Erin is a fixture in our lobby.She’s a little slip of a girl, an almost comical contrast to some of the very large cats who live at Tabby’s Place (it’s not uncommon for visitors to think she’s just a few months old, in fact). She has a distinctive appearance, with her medium-length fur, plume of a tail, and ear tufts; her coat is a mix of brown tabby and white. We believe she’s about twelve years old.

Without question, Erin is one of our most eccentric felines. Most of the time, she can’t get enough human attention. She’ll jump into your lap and “knead” your arm vigorously; she prefers, in fact, to do this with all four paws, and it’s very funny to see her attempt to fit all of her paws on your arm. Sometimes, she’ll scrabble at your legs with her front paws to indicate that you’re neglecting her, and she’s especially fond of riding around on your shoulder or lying stretched out across your left arm. When staff and volunteers come in first thing in the morning, she’s nearly beside herself in her desires for both love and food (not necessarily in that order).

Erin’s ability to get around so well is all the more amazing when you consider that she has severe retinal degeneration. Her eyesight is quite limited at this point, something that’s most noticeable when you feed her and observe that she finds her food by sense of smell. Because her eyes look perfectly normal and she seldom has any difficulty getting around, it’s often impossible for people to tell that her eyesight is so poor. Our little girl also has severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In cats, there’s a spectrum between IBD and lymphoma. Sometimes, what starts out as IBD can gradually become lymphoma. There’s been no sign of lymphoma in Erin to date, but we monitor her closely, especially because she’s an older feline.

Your compassionate sponsorship will assist us in providing our little chatterer with the medications and elevated level of care necessary to keep her happy and comfortable. A visit to Tabby’s Place just isn’t complete unless you say hello to Erin, who seems to worm her way into human hearts as effortlessly as she drifts through open doors.