Two And A Half Cats

Charlene and Snickers are two adult cats who couldn't be more different if they tried.

One is outgoing and bossy, the other a laid-back, lovable character.

Then there's Halle, a half-pint kitten who just wants someone to talk to and will engage anyone who walks into the room where her cage is housed. 

The three felines do have some things in common; they are all healthy and love people. They also share one unfortunate reality. They are all homeless.

"They are each stuck in a cage and that's really not fair to them," laments Mickie Blair, the cat adoption counselor at LifeLine Animal Project, where the cats are living until they are adopted.

LifeLine's no-kill shelter includes their cage-free Kitty Motel, but it's full at present, so Charlene, Snickers and Halle are residing in cages in the shelter's isolation room.

When a person walks into the room, Halle immediately starts mewing and reaches through the bars of her cage, hoping to cajole someone into opening the door and holding her for a while. Charlene will do likewise, grabbing a passing sweater or shirt, begging for some attention. Snickers will start to purr the minute you say his name and wait patiently to be petted.

"I call him 'Doodle,' " Blair says of Snickers, who is a male tabby. "He's so cute!"

Charlene was found in a gas station parking lot in horrible physical condition with two kittens in tow. The kittens were adopted and she was rehabilitated at LifeLine. When she got her health back, her personality bloomed and she started bossing everyone around, including the other cats. Blair calls her "a talker" and believes the black and white mother cat likely has some Siamese in her bloodline somewhere.

"Charlene has that Siamese voice," says Blair, who over the years at LifeLine has certainly heard her share of cats and the range of sounds they make when they are happy, feeling playful or are hurt and confused.

Halle is about 3 months old and gaining weight daily. She came off the streets pitifully thin but bold enough to try to leap into the arms of anyone who looked like they had time to pet her.

"This sweet kitten is desperate for love," Blair says.

All three cats came from unfortunate beginnings and all are lucky to be alive. But saving them from the streets or from being euthanized at overcrowded county shelters is just half the battle. The battle is truly won when they are adopted into loving homes and their space at the shelter is emptied, freed up for another animal in need.

To find out more about Charlene, Snickers or Halle or to inquire about adopting them, contact mblair@LifeLineAnimal.org