September 10, 2008

A cat with thousands of years of history


Times are tough in the dog adoption business. Countryside Humane Society tells us the last dog we featured, a friendly poodle named Moon Shine, did not get adopted -- only the second time that's happened. He's been transferred to the Elmbrook Humane Society where, hopefully, he will fare better.

Unfortunately, it's not just Moon Shine, either. Racine families of late are not adopting pets: Countryside transferred five animals to other shelters on Monday, and last week sent 16 cats and kittens to other shelters, hoping to give them a second chance. The animals haven't stopped coming in, Countryside says, but they sure have stopped going out. Is it the economy? The back-to-school rush?

In any case, how about a cat this week?

Agnes came to Countryside as a stray who became ill. She had a lovely temperament, so was sent to live in foster care for 60 days, whee she got better. She loves to sit inside baskets and boxes, but gladly comes out of her comfortable place to meet new people.

She is a gentle Abyssinian/brown tabby mix, a 2- or 3-year-old ready to have a home of her own.

Abyssinians come with a fascinating backstory: Their ancestors were revered by the ancient Egyptians a few thousand years ago. In the west, the breed is traced to a single female kitten called Zula, that was taken from a port in Alexandria, Egypt, by a British soldier and brought to England, where she was bred with an English tabby. (Wiki has more, here.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinian_(cat)

Abyssinian cats are brown with dark brown and black ticking (sometimes red-brown). Tabby is the original coat pattern of cats and even solid color cats have tabby patterning underneath. There are different patterns of tabby: classic is big swirls of darker color in a lighter color; Mackerel is small stripes close together that run from the back down to the stomach (or, as most people call them, tiger cats). There is also ticked and spotted. All these patterns are still put under the title Tabby.

So what are you waiting for? Countryside Humane Society is located at 2706 Chicory Road, or call (262) 554-6699.

4 comments:

  1. Give me break - Countryside is a joke. We tried to adopt a kitten (to a stable owned household) but were given the run around, losing two of the ones we wanted, then finally told it's because we would only take one, and not two, given that kitty would be home alone for 7 hours during school year. That shelter is poorly run and we were warned of that -- now proof positive!!!!

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  2. Transferred them to another KILL shelter. I am sure they didn't make it out alive. They send them elsewhere to get the needle. They won't even give their euthanasia rates to the taxpayers. How about it countryside? How many animals are you killing over there? Some transparancy would be nice!!!

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  3. think about it. if you have one cat why not have two? this is my first experience with cats. ive always had dogs. but the time has come when a body can hardluy take care of dogs any more so when i put my last one down i thought why not try a cat because they mostly take care of themselves. so i went to countryside and brought one home[she was 8 weeks old] and she was nice. gentle, clean but kind of aloof and scared.[still is]she looked kind of lonely so i went and got another one.and she is just the opposite. nosy, has to see everything and every one. neither of them are lap cats which i ws hoping they would turn out to be, but they are gentle. one lies ujnde the covers, the other one lies on top. but they get along just great and they run and play and yes, once in a while get into a squabble but its over in a few minutes.they do things that make you laugh and they are so soft to touch.im glad ive got them and glad cause i saved them from the needle.i was so upset when i went to c.c.and saw all of those beautiful cats and kitties waiting for a home.go and look. if you like cats you will bring one[ or 2] home.

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