To new life.

TW: KITTENS!!! KITTENS!!! Really cute kittens! If you love cats, you may accidentally adopt four kittens. If you are very allergic, this post may make you sneeze.

I love volunteering at Project MEOW (Make Every One Wanted).

For one thing, I get to hang out with my cat friend Lora, who not only is super nice and watches all the same shows I do, she can catch a cat who does not want to go back in their cage after playtime.

I get to pet sweet kitties who need homes, and they so appreciate the love and cuddles and yummy food we give them. We feed them as much as they need, and love them up!

Due to the tireless efforts of many volunteers and especially the woman who mostly runs the thing (all unpaid!), we get these cats wonderful homes. Many of them go to the suburbs to live the kitty American dream, often with a picket fence included. Far from the mean streets of West Philly, these cats are loved and will be cared for.

Project MEOW night and Shabbat services night are the two highlights of my week, for slightly different reasons. There is not much Hebrew spoken at the cat shelter though I’m sure the cats would like it if I tried my limited vocabulary on them. They just love to be loved! There is a sense of purrpose and meaning at the shelter, where we are united in one mission: care for these cats and find them furrever homes.

Upon meeting me, people may conclude that I am a crazy cat lady. Usually, crazy cat ladies are characterized as having many cats and no husband. My cat shelter partner has many cats and a husband. I have no husband and one cat. I think that my love of cats is one of the least crazy things about me. For a person known to stand up for unpopular viewpoints, being a cat lover could be seen as going along with the crowd.

Now purrhaps I take it a bit too fur when I write a blog entry largely in catspeak. No doubt someone out there would be grievously offended. I’m pretty sure I’ve already offended that person, whom I will not dignify by referring to them as a purrson.

One might wonder, in a long story about Star Wars, real wars, visits with rabbis, college memories and analysis of Billy Joel lyrics, what comes next? How can I pawssibly keep us entertained.

I have one word for you: KITTENS

We had never had kittens at Project MEOW in the shelter since I’ve been there. But on Monday night, a beautiful black cat gave birth to four little tiny babies! Two are black, one is tabby gray, and the other looks plain gray but could develop tabby stripes, you never know.

In general, I prefer older cats. Kittens are fun, but I love the worldly wisdom that a cat acquires somewhere between 7 and 10. As Loviefluffy ages - she is about ten now - I feel our relationship deepens. She doesn’t like to play feather toy as much as she used to, but we cuddle intensely and we are very attuned to each others’ emotions. Older cats have rich, complex emotional lives. But kittens are still…. KITTENS!

I don’t think I had ever seen newborn kittens in purrson. The sweet things were so tiny, but all seemed very healthy It is a miracle that the mama was brought in just the day before she had her babies. It was still cold outside, and she was clearly very hungry. She is warm and comfy in a cat bed inside, and we fed her over and over again so she will be able to feed her babies.

It’s a good thing I already have a cat who hates other cats because it would have been very tempting to walk out of there last night with five cats. If anyone wants to adopt an entire family, I can hook you up. I hope you already have a trust fund set aside for four kittens to go to college.

Something is awe-inspiring about new life in the midst of such difficult conditions. The mama cat had clearly been someone’s cat once - she was friendly to us, which true ferals are not. A single mama who was very, very hungry is now eating enough for a family of five.

We spay and neuter all the cats we get at Project MEOW, as there are just too many cats and not enough homes. Mama will get fixed soon. But I am happy that she had her babies. They will get into a foster soon and she can raise them to be strong cats, ready to make someone a lapcat or a playmate or a snugglebug.

For the record, I love dogs too. Rescuing a dog wins tons of points with me. Some people are dog people. I respect that. I have a friend who loves dogs and cats equally. He says he is bipetual.

But I am a cat purrson. Thanks be to the Cat Goddess of Ancient Egypt and all time for bringing mama cat safely to us and for the healthy delivery of four new furry lives.

Don’t worry, she’s not sleeping in a litter box that is being used as a litter box. That’s a clean one filled with soft blankets.

.