Diary of a Cat Care B&B: The Old Switcheroo!

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

14 Apr 2009 04:33 PM

Sometimes we get look-alikes at the cats-only boarding facility. I think I've mentioned the kitty brothers who are identical except for the shape of their eyes -- two male cats from the same litter, both all white. The way to tell them apart is that one has rounder eyes and the other has squinty eyes. And that's it.

We have another client who has two Bengal cats. They look very similar, except for the pattern of the markings -- one has a swirly pattern and the other is more stripey. Needless to say, it can get kind of tricky when we have look-alikes from the same family! Cats from the same family can go into the playroom together... but putting the right cat back into the right condo can become tricky.

This morning at work, I noticed that two of our look-alikes had been switched. One cat (Yogi) is all grey; the other cat (Snowy) is grey with white tips on her paws. Aside from the toes, they're pretty much identical in shape and size. They're also similar in disposition -- so if you miss the toes, it's very hard to tell which girl is which. (They also have nearly identical pink beds... and that's what started the problem. When the girls were moved from the playroom, the right bed got into the right cage... with the wrong cat in the bed!)

It took me a minute to figure out a quick and easy way to switch the girls back into the right cages. Finally, I picked up Yogi in her bed and stuck her on the counter for a moment. While she waited there, I grabbed Snowy and her bed and moved her into the cage marked "Snowy". Then I tucked Yogi back into the "Yogi" cage and closed the doors.

A coworker then asked me why I hadn't just switched the nametags on the cages and left the cats where they were. DUH! That would have been quick and easy... and required less cat juggling!

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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