Monday, January 09, 2012

You tap on that glass one more goddam time ...

... I'm gonna tap on your head. And it's gonna hurt.

So! Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the adoption center at PetSmart. And it was ... interesting.

It's very good people-watching, if you're into that sort of thing. I talked to a lot of people, some of whom wanted to visit with the cats.

And these cats are from a different foster group than the one I work with, so I had a whole new crew to meet. Most of whom were, well ...

... oh boy, here I go getting in trouble again ...

... Most of the cats up for adoption are fat. Like, really fat. And I just don't understand it. I mean, I could see it if they had just come into the system, and their former owner was a little old lady who just couldn't resist feeding Miss Bootsie one more piece of chicken. But most of these cats, the older ones especially, have been in foster care for quite a while now. Why are they so fat? I mean, I guess I can understand how some of the foster parents would be, like, "oh, poor leetle abandoned kitty, let me give you another dish of food", but you know what?

It's not doing the cat any favors.

Shit, when Romeo and Mouse first came to me, they were overweight. At five months old. I immediately started food restrictions, keeping in mind that they ARE growing kitties and NEED a certain amount of nutrition, and you know what? They're slimming down. They no longer look like little kitty sumo wrestlers. And they're more active. And Romeo's wheezing and breathing problems seem to be improving.

And oh my God, I've got another inductee into RockyCat's Kitty Weight Loss Camp, which I will tell you about tomorrow. Promise.

But it made me kind of mad to see all those fat-ass cats at the adoption center. A common comment from people stopping by: "Oh my God that cat is HUGE!"

*sigh*

Other than that, it was a fun afternoon. I'll be doing it two afternoons a month, unless someone from the adoption center reads this, in which case I'll probably not be doing it again. Heh. Guys, somebody's got to speak the truth, am I right?

Oh! And the glass-tapping! Oh my God the glass-tapping!

The cats are in plexi-glass fronted cages, so that passers-by can see them. And EVEN THOUGH there are SIGNS ON THE DAMN GLASS saying DO NOT TAP ON THE GLASS, do you know what I heard all afternoon?

taptaptap. taptaptap hey kitty kitty taptaptapTAPTAP KNOCKKNOCK

Poor kitties. To their credit, they seemed to be used to it. But still.

DON'T TAP ON THE GODDAM GLASS, GODDAM IT.

Oh, and come see the kitties! They'd love to see you.

6 comments:

Zella said...

And here I thought volunteering was supposed to make you feel GOOD, hahaha...

rockygrace said...

ha, I guess I'm just an old curmudgeon ...

Oh, and I feel like I should clarify that yes, I DO understand that kittens are SUPPOSED to be plump and round and with kitteh bellehs. However, by the time they reach Romeo and Mouse's age, they are supposed to be getting longer and lankier, and those guys were going in the opposite direction, hence the diets. I don't want anybody to think I'm starving kittens, here.

Becs said...

I think my cat Blue has the fat gene. Nobody else in the household is fat, but he's the size of a Schnauzer. He's one dam big cat.

the queen said...

My vet had one HUGE cat for years. Everyone would comment, and he would say, it's my fault, I wanted to see what would happen if you neuter a cat too early.

Birdie said...

One of my cats is HUGE, I mean HUGE! We have to measure out his food and feed him twice a day. (He gets about 3/4 a cup of food a day.) He is fat. Heavy and fat and lazy! LOL

rockygrace said...

So! Sounds like there's lots of big kitties out there! You know, some cats ARE bigger than others. Some cats have bigger frames. But when I see a cat with a petite bone structure packing twenty pounds, well ... that ain't right.