Dear Supporters of Bacon,

I arrive at Tabby’s Place and immediately hear the rumor. Sue, a very nice volunteer who cleans Karina’s office (where Bacon lives), approaches me as I’m signing in.

“Kate, did you hear that Bacon has a new roommate?”

“What?”

She nods, smiling, confirming that I’ve heard her correctly.

Now this can either be good news, bad news, or just the usual shifting around of cats news that happens at Tabby’s Place. Let me explain. Good news could mean Marcia was adopted, which necessitated a new roomie. Bad news means something terrible happened to Marcia OR Marcia and Bacon had a knockdown drag-out fight which necessitated one of them move to different quarters OR it was suddenly discovered that Bacon was allergic to Marcia or vice versa. The third option—the usual shifting around of cats news means that Marcia was relocated because they found her a better place to live her cat life—maybe to improve socialization, etc.

I lower my voice. “What happened?”

Thankfully, it’s the usual shifting around of cats news. Marcia is now in another office with many other cats. Which meant that there was an empty slot to be filled.

I step closer to Sue. “So, who’s the new roomie?”

“Melee.”

I feel like sometimes I’m on a soap opera. New roomie for Bacon. I hurry my signing in because I can’t wait to meet her. I am a cat lover, no doubt about that, and I wonder how are the two of them getting along. Are they still in that getting-to-know-you stage? There’s a part of me that would love to see how they would react to each other, face to face. But for now, the protocol is that when Bacon is out wandering around in the room, Melee is in.

Sue describes Melee as “that sweet little thing.”

Melee is cute. She has gray fur and bright green eyes. She could almost be Bacon’s little sister.

And, luckily, as I snoop around and get the scoop on her, she is settling in nicely and enjoying her new digs.

I follow my usual routine. After Melee is back in her house, I unzip Bacon’s house and plop down in the middle of the room. Bacon saunters out and begins to explore. As he passes me, I reach out and pet the side of his face and around his neck. I forget how soft his fur is. He doesn’t stop but goes across the room. He sniffs out one of those cat tunnel beds that’s beautifully decorated with a Hawaiian theme, and I think for the moment he might jump in and snuggle in there, but he doesn’t.

Melee is watching his every move with such intensity that I’m not surprised when Bacon saunters over. He’s drawn to her as if he’s Odysseus and she’s the siren sending out her call.

He stands in front of her house and looks at her. She looks at him. I wonder if maybe he’ll start up a conversation.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Bacon will ask.

“Okay. How are you?”

“Okay. Nice house, by the way.”

“Thanks. Not as nice as yours,” she’ll say back, trying hard to be polite.

“Have you been here long?”

Or do cats talk about food and the mice they imagine catching?

After basically no conversation, Bacon comes back to me for a bit more petting. I lean to hear if he’s purring, but I don’t hear anything. Then he wanders back into his house and stays there. I scoot across the floor to be closer to him, thinking he probably feels more comfortable when he’s in his house.

He comes out again once more and makes the rounds, and when I try to engage him in play with a mouse his head goes back and forth, but he makes no attempt to catch the mouse like he did the last time. Is he tired or wary? I conclude he needs more adjustment time to Melee.

All in all, things are okay in Bacon’s world. He is still being closely monitored to make sure he’s urinating as he should, but other than that, he’s doing okay. This is great news considering that spring is here!

In Tabby’s World, the expansion is coming close to completion. The outdoor plaza area by Quinn’s Corner is coming together. The contractors continue to work both inside and outside. AND Tabby’s Place is in the middle of its first-ever Cherish the Kittens Fund Drive, which continues to be a wonderful success.

Bacon and I thank you, as always, for your continued generosity. We are amazed and awed that you care so much. We hope that you enjoy what promises to be better weather on the horizon. See you next month.

Your correspondent,
Kate