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Pets, Pets, Pets
For Dr. Joan Digby, LI University Humanities professor, compassion and cats complement curriculum. An advocate of TNR (Trap Neuter Return), Dr. Digby, along with her colleagues, manages an inconspicuous yet content colony of campus cats. Her Honors students design cat shelters that blend with college architecture. The ferals in her care inspire Dr. Digby to compose picturesque poetry. The following are selected from her collection- A Clowder of Cats:
FERAL COLONY They come from nowhere at the sound of my car. Gray streaks at first: dappled Puffball, Oyster, flat like pewter, long haired mop of a philosophical sister called Plato, yellow-eyed and pensive. Then from the bushes a flash of black and white- Kodak and Ilford shooting past at a a hundredth of a second click, click like fast film. Now the Clones march slowly on parade, black with the same white star on their chests sporting the mark of a long family line. Delicate maidens take their time: she with the white nose, the shy aunt who lost her tail, Cleopatra fringed with a golden face, two hungry tigers and at last the Red King. I wait and watch and count and feed, I call them jeweled movements, the time pieces that regulate my morning hour. LOVE HANDLES Cats also have love handles, that wiggle when they walk like a runway model in a swing coat letting each thrust of her hips reveal all the soft longing for the days before she had her tubes tied. RITUAL MEAL The cats didn't know my mother died. They were simply waiting for the food I bring them every morning. "Momma's here," I called as usual, "Breakfast," as they tripped around my legs keen for the opening of cans. But my momma wasn't here today and wouldn't be again for an eternity to come. Snapping the lids I thought of breakfasts she had made and threw myself into the task of serving up food in my mother's name. THE OLD MASTER (SIX-PACK 1988-2006) It's Thursday Six-pack is sitting on a chair in the front row waiting for class but no other students have arrived. He has taken Foundation fifteen times and still is yearning to learn more about perspective and figure drawing With polydactyl paws he has the means to be creative far beyond his kind. The human students will not come today but Six-pack holds his place meditating on the monumental plastic form needed to express the shape of feline thought. PAW NOTE: A huge portrait of Six-pack leaning on an art pedestal hangs above Dr. Digby's desk. This majestic tabby lived to be 18, and spent his final years in a loving home off campus. Poster Pets
Our poster pets at Oyster Bay Town Shelter (677-5784) Miller Pl Syosset deserve loving homes too. "Bella" #365 is a 7 yr. Italian Greyhound who was turned in by elderly owners along with "Coco" #364- her Min Pin pal. They need not be adopted together. "Silver" #374 in the lobby showcase is an exquisite Maine Coon type. This 1 year old beauty gets along with dogs and other cats. Dogs: "Sonoto" #314 male Siberian Husky; "Foxy" #353- Wirehaired Fox Terrier puppy that would do well in either a breed experienced or agility home; "Beauford" #287- Coonhound mix pup. Cats: "Slippers" #331- gorgeous longhaired kitten shown last week; a determined female tabby #341 who sounds like she is saying "Hello". www.lasthopeanimalrescue.org. | ||||||
