Pets of the Past - Puff

Empty condos at Maddie’s! I’m pleased to see that senior gals Pookie and Mitten have been adopted, and I shortly learn that my buddy Tony is about to go home. We’re in no danger of running out of adoptable cats, of course, but it’s good to see the turn over.

I visit with Carrie, then move across the hall to meet Puff. She’s a pretty gray and white 8 year old with a friendly face and loud purr. She rubs around, her motor running, head butting my arm and offering sweet little licks. But she doesn’t really alight anywhere, rather she paces, slightly anxious, wary of the other cat noises. Clearly, she needs a comfortable home and people of her own to relax with.

Puff reminds me of another Puff I knew years back. At one point in high school, several friends and I all had elderly or infirm pets at home, and it got to be kind of a running thing between all of us. Streak, Star, Happy, Puff, a shivery toy poodle whose name I’ve forgotten… My friend’s cat Puff – also sweet, a bit plump, gray – made it the longest, living into her (and our) 20s.

It’s funny how much you can forget about childhood, yet keep crystal clear pictures of your friend’s or the neighbor’s pets.

Moving along, I sit with several more kitties who have gone more than a day without a volunteer visit. Two of our extra shy kitties, Maya and Siren, seem more outgoing than they’ve been, I’m glad to see.

A pair of young women (not clear to me if they’re a couple or just pals with an overly charged connection; probably the former) want a young cat that’s not too aggressive. Sweet tabby Nicholas seemed ideal, but one of them thinks he’s too small. They move on, arguing. I think maybe they’re not quite ready to share a pet yet.

Another young duo, definitely just friends, walk around looking in windows and comparing notes about their childhood cats. By which they refer to the recent past, and to cats still residing with their parents.

I feel flooded with nostalgia for a moment. Mostly I don’t miss my early 20s, but what I wouldn’t give to go back briefly to a time when my parents were alive in my childhood home and my own first cat was living there keeping them company.