Dear Team Steven,

Ahh… it is August and the Jersey heat continues mostly unabated. Right now, we are having air cooling troubles at Tabby’s Place. Adjustments are being made around the building while we wait for repair parts to arrive and be installed. Steven, ever the cool cat with the cool head has been assuring everyone this is just “a temporary inconvenience which will result in a permanent improvement.” Once again, Steven proves he doesn’t get grouchy when he’s hot … merely philosophical!

As usual, big things are happening at Tabby’s Place this month! Our annual Linda Fund Matching Challenge began on August 7th. Money raised from this challenge pays for emergency and special veterinary care for Tabby’s Place cats. Emergency treatments sometimes require costly outpatient care at other facilities. Please share this challenge with your cat-loving friends.

In other exciting news, we recently hit a milestone in Tabby’s Place history. We embraced our 4,000th cat!  Serendipity, a sweet Siamese mix arrived and subsequently gave birth to five healthy male kittens in the lap of one of our own staff members—Serendipity’s choice, not Bree’s! Steven was excited to hear about the increase in the size of our community and the continuing growth of our legacy of caring for cats in need. He is proud as punch of all our new arrivals. Read about this milestone in Angela’s blog: Dippity!

Now, down to brass tacks, so to speak: Steven has been in good health and good spirits this month. He gets crated overnight every few weeks for a stool check and is notorious for his vocal protests at being in lockup. This puts both Steven and the staff between a rock and a hard place because he refuses to empty his colon.  The result is an extended crating session—just the opposite of the goal all of us, including Steven, are trying to achieve. While it is a “no-win” situation, this check helps us to evaluate his medical routine.  At this point, things are stable and no medication changes are required. An attitude change? Well, that’s quite another story! None of us can really blame Steven for insisting on his freedom.

Steven encourages you to visit him and, as always, thanks you for your support. Please, enjoy the rest of your summer! We’ll be in touch again as fall approaches.

Your correspondent,
Tina