P.A.W.S. Cat City

Recently overheard: "We adopted our beautiful (green eyes!) 9-week baby boy here. At PAWS Cat City."

Happiness is a contented cat.

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After a lapse of over 18 months, I made a return visit to PAWS Cat City. I am happy to report that I feel that it now "cuts the mustard," to use a cliche.

But then I'm one of those odd people who thinks (1) kittens are tons cuter than any ruddy, chubby, runny, fleshy (Note that I haven't mentioned "howling") human baby, and also that (2) felines--despite having survived for centuries under the direst of conditions in blighted urban areas as well as in the wild--are indeed a superior species in terms of sensitivity (tactile, aural, visual, olfactory, affective), beauty, spirit, and sheer grace so my opinions are partial.

P.A.W.S. plopped itself in a small nondescript storefront in the heart of the eclectic, laid-back, now trendy Greenwood neighborhood and became one of its most charming businesses, a non-profit at that.

There is no other place I know in the Greater Seattle area that treats its temporary residents with such nice digs. There are usually only a few cats in cages--the overwhelming norm for animal shelters.

One might think one had walked into a feline commune, with cats plopped down nonchalantly in two small, clean, modestly but comfortably furnished rooms. Each cat or kitten has claimed a space on a perch, pillow, scratching post; or in a cubicle, cubbyhole, or tunnel.

(I also must have been a cat in at least one of my previous lifetimes. I know a contented cat when I see one).

The volunteers I met this visit were actually much nicer than the ones I had encountered on previous visits. Older volunteers, in particular, have a relaxed wisdom that the younger ones, being probably too revved up about being that age, seem to lack.

That PAWS Cat City has stayed open the past six or so years is a testament to its dedicated corps of volunteers.

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What do human beings and cats have in common (in the early 21st century)?

Answer: Uncontrolled population growth and unwanted/unplanned births.
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7/8/2007
* * * (1/2) stars.

I have stopped into P.A.W.S. at least a half a dozen times while I was thinking of adopting a cat, and I have to say that each time I was impressed with the the low-key atmosphere.

The wonderful thing about this small storefront is that there are two separate rooms where the cats "live": one for the kittens, the other for the older adult cats. They seem to be cozily,languidly enjoying themselves--as if at their own summer camp, each having staked out his or own own corner: perch (cat tree), tent, cabin, micro-fiber sleeping bag, tunnel, donut-bed, leopard blanket, fluffy slumber-nest, dome, or other hide-out.

(You can enter the rooms and visit only if you have filled out an application for adoption and spoken with a volunteer, which doesn't take more than 15 minutes. Your application is kept active for one month, I believe).

This is in contrast with the various outlets of Purrfect Pals, in Petcos and Petsmarts all over Puget Sound, where the cats are housed in small cages stacked on top of each other. Or with Seattle Animal Shelter, where you can hear the dogs in an adjacent area yelping at the top of their voices.

The cats here "place to themselves," and it seems like a more natural place, i.e., more relaxed environs to adopt a cat: to see how they behave, interact with them on a 1-to1 basis, and make a stab as to whether they would be a good fit in your home.

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P.A.W.S. Cat City is less "institutional" than the Seattle Animal Shelter (I almost went through the volunteer training there) but the staff doesn't seem to have the same sense of responsibility--prob ably because they are mostly volunteers who do 3 -( or 4-) hour slots once a week.

Sometimes there are more volunteers than cats there, particularly in the on weekdays. And occasionally a volunteer will seem to be more interested in "gabbing" with another volunteer...or checking her Facebook account on the computer.

One volunteer was stubbornly unwilling to answer my questions as to whether they had that particular day a specific age/variety/gender of cat was available. I tried to explain to her that I lived on the other side of town and that it would not make sense for me to made a trip just to find out that what I was looking for was not there, especially as at that time there were, on the average, a total of six cats there on any given day.

She said I should come down just the same (!) and that she was too busy to spend time on the phone, which is odd, considering that whenever I had gone there in person there usually were often four volunteers sitting around the table apparently shooting the breeze.

It was actually a deja vu of high school (long time ago!), with a small clique in charge of the school newspaper, blood draw, track, etc. (I know saying this will undoubtedly endear me to these people. But life is short, and the truth trumps myth, doesn't it?).

As the website lists most but not all the resident cats, this made even less sense.

But considering that the local shelter and animal groups are by and large an inbred group, I guess that some of the individuals feel that they are entitled to make the rules, not just apply them. And above criticism.

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The kittens never are listed on the website as they are snapped up so very quickly. From what I understand, during the summer months, there is a line outside the storefront Saturdays mornings before they open--as that spring is the peak season for litters.

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The cost of adopting a cat here is higher than that of the Seattle or King County Animal Shelter.

The manner in which and the degree to which we care for the other denizens of the natural world--besides our own species--is a measure of our own humanity --a paraphrase of Gandhi--
and of how far our species has advanced, or has yet to make progress.