Shelter in Place
Ava
It was a hot, quiet, lazy, March afternoon. My mom and I were alone for the weekend and had nothing to do. It looked like it would shape up to be a pretty normal day during coronavirus.
“Ava, we have to leave soon. Are you ready to go?” my mom asked. I felt immediately excited, remembering that we were going to an animal shelter to possibly adopt a cat. I had been wanting a cat for months, but it had never seemed like a reality until now.
The drive was long and tedious, so I was grateful to get out of the car, and breathe the brisk, fresh air. As we walked in, I surveyed the layout. The shelter was pretty cramped, and divided into four different enclosures; one for the kittens, one for the adult cats, one for the cats with FIV (which needed to be kept separate), and one for the cats who needed fosters. Each cat also had a band around their necks: pink for girls, blue for boys, and orange if they had already been adopted, in which case it didn’t matter. I wanted to meet the kittens first, but one group was already with them, so we went in with the adult cats first. As soon as we walked in, a three legged tabby cat hobbled over and started rubbing against us. Our hopes rose, thinking that this would be a quick and successful visit, when we noticed the orange collar around its neck. As much as we tried to engage with the other cats, the first one was the only one that showed interest. None of the others would even get up from where they were sitting. Though I was disappointed about this, I was excited to meet the kittens
We next went into the kitten area, but the vast majority of them had already been adopted. The only area left was the one for cats with FIV. We walked in and were drawn to a young tabby cat. He was soft and fluffy, with dark brown fur and deep green eyes. He was extremely affectionate and let all of us hold him. We were ready to adopt him, but my mom researched FIV on her phone and realized the cat would do better in a much quieter home, without little kids. We left the shelter feeling discouraged and disheartened. It was late in the afternoon, so my mom suggested we go home and try again tomorrow.
The next day, I woke up early, ready to spend the day playing with cats. I ate a quick breakfast, and then my mom and I headed out. We drove half an hour to a shelter with about 30 cats, where we were sure to find the right one. As soon as we told the woman working there that there were three young kids in our family, she told us that none of the cats were the right fit for us. Our moods slightly dampened, we walked back to the car. Many shelters had stopped taking visitors due to coronavirus, and we were running out of places to go. We found out that Petsmart partnered with a shelter, and kept some cats there, so that was our next destination.
We pulled into the quiet parking lot, and walked through the sliding doors. Petsmart had a very different feel than the other shelters. It was huge, with aisles winding around us like mazes, and fluorescent lights filling the area with an artificial glow. We glanced around and found someone who worked there. He led us to an area in the back that housed three cats. The first cat was a tiny manx (tailless cat), who we ruled out. We were looking for two male cats, who were preferably pretty large. The other two cats refused to come out of their houses. We walked out into the parking lot and found our car. We drove to another Petsmart and walked inside. We went to the back of the store, but a sign told us they weren’t letting people adopt, because of the coronavirus. We trudged back outside. It had grown considerably colder, and had started to rain, mirroring our moods. We were both tired and hungry.
“We should go home now,” my mom said. “We’ve gone to almost every shelter that’s still open.”
“Just one more,” I begged, “after that, we can go home.”
“Fine,” my mom agreed, “one more, and then we go home.” We set off to a third shelter. The rain had started pouring, and I could hear the splashing noise of the tires cutting through puddles. We pulled into the parking lot and walked inside. We found someone who worked there, and told her a little about our family, and what we were looking for.
“I have the perfect cats for you!” she exclaimed. Our hopes rising, we followed her to the cat houses at the back of the store. She led us inside, and brought out two cats. One had fluffy orange fur, and bright pink ears and paws, and the other had silky gray fur, and ice blue eyes. We learned that the orange one was Jack, and he was 11 months old, and the gray one was Alex, and he was 3 years old. Jack immediately started running and bouncing around the tiny area, while Alex calmly settled himself down and let us hold and pet him. A minute later, my mom was filling out the adoption paperwork, while I was filling a shopping cart with toys, bedding, food, treats, and all the other supplies we would need.
Getting the cats into the carriers was quite an ordeal. First, the carriers had to be assembled, which took about 10 minutes. Next, they had to wrestle the cats in, which took another 10 minutes, and a lot of resistance. We then purchased all of the supplies, and loaded them into the car, with the rain pouring down overhead.
The drive seemed to take forever! I was really hungry, and ready to go home. On top of that, the cats were not happy to be inside of the carriers. They were crying and meowing in voices that sounded almost human. When we got home, my mom carried Jack inside and I carried Alex. As soon as we let Alex out of the carrier, he started rubbing against our legs. Meanwhile, Jack dashed under the couch and refused to come out, so we left him alone. We set up their house, bedding, and cat tree, and then went to have dinner. Afterwards I went up to my room. Though it had been a very long ordeal, things had ended amazingly. I went to sleep, happy with how the day had gone.
