Scooping Poop

This morning I did my usual Sunday thing and headed off to PetCo to clean cat cages.

Thing is, this is the last time I will clean cages and cuddle cats for Animal Friends Connection Humane Society, and it was a bittersweet moment for me.

Almost three years ago, my association with AFC began when I realized I was finally in the emotional and financial position to take a second cat into my home. I wasn't familiar with Stockton-area shelters, and I insisted on adopting a rescue baby.

As I always do in these situations, I turned to Google. The first organization that came up was AFC. I filled out their adoption application online, and a little while later, a lady named Marian called me. She asked a few questions about my lifestyle and personality, and what I want in a cat. I told her about Millie, and how after nine years, I was ready for a second cat. I explained that Millie is fine with other cats, as long as they acknowledge that she's Queen. Marian encouraged me to visit PetCo the next day, as they'd be having their weekly Adoption Day and there would be several cats on hand for me to meet.

I remember that I had plans to see "Twilight" that morning, so after the movie, I drove to PetCo to have a look. I chatted with the ladies and peeked in the cages. Marian was there, filling out the adoption paperwork on a black-and-white kitten named Mr. Buttons or Mr. Nibbles--my memory for that kitten's name is clouded by everything that happened next. Mr. Buttons/Nibbles was sharing a cage with a little "buff/orange" tabby named Khan, and Khan was still available. He was quite pretty, just a skinny little three-month-old who showed a sweet personality. I asked if I could hold him for a moment. Knowing I was serious about adopting, Marian and her assistant let me take him out.

"I can has a forever home? And a cheezbuger?"

I'll never forget the motor he had. "Oh my gosh, you sound like a Harley Davidson!" I exclaimed to him.

"That would be a good name..." Marian's assistant said slyly.

"I see what you're doing," I laughed in reply. Then my attention was completely taken by the little furball in my arms, as he reached up and licked my nose.

I knew then and there that this kitten was mine...but I felt like I needed to think it through and not be hasty. I knew before I even arrived at PetCo that I was 100% ready to adopt, but I wanted to be sure that the cat I brought home would be the right one.

The rest is history. I took a quick walk around the store. I called my parents and said, "I think I've found my cat." I walked back to the adoption area and said, "I want him."

Marian delivered him that night. She got a brief glimpse of Millie, who said something along the lines of, "What. Is. That?!" before hiding under my bed. I showed Marian the arrangement I'd set up in my bathroom--a litter box, a donut bed and plenty of toys for an active kitten. Harley would live in there at night and whenever I was away from home for his first couple of weeks with me.

It would be another year before I started volunteering. I stopped by PetCo one Saturday to say hello and show off some pictures of a now-adult orange creamsicle. They all remembered little Khan and were delighted to see pictures of him looking healthy, happy and spoiled rotten. I stayed and chatted for several minutes, and ended up filling out an application to volunteer. Within a week or two, I was being trained to clean cages. It's not hard, but Marian and Diane have a system that works and they like to show everyone. Plus, it gives the people of PetCo a chance to get familiar with the new volunteer face who will be schlepping bags of cat poop back into the employee's-only part of the store, and using the Grooming center's sinks to wash dishes.


So for a year-and-a-half now, I've spent my Sunday mornings cleaning cages. It used to take me almost two hours, but now I've got it down to an hour. I cuddle the cats who want cuddles and I leave the cats who don't want cuddles to do their thing. I scoop litter boxes, replace the water, freshen the kibble.

Someone once asked me what I could possibly see in spending a weekend morning elbow deep in such a job. I was able to tell him--and I still maintain this--that I find the work infinitely satisfying. No, it's not particularly pleasant to inhale the toxic fumes that kittens leave behind in their litter box, and I have had to clean a mess here or there that brings my gag reflex out...but mostly, I feel deep, deep satisfaction because I am helping an organization that saves lives.

In my time with AFC, I've met so many cats who tug my heartstrings. There have been sad stories, the stories that make my mom question how I can go there, every weekend, and see those sweet faces in cages. I remind her that they are the lucky ones--they are warm, they are fed, they are loved. They will not have several litters of kittens. They will not get hit by a car. Even if it takes years for them to find their forever home, they will live in a foster home with occasional two-week stints at the pet store. And when they do find that forever home, when the perfect family comes along and finds the perfect cat, it's so very rewarding. Just ask...well, me.

Of course, in my time with AFC, I met my sweet little Peanuts Gang--an experience I will never forget and always be glad I had.

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy...how can I ever forget them?

I once lamented to Marian that I had fully intended to rescue a slightly-older (and therefore harder to adopt) cat, and I was convinced that I wanted another girl, because "boys spray." I ended up with a male kitten. Marian just laughed and said, "It was a love match."  She later admitted to me that she did her best to steer me towards a kitten because of my frequent traveling to Mom and Dad's house, and the fact that kittens are more adaptable in these things than an adult cat would be.

Wherever I land in my next Wild and Absolutely True Adventure, I hope to keep "fighting the good fight," helping cats and, by extension, helping people. In the meantime, my personal link to AFC will remain with me for years to come--a flirty little orange purrvert who can make me laugh even as I'm yelling at him to knock it off. 

Thank you AFC!!