Dear Supporters of Bacon,

We had so much fun today!!!

Let me explain. From the first moment I arrived at Tabby’s Place and stepped into Karina’s office to see Bacon, he let out a welcoming meow. Sue, a lovely volunteer, was just finishing up her job of tidying up the office. “I’ll only be another minute,” she said. “Somebody sounds really anxious.”

Bacon’s meow was music to my ears. For one thing, I dread arriving and finding that he’s either too tired to play, or worse yet, in the hospital. I understand he has issues and sometimes those issues fall on days when I come in to visit, but I hate not being able to see him.

The fact is Bacon hasn’t had an easy month. The folks here at Tabby’s Place had made a change to his diet to help accommodate what an ultrasound of his abdomen revealed—that there was some sediment and a thickened bladder wall. Bacon also suffered from a urinary tract infection which meant he needed to go to the hospital for IV fluids and antibiotics. The poor little guy also became anemic.

But, luckily, that wasn’t the situation today.

Marcia, Bacon’s office mate, was sitting in one of her favorite spots, looking out the window. I picked her up, gave her a quick hug, and repositioned her back in her house before I unzipped Bacon’s abode. Well, I no sooner lifted the mesh up and Bacon leaped out into the room.

“Where are you off to?”

He needed to see and smell everything. Starting at one end of the office, he trotted clear across to the door and then back again, sniffing every nook and corner. What is this here? Hmm… Let me smell it. Try to figure it out. Has anything changed since the last time I left my cozy house and ventured out?

And who is this? Me. He came right up to me, his face square into my face. Sniff. Sniff. He smelled my feet, of course. My hand. He walked all the way around me. Once. Twice. Three times. And then standing from the far side of the room, he stared.

“You remember me, don’t you?”   No answer.

“Bacon, did you have a nice holiday?”  A softer meow in response.

“Do you want to play?”  He seemed to have a lot of energy. First, we tried the ball in a round cylinder-type toy. As I made the ball go around the cylinder faster and faster, he watched and got closer and closer.

“You try.” But he couldn’t quite get the hang of how he had to put his paw through the holes in the top and push the ball around. Instead, he got distracted by a noise from the hallway. He’d run over to the door, expecting someone to come in. And visit him? Rescue him? I could almost hear him thinking, “What’s out there?” Every cat always wants to be in the room they’re NOT in.

            Next, we tried—try to catch what looks like a stuffed bird with a tail on a string. He liked that one. He chased the bird around the room and several times caught either the string or the bird. He was very good at this game. Very patient. He’d wait and wait until the right moment to pounce. I wondered if his superior stuffed bird chasing skills weren’t in part a bit of showing off for Marcia who sat in rapt attention the entire time, watching.

Finally, he had enough exercise and sauntered back to his house. Once he was safely inside, I let Detective Marcia out once again, who roamed around and did her own sniffing, tracing all of Bacon’s moves.

It’s no wonder that Bacon and Marcia are on high alert for the New Year! Quinn’s Corner continues to progress, with cats and staff beginning to occupy a few of its rooms. I will keep you posted when we schedule our Grand Opening later this year.

Bacon and I want to thank you, as always, for your continued generosity to Tabby’s Place. We wish you the happiest of Happy New Years!

Your correspondent,
Kate