Dear Carrot friends,

How wonderful it must be to be Carrot, to always be happy with whatever is going on at that moment. Breakfast time? Cool, I’m ready to eat. Playtime? Yes, I would love to play. Snuggle time? Yes please, I love snuggles. Dinner time? Oh yum! It must be wonderful to find such joy in every single thing in life. We could all learn a lot from Carrot and his easy-going embrace of whatever life offers up.

We started visiting two new senior facilities recently, and for the first visit, we didn’t really know what to expect. Would it be loud? Would there be a lot of activity that could spook the cats? When deciding who to send to new senior homes for the first time, to test the waters, guess who always goes for the first time? Carrot and Rose, of course.  During their first visit to one of the new senior facilities, Rose was (surprisingly) a bit shy. She is very confident in the senior home she normally visits, but in this new place, she was a little unsure. She did okay and sat on some senior laps, but preferred to hide out in her stroller.

Carrot, however, was not shy, not unsure, and certainly didn’t want to hide and miss anything. Carrot was so happy to meet new friends, sit on new laps, and get attention. Nothing holds our Carrot back!

When our volunteers come back from the senior homes, they write a brief report on how things went during the visit. Carrot’s report from the new senior home reads: “Carrot was a Rock Star. Lots of interaction with residents inside and outside of stroller. Happy to be on their laps. Happy to walk around on a leash.”

Carrot was born for this program. He is the perfect therapy cat, and he finds such joy in his work. It’s not as easy as it sounds to send cats to a senior home. Cats generally do not do well with change, and they especially do not appreciate leaving their territory. Dog therapy is much easier; dogs are happy to go to new places and see new people. Cats…not so much.

I must admit, when I first thought about this program in which cats leave the building, I really suspected the other managers would never go for it. I knew there would be obstacles: Would the cats want to go? How would we know if they would enjoy it, or if they’d freak out? Would our cats be exposed to any dangers or health risks by leaving the building? Would this expose the senior residents to any risk, other than falling in love?

So I had my doubts, but I really wanted to try. I was very pleasantly surprised that my fellow managers were accepting and even excited by the idea of this program, and thus Aged to Purrfection was born. Out of around 120 cats that reside at Tabby’s Place, only six are currently screened and approved for the program. We have another four we are about to start screening, to see if they have what it takes to be an Aged to Purrfection cat. The screening is intense; some won’t make it to the senior homes.  But we expect some will pass the tests, and be able to join Carrot and team on their visits. Most cats here would never want to be part of this program, and they are very happy to miss out on visits with the seniors — but we will always have Carrot willing to go any time, any place! He truly is an exceptional boy, with a wonderful spirit.

Thank you all for your continued support of Carrot.  We simply couldn’t do any of this without you. The seniors at the facilities Carrot visits tell me how much they appreciate that Carrot is part of their world, and you’re helping to make that possible.

Your correspondent,
Karina