You’re Never Too Old to Lose Your Dignity – Thomas

It starts out slow at Maddie’s – not surprising on a sunny spring day. But I don’t mind being inside. I managed to get sunburned at the afternoon Giant’s game a couple days ago. (It was raining when I left my office; I was better prepared for cold and damp. But the day turned nice. And the game was awesome, at least for the first 8 and 1/3 innings, till they took Lincecum out.)

Anyway, I’m pinker and itchier than an adult woman should be. (But how charming to realize that I’m still capable of spontaneous dumb behavior.) Speaking of loss of dignity, I pay a visit to our resident Himalayan cat, precious 5 year old Thomas. He’s got a classic square face, smoky blue eyes, long whiskers, low little ears, a wonderful personality… oh, and he’s growing out of a full body shave. His legs, paws, tail and sweet expressive face are luxuriously furry, but the rest of him resembles a shorn sheep.

Still, Thomas wears it well. He’s a friendly cat who knows what he wants. He hops down, purrs, steps up onto my lap for a bit, then back up to his climbing structure to wash. After I leave, he issues a couple plaintive meows, kind of drawn out squawks. He’s a handsome kitty, never mind his coat, and I’m hopeful he’ll find someone (someone who’s handy with a brush) soon.

Moving on, I sit with a great bonded pair, Boots and Nigel. They’re both affectionate and lanky black and white fellows, ages 10 and 6. They get along well, although they wander around independent of each other. Boots has a slight limp, but it doesn’t seem to slow him down as the pair of them scoot after their toys, and bump heads and noses.

A few singles and couples stroll by, most in the just looking phase. After awhile the volume of visitors picks up, but there are also several more volunteers on hand. I help a young couple who have just raced over after having spotted their dream kitten on the SFSPCA website.

We bump the photographer, and the young woman pretty much dissolves over her adorable sleepy kitten. He’s one of a trio of newly arrived kittens, just a month old. More people line up outside, waiting to get in as the couple head out to complete the adoption.

The feistiest kitten, a tiny tabby, dances on his hind legs before tumbling over, to a chorus of oohs and ahs. No dignity needed here. These kittens will probably be gone before their photos can be uploaded.