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 Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:57 am
Cierret blinked, a slow, confused sort of look as Malcolm said he'd biked over. It shouldn't be a surprising statement. The distance between him and the clinic wasn't huge, and he'd even initially thought Malcolm might have even looked too young to drive. It was a healthy and relatively cheap mode of transport. Lots of people biked. He just hadn't considered-
He hadn't considered. He hadn't been considerate. "I should've offered you a drink or a rest before all of this. I'm sorry."
But it was as Cierret had said: once Malcolm was moving for the food, the majority of the cats swarmed him, all suddenly very affectionate and even more vocal than usual. "There's a scoop in the bucket," Cierret said. "The bowls are there." He gestured to where dozens of shallow two-dish kitty bowls lined the walls. "You can fill them up, and don't worry if anything spills. They'll get it."
He turned back to his own task: eye goopies for the kittens. They were always the first on his list to receive treatment. He began to partial out the doses. "This swarm gets along well," he replied, gesturing to the forty or so that nipped at Malcolm's heels. "Some of them have been with me quite a while. Some were kittens that were raised like this. They mostly know each other well, and there aren't any real fights. Spats sometimes. Some are a little moody on occasion, but otherwise, yes. These are good together."
"The ones in the main room- the few in the cages- they are a bit newer and still need to be socialized to people in the group. I think most of them will do really well if they get the chance, but..."
Well, there was always the chance that they wouldn't do well in this kind of environment. Some needed a more peaceful place, and others lived their whole lives fighting on the streets. If he couldn't find success with the worst of them, they would probably have to be put down. They couldn't be locked in a cage forever...
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Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 2:42 pm
“It’s okay!” Malcolm assured quickly as he reached for the scoop and began filling the bowls. He didn’t seem to mind the mass of cats trailing behind him, and he even seemed a bit endeared to their numbers, and wore a little smile as he diligently filled the dishes.
“I parked my bike and walked the last bit anyway, so it was a good cooldown. I have water,” he promised. I’m just glad I found the place.”
He knelt down to pet a few of the kittens briefly, because he just couldn’t help himself while they were distracted. Then, when he was convinced they were adequately distracted by food, he carefully maneuvered around them to return to Cierret’s side.
“They seem sweet,” he said, and though he was absolutely nervous to help, he knew he’d said he would. He was reluctant, but.
He could do this. Cierret had even walked him through it. His stomach was a bundle of nerves, but he could do this. Or, get so stressed out that he passed out, but like. That was fine.
“Thank you for being so patient with me. I’m sorry, I hope I get the hang of this soon. I’d like to be able to do more for everyone. I don’t know why I work myself up into getting so nervous. You’ve been nothing but friendly and helpful. I can try to wrap the dewormers, if that’s okay?”
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Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:44 am
Once the majority of the cats had been occupied with meal time, Cierret was able to work a little more quickly about properly dividing up supplies. Not all the felines hung out around the newly-filled food dishes. Some were still insistent upon getting human interaction, but most were thoroughly distracted, and that was good enough for him. "If there's anything you need, I guess just let me know?" He offered, rather than push about the water or a rest. Malcolm was young. He probably had energy for such trips.
"They're almost all very sweet," Cierret agreed. "When we're done, we'll get out the laser pointer. When I was younger there was this commercial about "herding cats" and what a difficult job it was. But they must not have had the right tools, because get out a laser pointer, and they move As One. You won't want to miss that. Here."
He stuck an arm in the refrigerator, and pulled out a plastic container of pre-cut sandwich salami. "Don't use a whole piece for each pill. Just a quarter or so will do. It will mostly be shoving it down their throats, though. The salami is more of a consolation for their struggling." With a sweep of his arm to gather up his own supplies, he started back toward the main room, where the cages were. Most of those were the ones that needed help with treatment.
"See the crates with the sticky notes?" Cierret asked, pointing to the colorful squares of paper stuck to the corner of each crate. "They're color-coded." Because he was nothing if not organized. "Any with a yellow note need the dewormer. There's just three or four." Orange needed antibiotic eye goopies. Pink needed the shot. But Cierret was efficient in dealing with this. The whole thing should take a few minutes. He scooped a kitten from the first cage and received a high-pitched, howling meow in response as he deftly smeared some of the gelatinous goop over its eyes and set it back inside. The mother that shared the crate got a quick poke with a syringe, and then he was moving on.
"You can go at your own pace. I'll help once this side is done. Are you okay to do it alone? They might whine and cry, but as long as you're not be excessively rough, they'll be fine, okay?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 7:15 pm
Oh, Malcolm’s heart was breaking at the idea of making them whine or cry, but he nodded. “I won’t be rough. I can do it.”
There was the perpetual uncertainty, but it was for a good cause and he knew he was here to help. He sucked in a breath and prepared himself for the worst, and--really, it wasn’t so bad. He was significantly slower than Cierret, but it seemed like he was trying to take his time with each of the cats, and do his best to give them their medicine without traumatizing them. Or himself.
He wore an incredibly focused face while he worked, and tried to be reassuring to each of them, but after only half a dozen he couldn’t help but say, “I don’t know how you do this! You must have a really big heart. Their big eyes are really hurtful!”
He knew it was necessary, but they didn’t know it, so of course they looked at him pathetically, like he was some kind of monster.
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