Dear Supporters of Bacon,

I must have missed the memo, but when I arrive at Tabby’s Place, eager to see Bacon, he lets me know as soon as I arrive that he is on strike.

What does that mean?

“I’m staying indoors today,” he announces. “A bit under the weather.”

Now, we’ve all been there. Those days when you don’t have the energy to take your usual walk through the neighborhood even though you know it’s good for you. I peel back the mesh. Sure enough, Bacon is awake, but he has that look on his face.

“You can come out of your house for a little while. Look! I have this nice toy to play with.” I toss in a blue stuffed crocheted ball. It sits forlornly on the blanket near him.

“How about something else?” I twirl a yellow ball around in front of his face, hoping he’ll get inspired to hop out and chase it. But all he does is shake his head.

I scoot closer to his house and reach my hand into the enclosure. Now normally I don’t touch Bacon all that much. I know he has his issues, but today he seems different. He sniffs my hand and does what cats do when they seem to want the contact—he leans into my hand. I begin to caress the back of his neck, very gently and slowly. I touch his face. This is the first time I’ve actually made that kind of prolonged contact. It’s a very special moment for me. I’ve been visiting Bacon for a long time, and finally, we have enough trust built up between us. Yes!

The moment is soon over. Bacon rouses himself and leans over to eat. He finishes all the morsels in his bowl.  Then he takes a cool drink of water before settling back into his house.

“Is that it?” I ask him. “You’re really not going to come out at all and play?”  “I’m on strike today,” he says.

Meanwhile, Lornadoone is watching this entire episode. She’s my witness that I did my best. What can you do with a cat on strike??

Luckily, Bacon goes “on strike” once in a full moon, ha—a blue moon (a little joke here), but the staff tells me that August was a good month—he was feeling and doing good!!

One last thing…I’d like to formally invite you to the Grand Opening of Quinn’s Corner on Saturday 10/7! From 12-4 p.m., we’ll be celebrating Tabby’s Place’s expansion for FeLV+ cats, and we’d sure love to have you with us. We’ll have tours, speeches, activities for all ages, and of course visits with our sensational cats! We’ll be emailing you further details soon, but please mark your calendars for this fabulous moment in feline history.

As always, Bacon and I thank you for your continued generosity to Tabby’s Place. Despite going “on strike” once in a while, Bacon lives a good life here, along with all the other cats! We are grateful.

Your correspondent,
Kate