This is Rachel. Hi Rachel.
This is actually ‘Fancy Rachel’.
She doesn’t usually dress like this, nor does she usually stand in front of fishbowls full of money. That was just for our yearly gala. Rachel is our Development Manager. She works with corporate volunteer groups*, organizes events and does about a million other things. Mostly she does things from her cube and not from behind a fishbowl full of money while wearing an evening gown. Because that would be difficult and awkward and with all the dog hair here at the shelter the cleaning bills would just be outrageous.
Don’t worry, there’s a pet bit coming up here. We promise.
In addition to doing her usual work, Rachel puts up with a lot. Bits of her salad get stolen. She gets nearly gassed out of her office. Her shoelaces refuse to stay tied. And she’s lost a lot of desk space. Why?
Hope you saved that spreadsheet because I’m on a cable-yanking rampage.
Because Rachel has the most adorable, most fun, most inconsiderate office mates in the world. Rachel’s desk doubles as kitten housing.
You put receiver back on, I knock receiver off. And give adorable innocent look.
Just for one kitten at a time, thank dog. Otherwise it would be never-ending chaos.
Chaos? Me? Slander!
Office cats are not a new thing. Some cats, stressed by the shelter, have needed a little quieter space and been housed in staff offices. Carol Novello, our president, has had a bunch of them. Kittens, aside from staff’s various fosters, have traditionally not. Due to an unusually overwhelming kitten season our animal care staff found themselves tight on space and looking for new solutions. Solutions like leaving surprise kittens on Rachel’s desk.
It all started when she came in one Monday and found a sneezy little orange kitten parked next to her phone with a note.
A sneezy kitten considerate enough to leave a note.
It was tough writing without opposable thumbs but I made it work.
Within five hours of finding his way to Rachel’s desk, Clint The Sneezy Kitten was adopted out. After Clint came George The Shy Kitten.
Now don’t move so I can sleep.
Despite being shy, George also followed an accelerated trajectory into the arms of a new adopter.
Within hours his spot on the desk was occupied by Stella the Relatively Normal Kitten.
I promise I’m not going to knock this Starbucks beverage all over the floor. Seriously.
Zoom. Out the door. Only to be replaced by Pee Wee The Stinky Kitten.
I can haz Febreze?
Pee Wee was a delightful little guy though a bit gassy from the canned food. Even with his fragrance issue, he too was rapidly snapped up into a loving home.
Which leads us to believe that Rachel’s desk has some crazy sort of mojo. The only way to test it, of course, is to cleverly plant other office kittens on the desk of other unsuspecting staff. In the mean time, we’ll keep you posted on who has moved on to Rachel’s desk.
While you’re all hepped up on kitties, please remember that we’re up to our ears in the little muffins and we really do need your help. Kitten rental is still going strong – we’ve got all sorts of hungry little guys who want to have dinner at your house.
Turbo nom.
Or, if you’re ready to commit, Free Feline Fridays are raging on. Adoption fees are waived on all cats and kittens every Friday through August 14th.
The long and short of it is that you should really stop in.
*Yes, Yahoo. We’re talking about you. And you, too, Cisco and Dell, too. And all of our other awesome corporate volunteers.