We made early morning appointments to volunteer, clearly forgetting who we are. We stumbled in and headed for our assignments; somehow I pulled the poshest "work" detail ever. I chose
Sinjin's House, which is the home of Best Friends' fat cats. These guys need no socialization, so I spent three hours scritching and grooming them. Sure, my tongue is fuzzy, but my heart is full.
Millie:
Millie came to Best Friends at 31 pounds. Since she's been here, she's lost 3 pounds. You know what it's like to try to lose 10% of your body weight, so let's hear it for the girl. She's very healthy, but exertion taxes her heart. Walking hurts, as you might imagine, and makes her cranky. What doesn't make her cranky: scritches.
She is a feature of the tour - everyone hears about Millie - so I felt honored to be in the presence of celebrity. One of the founders came through looking for her, gave her a pet and a pep talk, and left again.
Nora: <--- check out her "before" picture!
Nora gave me The Look only once this morning, and it was for this picture. She is affectionate and sweet, spending lots of time on my lap, and has no special needs that I know of. I sorta fell for her, but her house is so much nicer than ours! I was envious of her free access to a predator-proof sun porch. She would have resented me forever.
Aly is an attention-hog with a great voice. He wants your full attention, but will settle for the sound of one hand petting. Again, check out his headshots. They do a great job of slimming these big cats down, and replacing extra food with extra attention.
Buddah is the house's Biggest Loser, now that he's a slim, svelte kitty. Is this cat svelte? It is now - I just svelte him.
The caregiver, Barbara, described Orson as a hunka hunka handsome kitty. He is very friendly and cuddlesome. He does have special needs - he has meds for his glaucoma, and doesn't see fully. He probably suffered a car fan belt accident when he was younger.
Isabelle is shy, and enjoyed her cattery instead of enjoying me. I svelte like being alone.
Annie worked in Dogtown with the puppies, and she wants me to show you her fuzzy charges:
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| Bugs, who apparently eats anything. Shown: dirt |
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| Hampton. He got adopted today! |
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| He doesn't have special needs - his junk was hot. |
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| Not adoptable. |
We signed up for four more sessions, including a PIG GIG on Saturday! SCORE!
33 comments:
I've always said I want to work in the laundry room with the older, sicker small dogs. But boy those puppies sure can win your heart.
OMG, you two are hooked. Guess you'll be staying in Kanab area for a while. I know you're just checking them all out before you adopt. Scritches from me.
I'm so jealous! What fun for you both. I can't wait to read about your time with the pigs. I ADORE pigs. <3
Wow, Nora's before and after pictures are amazing. When can I check in for treatment?? Makes me happy to hear someone got adopted today ☺. And the butterfly picture - NICE!!
Sandie, we've started checking out their employment ads for fun. :) But, they have winter here - YUCK.
Yeah, Gaelyn, it happened. But, no adoptions! They have it too good at BF, and we'd be decreasing their standard of living.
Us, too, Molly! We may get to walk them!
Thanks, Donna! Seriously, I want to go to this spa! Do what I want all day, lounge in the sun, then come in three times a day after someone has prepared my...nevermind.
Now, don't go gettin' any of them dogs, you hear? A few more cats never hurt anyone, I'm sure. You got any room for a pig in your rig? If you stayed indoors, the Winter probably wouldn't hurt you there, and you could cuddle with the kitties, that would keep them warm.
Trying to wrap my head around a 31 lb cat...pretty sure my heads not big enough. How the f*** does that happen? Can't actually weigh our big girl...she would never consent to that, but pretty sure it's no more than 15 lbs. And then we have our petite girl who weighs in at a whopping 7 lbs. I'm kind of upset at a 31 lb weight for a cat. Glad though that she's being looked after now at least. :)
I WANT BUGS!!! He is so cute. Nora well....she looks so GOOD. Didn't lose that stare though. HA! Good work guys!!!!
Have you two found your life-calling here?
*Sniff*
Kim, I can just sit here thinking about it and get sniffy.
Marianne, I'm not ruling that out. I am resistant to finding my true purpose, but this place could wear down my resistance.
Aren't they great-looking, Michelle?
I know, Brenda. We imagine her coming from a home with an elderly owner who loved her with food. We had a very elderly friend who turned her min-pin into a fatty. We used to tease her that the dog needed pineapple rings on her back. She just loved the dog so much she thought it needed whatever she was eating. Maybe Millie doesn't have any leptin receptors. :D
Russ, we could cuddle with the pigs, except they're very pokey. But, I bet they're warm. [Not warm enough to be bacon, Bob Giddings!] Why no dogs? They're warm. And, dogs and cats love each other, it's a fact of nature.
Those are definitely the true "fat cats". Best Friends is a great name for a place that takes the very best care of animals I've ever seen. If you stay put and continue to volunteer you won't be the first ones. When we were there we asked everyone on the staff that we came in contact with how they came to work there and most of them visited and then stayed or moved back when they retired. Totally to be at Best Friends.
So glad
ya'll found a great place to be and work/play! Wish we could have stopped when we passed by earlier, just too hot to leave our 3 rescues in the car! But it looks like critter heaven!
Sherry, we overheard a young woman say that she was taking a leave of absence from her job to stay and volunteer. I imagined aloud to Annie that this was the kind of place where a person (or couple) without clear direction (or jobs) could find their lives happily derailed.
Geri, earlier in the season it would have been too hot for comfort for us, too. We're outside the canyon, so it's cooler where we're parked than it is in the sanctuary.
I used to go once a year and volunteer for a few days at Best Friends. One of my friends I used to go with now works there at cal Mar building in cats. Joni !
Yes, I do have a lot there . It is on highway 89 going towards glen canyon dam. About 4-5 miles out of Kanab. It is the first ( I believe) road to the right after you go the 4-5 miles out of kanab. Turn onto that then turn right again onto Mountain view , first right. Not even sure if there is a sign. My lot is a couple down on the right. You are welcome to camp on it if you find it inviting at all. Alltho I have done nothing to it and lots of bushes, etc.... Not even sure if you can find it. There where some small wooden stakes with lot numbers on them last I went out. The views are awesome tho !!! I hope to do some work on it soon. Like at least a parking pad, water hook up and such for R.V use.
By the way it is lot # 69 and like I said feel free to stay there if you wish. You can contact me thru my facebook page if you need my phone #.
Don't know if anyone would even ask who you are. Sorry I didnt tell you about this earlier. Also, not even sure if you can drive rv onto it. There is a bit a dip from the road going onto the lot.
Awwwwwww......(continued for next 1/2 hour). Love Best Friends. Want to go back!
Nina
Great place to volunteer at. I know you won't let your cats get that fat! Nice of SierraSue to offer her lot to you.
Contessa, our youngest is in danger! He's very active, but chunky! We're strategizing his weight management. And, YES! So nice of Sue!
Sue, that's an awesome offer, and we will go out scouting for it today! Thank you so much. Are you "SierraSue" on Facebook? And, would I tell a concerned neighbor that Sierra Sue sent us?
Nina, I'm glad you commanded us to go visit.
You have a good point that these animals' digs are so great that maybe they don't want to be adopted... Cute post!
I just sent you an email at the email address you have listed on your home page.If it doesnt go thru mine is sierrasue@usamedia.tv
Let me know if you find my lot !! Hopefully, you can park someplace level and enjoy it. I have not been for a couple years so dont know how many neighbors have built. They only put a road in about 3 years ago.
Sue, that's a great area out there! Remote-feeling and quiet, but still close to town. Beautiful view! We didn't know which lot is yours, since there aren't any descriptive markers. We could just pull onto one and hope no one minds. :D
Thanks, Diana. I know, right? The smart ones act out and misbehave when potential parents stop by.
Sure, you could do that and if anyone ask say you have permission to camp at lot #69. Maybe they would then tell you which one. But, I guess in your email you said you could not get onto the lot cause of the little ditch. Could you park on the road ?? with your door opening onto the lot?? I hope to fix it up soon to make it camp worthy!!
That's possible, Sue, although your neighbors would have legitimate cause for complaint if we did that. Putting our camp chairs out in the road, and all.
It's not that we're in a bad spot here at all, on BLM land. It would be fun to park on a friend's land and pretend like we were land barons, but we can do that up here, too. Chase cars down the road with pitchforks and shotguns.
Ha Ha Ha !! I like that land baron idea. Did you find a great place to park??
Yeah, we're not far from BF; in fact, this morning we could hear Dogtown. :) It's peaceful, and cooler than it is in the canyon.
Too many people think a big cat is an achievement (shakes head). Love that pic of the dog cooling his junk. Some dogs are a lot more flexible than others. Mine couldn't do that.
This guy is a puppy - his junk-cooling will get more complex later. I certainly couldn't manage it.
We want to volunteer at an animal shelter so bad, but are afraid that we'd end up adopting them all! Kudos to you two for stepping up and helping out with those precious babies!
Awh shucks... I wanta dog.
Aw, thanks Mike and Terri! So far we're holding strong. The thing is, at an ordinary shelter, every life is on the line, and living conditions are pretty dismal. At BF, those guys are living Riley's life - I'd hate to take them out of it! So, if you can volunteer at an awesome shelter, you might be okay.
Swankie, are you SURE you can't?
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