Occasionally, you would possibly arrive on the third ground of Warch Campus Center on a Tuesday night after an extended, arduous day of sophistication; following your arrival, you would possibly discover a grey mass of fur flitting to every hand as you begin to comprehend that that “mass of fur” is only a cat eagerly greeting individuals. You rapidly inform your self that you’re simply imagining stated “cat” and that you just’re simply “seeing things.” It isn’t till you come again later within the night to see the cat sitting on individuals’s laps that you just understand you actually weren’t hallucinating from tutorial exhaustion and delicate abandonment of lunch. The query is, are you keen to greet that grey cat?
If one want to meet Willow, she arrives at Warch’s third ground each different Tuesday from 5–6 p.m. The alternative to fulfill with Willow gives a unqiue experince to work together with a cat oncampus if one is lacking an animal at home or simply desires to be accompanied by Willow.
Upon assembly Willow, one would possibly discover her options: her lengthy grey fur encompassing her, her eyes observing her environment beneath that giant set brow, which is described as “protruding” by Willow’s handler, Alvina Tan, who affectionately describes the brow protrusion as one thing akin to that of a Klingon’s from “Star Trek.” Regardless, one can’t assist however be mesmerized by Willow, as there’s something intrinsically charismatic about her demeanor.
Willow was adopted from the Neenah Animal Shelter seven years in the past, in Sep. 2017. At first impressions, Tan was stunned by Willow’s composure, recalling that Willow didn’t even cry within the automobile experience home from the shelter.
Tan hasn’t at all times been what you’d name an “animal person.”
“I used to be a little fearful of cats, which fear usually comes from a lack of understanding,” Tan shares. “Willow is actually the perfect cat for anyone who is uncertain if they may or might not like cats; she’s the perfect cat to just come and just hang with and get a little bit more familiar [with]. She might help overcome your initial fears of cats.”
Tan states that Willow can sit, shake paws on command and even is aware of her identify when referred to as. Willow isn’t Tan’s first cat; she adopted, leashed and skilled her first cat, Hamish, earlier than Willow. She offers credit score to her prowess as a coach to Hamish, who was “actually quicker” than Willow when it got here to studying new methods.
Tan seen Willow’s innate capacity as a remedy pet when Willow calmed Latte, a “former feral kitten” who refused to come back out from underneath the mattress after a visit to the vet.
This was when Tan began to analysis the idea of remedy pets. She determined to register Willow as a result of she “fit the criteria.” Tan specified that she didn’t “officially get registered until Dec. 2018” for Willow to develop into licensed a remedy cat. Through their journey collectively, Willow has made it attainable for Tan to “go beyond her comfort zone”; the 2 expertise conditions collectively that Tan wouldn’t usually get to expertise on her personal, as “Willow acts as a liaison” for her.
For these thinking about assembly this therapeutic feline, you possibly can meet Willow on the third ground of Warch subsequent Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 5–6 p.m.
