Happy Midsummer, FeLV+ Fans!
It’s time for another update on our crew. As usual, there’s a lot of news this month, so let’s dive right in.
The best news of the month is that His Majesty Clifford has returned to his rightful place as benevolent despot of the Quinn’s Corner lobby. His ringworm is gone, as are the precautionary footbaths we had outside all of the FeLV+ suites. We’re delighted, and we hope we’ve seen the last of ringworm for a long time. Clifford did lose some weight during his isolation, but he has been busy since his return, soaking up the sunshine, extra attention, and many treats.
Question: What’s more confusing than having three all-black cats of similar size in one suite? Answer: Having four all-black cats of similar size in one suite, of course! But that’s what we have now.
I’d like to introduce Fiyero, Elphaba, and Boq (I’m told they’re named after characters in “Wicked”). All are around seven months old. We’ve actually had to put colorful collars on them to tell them apart; Fiyero wears red, Elphaba (the female) wears pink, and Boq has a blue collar (he is also easy to distinguish from the others if you can see his backside, as he has only half a tail.) (The fourth all-black cat you already know; it’s Kitty Purry, and she has no collar.)
The young’uns are bundles of energy, as you’d expect; in particular, Fiyero and Elphaba are subject to frequent bouts of the “zoomies.” They’re still figuring out their new environment. I can see that they want to be friends with people, but for the moment, they’re a little skittish.
Someone far less willing to be friends is also new in that suite, a tabby-and-white male about five years old, named Taco. He had a rough start here; he spent an extended time in our holding room after testing positive for ringworm. At the moment, Taco is very frightened of us and spends most of his time hiding under or behind bedding. And there’s one more new cat, as well. Kiki is black and white with beautiful markings. She’s been shy with us, but she’s gradually becoming braver, especially with the assistance of treats. You can see how she does with a push-up treat in the video at the end of this update.
The other felines in that suite are doing nicely. Leonardo DiCatrio ventured into the solarium on a recent Sunday when I was in and saw Braveheart (shown in the header photo) relaxing on the solarium floor. Leo likes hanging out with Braveheart, but on this day, he decided to annoy him by lying on the floor nearby and batting at his tail. Braveheart was getting upset, so I stepped over and brushed Leo away.
I let Regina into the solarium, too, through the human door (because of her scoot sack, she can’t get through the cat door). She was standing near the mesh on one of the walls when a sparrow suddenly landed about three feet away on a patch of grass. Instantly, Regina went into stalking mode, crouching down and inching closer. She’s not very stealthy because of the scoot sack, but she was determined to go after that bird.
At that moment, Kitty Purry, who’d been sleeping in a hammock bed in the solarium, woke up, realized that her dear friend Regina was nearby, leaped out of the hammock bed, and went over to head butt and rub on Regina. Naturally, the sparrow flew off in alarm. I wish you had been there to see the expression on Regina’s face! It was truly comical: a mix of annoyance and “you’ve got to be kidding!”
There’s another new, all-black cat of similar size—no, really! Luckily, she lives in a different suite. Shizu is around ten years old. She had significant skin issues when she came to us, but a course of antibiotics and a diet change have really helped her, and her skin is much improved. Because we leave kibble out so the cats can free feed, everyone else in her suite now has to eat the same hypoallergenic kibble during the day. At night, Shizu is crated so the rest of the suite can have the food they prefer. Shizu is scared of us, but she is making progress; after her lunch on Sunday (she receives a specific type of wet food for lunch daily), she sat on the floor about three feet away from me and gave herself a thorough grooming.
One cat in the suite who does not appreciate Shizu is Amigo. Why? Because once Shizu moved in, she immediately took over the place Amigo considered his—the fabric house on top of a bench. I’m a little concerned about Amigo because he seems to spend all of his time in the solarium now and isn’t looking for attention the way he always has.
Hoopla Green and Batty remain on good terms, and both spend a lot of time in the solarium, too, though Batty still recognizes me as The Dispenser of Kibble. She knows I’m happy to feed her the way she likes whenever I’m in the suite. And Shelly has discovered human laps over the past month or so, and she really likes them. Pick her up gently and put her in your lap, and she’s happy to stay there for as long as you’ll allow it.
Regarding the Boys’ Club, Luke still spends his time in the solarium, but he’s more relaxed than he has been. He doesn’t hide constantly, as he once did, and the last time I came in, he was chilling out on the floor. Francois was relaxing on top of a plastic “house,” and he graciously permitted me to pet him for a bit (I think he’s picking up attitude from Clifford!).
And Trifecta had an eventful month. He made a special outreach visit as the specially invited guest of a local nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence. As you’d expect, our boy was a big hit; he was even featured on their highlights post on Instagram!
Whew! That’s enough for one update. I hope your summer is going wonderfully so far, and, as always, many, many thanks for your love and support of our FeLV+ crew.
Your correspondent,
Stephanie