A lot of the cat rooms at Best Friends have regular changes in population. Cats come in, cats are adopted, more cats come in — new faces all the time. Not every room is like that, however. Some of the special rooms, including the FIV and feline leukemia rooms, the occupants can stay the same for a long time. A fact not lost on Samuel the FIV cat. For too long has he enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of his room. That all went out the window when a couple young whippersnappers moved in and started shaking things up!
Tater Tot and Peanut Butter are two of four FIV kittens who came to Best Friends recently from a rescue in Texas. At Best Friends, FIV cats do indeed find homes — case in point, the other two kittens have already been adopted — but it can still take some time for an FIV cat to find that happy ever after, which is why Samuel’s room had not seen new arrivals in so long.
When Peanut Butter, Tater Tot, and siblings arrived, they were young enough to go straight into their own kitten room. They have since grown up a bit, however, and it was time for the two remaining kittens to take up residence somewhere else at the sanctuary. That meant moving them into one of the FIV rooms.
Try and imagine a pile of dry leaves, a pile that has accumulated for several years. Then imagine a couple of teenagers attacking it full force with a souped-up leaf blower. Okay, not that the other cats in the room are ‘dried leaves’ or anything, but you get the idea. These two kittens with their boundless enthusiasm have breathed new life into the room. It’s not the same place it was just a week ago.
As for Samuel the older cat, he’s none too impressed with the new energy level. Kinda hard to sit back and bask in the sunshine when a couple of high-octane kittens are trying to break the sound barrier by sprinting circles around the room. He does his part to try and convince them to calm down a little, but he might as well try to tell the wind to stop blowing.
No worries, though. Samuel will get used to the new neighbors soon enough. Some changes take a little getting used to, that’s all, but just think how much more exciting the games will be at the next block party!
Story by David Dickson
Photos by Sarah Ause and Molly Wald
Of course maybe that’s just Samuel’s special way of saying he would like to be in a home of his own. He is available for adoption.
