Whisper – Floppycat of the Week

I came to Floppycats for the pictures of cats in sinks but stayed for the weekly cat stories! And when I found out that Floppycats features more than just ragdolls I knew I had to share the story of Whisper! Whisper is a very special part of my veterinary clinic and my life. In fact you could almost call her a working cat since she does have some very important jobs. What does Whisper do? She’s a clinic cat at Parkside Animal Health Center in Aurora, CO! Whisper has several important jobs but one of her most important is greeting patients regardless of species! She assumes all cats, dogs, reptiles and other creatures her friends. Besides welcoming anyone who comes into the clinic Whisper also makes sure the clinic is cleaned up to her high standards! But first some backstory on Whisper. I’m a veterinarian (and practice owner at Parkside Animal Health Center) but I also work with area shelters. That’s where I met Whisper. She was part of a large of impound cats that were brought in from someone who had more cats than they could possible take care of. Whisper’s living environment was not a healthy one and it is unlikely that she had ever seen a veterinarian before. Despite being somewhere around 10 years old Whisper had never been spayed and she had severe dental disease. Years of no veterinary care took its toll and Whisper needed all of her teeth extracted. And that’s where our paths first crossed! I extracted every tooth that Whisper had. That’s how bad her dental disease was! Right away I took a liking to Whisper. When you work in the shelter environment you see A LOT of cats and sometimes there is one that stands out to you. Whisper was one of those cats! I decided to foster her after her procedure to help her recover from such an extensive procedure. Unfortunately, it’s common for cats to stop eating after a surgical procedure, especially a dental procedure. Whisper did avoid food for a couple of days, which had me worried. We tried all kinds of stinky wet food, baby food, whatever we thought would work. But Whisper wanted dry kibble and that’s it! Even after losing all her teeth! After having Whisper for a few days I knew I had to adopt her. Her personality was off the charts! She was always ready for a new adventure and had a hand in just about everything we did. In fact, Whisper was so outgoing that I knew the perfect place for her was our veterinary clinic. Whisper now lives at Parkside Animal Health Center full time where she has her own room, complete with toys, shelves and plenty of soft places to relax. She also has a variety of jobs that she keeps up with. Whisper is always on the lookout for new patients and wants to make sure she sees them as soon as they pull up! That way she has time to get into the perfect position to welcome them to the clinic! Whisper is obviously our Chief Welcome Officer and spends some of her free time talking to our patients. As you can see here we walked in on an important conversation and Whisper is patiently waiting for us leave so she can get back to her important conversation: Whisper also fulfills some important cleaning duties. She frequently inspects our work and has a very critical eye. While many cats are afraid of vacuums, Whisper has taken it upon herself to make sure that the vacuum is used efficiently and effectively. Here she is making sure all cleaning protocols are followed: Whisper also sets a great example for the rest of us with her commitment to her exercise program. Whisper uses a very effective technique that involves a string and a lot of jumping around as demonstrated here: Whisper also values her down time and is kind enough to “test” the dog beds for us. I’m so happy to have found Whisper and I think Whisper is pretty happy to have found us too! Dr. Brenda Eisenhauer Aurora, Colorado

Thank you for reading! Submissions like these – the “Cat of the Week” and “Kitten of the Month”- are provided by their owners and reflect their individual experiences and practices. The information these submissions share does not necessarily reflect Floppycats’ recommendation or endorsement regarding cat nutrition or care. Always consult a qualified feline nutritionist or veterinarian for personalized advice on your cat’s dietary and health needs. If you want to learn more about species-appropriate nutrition, please visit our cat food page.