Whomever initially adopted and named Kiwi, the black and white brother and his calico sister, Mango, must have had a nutty... errr fruity sense of humor. When the siblings were six months old, they were given to a rescue center where one of 250 nursing home employees hired them on the spot.
The kittens were housed in the facility’s recreational room along with their food, litter, two scratching posts and enough toys to spoil them into accepting the paws-ition of house-mousers.
Occasionally, field mice make their way into the care home to test if the kitchen has a rodent inspector. It does, but the sneaky grey intruders still sneak in. Kiwi and Mango purr-ole the purr-e-mices (premises) “ratting” out unwanted mice.
The facility is the home for 230 physically and cognitively impaired residents. Locked doors separate each area for residents’ safety. During the cats mouse-hunt quest, they patiently wait by the doors, or elevator, taking a brief bath until someone walking by activates the locks. The furry workers saunter through an open door or ride up/down elevators with their tales confidently held high.
Kiwi is an escape artist. Residents were “trained” by their own cats to open doors for a cat, innocently opening outside doors, and therefore, aiding Kiwi’s quick exit.
Recently, the nursing home received a phone call from a delivery driver. “I think I have your cat,” he announced.
After the man had completed his delivery to the care home and closed the truck’s doors, he drove onto three other businesses. Three hours later, up popped Kiwi well-rested from his mobile cat nap. It was a miracle he had not jumped out the open doors at the other locations. Luckily, the driver recognized him and delivered the hitch-hiker back to his 500 waiting parents.
Also, there is a children’s daycare a block from the care home. A teacher approached one of Kiwi’s staff and said, “Every day, Jack drops in and visits our children, has snacks, then naps.”
Apparently, Kiwi-Jack is a master snack detector who feels he must share his love with all humans, not caring what name they give him.
Then there was the time he visited a house and asked inside. The home owners thought he was lost, so they took him to the humane shelter! Kiwi’s tattoo ear ID alerted the shelter to his owners. He was once again “adopted/rescued” for a second time by the care home!
“Many of our residents offer the kitties snacks, and the cats have favorite beds they sleep on,” said a staff manager. “Visitors bring dogs but they forget that our residents love cats too. Having felines on the premises gives our facility a sense of home and heartwarming entertainment. I often see a cat being wheeled by, sitting or sleeping, on utility carts or someone’s lap.”
Recently, a third scratching post materialized in the hallway that the cat’s perch on like pirates in a ship-mast’s lookout snooper-vizing the area. The post is tall enough to keep the cats safe from wheelchair wheels but short enough for everyone walking by to pat their heads or scratch under their chins.
As for Kiwi, his days of wandering are over after he was narrowly missed by traffic. An “emergency meeting” was held and staff declared that he is “in the dog house” confining him to his work area. Looks like the child center will now have to adopt a cat of their own!
