Morris the Cat

As most of you know from my previous posts, I have been volunteering at Nevin's Farm. However, because of my work schedule, I have started volunteering a little closer to home at the MSPCA in Boston. Unlike my work at the farm, I mostly help take care of small companion animals like dogs and cats. I get to do fun stuff like walk dogs and play with cats, and I get to do some of the not so fun stuff like follow them around with plastic bags to pick up their poo and clean out their cages. I have only been there for two weeks, but I love it all ready. The best part is learning from the behaviorist that works there and discovering all the new animal characters. In particular, I thought I'd share one character I met last week. He is Morris the cat.

Most cats seem like fairly independent animals that do not always seek out social contact with others to same extent as dogs. Morris is not like that at all. Morris is the most loving, attention-seeking cat I have ever met. He is an adult cat with grayish-brown, long hair and black stripes running through it, and for some reason he has a spot behind each shoulder where his hair looks like it got shaved. He has the most incredible green eyes, and he really knows how to be heard. One of my jobs is to clean out the 'Kitty Condos', which are basically large cages that have four stories. I was cleaning out the condo next to Morris, and he obviously thought my attention was not turned in the right direction (namely himself). He would reach through the bars of his cage, tap my shoulder a couple of times, and then meow at me as if to say, "Helloooo! Pay attention to ME!" Finally I got to his cage, and as soon as I opened his cage door, he was all over me. He rubbed up against me, butted heads with me, and kept putting his front paws on my shoulder purring like mad the entire time. Normally when I clean out the condos, the cats generally keep to themselves or at least get out of my way. Not Morris! He was so lovey he started getting in my way, and finally I had to pick him up and put him on the top story of his condo. He must of thought it was some sort of game. As soon as I bent over to scrub out his condo, he reached down, put his paws (thankfully declawed) into my hair, and proceeded to bat it around. It was my first head massage from a cat, and when he was done, I looked like I had been through a wind storm. As soon as I moved on to the next condo, he started banging on his cage doors, admonishing me for leaving him (or so I like to think--he probably just wanted food).