MLK National Day of Service #WhyIVolunteer #SelflessSunday

Gus:  Tomorrow is Martin Luther King's National Day of Service.  Mama has the day off from work and will be going to Great Plains SPCA to volunteer.  They aren't doing anything special at GPSPCA tomorrow so Mama felt this would be a good time to share one of her most memorable days as a volunteer.

It was April 1, 2013.  Mama had to work that day.  She had planned to go home after work but something told her she should take her volunteer clothes with her.  After work she was really tired, but something told her she should go volunteer at Great Plains.  So she went.  While she was there, the director from a local hospice called the shelter and asked if they could fulfill a dying man's last wish.  He had always had cats and he wanted to pet a cat one last time.

GPSPCA's Chief Operating Officer asked Mama if she would go.  For those of you who know Mama, you know this kind of thing really isn't in her comfort zone.  Mama was the only cat volunteer there and she wasn't going to let the man down.  She put Mimi, an adoptable cat, in a carrier and headed to the hospice facility.

Once Mama and Mimi got there, the staff rushed them back to the man's room.  Mama let Mimi out of her carrier.  She needed to investigate a bit and get a feel for the room.  Then Mimi laid on the gentleman's bed.  The man was too weak to pet Mimi on his own.  His daughter took his hand and pet Mimi as she purred.  Within a half hour the man passed away.

Mama was glad she heard the call and was able to help comfort the man as he passed on.  This is still her most memorable moment as a volunteer.

And what about Mimi?  She was the man's angel that day.  Mimi was rewarded a couple days later with her furrever home.   It is a great reminder that just because we are cats doesn't mean we can't serve others.  

Mimi

How do you or your human plan to spend tomorrow's MLK National Day of Service?

#SelflessSunday - Phoebe

Gus:  Continuing our goal of being more selfless in 2015, we are giving a little bit of our blog time to the kitties at Great Plains SPCA.

This is Phoebe.  She is a beautiful 2 year old girl at Great Plain's Merriam Campus.  There is one volunteer named Jennifer that is Phoebe's biggest champion.  Here is what Jennifer has to say about Phoebe:

"I am in love with a creature named Pishi. Only her name has been recently changed to Phoebe to make her more appealing to the public at large. Pishi translates to “cat” in Farsi and is used as slang for “beautiful”, “wondrous”, and “flawless.” Pishi is beautiful, but is also anything but flawless, and this is why I adore her. She is a timid little cat who watches the world from the safety of her bottom-level plexiglass and steel kennel in the animal shelter. Everyday through play and love, she becomes a little bit braver and is so proud of herself when she musters up the courage to step outside of her kennel to stretch her legs, dance, and peep around the corner, albeit for just a few seconds at a time. When I move on from her kennel to the other cats in the shelter, she stares up at me with these gorgeous, pleading green eyes. When I don’t acknowledge her, she dumps her cat food dish over the side of the ledge in her kennel so I will have to open her door and reach in to clean it up, giving her a few more moments of my attention so she can dance and love on me by slamming her head and side of her body into my face before running to the back of her shelter. As soon as I close her kennel door, she starts the whole process over. She is a slob. She crunches her dry food and it flies out of her mouth, landing all over her bedding and floor. She prefers to poop on the side of her litter box rather than in the litter box. I love her for all of these things. She can be a challenging little thing, but the rewards of her quiet and heartfelt displays of love and growing self-confidence are loud, wonderful, and worth more than I can describe here.
Pishi was reluctantly surrendered by her family when her owner became ill and unable to care for her. She has lived in the animal shelter since June 2014 and deserves a new home with an owner or a family who are willing to go slow and commit to her. She is undoubtedly going to thrive in the right environment and shower her family with unconditional love and amusement for the rest of her life. She is the type of pet who is worth every bit of patience and attention given to her and will reciprocate with unflinching love and loyalty. If you know of anyone who would love her and benefit from all that she is going to give, please look at the link below, or contact Great Plains SPCA in Merriam."

Find out more about Phoebe.

Gus:  Jennifer describes Phoebe's spirit in such a beautiful way!  Phoebe is so lucky to have Jennifer and her son on her side! Volunteers fall in love all the time when they volunteer but every once in awhile there is a special cat that touches their heart in a profound way.  They wish they could take them all home but that just isn't possible.  Please help us share Phoebe's story so we can find this girl her purrfect home.

#SelflessSunday - Magnolia

Gus:  Continuing our New Year's resolution of being more selfless in 2015, we are giving a little bit of our blog time to the kitties at Great Plains SPCA.

UPDATE 2:  Magnolia was adopted!!!!

UPDATE:  Magnolia has been transferred to Unleashed Pet Rescue in Mission, KS.  Hopefully, she will find her forever home there.

This is Magnolia.  Magnolia just spent her SECOND Christmas at Great Plains SPCA in Merriam.  Magnolia is 8 years old.  She is a quiet and unassuming girl.  She doesn't seek out attention, but doesn't turn it away either.  Magnolia would be great company in a quiet household.

Magnolia would love to sit next to you and watch the Royals, Chiefs or KU play.  She really wished she would have had a home last year to watch the Royals during their history making October.  Maybe this year she will be with you?

Magnolia does have some food allergies which seems to scare some people away.  She just needs to have some special food.  Her z/d prescription cat food may be a little more expensive but Magnolia is worth it!

Magnolia does get along with other cats, but at the shelter is in a kennel by herself when there aren't any cats on the same diet.

Magnolia is  volunteer favorite!  So much so that one of the very kind volunteers has offered to pay her adoption fee.

Please help us find Magnolia her forever home!  To read more about Magnolia or to see her video, please click here.

#SundaySelfie @ Grandma's House and #SelflessSunday

Gus:  Since it is  Sunday Selfie day I thought I'd share this picture of me snooping in a box in Mama's closet at Grandma's house.  Did you know Mama use to be little and played with dolls and stuff?  There was also some flowers she had for something called "prom" and a basket she carried in Uncle Jim and Aunt Suzanne's wedding.  Nothing exciting for a manly cat like me!  I think I'll just take the box!

This post is part of the Sunday Selfie blog hop hosted by the cats at The Cat on My Head.  Hop over to their site and check out the other Sunday Selfie entries.

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We are going to start something new called Selfless Sunday where we will feature one of the kitties Mama helps at Great Plains SPCA.

This is Delilah and she is 6 years old.  Delilah has been at Great Plains SPCA's Merriam Campus for over a year.  Why has such a beautiful girl been at the shelter that long?  Good question!  I wish we had an answer.
Part of it is because she has black fur.  It often takes longer for black cats to be adopted.  Some people are superstitious and think a black cat will bring them bad luck.  Pearl is all black and I think I'm really lucky to have her as a sister.
Other people think black cats don't have much personality because they can't see their features as well.  Pearl definitely has personality and Delilah does too!
Another reason why Delilah hasn't found her furrever family is that she isn't a floozy.  She isn't going to give her purrs away to just anyone.  Delilah just needs a little more time to get to know people before she decides if she likes them or not.
Then there was that awful rumor going around the shelter that she only like men.  It's NOT true!  She likes both men and women!  She loves my Mama.  She will sit on Mama's lap forever if she would let her.  I would be jealous but this is Selfless Sunday.  Needless to say, Delilah would make a GREAT lap cat.
If you would like a lucky, personality filled, discerning, sweet, lap cat, Delilah would be the cat for you!  You can find out more about Delilah here.