Today was a frustertaining day at the cats-only boarding facility. Frustertaining = entertaining and frustrating at the same time. Why? Because I was working on report cards.
We try to write up a little report card for every guest who stays with us. It’s got checklists for how the cat ate, how the cat seemed emotionally, and what health issues we may have noticed. There’s space for comments… and we put a picture on the front. (School pictures and report card day, all in one!)
Once again, I found myself appreciating the folks who do pet photography professionally. Some of our guests are easy when it comes to pictures — they are the ones who are happy to sit still (or stay asleep) while I click away. Others aren’t so easy.
Today was a day of difficult cats. For one feisty feline, it took me almost twenty pictures to get two halfway decent ones. She’d turn her head at the last second, or move too close, or start meowing at the other cats. After the first ten pictures, I enlisted some help. I held the cat while my coworker tried to take a picture… but we ran into the same problem. This frisky little girl wanted no part of staying still for her portrait! We finally got two that weren’t TOO blurry. They’ll have to do.
I had a fun time taking pictures of a cat in the playroom. He was so happy to be there, he kept rubbing his face on the walls and climbing ledges — very cute! At one point, he put his paw on the palm of my hand (I took a picture of us holding hands).
And don’t get me started on how challenging it is to take pictures of black cats! It turns out that a black cat curled up in a ball with her eyes closed… just looks like a lump. Do-over!
Like I said, today was both frustrating and entertaining.