The Soul of a Cat
-Helen Morrison, Board President
If you know anything about cats, you know that they can be inscrutable at times, to put it mildly. We can know them somewhat...their likes, their quirks, the things that fascinate them, the signs that they are feeling good, or not feeling so good. But as the poet T. S. Elliot (who definitely had a fondness for cats and a somewhat translucent window into their souls) has said, we humans can name them, usually a fancy, dignified “official” name, and also perhaps a cutesy name we call them, a nickname, as it were. But the cat itself...the cat knows its real name, the name we will never know, the one each cat secretly holds for themselves.
“His ineffable, effable, Effanineffable, Deep and inscrutable singular name” (The Naming of Cats from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats: T. S. Elliot)
All that said, the soul of a cat is nourished and held up and cherished by the humans that care for them and love them. Those cats and kittens who pass through our Shelter doors on their way to their new forever homes are tended to with gentle hands and loving hearts. No group of people has been more dedicated in this time of the Pandemic than our volunteers. This group of folks has seen us through and continue to do so...some by cleaning and feeding and medicating and loving the cats, tending to their physical needs and their emotional needs...daily...during morning duty, socializing time, tuck in, medical check ups. Others help with fund-raising or tending to the gardens in front or transportation or saying thank you to donors. Still others have fostered our cats and kittens, when we had to clear the Shelter for a while, and now, when we need homes for our elder cats or our young kittens.
I hope you can take a moment...to find all the names that make up the figure of the cat above. These are the folks that help make Kingdom Animal Shelter the very unique, tender, compassionate home that it is, for all these precious feline beings.
-Helen Morrison, Board President
If you know anything about cats, you know that they can be inscrutable at times, to put it mildly. We can know them somewhat...their likes, their quirks, the things that fascinate them, the signs that they are feeling good, or not feeling so good. But as the poet T. S. Elliot (who definitely had a fondness for cats and a somewhat translucent window into their souls) has said, we humans can name them, usually a fancy, dignified “official” name, and also perhaps a cutesy name we call them, a nickname, as it were. But the cat itself...the cat knows its real name, the name we will never know, the one each cat secretly holds for themselves.
“His ineffable, effable, Effanineffable, Deep and inscrutable singular name” (The Naming of Cats from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats: T. S. Elliot)
All that said, the soul of a cat is nourished and held up and cherished by the humans that care for them and love them. Those cats and kittens who pass through our Shelter doors on their way to their new forever homes are tended to with gentle hands and loving hearts. No group of people has been more dedicated in this time of the Pandemic than our volunteers. This group of folks has seen us through and continue to do so...some by cleaning and feeding and medicating and loving the cats, tending to their physical needs and their emotional needs...daily...during morning duty, socializing time, tuck in, medical check ups. Others help with fund-raising or tending to the gardens in front or transportation or saying thank you to donors. Still others have fostered our cats and kittens, when we had to clear the Shelter for a while, and now, when we need homes for our elder cats or our young kittens.
I hope you can take a moment...to find all the names that make up the figure of the cat above. These are the folks that help make Kingdom Animal Shelter the very unique, tender, compassionate home that it is, for all these precious feline beings.