Kittens have a lot to teach
us. I know, you might think that kittens
are just wide-eyed babies who think only of their next nap and next meal (which
might be partially true), but really, they have a lot going on.
I am fortunate enough to
volunteer some of my time during summer vacation to help at the Kootenai Humane
Society. I go in the morning before the
shelter opens to the public, and I get to help clean the cat cages, fill up
their food and water dishes, give them comfy blankets, and hug and kiss on
their furry heads. I’ve learned a lot
throughout my years at KHS:
- Cat Litter: It is much more economical to use wood stove pellets in the litter boxes instead of regular cat litter. A thin layer of the pellets (barely covering the bottom of the box) does an excellent job of absorbing urine, and each morning we empty the entire box and give them a clean one. You might think the cats don’t enjoy this form of litter, but they seem to take to it just fine.
- Cleaning Cages (aka “Suites”): Avoid harsh chemicals when cleaning cat areas. Dawn dish detergent diluted in water makes a great cleaning solution, and it doesn’t have a harsh smell or dangerous ingredients that will harm cats.
- Fabuloso! This purple liquid cleaner (a cheap cousin of Pine Sol) does a fantastic job of cleaning shelter floors and leaves a fresh scent. We add a splash to the mop water when we are ready to prepare the shelter for the public. It’s cheap, too. I think you can find it at, of all places, the Dollar Store.
- Fussy Cats: Not all cats who swipe a paw at you are being mean. Sometimes they are saying, “Wait! Don’t stop petting me! I like it!” Sometimes a swat is merely a knee-jerk reaction, and if you just smile and talk gently and pet them some more they will warm up quickly to the love. But sometimes they are just fussy. And that’s okay, too.
- Frozen Water Bottles: To cool off the rabbits and rodents, we freeze water bottles (peel the labels off first) and put them inside the cages with the critters. These make excellent air conditioners, and the rabbits in particular enjoy stretching out against them to cool off.
There are plenty more shelter
lessons I can share, but I’ve digressed from the original topic: Kittens.
Those wise, venerable little fluff balls have a lot to teach us. Here are a few kitten lessons I have gathered
throughout the years:
- Have Fun No Matter What! Kittens really know how to find fun in pretty much any situation. Cleaning their cage? Well this is sure a plethora of fun for kittens. They get to chase your hand as you wipe the cage walls. Giving them a clean litter box? Now they have a fresh arsenal of wood pellets to knock one-by-one to the floor you’ve just swept. Putting a hammock in their cage? Now they can run and jump and wage aerial attacks against their siblings. (By the way, hammocks are an essential shelter cage accessory. Cats and kittens absolutely love them. The best ones have carabineer clips at each of the corners and simply clip onto the bars of the cages. And cats look adorable chilling out in their hammocks).
- Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: Did someone drop a metal dog bowl with a loud clang? No worries! Kittens simply find this noise to be a new distraction and/or point of interest. Did some of their water slosh out of their dish? No problem! Now they can splash around and get their cage-mates wet, too. Is a broom sweeping around their cage? Not a distraction to a kitten! It’s fun to watch the broom and floor debris scatter around on the floor. Fun!
- Even When You’re Sick, Life is Still Pretty Good: Today I cleaned a cute little black kitten’s cage. He was in the sick room, probably for sneezes or something minor. I opened the cage door (it was bottom cage and near the floor) and that “sick” kitten made a break for it. Thankfully David had shut the sick room door, so the little guy didn’t make too big of an escape. When I finally grabbed him, I decided to put him in an empty cage so I could clean his cage in peace. I gave him a few toys, and that “sick” kitten had a rousing good time for at least ½ hour playing with his toys and rattling the cages of all his neighbors.
- Everything Is a Toy if You Are Creative Enough: Also in sick room today was a veritable herd of kittens (six in all) in one very large cage. David needed my help in wrangling the kittens so we could clean their cage, which is no easy feat. We gathered all of our supplies and I waited at the cage door. Torti kittens were playing on top of their covered litter box, an orange kitten was sitting inside his food dish, two kittens were wrestling with an empty paper towel roll, and one kitten was playing with stray pieces of kitten food on its towel. When they saw David and I prepare to gather them up, they lined up with sincere eagerness and waited for us to grab three kittens a piece (an armload of kittens is very good for the soul) and put them in an empty cage to play while we worked.
The cats (and people) at KHS
have taught me very practical lessons over the years, and it does my heart good
to spend two mornings per week in the simple act of cleaning and feeding and
loving them. While it might seem that
the handful of hours per week is my way of helping them, I have a strong
suspicion that I’m getting much more from them than they are getting from
me.
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