animal shelter

Today I went to the Ramat Gan Animal Shelter. They have dogs and cats there in cages, for whom the try to find a home. They don't put animals to sleep. I'm more of a cat person so I volunteered to go in to the kitten's room and pet them for a bit. It's good for them to get the attention and it's easier for them to find a home if they are friendly and approach people and like to be petted. There were so many kittens there - I didn't count, but maybe 15-20? I think I was there for 2 hours.

Most of them were very friendly and happy to be petted, though a few were the scared type that don't want you to get near them (which is sad, because I'm sure they need the attention and it will be hard for them to find a home). A minute or two after I got in there, some of the friendlier ones already took the liberty of climbing into my lap and happily meowing / purring / napping.

One of the kittens was a darkish grey and was growling and hissing the whole time, attacking anything in sight: his furry roomates, flies, me, his tail... Yet he seemed to like being petted and wasn't truly angry. Strange kitty!

There was another grey one, a ligher grey, very pretty, which also picked a fight with others, but not as enthusiastically as the other one.

There were a few black and whites, so cute and lovely. Some of them wanted to be "parrots" - climbed up on my shoulder and purred. I tried to teach them not to do that and also not to bite me. One of the mistakes people might do when adopting a cat is to allow them to "play" with your hands. When they grow up they'll keep "playing" but it will be painful. Best to teach them that hands are not a toy.

My favorite one I think is this small black and white one, mostly black, whose fur seems to be the kind that will grow to be semi-long. His cute white whiskers and "eyebrows" are white, and most of his face is black. I called him "Pushkin", the name of my furrier cat.

I think I'll keep going there. Maybe one time I'll take some pictures. I could just go in there for an hour with a book, and sit there with cute purring kittens on my lap. Nice way to spend my time I think :-)

Other people volunteer to take dogs out for a walk - I thought of doing that but I'm less of a dog person, I think I'll stick to the cats.

Let's hope that these animals find a good home soon.