Cuddles, cuddles, and more cuddles

When I started volunteering five weeks ago I was hesitant when it came to petting any of the cats. Of course all I wanted to do was sit down and have all of them come up to me for two hours+ worth of snuggling. What I did instead was let each cat lightly sniff my hand, and if they didn't turn their head or walk away I'd lightly stroke the top of their head and their back a couple of times and that's it. All of the cats were cute and sweet, but we were strangers to each other. I watched enviously as the cats let the other volunteers pick them up. I'm sure I could have tried, but I wanted to be respectful.

Now, five weeks later I certainly no longer feel like a stranger. I have the names down of all of the cats that have been there those entire five weeks, and many more besides.

Ethan poses

I started my shift with Ethan climbing all over my lap, and Bon Bon rubbing against my leg. During my shift nearly every cat was happy for a hug and a kiss atop their heads. I was respectful of the handful of new cats, but the majority of them were happy for as much attention as they could get. I made sure to poke my head into every room. In the FIV pos. room I sat down on the chair and both Olivia Bensen and Hamburger approached me. They played a game of "Oh, you go up" "No, you go up" until Hamburger got impatient and leapt gracefully onto my lap.

Hamburger cuddled up in my lap

I ended the day with Ethan back in my arms. Five minutes stretched into ten, into twenty, until I was there well beyond the end of my shift. As you can tell, we were both in heaven.

Me and Ethan 

Two other volunteers hung out with me, cuddling their cat of choice. "Oh you have to adopt Ethan and Joel!" insited the volunteer who started the same day I did. "I'll sponsor you $20 for you to adopt them... that way I can come over and visit all the time!"

I'm certainly not ruling out the option of bringing them home. But I know that every week I wait, the less and less likely it will be that they will still be there. And the day I go into my shift without cuddles from Ethan will undoubtedly be a sad one.

I'm also aware that if they get adopted before I decided to or not to adopt them, no one really loses out. They'd be in a comfortable home, and I'd still be left with dozens of sweets cats that I could choose to bring home when the time is right.

Edna in her magic box

An update for those curious- of the kitties I've mentioned in the past, Winter, Kia, Junius, and Mason were all adopted within the last week!