Bideawee Tails from a Volunteer
The Lonely Cat's Best Friends by Florence Scarinci
Far away from visitors' sight in the Kitty Cat Habitat toils a group of dedicated Bideawee volunteers. Almost 130 people willingly and happily devote from two hours a week to two hours a day making sure that the kittens and cats sheltered at Bideawee are comfortable and amused. Although I volunteer for Bideawee in several capacities, from tour guide to pet therapy to fundraising, I am not one of these unsung heroes of the cat community. So this month, "Tails from a Volunteer" is giving four of the cat socializers a voice.
Janie Campbell, Nancy Freshley, Eileen Giannetti, and Maryanne Goldberg, who together have volunteered for almost 25 years, were gracious enough to answer my questions. They will tell you what they do for the cats, why they do it, and give you an idea of the difference their service has made in the lives of the felines who for a time call Bideawee home.
It is often true that everyone loves a kitten and many people do not even like cats. In fact, I have heard it said that the world is divided into two types of people: Those who love cats and those who hate them. Obviously the cat socializers fall into the former category. However, not every cat socializer started out as a "cat person."
Maryanne Goldberg reveals that while she always liked cats, she thought of herself as a "dog person." But when her daughters were young, she decided that a cat would be the right pet for them. After adopting Snowy, she was hooked. Eileen Giannetti tells a similar story. Until she adopted Penny from Bideawee she had had very little contact with cats and did not realize what great pets they could be. Nancy Freshly, however, freely admits to having always had a special fondness for cats and calls Jackie, her present feline roommate, "the love of her life." Janie Campbell is also unabashedly a cat lover and proudly talks of Teddy and Stanley.
These days life is so hectic. Everyone is over-scheduled. So what motivates these volunteers to make time in their busy schedules for the cats at Bideawee? Their answers show that they share an altruistic spirit, a deep concern for the well being and happiness of these furballs that have found themselves homeless.
Eileen answers that it is her firm belief that "each animal deserves a chance to be adopted into a loving home."
Janie says that it is her "passion to improve the cat's quality of life while in the shelter".
Maryanne shares Janie's sentiment when she says that she wants to do "something meaningful for the animals…making their life in the shelter a little bit better."
There are many organizations that give cats and kittens a second chance to find a forever home. Why did these four ladies decide that Bideawee was the right place for them to volunteer? Nancy points to the fact that Bideawee is a shelter that will not euthanize a healthy cat and will give it a comfortable, secure place to live until the right home is found. Nancy also praises the staff for their compassion and dedication and is gratified that volunteers are treated as valued members of the team. Eileen lives closer to other shelters but echoes Nancy's sentiments about the professionalism of staff and Bideawee's philosophy.
But can anyone just walk off the street and become a cat socializer? Dolores Stormo, the Volunteer and Community Outreach Supervisor at the Wantagh shelter, says that first and foremost a potential volunteer must have a love for animals. All volunteers must be over 18 years old. Other than those two requirements, there is on-the-job training consisting of an orientation followed by a period when the new volunteer is paired with an experienced volunteer mentor. There are also continuing education workshops with the cat behaviorist, and the Bideawee veterinarian.
If Bideawee were to advertise for cat socializers, the ad might read something like this:
Wanted: People who have a deep love for cats to provide stroking, brushing, belly rubs, playtime, and scratches behind the ears. Must have a comfy lap. Patience essential. Must not care about cat hair on clothing. No litter box scooping involved. Experience a plus but will train.
What does a typical day with the cats involve? For Janie, each day involves play and massage and accustoming the shy cats to human presence and touch. For Eileen and Nancy, every day is different. Some days one cat will require soft words uttered outside a cage. The next day the playful kittens will demand a lively game of fetch. Then again on another day a lonely adult cat, recently placed in the shelter and confused by his removal from the only home he has ever known, will benefit from a gentle caress.
Maryanne's service to the kittens in Bideawee takes the form of fostering. After her beloved Snowy died at the age of 18, Maryanne decided not to adopt another cat but to give a temporary home to abandoned kittens and nursing mother cats. Since 2006 she and her husband have shared their home with a total of 34 kittens, one nursing mother, and one adult cat.
Kittens can go into foster care when they are as young as one day old and must be bottle-fed and stimulated to evacuate their bowels. Maryanne has fostered kittens as young as six weeks old. Maryanne's 24-hour-a-day duty is to accustom the kittens to life in a family setting, getting them not just to tolerate but also to enjoy being picked up, brushed, stroked. When they are about 10 to 12 weeks old, they are returned to the shelter for vaccinations, spaying or neutering, and then put up for adoption.
Maryanne admits to missing the activity once the kittens are returned since she especially likes to watch them as each they grow and learn new skills. She says "there is never a dull moment when kittens are around."
One of the drawbacks to fostering is the temptation to fall in love with one of the cats and adopt it. Although Maryanne has never succumbed, the practice is so common that the volunteers have even coined a term for it: "Foster Flunky."
Through the years the cat socializers have ministered to hundreds of cats and kittens. Inevitably, certain animals make an indelible impression on their memories. I asked each socializer to tell me a funny, sad, or poignant story. These are the memories they shared.
Nancy especially remembers one chubby orange cat who after five years of being an only cat found himself sharing his domicile with a kitten. He did not get along with the kitten and his people returned him, not the kitten, to Bideawee. He was withdrawn and depressed and spent his day sitting in his litter box, refusing to eat to the point where he had to be hand fed. Every time Nancy came, she made a point of lavishing attention on him. Eventually he came out of his shell and one day he was, as Nancy says, "adopted by someone with a big heart for a big cat."
Interestingly, Janie related the same story. Apparently the big orange cat made an equally big impression on her. Janie also remembers Daisy because she was terrified of people and would not let herself be touched at first. Little by little Janie gained her confidence. First she would rub her all over with a ball on a stick. As Daisy began to relax, Janie would bring her hand closer to the ball as she rubbed her. Day after day, Janie came to the shelter and worked with Daisy. Eventually, after weeks of playing and inching her way closer, Janie was finally able to have Daisy accept petting by a human hand.
Janie, a keen observer of feline behavior, also related an amusing story of how cats can assess a person and instantly determine whether they will like that person or not. At one time the shelter was home to two huge, black males. From a distance they studied an approaching person. If they liked the person, he or she would be the recipient of lots of licks from their sandpaper tongues. If they deemed the person not worthy of their affection, they would turn around and show that person their backsides.
Eileen remembers Joey. Joey had been adopted several times from Bideawee. He had some behavioral issues and kept being returned. Each time Eileen always paid him lots of attention and he seemed to remember her.
As Eileen tells it, when he saw her, "He eagerly pushed his way out of his cage to climb into my lap and wouldn't get up. A cat who doesn't want to be lifted can make himself as heavy as a Buick!"
After Joey made several trips round trips through the revolving door at Bideawee, Eileen felt really sorry for him and decided to adopt him (although I think it is Joey who did the adopting). Today Eileen reports that Joey is a "treasure… a playful, well-adjusted, happy, smart cat."
Maryanne shared one very poignant story. "One of my foster kittens was developmentally delayed. His name was Linus. He was five weeks old and had been bottle-fed. Linus did not know how to eat solid food. He just put his face in the bowl and licked the food without swallowing. He would end up with food up his nose, in his ears and all over his face. Sometimes he actually fell asleep with his face in the bowl. His face needed to be washed after every feeding. He followed me around crying and I found if I wrapped him in a hand towel and rocked him he would go to sleep in my arms and seemed very peaceful. At the first vet check he actually had lost weight which was not normal. The vet said just to give him time so we continued to give him extra special attention, holding him and rocking him to sleep for a few weeks. Eventually he began to eat better and he blossomed into a beautiful, healthy, playful, normal little kitten." Maryanne keeps photo albums of her "grandcats" and follows their progress when possible.
As is evident from the stories above, cat socializing can be very rewarding. One of the greatest rewards is seeing the cats go to their forever homes. Watching a loving, playful kitty emerge from a shy, fearful cat is quite gratifying.
But if the hours spent grooming and soothing and playing with the cats were not generous enough contributions, these magnanimous individuals perform other activities for Bideawee. On any given day you might find them walking dogs, stuffing envelopes, or representing Bideawee at schools or fundraising events. Eileen even has a special talent that she uses to encourage adoptions. She videotapes the individual cats in the Kitty Cat Habitat, sets the tapes to music, and puts the tapes on YouTube. Check out the clever video she has created for Zodi at www.YouTube.com. With "I Need Somebody to Love" playing over Zodi's antics, Eileen captures the essence of this handsome, four-year-old cat, his playfulness and affectionate nature and conveys the message, "Zodi needs a home. Adopt him."
If these stories have inspired you; if you have time in your week and room in your heart to give some love to a love starved cat, you might consider joining the cat socializers. Please call the volunteer office at the Bideawee shelter nearest you:
Manhattan 212 532-4986
Westhampton 631 288-0591
Therapy Benefits: What's In It for Me?
