OK, the sunshine and tulips admittedly have me all silly with joy. But I’m in good company; our favorite calico is in high-flying spirits.
Warmer days make for a more inviting solarium, and ageless Addy is practically dancing with delight. She enjoys a sunny nap as much as any member of her species, but she’ll spring up, long legs flying, at the first sound of a visiting friend. And, by “friend,” I mean “any member of the human species.”
Well…almost any member.
Like the mother who must take her confused, shrieking infant to the pediatrician for a checkup, sometimes the Tabby’s Place staff has to do things the cats neither understand nor appreciate…and all for love. Only our bravest, thickest-skinned staffers dare to do such things to Adelaide, especially since such things include administering subcutaneous fluids.
It’s a simple procedure, really, and one that works wonders for Addy’s aging kidneys. Simply by slipping a whisker-thin needle under Adelaide’s skin and gently pushing in some fluids, our team keeps her hydrated and healthy. Subcutaneous fluids can literally buy a cat years of good health in the midst of kidney disease. Plus, our vet team assures me that a cat’s skin and nerves differ from ours, such that this is not painful.
Just annoying. If you’re Adelaide, make that enragingly annoying.
Believe it or not, smitten sponsors, our sweet-as-syrup Addy turns into a flailing wrath-beast when fluid time floats around. She’ll kick and scream and use all of her seven pounds to protest, and more than a few of our staff members bear her scars.
But they bear with the angst of Adelaide — again and again and again — all for love.
Now, as Tabby’s Place’s resident writer and fundraiser, I’m spared such drama. I have the exceedingly difficult job of simply loving Addy, hugging her and marveling at her magic. And make no mistake; her magic is magnificent. Never has a teenage cat caroused with more energy, sweeter spirits or greater zest than our Addy. She’s just a wisp of a thing, all knees and elbows and planet-sized eyes, but she’s loudly alive, every sense wide-awake to the wonder of existence. All of her high-beams are turned on, all the time.
I’m grateful to report that Addy’s health matches her spirits this month, too. Her weight and various values are all stable, and she’s begrudgingly tolerating a new phosphate-binding supplement we’ve added to her wet food to support her kidneys. (If we add it to her dry food, she acts as though we’ve just offered her a steaming bowl of rancid rutabagas. So, we stick with the wet food.)
Dear sponsors, thank you for sticking with our Addy so generously. She is blessed by your friendship, and she and I both love you! Have a magical month.