Lately Carrot is spending nearly all his time in the solarium. Even though it hasn’t been really warm the last week or two, apparently it’s warm enough for Carrot to enjoy the great outdoors.
When I want to find Carrot, I always check outside first. If he is inside, and it’s time to express his bladder, he runs as fast as his little legs will take him outside. He will not let me catch him inside. But, as soon as he is in the solarium, he runs right over to me, rolls over and gives me his cute belly.
If he is in the solarium, Carrot has no problem letting me express his bladder; he’s not crazy about it, and still wiggles, but he tolerates it quite well. But if he’s inside the suite, forget it! I cannot catch him. He’s like a bolt of orange lightning: up the cubes, across the ramp, thru the tunnel, down the ramp into the solarium. Then, and only then, am I allowed to catch him.
Once his paws hit the floor of the solarium, he’s sweet-and-loving-Carrot, he’s belly-roll-Carrot, and he wants lots and lots of pets and hugs (and sure, if you really have to express his bladder, that’s OK too). Don’t ask me why outside is so much different from inside; I guess only Carrot has that answer.
It used to be that, whenever a new cat arrived in Carrot’s suite, he would freak out. Suddenly, our sweet, easygoing Carrot would disappear, and in his place was a very unwelcoming boy indeed. He would hiss, he would growl, and he would run away from the newcomer, only to completely accept her a few days later.
These days, though, he completely skips over those first few days of hatred, and accepts newcomers right away. I guess he has gotten used to cats coming and going. Recently he welcomed Eponine, Julius (pictured below left with Carrot) and Gizmo into his suite, then said goodbye to them all quickly as they were adopted.
He also welcomed little tailless Mary into his suite, and she is still there. The only newcomer to whom Carrot gives a wide berth is Valentino, but Carrot isn’t the only one who avoids close contact with Valentino — all the cats do!
Despite being a super smushy boy with us humans, Valentino does not like other cats, and he lets them know very loudly! The only cat in suite B who isn’t afraid of Valentino is Carrot’s BFF, Spumoni. But, let’s face it; given that Spumoni weighs over 17 pounds and has a feisty attitude, no one is going to mess with him, except Carrot.
Carrot can do no wrong as far is Spumoni is concerned, and the two of them hang out together more than any of the other cats (as you can see above). Carrot makes friends easily, and he has many, but Spumoni seems to be his favorite friend.
Carrot’s weight continues to fluctuate, so our vet team took a look at his history of poundage. It seems Carrot’s weight has bobbled up and down throughout his time here, but he’s been consistently healthy, so we’re not particularly concerned.
That’s all the Carrot news for now. As always, thank you so much for your continued support of Carrot. Because of you, Carrot has a wonderful life, where he is safe, has any medical care he needs, and can rest and play in “his” solarium.