes. She has a sad story – her former owner died, she’s had some trouble adjusting to being at the shelter, and she’s been here for several months.

Trudy can be shy, with a tail twitching wariness, but she loves laps. Her preference is to crouch on one leg at a time. (My Muppy was like that, and would only sit on my left leg as I sat cross-legged. The boyfriend’s cats won’t do laps at all, though Allie will press up against someone sitting. My Montana will sprawl any which way on whatever part of a body he can access.)

Anyway, she settles happily while I pet her, paws splayed on either side of my knee, tail barely moving. When I stop she turns her head back with a tiny cry of protest. She shares a window with a frantic and undignified nine month old calico named Wanda. As Wanda scrambles around, Trudy’s eyes narrow and her tail starts switching faster.

But lucky Wanda’s gone before I’m done with my shift – turns out she was a runaway tracked down by her people.

A pair of older men who have been going carefully through the hallways for at least an hour approach. They’re interested in meeting a group of four active young cats who are housed together. At a glance, I’d type these guys as mid-western farmers by their appearance and demeanor. But I gather they’re a local couple once we’ve gotten acquainted.

Familiar story – they had two cats, and the older one died. They want a companion for younger one (who replaced the older one’s companion when he died). He sounds easygoing and active, so I’m confident that any of these barely grown kitties would work out. And both guys are into cats, so it’s pretty sweet to watch them all interact.

After awhile they decide they need to think it over some more. Clearly they’ve got all day to spend here, and I think it’s nice to take a good long time before adding a new creature to your home. As I’m leaving, I see them at the front counter. They’ve chosen Spock, a charming little black and white guy. I’m tempted to flash them the Vulcan hand sign, but instead just whisper "live long and prosper" to the men and cat both.