SUSAN LOESCH

Are there weeks when you are so busy you’d like to clone yourself? That was Shadow and Barney’s
predicament last week. Sometimes working two jobs makes you feel like you are meeting yourself
coming and going … even if you are a cat!

Barn and Shadow have their job as library cats, but they also are kept busy as Feline Rescue and Rehome PR Ambassadors.

What a week they had! A Jeans Day benefit, FuRR’s three-day fundraiser sale and, for Shadow, his first prom!
They squeezed in visits to school, one each. Then on Thursday, Shadow worked long hours. He headed to USAble Insurance Co. where he supervised a group of us 2-legged animals as we met USAble employees who had chosen to make FuRR the recipient of their ‘Jeans for a Means’ day for April.

The weather was wonderful for a change, although the wind was pretty brisk. That didn’t bother Shads! He was all decked out in a white bandana with a red heart, modeling the ones we have for sale.

When people saw him on his leash we heard over and over, “My cat .would NEVER do that.”

I know that was a smile I saw on Shadow’s face; he knows he is quite unique with his harness and leash technique. He even let our visitors hold him.

Later in the day came his big event, though. My senior, Trinity, wanted to have a picture of Shadow with her in her prom dress.

That of course required prom clothes for Shadow. For his bandana I found a filmy blue material that matched her prom dress exactly, even down to the silver flecks. Since she was going to have  black feathers in her corsage we picked up a black feather “man-boa” for Shadow to wear around his neck. Now, my friends have tried to tell me that there is no such thing as a “man boa,”
but Trinity and Shadow will tell you different. They made such a stunning couple!

After we took pictures, Trinity went to the prom with “just a friend” while her real date went home with me.

We stopped by the big FuRR sale where volunteers were setting up.

Shadow walked around a bit on his leash and then hopped into a drawer and settled down. Such a hard day he had had, and such a good job he had done!

This was a rest he had earned.

On Friday Barney took over. I dropped him by the sale on my way to work. Barn is a little more laid
back and loves to walk on his leash. I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about because he had a big carrier to rest in and the FuRR gang always takes good care of him.

But I have to admit to giving a small gasp when I got to the sale after work. There was Barn, chilling under a tree, leash held tightly, of course, by a volunteer. Upon taking a closer look I saw that he was just chowing down and having a bit to drink after a long hard day. Because of his stellar performance on Friday, he won the opportunity to be on duty Saturday also.

We both arrived early Saturday morning, and Barney got busy PR-ing. He walked around and worked the crowd.

As a couple of little girls walked up to him, one looked at me and said, “Now THAT is unusual, isn’t it!”

Barn made quite a sight in his “peace, love and rock ‘n roll” bandana and he let the girls admire
it – and him – as they petted him.
His friend Trinity came by and took over the leash duties. They covered the sale site again and then
Barn posed for a picture with a bunch of the FuRR volunteers. He spent most of the day on duty, patrolling the area and letting himself be admired. He was very ready to go home and take a nap by the end of the afternoon.

What a busy week for a couple of young feline professionals holding down not just one job, but two. They do it with such style!

SUSAN LOESCH

So what does a library cat do when he isn’t working with the kids, helping them select books or  work on the computer? He keeps busy with many other things!

Over the past week or so Shadow has dressed for Easter, acquired additional computer skills, worked with the printer and…gotten married!

Barney had the opportunity to become a style icon, and he turned it down.

Shadow continues to love to sit, sleep or stand on my keyboard — or knock it off the desk entirely if he doesn’t have enough wiggle room. Sitting on the keyboard this week, he managed to turn off the monitor. Confused as to where his picture had gone, he looked up at us as if to ask, “What in the world happened? You are going to fix it, of course.”

And we did.

He found the printer and wasn’t sure paper was supposed to come out, piece-by-piece as it was doing, so he monitored the printer for a while. I am just glad he hasn’t learned to print on his own.

And I wish he didn’t feel the need to rearrange all the figurines and pictures sitting on my printer!

Barney modeled a handsome orange and white striped t-shirt. It was stylishly trimmed in a masculine blue and said “Tuff Guy,” which is a perfect description of Barn.

He looked so fine, but he let us know in no uncertain terms that he didn’t approve. After rolling around in it, he stood in front of Mary and Lea and “Rahrr’d” a demand that it come off.

They tried to tell him what a handsome dude he was but to no avail.

Once freed of the offensive T-shirt, Barn went to work patrolling the library while secondary kids were here. He’s become my go-to guy for working with older kids.

Meanwhile Shadow came to school the Friday before Easter wearing a wonderful Easter bandana from Ms. Lanita. It was yellow and white and was adorned with a yellow chick. He did look fine and was much admired.

Being admired is, of course, a major job responsibility for a library cat, and both Shadow and Barney take that part of their job very seriously.

He caught up with a group of my juniors and seniors and posed with them for a picture. Of the 5 students, I’ve had three since they were tiny. They don’t remember the library without a library cat!

Oh, and about getting married … Bailey came to the library with her class and was kissing Shadow. “Are you guys getting married?” asked one of her classmates.

“Yes, we are,” said Bailey. “Shadow is my husband.”

The class went on to check out books and read for the period. When they lined up to leave, as she went out the door, Bailey called out, “Bye, Shadow. Bye, my husband!”

And you thought being a library cat involved just books and reading!

SUSAN LOESCH

After waiting patiently while Shadow was on the job for several times Barney finally got his  chance.

When we got out of the car, his friend Trinity met us and carried him up to the Library. The last time Barney was here was last June. It’s been a long time!

The kids wasted no time getting reacquainted with Barn! Mary soon joined us, and Barney started the day with pets and treats. After a couple of good morning “Rahrrs,” Barney settled in like he’d never been away.

He stretched out on the counter, got some pets from Trinity, and she showed him the new sign with our library rules.

Our sign says: “Shadow says, ‘Rule #1 is Books Before Cats!’” “Barney says, ‘Rule #2 is Feed Library Cats lots of Treats!’”

I’m pretty sure I heard Barney tell Trin that he liked Rule #2 the best.

Our first group of the day was the preschool class, the 4-year-olds. They stopped to pet Barney when they came in for their story, and when we went to the bean bags Barney came along.

Thinking the kids would pay better attention without Barney, he went to spend a while in my office. We heard his “Rahrr” for a while!

After the story he got more treats.

One of the preschoolers exclaimed, “He is eating from my hand; it feels like he’s LICKING me!”

Soon came our littlest students, the 3-year-olds, to meet Barney for the first time and to select books.

I sat down on the floor with them, Barney in my lap. Soon four sets of little hands all had hold of his tail! Then three held his tail while the fourth petted him – tail to head!

That Barney was so good. He did look at me a few times like he was wondering how long it would last, but he patiently stayed in my lap.

Our kids have been taking ATAAP tests this week, so I have had extra secondary students in the library when they aren’t testing.

Barney helped one of my seniors at the computer for a while before he settled down in his bed. He has always been good about offering his help.

In late morning he decided on a wardrobe change and replaced his light blue and white bandana with a royal blue and white one. He was then ready for the sixth graders, who have spent the week testing.

Boy, were they excited to be finished! They came in wearing their “We Survived ACTAAP” shirts, and we decided to just have “cat time.” The kids had certainly earned it.

They petted Barney, and Brandon fed him way lots of treats. One student showed Barney a picture out of Cat Fancy magazine, and Brianna looked through a stack of new books and showed them to him.

Barney was more excited about the treats than he was about hearing the new book titles … biographies of Selena Gomez, Taylor Lautner, Justin Bieber. Brianna was excited enough for them both.

Barney had gone all day without knocking things over, but while the 6th graders were there he stretched out on the desk and four pictures of Big Footsie and Alex went crashing to the floor.

Right on cue the whole group hanging out at the desk yelled, “Good job, Barney!” He’d saved his performance for a big audience.

During the last period of the day I had a library-full of juniors and seniors. Barney was lying on the floor, and when he jumped up on the counter he surprised Ray, another student I’ve had since kindergarten.

“Oh,” Ray said, “I didn’t know there was a cat here.”

“This is Barney,” I told him.

“Well, hi, dinosaur,” he said to Barn, and then began to sing the Barney song as others joined in.

Barney just took it all in stride.

Barney’s first day back at school was a busy one.

As we went to the car I heard a few Rahrrs from Barn, but they weren’t grumpy ones.

I think he knew he made a whole lot of kids happy today, and for a cat that’s a good day’s work.

SUSAN LOESCH

A new week, and it’s back to work for Shadow, head library cat at Arkansas School for the Blind.

The excitement hasn’t worn off for either the kids or Shadow. He is, however, settling back into the job, and there are signs that he already feels like it is his library.

One of the things he does first every morning is knock one of Big Footsie’s photos down the book return. He then makes sure my computer is working. That involves standing on the keyboard and making sure he gets just the right “beep, beep,  beep.” Sometimes it takes lying on the keyboard to be sure.

I’m settling in, too, and remembering a few of the things I’d forgotten about having a feline co-worker.

Number one rule is don’t … absolutely DO NOT … put my coffee cup down any place that Shadow can reach. It WILL be knocked over no matter how full of hot coffee it is.

Yep, I was reminded of that the hard way, and it involved a whole lot of paper towels. Maybe I should also mention that said cup of coffee was right by my computer.

Also, do not leave my lunch sitting on my desk. Only part of it will be
there later if I don’t guard it.

On the positive side, if I am caught talking to myself I can always say I was
talking to Shadow.

Shad’s first customers of the day were some of my fifth graders, coming to get books. All decked out in a handsome yellow bandana, he made it hard for them to follow our “Books Before Cats” rule as he tried to help them pick out books. He continued to offer his help to everyone who came in all morning.

Shadow switched from bandana to a tie before the first graders came.

He took time for a visit from his buddy Mr. Gould, our instrumental music instructor, who had a little man-to-man advice.

“That tie,” he told Shadow, “is too loud for this job. It looks more like something you’d wear on vacation in Florida to attract the babes.”

Everyone got a laugh out of that.

My first graders, who have asked, on a weekly basis, when the cats would be back, were so excited to come to the library. We’ve been working on our “Books Before Cats” rule for a week now, and they had it down, hard as it was to follow.

While Shadow spent time in my office, we had a fun library skills activity. Inspired by Laura Numeroff’s books, each student completed the sentence, “When you give a Library Cat a…” and then added their illustrations.

We had “When you give a library cat a piece of gum he will get fat” and “When you give a Library cat a pretty bow she will want a friend.”

Library skills out of the way, out came Shadow. The kids held him, squeezed him, crawled cat-like on the floor after him, meowing all the way and, of course, fed him lots of treats. I think Shadow had a ball, and I know the kids did.

Later in the day Makayla came in; she has always been one of my biggest cat lovers and one of Big Footsie’s biggest fans.

Probably not a week goes by that she doesn’t mention him.

Shadow was rolling on the desk and of course knocked off books, pictures, pencils and more.

“He’s gonna be just like Big Footsie,” Makayla exclaimed.

“He’s taking Big Footsie’s place.” Then she stopped.

“No, “she said,” Nobody can ever take Big Footsie’s place. Shadow is just covering for him!”

Then she asked me to take a picture of her holding our portraits of Footsie and Alex.

So as we head toward the close of the school year we finally have our kids and cats back together.

Shadow is settling in as our new head library cat, and we have a new normal.

He isn’t Big Footsie, or Alex; he is making the job all his own.

Every one seems to agree that Shadow is already doing a great job filling some awfully big paws here at ASB.

SUSAN LOESCH

Cold and clear with temperatures in the 50s. A typical Arkansas late winter day. Inside the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, however, there was no cold and nothing typical about the day!

This was the first day since last May that we had cats finally back in our library stacks. The school was abuzz with excitement.

Students had known before spring break that Shadow would be at school this week, and his visit was happily anticipated by everyone from first grade through 12th.

I was a bit nervous heading to school, thinking about all the things I had to bring. New carrier, Shadow inside, check. New litterbox, liners, scoop, food, treats, check.

Definitely treats; I had four kinds with me.

Shadow was sporting a new bandana and collar. Not HIS new collar; he had already lost that somewhere in the house the night before. He wore Barney’s new one.

And then came the kids!

Two of my fifth-grade boys were first, one returning to our school after attending one elsewhere.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s the first day back for Shadow and me both.”

They laughed watching Shadow knock down books and pictures on the counter.

“Good job, Shadow,” one said. “But you aren’t supposed to knock down Big Footsie’s picture.”

My third-graders came in for library skills. Shadow, of course, had to help them with their lesson and with picking out books. He got picked up, petted, hugged, kissed and fed treats! So many treats came his way during the morning that by early afternoon he just looked at those offered to him and walked away.

“Books Before Cats,” I reminded my elementary kids. “Remember our rule?”

They did, but we all decided we could bend the rule just a bit for such an auspicious occasion.

Most who came in signed a “Welcome Back, Barney and Shadow” bulletin board.

“I love you Shadow and Barney. I missed you.”  “Welcome back. I missed you guys.”

“I am very happy to see you. I love you, Shadow.” And from one of every library cat’s favorite people, our instrumental music teacher, “Welcome Bach!”

Shadow’s buddy Trinity, one of my seniors, came for a visit. “Ms. Loesch,” she said, looking at Shadow’s new bandana, “Those are D-O-G paw prints on there.”

“No they aren’t,” I told her, “they are cats.”

Not at all convinced, Trinity continued, “Last year you put him in PINK and this year D-O-G prints! Poor Shadow.”

Some things are so normal-feeling that you have to smile.

The cats are back. The kids are happy. Shadow is happy, and so will Barney be. I’ll still hear about it if the kids don’t think their bandanas are just right. The kids will still say “Good job!” when the cats knock things down, which we started years ago with Footsie.

Sometimes you just feel like all is right with the world!

SUSAN LOESCH

Faith and begorrah, St. Patrick’s Day has come again! Time for the wearin’ of the green, whether you have two legs or four.

After reading that there would be a parade at Happy Hour in the Heights, Mr. O’Shadow suggested we catify the celebration. His plans were big: He’d be met by Feline Rescue and Rehome PR Kitty Bob
and his mom, Ms. Moira, and handsome orange tabby, Pumpkin, and his parents, Mr. Bob and Ms. Lanita.

We’d all join the parade and declare St. Patrick’s Day to now be renamed St. Catrick’s Day. It sounded like a good plan to us humans. The first sign that things might not go exactly as expected came when Bob, usually ready for a walk whenever he gets the chance, decided upon arrival that he didn’t want to participate.

Not only that, he didn’t want to even leave his carrier. He told Ms. Moira, “No,” and not in the sweetest tone-of-meow.

So Shadow and I set out to our meeting place to wait for Pumpkin and his family. I put Shadow’s shamrock bandana on, a bandana steeped in as much tradition as the Blarney Stone. It had been proudly worn by Big Footsie and Alex before him. He sat in his carrier and looked around, taking it all in, before deciding to get out.

Still no Pumpkin, so we headed up to Kavanaugh for the parade, the parade that was now over.

Not to be deterred, Shadow created his own meet and greet. He posed with a group of kids who’d been in the parade. He met a number of dogs who were more interested in him than he was in them. He took a rest on top of festive green-and-white decorations.

Then he spotted Sarah and Sophia, two delightful 3-year-old twins who petted and petted him.

When we left them to head down the street, one of the girls called, “Shadow, are you coming back?”

I think he’d like to have just stayed there, soaking up all the attention.

We finally located Pumpkin and his family, or rather Pumpkin’s family. Poor Pumpkin; although he walks on his leash in his neighborhood, the carrier and car  reminded him so much of going to the vet that he decided to stay put.

Shadow and I got in his car and Shadow nosed the carrier door as if to say, “Come on out Pumpkin; it’s fun out here!”

Ms. Lanita had made an awesome green-and-white bandana for both Shadow and Pumpkin.

What a handsome pair they made as Pumpkin came out of his carrier to hang with Shadow. We all had a nice visit before heading home!

As of today, St. Patrick’s Day has become my favorite holiday. Because of our adventure? No, for an even better reason than that.

It was this St. Pat’s Day that my students and I learned that our library cats will be allowed back on campus for one day a week after a 7 month hiatus.

After I got the news in the morning, it spread like wildfire among my students. Talk about a celebration! There were hugs and high fives and cheers all day long!

My first-graders came for their regular visit that afternoon. They have asked me on a weekly basis when we would have cats again. Finally, I was able to give them an answer.

My little group began to dance around the library, wave their arms above their heads and sing, “We’re gonna have our cats; we’re gonna have our cats!”

They perfectly expressed what many of us feel, and my seniors are thrilled that, after growing up with Big Footsie and Alex, and being without a library cat this year, they will end their senior year in the company of Barney and Shadow.

I am pretty happy myself!

SUSAN LOESCH

On a dreary, rainy late winter afternoon, what could be better than shopping to lift your spirits? How about shopping and a reunion with a really good friend? A surprise reunion for Barney!

Barney and I headed to Petco with a specific purchase in mind, a new water dispenser. A really BIG one, so that mom doesn’t have to fill water bowls every time she turns around!

We went armed with a gift card we got at Christmas, but I made sure I had my checkbook, too. When I shop with the kitties we always go a little bit beyond the gift cards.

We met the Petco employees and they petted and held Barney. He didn’t stay held for long, though; he was ready to  explore.

Off headed Barney on his leash. We stopped at the treats, and he picked out some. And we added a catnip plant to the basket.

And then Barney got his surprise, a reunion with one of my senior students, Trinity, and her grandmother, Ms. Gail! Trin has been my student since kindergarten, and she grew up with Big Footsie and Alex. She and Ms. Gail have always loved the library cats, and it has been hard for us all since the program was canceled.

Barney obviously remembered them both and was so glad to see them. He head-butted them and rubbed against their legs, and then he and Trin set off to walk up and down the aisles. It was Barney who led the way, of course.

He inspected the cat furniture and the food and the pet clothes. He kept coming back to the clothes, rubbing up against some pink dresses and shirts.

“Barney, do you want a pink dress?” Trinity asked him.
“Rahrr,” said Barney. “How about this little sailor t-shirt?”

“Rahrr.”

Trinity pointed out the ferrets and the birds, but Barney wasn’t interested. Ms. Gail held him up to see some fish. He watched them swim for a minute and then got down.

What DID Barney want to do? He wanted to hang with his buddy, Trinity, and walk around.

“Barney, do you want to exercise?” asked Trinity.

A little happier sounding “Rahrr” came this time. So walk they did, all over the store, back and forth, up and down the aisles.

We met a little girl named Belle, who was afraid of cats.

After a few minutes of talking to her and telling her how much Barney loves kids, she actually petted him!

Trinity and I looked at each other and gave a thumbs up. We’ve seen that happen before, with students at school who thought they were afraid until they met our library cats.

“May I take your picture, Belle?” I asked.

“No,” she said. She didn’t like pictures!

I showed Trinity and Gail the treats we had picked out. One kind is called Fit-Nip and “helps encourage older and inactive cats to exercise and play.”

“Boy, Ms. Loesch, you must have given Barney some of these before I got here!”

Finally, Barney had to get back in his carrier so we could leave. As I zipped up, though, out popped his head for just one more good-bye pet from Trinity.

Such fun we had! As we left, I think Barney’s smile was bigger than all of ours’ put together!

Oh, and, yes, I did have to break out my checkbook!

SUSAN LOESCH

“Hey, Loverbee,  dude, how ‘bout you and your mom have a playdate with me and my mom? Purrs, Shadow”

“Hey backatcha, Shads. Playdate sounds sorta unmanly for us guys, but, hey, let’s go for it! Purrs, L-Bee”

So Sunday afternoon was reserved for a time for Shadow and his friend, Loverbee, to hang out. 

Hoping for a sunny day, both guys were not happy to see the day dawn gray and misty.

Loverbee’s mom stopped by Starbucks for a latte for us 2-legged participants, and we both had cans of the boys’ favorite foods in our pockets.

Before the boys had done much exploring and bug hunting, out came the sun, much to  everyone’s delight!

Shadow was wearing Barney’s purple harness and leash and purple bandana, and Loverbee, another FuRR kitty, borrowed Shadow’s red harness, black leash and red bandana. Such a handsome pair!

They spent time hanging out together, looking for bugs and playing in the grass, chewing on an especially tasty morsel now and then.

Shadow tried out a tree branch, sharpened his claws on it a bit and then sat and watched as L-Bee came up…and went right back down.

L-Bee was more interested in the fence enclosing him in the back yard.

Was he thinking, “I’ve always heard ‘the grass is greener…’ “ as he made an attempt to go up and over?

He didn’t get to find out; Mom Dianne was holding tight to his leash!

Shadow and L-Bee explored a bit more and hunted down a few more bugs before they headed to the “table”, the air-conditioning unit, where there was already a plate waiting for them.

The boys did just great eating together, but we eventually put down a second plate after a little head-butting got in the way of eating.

The boys ate, we enjoyed our lattes, and the warm sun and the promise of spring made us all smile.

SUSAN LOESCH

We saw it first on Facebook and then on the news…Little Rock’s own icy version of the Love Bus, a VW bus crafted from snow and complete with cloth window curtains. The FuRR PR team of Barney, Shadow and Bob couldn’t pass this up, so we headed over to take a look.

This marked the first time the whole PR team had ventured out together since Bob came on board, so it was a special occasion.

Shadow wore his red and black sweater and a red bandana. Barney sported his puffy vest and his peace-and-love print bandana to set the mood.

We brought Bob the first item of his professional wardrobe, a black and white paw print bandana!

On the way over I tried to explain what we were going to see. “You know, guys, Woodstock, bell bottoms, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead.”

Silence.

“Well, how about flower power, peace symbols, Jefferson Airplane?”

Nothing.

“How about treats after we get home from our field trip?” That got a healthy “Rahrr” from Barney, and it wasn’t even in his usual grumpy tone. Guess the guys aren’t all that
much into the ‘60’s, but treats are always huge!

Bob was first to explore the Love Bus, and he sat happily in one of the windows. He looked like he was imagining sailing down the highway with the wind in his fur, radio blasting. He also took a look inside where he found a table and chair.

How cool is that!

Covering the entrance was a tie-dyed curtain which said “Living Life in Peace,” and we pushed it aside so Shadow could step in.

He must have felt the peace because he settled down with his paws on the threshold and just chilled for a while.

Barney was more interested in the roof of the bus and gave a huge s-t-r-e-t-c-h before looking around.

I think Barney would be the hippie snoozing in the back of the bus while Bob and Shadow sat up front belting out “Me and Bobby McGee” along with the radio.

We met Sarisa, who, along with friends Justin and Brandon, spent 18 hours building the bus and another 5 hours Friday repairing damage the warmer weather had done.

Sarisa brought out her cats Chloe and Marley, and they agreed to pose for some pictures. She told us that they already have plans for their next big project when it snows again.

Just like the ‘60’s, all good things must come to an end, so the boys went back to their carriers, and we headed home. As I talked to them on the way home I told them about Sarisa’s plans for the next snow.

“You know, guys, I’d been hoping there wouldn’t be any more snow for YEARS, and now I am thinking I can hardly wait ’til the next time to see what follows the Love Bus.”

“Rahrr,” said Barney. This time he was back to his usual grumpy voice.

Mr. “Snow? No!” Shadow didn’t even bother to comment. I already know his opinion of snow.

A little later, a handful of yummy Dentabite treats restored both boys’ good moods.

Then came naps, with dreams, no doubt, of flowers and peace symbols and cruises in their own Love Bus, well-stocked with Fancy Feast, treats and plenty of catnip.

SUSAN LOESCH

As snow continued to fall long after dark on Friday night, I suggested to Barney and Shadow that it might be fun to go outside the next day and build a snow cat.

Barney looked interested, but Shadow, the original Mr.”Snow? No!”  just walked away.

“Well, Barn, it looks like you and I will play in the snow tomorrow,” I told him. By the time we ventured outside shortly after noon the snow was…GONE!  A little remained in the back yard but not nearly enough to make a snow kitten, much less a snow cat.Barney and I didn’t want to waste what had turned out to be a pretty day, so we started down the driveway headed out to take a walk.

Barney was sporting new duds: a cool puffy vest, pinky-purply in color. One of my friends had seen it and expressed horror that I would pick out such a girly color for the boys.

That’s OK.  I remember last year when Alex wore a pink bandana to school. Some of the kids were so appalled that I would put pink on him, but I overheard my student, Mary, talking to Alex, telling him that it took a real man to wear pink. Barney is very handsome and secure and didn’t seem to be worried about the color.

Barn enjoyed all the outside smells as he walked down the driveway. He stretched; he rolled. He rolled in a puddle of water! He stopped, and we listened…we heard Barney and Shadow’s very favorite sound, children laughing.

It was August and Kanton, our neighbors, playing on their new trampoline. “Let’s go, Barn!”

The boys were glad to see Barney.

“Is he wearing a purple coat because his name is Barney?” asked Kanton. “Is that a leash?” “Does that coat keep him warm?”

I had treats with me; a kitty-mom never leaves home without treats.

“He doesn’t want them,” said August, but after a little exploring Barn ate treats from their hands.
Barney was right at home.

You would never have known it was his first time on a trampoline. The boys fed him more treats, walked him around on his leash and even very gently bounced the trampoline.

Barney loved all the attention. He rubbed and rubbed up against the boys, happy to be with kids.

“You should get a little trampoline for Barney,” suggested Kanton.

We spent a little more time with the boys and their parents and then told them good-bye and headed home.

“Thank you for the cat, Ms. Susan,” Kanton said.

“Thank YOU,” I told the boys, “for giving Barney such a fun time and all the attention!”

Barney’s adventure must have made him hungry because when we got home he headed straight for the food bowl.

Then it was on to the …yawn… cat nap, complete with loud purrs which told me Barney had enjoyed his day!