SUSAN LOESCH

As the summer turns to July it is time for another field trip, and our intrepid adventurer of the week is Shadow.

We waited until evening to head to PetSmart. Objective: food and a new collar. Everyone loved Shadow’s manly zebra print collar, but it kept coming off until he finally lost it to some feline hidey-hole beyond my reach.

This was Shadow’s first time to venture out into the real world rather than his familiar library. As we entered the store, we heard dogs barking, and he looked at me like he wondered if I’d lost my mind bringing him to such a place. As he wiggled around, I was wondering the same thing!
It took a little while, but he settled down. We were looking at the guinea pigs when we met a pretty little girl named Brennan.

“Would you like to pet Shadow?” I asked her, looking at her parents to get their approval. I told them about Shadow’s library job and Brennan’s dad took pictures while I held Mr. Wiggly for her to pet.

Her mom asked if she thought Shadow would like her dog, Max.

“No,” she told us. “He would slap Max.”

Brennan also has a kitty named Quigley; it sounds like Quigley might have taken a paw to Max at least once.

As I put Shadow back in the basket, I said, “Bye, Brennan. It was nice to meet you.”

She replied, “It was nice to meet the cat.”

Even at such a young age she has her priorities straight!

Heading to the collar aisle, Shadow was still trying to decide whether to hide in his carrier or make a break for it. We looked at lots of collars and decided on the first we tried on – a silver sparkly one that looked quite handsome against his black fur.

I tried not to, but I couldn’t help comparing today’s trip to past PetSmart outings with Alex and Big Footsie; Alex sitting still for what seemed like hours as we tried on Halloween costume after costume, and Footsie happily romping from one cat tree to another as he tried them all out.

Shadow did finally seem more comfortable as we headed to the Fancy Feast aisle. Trial and error – lots of error – has turned up his favorite food: Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys, particularly anything Florentine.

We stocked up on Wild Salmon Florentine in a Delicate Sauce With Garden Greens. We added a feather toy to our basket and then looked at new carriers.

Shadow sat in one that I liked but that was just a little too small and a whole lot too hot pink. We both know that our kids at the School For the Blind Library would have a lot to say about a pink carrier for the library cat guys, none of it positive.

On we moved to the cat furniture, and at last Shadow found things that caught his interest. He tried out a Climb and Scratch cat tree, but the Nesting Circle turned out to be his favorite. Maybe that is because it made such a good hiding place. We are going to tell Santa about that one.

Our last stop was the … shhhhhh … doggie fashion department. We were looking for a Fourth of July bandana but found, instead, great Harley gear.

The fleece hoodie with the Harley logo was a bust but a t-shirt with “Harley-Davidson” on the back, decorated with all kinds of sparklies, was a perfect fit.

We might just have to have that when school starts.

Shadow gamely tried on a fleece sun visor but it just wasn’t him.

We both passed on the Martha Stewart terrycloth robes, and I hunted and hunted for the right size in a great t-shirt, which said “Girl Bait”.

Did I just imagine it or did I see Shadow breathe a sigh of relief?

Somehow I don’t think he was feeling a bit of the disappointment I was when all we could find was huge-dog size.

That’s OK; there is always our next shopping trip.

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

It would take more than a rainstorm to dampen the Halloween spirit in the Arkansas School for the Blind Library today!  Finally Alex revealed his costume choice for all to see…he is a…DEVIL!  Complete with sparkly red horns.

And what does everyone think? Bailey, dressed as a bunny, was the first to see him today when she came to the library to get a book. Her reaction was, “Awesome!”

At 10 a.m. the elementary kids all came trick-or-treating. Alex sat in his kitty bed on the front desk and helped hand out treats. He posed with Mary, my work-study student, who was dressed as a cat.

We found that when his hat was pushed back behind his ears he was a much happier little devil than when his ears had to stick through the holes in the hat.

One of our very youngest students came ahead of the crowd. He had never met Alex and his mobility teacher brought him for a visit. Calm Alex let him explore whiskers and nose and tail and was a good teacher even in costume.

Big Footsie was good that way, too, and he was patient even when someone wanted to feel his tongue. We are thinking about him today. Footsie always wore bat wings and he walked the halls every Halloween on his leash being…well, batty! One of my favorite pictures is Footsie and Makayla on Halloween having an important discussion. They never did tell me what it was about.

One of my fifth graders, commenting on Alex’s costume, said, “It is wicked cool. But it would have looked good on Big Footsie, too!” I think she is right..

After the elementary kids were gone, Mary took Alex’s costume off and offered him some of his favorite treats.  After all, a hard-working Library Cat should have Halloween treats, too!

The afternoon brought the secondary trick-or-treaters, including Michael Jackson. By the time they all left, Alex was ready for more treats from his friend, Trinity, and a good nap. I think he is glad it will be a whole year before Halloween comes again!

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

It has been a day-long celebration here in the Arkansas School for the Blind Library! Alex is 6 years old, and he invited the whole school to drop in for popcorn and Orange Tabby Punch. The 2nd graders sang Happy Birthday to him; the 5th graders brought him little duck toys; and the 4th graders brought him birthday letters and pictures.

Those too young to remember heard the story of how he came to us as a 3-week old bottle baby, along with his 3 sisters, in November of 2003. Alex, the only survivor, was bottle-fed by some of the students and named by them and came every day to the library along with Big Footsie.

When he was old enough to adopt out and I mentioned it to the kids they told me in no uncertain terms, “You can’t; he is ours!” And so he is! He is growing into his Head Library Cat job and, as someone said a few days ago, he is becoming “more Footsie-fied all the time!” That is high praise indeed coming from one of Footsie’s best buddies on the staff.

This isn’t the first time Alex has had a birthday party here at school. When he turned 1, we had a big party with a cake with pictures of him on it. This party is a little more low-key, but then Alex is, too, these days.

After all, 6 cat years is equal to 40 in people years. At his first birthday party he had an “I’m One” hat which the kids had a ball putting on him. I think he was really relieved to hear that I couldn’t find an “I’m Six” hat and all he was going to have to wear was a ribbon with that phrase on it.

I’m not sure how he would have felt about the pink “Hello Kitty” napkins and bowls. Guess it is a good thing cats can’t see many colors. Shhhhh. We aren’t telling him they are pink.

One of the notes from my 4th graders was especially sweet. It said “Happy Birthday, Alex. You are the Best cat I ever saw. I wish Big Footsie was here. I hope you will have a great Birthday Alex. I love you. XOXOXO.”

Another had a picture of Footsie and Alex both, side-by-side. I like it that my kids still remember and love Big Footsie but have made plenty of room in their hearts for Alex.

For more birthday photos, check out focus.arkansasonline.com.

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

“Ms. Loesch, look at my tooth,” my 2^nd grader said as she came in the door.

“My mom told me not to wiggle it but I do it anyway. Can I show Alex?”  So we went into my office where Alex was in his bed and he dutifully gazed at her loose tooth and was rewarded with a hug.

Then it was story time;  we seem to have a little tradition started here for the 2^nd graders, a class of just two this year. Both girls and Alex fit comfortably on Big Footsie’s blue beanbag so they sit there, Alex between them, and I sit on Footsie’s green frog, with the bare spots on the head from his “making biscuits” over the years.

The day was dark and wet, but we were cozy and comfortable, and the girls really enjoyed the first chapters of Sarah, Plain and Tall. We think Alex enjoyed it too – one of the characters is a gray kitty named Seal!

I know he enjoyed it more than his Sunday afternoon jaunt to a micro-chipping clinic yesterday. Even though the vet was his own Dr. Cole, Alex’s expression said he was not a happy camper. But it only lasted a few seconds and now he is safely chipped, and that’s a good thing for a kitty who is out and about as much as he is!

CATS IN THE STACKS

Today was school picture day for everyone on campus, including Alex and even Leta, the pre-school dog.

Rain was pouring down and the photographer was way across campus from the Library.

Every step of the way I could feel my hair frizzing; luckily Alex didn’t seem to have that problem. He was decked out in his Harley-Davidson bandana and, for this occasion, his harness and leash, hidden under his bandana.

We stood in line with our registration cards. Alex’s said “Alex Cat. Teacher.” “Would you like to have the free teacher package, Alex?” the photographer asked. Of course he would! Alex posed perfectly on the same stool the kids sit on – with a little booster seat for height. And then he began to get interested in everything going on around him.

I was on the floor shaking his treats to get his attention and the photographer was waving his feather toy. Alex never moved out of position except that he looked straight…in the opposite direction! He was much more interested in the room and the kids coming in than the camera. The photographer finally got a pretty good shot, thank goodness, because the line behind us was beginning to grow and included our superintendent.

Good job, Alex! Note to myself:  next year take Alex over to explore the room the day before.  We are all anxiously awaiting Alex’s first school picture as our Arkansas School for the Blind Library Cat.

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

This is a big week here in the Arkansas School for the Blind Library: Friday will be Remembering Big Footsie Day.

Students are finishing their pages for Footsie’s memory book. My first-graders added a star to their pictures of him because he had a star-shaped tag. One student drew a green box – that is Footsie’s home after he was cremated.

I have become somewhat of an expert explaining cremation and explaining why it isn’t so that if he’d been buried instead of cremated he would be coming back to life!

Even as we anticipate Footsie’s day and look back and remember, we also are moving ahead.

“Is Alex here?” One of my students put her bracelet on Alex’s tail and he just purred on.

Maybe he is really getting the hang of this Head Library Cat job!  Maybe we all are getting the hang of having him on the job.