(Pictures to follow)

Since Megan gets a lot of crap from resident psychos here, and I
usually express myself so inartfully, I had decided to hold off this
post until now, when I saw this latest round of hateful posts. The
usual maniacs will weigh in with their invective, but I've seen first
hand the great work she does, and so decided to post a little more
detail. She knows what she's talking about, and lies and suspicions
about her brood of kitties are utterly without merit.
 
First off, my sole purpose was to visit Henry (a stray we adopted that
we were unable to integrate, who Megan subsequently rescued). Like a
lot of folks here, finding out how many cats she fosters raised my
eyebrows, but since she seemed pretty bright, knowledgeable and sane
over the phone and in the first visits with Henry, I wasn't really
worried that she was a hoarder. Though there are a lot of morons in
this newsgroup who see her as Satan with a cat-fetish, it's pretty
easy to spot their kookiness and ignore them.
 
In fact, after wanting to visit Henry, seeing a houseful of cats was
second on my list of interests. On top of it, she was having dinner,
and my son was totally into that, even though he's not as big a cat
nut as most of us here ( just big. And a teenager. I need say no
more).
 
I walked in the door and met the first wave of feline-greeters, and I
was happy to see Henry among them! He was noticeably slimmer, and
far-better groomed, though Megan's held off giving him a Marvin trim.
With him were a gaggle of other cats, sniffing, some angling for a
chance to zip out.
 
The first thing  Megan did  once we were inside was to  show me
the permit from the city authorizing her to have a cluster of
cats. I didn't think this was necessary, but she must have known that
many folks have the same reaction seeing a houseful of cats. After
all, what do we see on COPS, Animal Planet, the news and other sources
regarding people with multiple cats? Invariably they're in a
feces-filled wreck, with dozens of kittens everywhere, and frustrated
uniforms trying to trap or net them.
 
This was absolutely not what I saw.
 
The first wave subsiding, Megan introduced us to her human guests, and
gave me the tour of her place.
 
Cats were seemingly everywhere, most of them napping or otherwise
having their own little conversations or cat-fu sessions. She
introduced me to everyone who was around, and gestured to the ones
that were napping.
 
Cat trees and shelves were everywhere, and it was 3D cats in every
room. Cat on a rug, cat climbing a cat-tree, cat on a perch near the
ceiling watching with feigned disinterest. We passed through the
kitchen and I was totally delighted to see Henry batting around
Marvin's bushy tail (Henry's a big guy, about 15 lbs, but Marvin is
HUGE around 23  lbs iirc. He was impressively tolerant).
 
We sat down to eat (rather, I joined my son as he started his second
plate of spaghetti) and chatted with her other guests. The second wave
of greeters came out, and sniffed and hopped on our laps. Princess
fell in love with my son, and was chattering away about something very
important at him, though sadly he doesn't speak cat.
 
I think I saw about 90% of Megan's Menagerie that night. Every single
one of them was happy, contented and napping -- or curious and
playful.

There was no growling, no fighting, no panicked explosion of hidden
cats as one came around the corner. All of their coats were beautiful
and shiny (wet, premium cat food), their eyes were clear, and I took a
look at ears, butts and teeth, knowing at some point I'd be testifying
in front of the kooks and undecideds in this newsgroup.
 
No pools of urine or piles of feces, no evil smells of defecation or
disease, but a bevy of clean, odor-free litter boxes. No closetfulls
of kittens, no open wounds, no volumes of "How To Prepare Curried Cat"
sitting on the shelves.
 
That I feel compelled to make this defense is a sad commentary on the
warped views of the resident kooks and nutcases on RPCHB. But it
occurs to me that the newbie who can't recognize a kook at first
glance might actually ignore the solid advice Megan gives, or if given
the opportunity to work with her would turn her down because of
misinformation.
 
I have no vested interest. Megan doesn't pay me. She got my family and
an incredibly wonderful stray (and an intransigent Bengal as well) out
of a horrible predicament. She helped me move Louis back towards
continence (one week and counting). Her advice is sound and
verifiable, and her critics are simple Usenet kooks.
 
I know this may come off as a panygeric. Lord knows I can see people's
issues with Megan's personality. With her, it's about the cat, and
whether the owner and cat have the proper understanding of each other.
 
I trusted her handling Henry, and after this visit, I trust her even
more.
 
This was a houseful of extremely varied, beautiful, happy, healthy
cats. They are lucky to own a human like Megan.
 
BLink