SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

“You are HOT, Alex, really hot!” Just what a handsome library cat likes to hear.

This came from one of the customers at the Cat’s Meow, FuRR’s huge yard sale, this weekend.

Alex was on the job for two days and he was joined by his friend Snuggle Bunny, a 6-month-old Siamese kitten. Together they charmed the crowd.

This was Snuggle Bunny’s first appearance and Alex showed her the ropes.

Alex met a little girl, Ellie, who he really liked, and he cuddled in her arms for a long time. She told him, “I wish we could have a Library Cat like you at our school.” I bet Alex agreed with her that that would be a wonderful idea.

By the second day of the sale, Alex was a little grumpy. He was tired by then, and not only was he sharing the spotlight with Snuggle Bunny but also with a cute, little 3-week-old bottle baby, Chloe.

When he met her, he just didn’t like her a bit.

I reminded him that she was just the age he was when he first came to me, but Alex definitely preferred Ellie over the bottle baby. That was obvious.

Last week, because he was going to have a busy weekend, Alex got a day off his Library Cat job.

It happened to be the day the first graders came for a story. This was the conversation:

“Where is Alex’s bed?”

“I moved it from the desk to my office.”

“Where is Alex?”

“He is home, probably asleep.”

“But this IS his home. His bed is here, so this is Alex’s home.”

That makes perfect sense to me! Arkansas School for the Blind is definitely Alex’s home, even if it is his second home.

After working three straight weekends Alex gets next weekend to rest. I think he wants to renegotiate his Library Cat contract and take out all these weekend gigs!