Shopdogs and shopcats have been featured in the TC since 2010 and I am overdue on some other critters. Send suggestions, and in the meantime, I couldn’t resist a focus on Monkey, who watches over Pamper Ur Pets — the last of the neighborhood pet stores. She is a winner.

Shopcat: Monkey

Breed: “I’m going to be honest with you,” said Mo, the shopkeeper, “I don’t know. She’s got a nice coat — nice and shiny.”

What’s her workday like? “She’s working almost seven days. [She goes home with Mo on long weekends.] She takes care of the customers, makes them happy. She doesn’t get scared of the big dogs and she likes to chase the small ones. She loves to watch people at the door. From the time we got her, she never went out or even went on the sidewalk. She just sits down and watches people. Anyone who comes over she greets.”

Anything else we should know? “I found her in a parking lot in Bay Ridge about seven years ago with two other kittens. She jumped everywhere — she was a lunatic — so I called her monkey. Now she’s like an old lady.”

Recently the shop had two kittens from Costa Rica who were living at the store until they found their forever homes in New Jersey. Monkey was their mentor, but by the end of their visit she was done. “Monkey got jealous and was happy to see them go. She had a big smile and you could tell she was thinking, ‘Good, now I have all my customers to myself.'”

Previous Shopdogs posts:
••• Volume 9: Seeker, Harley, Freddy, Rusty, and Steinway.
••• Volume 8: Lance, Poppy, River, Daisy
••• Volume 7: Cosmo; Buddy; King Carton; Janet and Whiskey; Fritz
••• Volume 6: Josephine; Lucy; Min; Wolfie
••• Volume 5: Tiger; Mila and Lila; Fonzie; Bumper
••• Volume 4: Henry; Sam; Patti Gucci; Serenity and Bob; Starr
••• Volume 3: Abraham; Captain; Newton; Lilah; Vivian
••• Volume 2: Oscar and Lucy; Otis, Porter, and Neo; Scout; Clyde; Spike; Giri; Mo; Jinjer
••• Volume 1: Niki; Sugar Ray; Eleanor Rigby; Marley; Baby Bear; Shea; Fred; Christopher