Spike

I volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter. That means they don't euthanize any animal unless it's at the vet and is suffering from a bad sickness or disease, then the vet would put them down. What I do there is I socialize with the cats and kittens, sometimes puppies if they're there. I feed them treats, cuddle, and play with them. I love lots of cats and have my favorites. There's Reese, a lovable black and white cat, Delaney, a brown tabby cat with a white chest, and Ace, an extremely shy mostly white cat with a brown tabby back. I use my special "kitty therapy" with him. I also love Carl, an unusually small black long haired cat. He used to be shy but he lets people pet him now. There are lots of other cats but I'm here to talk about Spike. His name sounds mean but he's the complete opposite.

Spike is SO sweet! He sheds his fur a lot and it ends up on my pants. He is nice around people but cats, not so much. It seems like the other cats in the room hate him. They get in fights A LOT. Recently, Spike got a chunk taken out of his ear. It was bloody, but it's all healed now. I think it was Zeke or Gracie. Zeke and Spike are like arch enemies. Butch and Ellie don't seem to bother him though. Ellie likes giving my mom and me baths. There is one more thing, probably the most important thing about Spike. He's deaf.

Spike is orange and white. He has unusually small ears. He has a heart of gold. The reason he is my hero is he has a kind of sad story. He is a stray, he is at the Ark Animal Shelter in Maine, about forty-five minutes away from where I live. I've been volunteering for a couple years and he still hasn't gotten adopted yet. He gets attacked by other cats sometimes. He goes through all that while still being deaf. He is my hero, because he is an inspiration to me. Spike is one of the best cats you'll ever meet.