Colette doesn't like other cats and she keeps a suspicious eye on them but she loves people and greets us eagerly when we arrive.

Colette is healthy, pretty and friendly. She's only a hard-to-place cat because she has a rather short fuse. She enjoys attention but she'll let you know when she's had enough. As for other animals, Colette doesn't have a short fuse; she just explodes immediately. The only way to maintain peace was to let Colette live elsewhere than in the communal rooms. So she took up residence in the front hall. She makes her bed on the shelf where we store towels and blankets, she eats from her own bowl on the floor, and there's a litter pan there for her. She tolerates Puddy who passes by occasionally as the only other cat with access to that area. She's never tried to go outside. She greets us warmly when we arrive, standing on the desk to catch our attention. Once she's had a fuss, she's content to sit on the sidelines. If there's too much bustling she can get cranky. That's when she'll let us know to leave her alone. Otherwise she's a nice little cat. She first came into our care when we found her abandoned in a carrier outside. Later we learned that she lost her home for scratching the carpet. She'd be fine in a stable, adult home. But visitors come and go without noticing her much. She arrived in July 2007 and she may have a long wait for the home that's ideal for her. But Colette is accepting of life as she finds it.

April 25/08
Colette found a novel new place to perch. When the volunteer who takes photos put a camera case down in the office where Colette makes her home, she came over to check it out. It seems that a cat's first rule is that any new object too large to be batted around must be sat upon. It was a small, awkward perch but she managed it. Her forepaws sank into the empty case when she stepped on the top, but she did manage to balance herself. However, it proved to be an uncomfortable perch so she left after a few minutes -- but not before the photographer got a few shots of her silliness.

May/08
Colette is usually snoozing on the linen shelf when we arrive. But when we come in, we can hear her stirring as we stand at the desk catching up on the log book entries. She'll join us on the desk, on the log book, if she can. We sometimes have to nudge her aside. But she doesn't mind. When it's calm and quiet, we can stroke her and move her if we have to. She also likes to help serve canned food at the kitchen counter. She finds that quite exciting. She doesn't like it when we try to move her away from there because she REALLY wants to help and she considers it her place and her right to sit there. She'd like to be the official Food Taster. Once the shelter gets busy with too many visitors or too many volunteers all coming and going and bustling around, then Colette gets cranky. If we try to pet her at times like that, we risk getting the sharp side of her paws flapping at our hands. The best thing to do when she's grumpy is to leave her alone. Then in a few moments, she'll be beaming up at us with those impossibly green eyes again.

 

Sept/08
Colette has taken over our one office chair as her favourite spot to snooze. There are certainly more comfortable nests for her but in a perverse feline way, she wants the spot that we want. If we need to sit down, there can be a brief argument over who is entitled to the chair. We always win but she returns as soon as we stand up.
 
 
 

Jan/09
The move to the new shelter was probably hardest for Colette of all the cats. They all came from communal rooms and moved to communal rooms. Colette alone had enjoyed 'Barn Cat' privileges and considered our office her home. We could not grant her those privileges at the new shelter. She needed to settle in and bond with the place first so there would be no risk of her darting out and getting lost. We put her in the Main Pen, hoping maybe she'd been a shelter cat long enough to coexist peacefully in a communal room. It was too much change too fast. Colette lashed out wildly in her bewilderment at any cat unfortunate enough to get in her range. So we set up a cage in there and moved her into it. At least the other cats were safe while Colette was caged. She seemed to feel calmer and more secure with the 'walls' around her. We soon opened the cage door and hoped she might make the transition to Communal Room Resident. But Colette stayed in her cage and defended her turf fiercely from both cats and volunteers. Cleaning it was a challenge. She spent her time sitting watchfully in her doorway. By mid-December it was time to trial her in the common areas. We let her out into the hall and she settled contentedly on a couch with an "It's about time" look on her face. She showed no interest in the front door. She never was a cat to wander. Now she's a happy little cat who naps on the couch in the hall or on the chair in the kitchen and enjoys our company when we're there. She can't help being the way she is. In the right conditions, she's a sweetheart. We hope there's a home for her somewhere with no other cats and understanding adults. She'd be a joy in such a home.

May/09
Colette made her home in our office area at the barn and she's done exactly the same at the new shelter. She has the entire, wide hallway with a large number of spots she could take as her own nest. But apparently Colette must live in the office. Moreover, Colette must make her bed on our office chair. It's a smaller area than we had for paperwork at the barn and we end up jostling for space at busy times. Colette finds this annoying but not annoying enough for her to make her home base elsewhere. She has no interest in any other part of the shelter and she gets huffy if another hall cat (Brady or Hal) is presumptuous enough to wander through her office.
 

Sept/09
Colette's life is rough. She has many people milling around in her office all day long. They reach over her for objects on the counter (can't they play with the toys in the hall?), and they bump into her chair on their way back and forth -- an ill-mannered group all in all. As if that were not enough, another cat will wander into her office every now and then as if he owns the place. She explains to him VERY CLEARLY that he's not welcome in her space. Yet he ignores her; or worse, he gives her sass. There's not a civilized cat in the whole rabble. It all tries her patience, and sometimes she can't hold back. But when it's quiet, she welcomes a few pets offered by a human who is respectful enough to know when to stop. Humans can be pleasant creatures when you can be alone with one.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sept 30/09
Rambunctious Hall Cat, Brady, was adopted, to Colette's relief. However, her relief was short-lived. Big, fluffy Pharaoh was giving his roommates grief in the confinement of the communal room. So, to give them a break, he was given Hall Cat privileges. Pharaoh doesn't back down from anyone, not even a bristling bundle of black-and-white outrage named Colette. When he wants to sit on the desk in Colette's office area, he does so. To avoid him, Colette has been driven into the laundry room to find a quiet nest. Now she's praying that Pharaoh is soon adopted.
 

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