Some of them are shy. Others will need time to adjust. Some are just plain scared sometimes.

Regardless of the reason, the Mower County Humane Society holds some cats for years at a time. Currently, there are about five cats that have been at the shelter for almost, if not more than, five years.

“We are a no-kill shelter, that causes a big stink,” said Kelly Rush, one of MCHS’s top volunteers and the person usually in charge of cats. “We’ve taken a stand that we do not euthanize unless it’s a health issue that prevents them form being adopted.”

Rush posts and updates a list of cats that have been at the shelter the longest. At the top of the list is Foggy, brothers Bob and Tom, Ayden and Tuffy. All five cats are somewhat shy, since they’ve lived at the shelter so long.

“They’re going to take a little bit longer to acclimate to you,” Rush said.

It’s not that they’re unadoptable: They’ve all been spayed or neutered (something which MCHS volunteers recommend everyone have their pets go through), they’ve all been fed and cared for and they all get to run around and play for about three hours a day.

Tuffy’s problem is, like his moniker would imply, he’s a bit of a tough guy. He takes no guff from other cats or dogs, and he’ll let them know right away. He used to be a nipper when he first got to the shelter, but he’s been broken of that habit and hasn’t tried to nip at anyone for years, Rush said.

Once he’s comfortable, Tuffy wants to be a friendly cat. At the shelter, Tuffy will jump right into Rush’s arms, giving her affection, rubbing his head against her neck and purr like a car engine.

“Once he knows you, he is your lap boy.” Rush said. “He loves to be held and he purrs and he follows you around.”

Some cats like Ayden get too scared around new things. Ayden wouldn’t get out of his cage at the shelter without running and hiding Friday. Ayden is a cat that will take a lot of time to get used to a new home. Bob and Tom, two brothers who came in from the country aren’t necessarily as shy, as they’ll get along with other cats very well. But they’ll also need time to adjust.

Rush recommends putting a cat in a spare room for a while, with all of their necessities in that room, like their box, their dish, etc. Owners should go into that room and read a book, or the newspaper, and just be around the cat so the kitty can get used to their owner and their surroundings.

“What helps is if this new owner has another cat,” Rush said. “When they see this first pet doing this and that, they get acclimated a little faster.”

Right now more than 100 cats call MCHS’s Friends in Need shelter home, which is above the shelter’s normal capacity. MCHS has an air exchange system that can normally handle about 80 to 90 cats, but with more than 100, the air quality starts to suffer.

During the summer days, adoptions slow down, according to Rush, because people are spending more time outside and maybe not willing to spend as much time with their cats. Summer’s also the time when wild kittens are born, which means kittens are more likely to be picked up off the streets and put into the pound or dropped off at the shelter.

Rush anticipates more people will want to adopt fairly soon, as it gets colder. She knows there’s a lot more work to do for the cats in Mower County without homes, however, work that MCHS won’t be able to get all done.

“What’s the best number of cats here? Zero,” Rush said. “We all know that isn’t going to happen, but you can always wish for it, I guess.”