Solutionz
In early November, a cat was spotted walking around the building of snow removal and property management business, Solutionz.
(Though unlikely, just in case there was someone missing the cat, Solutionz worked with MAPS to help locate an owner. They determined she was indeed a homeless stray.)
At first the tabby was shy, refusing attempts to pet her, but became more friendly a week later.
“One day it was really cold out,” said Travis Hill. “I had the door of the truck open and she jumped in with me, and then I took her in the shop.”
After being given food, the cat settled in and was named Ed after one of the older workers at the business.
“Then we noticed it was a female,” said Hill.
The tabby was rechristened Edna, receiving shots at the vet and later getting fixed. She slept behind one of the toolboxes until gifted a cat house.
The formerly shy kitty is now the company’s best greeter. “When you walk in, she comes to see who it is right away,” Hill said. Edna’s main hobbies include eating, sleeping, and attempting to crawl up in the engines.
While the cat’s origins remain a mystery, the business is happy to keep her.
“I don’t know where she came from, but she’s ours now,” he said.
Thimbleberry Books
Two cats have been longtime residents at Thimbleberry Books in Downtown Marshfield.
Although the cats look very different, they are in fact sisters and litter mates, adopted at age three by store owner Kim Hartley from friends of her son. Snuggles and Tigger are now around fourteen or fifteen years old.
“Bookstores traditionally have a cat or two, and these came along when we were moving to this location,” said Hartley. “They love greeting people and have their own following that visits them on a regular basis.”
One can find them napping by the warm fireplace during the winter, sunning themselves by the storefront, or acting as assistant cashier on the checkout counter. When not napping, they often wander up and down the aisles meowing and begging for scratches.
“Little cat lovers seem to think I should know where they are at all times, and being cats they never tell me,” said Hartley. “Tigger likes to watch birds on my computer. Snuggles thinks it’s time for a treat any time she thinks of it.”
The bookstore acts as the cat’s permanent home, and they can be visited any time during store hours.
Chestnut Center for the Arts
In late August, Executive Director Adam Smrcka heard a noise by the front door of the Chestnut Center for the Arts and went to investigate. On the doorstep was a very skinny kitten, which promptly ran away at the first attempt to catch him, but later returned for help.
“He was a stray, and in really, really rough shape,” recalled Smrcka.
The Center promptly took in the cat and named him Clay, an appropriate name for the gray-colored kitten that was now taking refuge in an arts center. There, he was given food and nursed back to health, and checked over by a vet tech.
While at first so tiny no one was sure what gender the cat was, Clay is now healthy and popular with kids, not to mention a little bit mischievous.
“He’s growing like a weed,” said Smrcka. “He sits on your hand when you’re trying to do your work.”
Clay now acts as the official mascot for the Chestnut Center. “He’s going to stay here and keep everyone happy,” Smrcka said.
