A veterinary technician that I met while doing a rotation in shelter animal medicine during vet school first introduced her to me. She travels with the veterinary mobile unit at Mississippi State. They journey to the surrounding animal shelters and take 2-3 vet students with them 3-4 times a week. The objective is to sterilize as many animals that time will allow during the day. Other duties include making sure they are appropriately vaccinated, providing treatment for internal and external parasites, and making individual and group health recommendations. If you want to learn more about the MSU-CVM Mobile Unit, check out this website. http://www.msumobilevet.com/
Shelter cats are notoriously more difficult to find homes for. Did you know that 3-4 million cats and dogs are euthanized each year in the US, and of those 71 % of cats are euthanized. Emily, the vet tech, is a cat person. To express her love of feline friends, she takes beautiful photographs of the shelter cats that she comes across and posts them on Facebook. She displays the photograph, the name of the cat, and where it can be found in hopes that it will light a fire in someone’s eyes. And, it did just that. Below is the picture of “Prissy” that she posted.
Beautiful, isn’t she? The minute I saw this picture a wave of emotions went through me. Now, most of you know that we had another kitty. Her name was Sugar, or as we called her, Shug. I will tell Shug’s story in another blog later. It is still tough to revisit.
After viewing the photograph, showing Craig, and hearing her story, it was decided that we would adopt her. “Prissy” was a long time resident of Columbus - Lowndes Humane Society. From what I understand, she was an owner relinquishment in the beginning of June 2012. Two days after her drop off, she delivered a litter of four kittens. I was told that none survived. Her time at the shelter was running out, and her adoption fee was discounted. So, I would go to Starkville, and Emily was kind enough to keep her for me in the mean time.
I picked her up Saturday, August 4th. She was quiet the three and a half hour trip down. As I put my finger to the mesh siding of the carrier, I remember telling her that she had big shoes to fill. She just looked into my eyes and rubbed the side of her muzzle against my finger. She was happy.
So, the introduction went well. Wait, what introduction? This cat acted like she was born in this house. She ran up to Bella and Asher almost like she was saying, “what up my dawgs?” The dogs were slightly confused by this. She spent the next couple of days exploring her new habitat and the fauna that inhabited it. She was, of course, curious by the little critters but did not try to harm them. Craig renamed her “Junebug” because of her bright green eyes.
Junebug has a lot of personality. She is extremely talkative and even talks as she is jumping so when she lands it kind of sounds like a loud “whoop.” She has to be in the same room as the dogs, and Bella will get upset because she tries to lay right next to her. Sniper cat is what we call her when she ambushes the dogs as they run by. She likes to lay on top of you as you sleep and purrs loudly. She knows where to scratch and where not to. She does not beg for human food but has come to recognize the sound of the kitty treats rustling in the bag. She get a Mohawk down her back when she is very excited or when you just get home. And, just like most every other cat in the world, the kitty crack fairy descends upon her at 10 pm, goes berserk for about 15-30 minutes and then settles back down. She also does the same thing Shug did after she took a crap - sprints away as fast as she can like the demons just escaped her. Yep, she’s a keeper. She has filled a deep void in our hearts in only a three week period of time. She gives the type of love only a cat can provide, and she loves us already, unconditionally.
So, in closing, I leave you with the words of Bob Barker. Help control the pet population. Please spay or neuter your pets. Save a life, ADOPT!
Cheers!
Tara
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