A second chance for life — and love, by Jenny Gardiner

UPDATE - TROOPER WAS ADOPTED ON JUNE 6, 2006, IN PART DUE TO THIS STORY.

The Daily Progress, Sunday, June 04, 2006
A second chance for life — and love
Trooper is a trouper. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Or perhaps a whisker.

You see, Trooper is a handsome and affectionate black and white tuxedo cat I've taken a hankering to. He's currently living in temporary quarters in a plush fake fur cube with a circular doorway, where he feels safe and secure, at Purrin' at Pantops.Purrin' at Pantops? You ask. Whatever is that? Well, it's a way station, of sorts. Kind of a kitty soup kitchen. A stopping ground for a handful of lucky cats that have spent some time at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA and been sent to Pantops for additional TLC.

Trooper is one such feline. He arrived at the SPCA, a victim of inhumane abuse: His tormentors had castrated him, and then pulled out his eyebrows (you know, those whiskery sensory feelers that cats need in order to navigate through the neighborhood). Why? I can't begin to imagine. What would motivate this type of cruelty?

But ultimately Trooper was lucky. Because he ended up at Purrin' at Pantops, a sort of satellite cat SPCA location, a non-euthanization shelter where unadopted cats have the opportunity to get out of their cages, stretch their legs, chase toy mice and socialize with humans and fellow felines.
Purrin' is the brainchild of Jan Cubbage (affectionately known as Catnip Jan), a one-woman tour de force who will endlessly dip into her own free time, pocketbook, heart and soul to help the many abandoned cats the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA takes in each month. Jan works assiduously to help homeless cats and dogs find families, and to match these animals appropriately so that there won't be any unhappy returns.
Jan's dedicated all-volunteer staff not only show up each day (including holidays) to clean each cage, scoop countless litter boxes, change out food and water, distribute medicines, sweep and mop the floors, oh, and pet and love the cats, but they also take some home to foster and acclimate them to a household environment. At times these volunteers fall so in love with the cats that they end up keeping them. Alas, there are far more spare cats than volunteers, and they keep on coming, with some 300 to 400 cats and kittens arriving at the shelter each month and more 200 already in foster care. And of course all of this is done on a shoestring budget.

My daughter, a veterinarian-wannabe, has been helping out in her spare time at the clinic. The intent was for her to volunteer, but as I have brought her into the Purrin' shop (near the Radio Shack in the Food Lion shopping center in Pantops) I can't help but lend a hand. The volunteers who man this location give so much of their time, love and devotion to these abandoned felines, it becomes infectious. So infectious that my other daughter has joined the cause.
There have been a few times that I have found myself cleaning up after the cats and laughing at the irony that my own house is adrift in tumbleweeds of dog and cat fur, yet this shop is immaculate. Often you can't tell it's filled with cats, cats and more cats.

Which brings me back to my buddy Trooper. One couldn't blame this kitty if he never went near a human being again after the torment to which he's been subjected.
But in the loving and open environment at Purrin' at Pantops, Trooper has come out of his shell and opened himself up to humans. He's a dear cat who really wants to trust people again. Now he needs to find a human who is able to provide the love and trust and the right home environment where he will thrive.
I wish we were the right family for Troops, but with a large menagerie already, I don't think ours is appropriate for him.
The great thing is that until that special owner shows up for him, Trooper has a place to stay, where he gets fed and brushed and given the royal treatment.
The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is a wonderful animal shelter — a haven for our four-legged friends who need a little help from us. And Purrin' at Pantops is a shining example of how lucky we are in the Charlottesville area and how very lucky the many homeless cats are.
Now, if only we can find a home for my friend Trooper.

Jenny Gardiner is a local writer and a commentator for WVTF. She adds:
Have some spare time that you could give to the CASPCA satellite cat adoption center? Care to foster a cat or a litter of kittens? Have a business that could house a litter of kittens to be adopted out? Could you spare cash? Donate some supplies?
Call Jan Cubbage at 409-1258.