Dear Supporters of Colleen,

I want to call it “being in heaven with Colleen,”

But even if you don’t believe in life ever after, I think you still get the idea that I’m referring to a moment when you feel, well, that all is right with the world.

Recently, I’ve been visiting with Colleen in her new abode, the Community Room, and she has definitely established herself there. She has a very comfy bed underneath one of the desks, and she seems to be getting on well with the other kitties who live there.

But I know Colleen.

She is a real sun bird.

When she was out in the lobby, the thing she loved to do best was saunter over near the front door and plop down in the biggest sunspot she could find. And she would nest there. Until her fur practically caught on fire with the heat. Unfortunately, her new digs doesn’t have a front door that lets in the sunlight. Only windows.

A few weeks ago I tried to replicate the experience for Colleen of lying in the sun by lifting her onto one of the windowsills. It’s a narrow ledge that Colleen had to navigate, and it is possible, but a bit tricky. Why? Well, I didn’t realize that Colleen has this unfortunate habit of rubbing her face (she has an inflamed nerve, which makes part of her face feel a bit numb.) While she was perched precariously on the windowsill, the motion of her face-rubbing made her time on the ledge a bit dangerous–to say the least. So that idea of air-lifting her onto the windowsill was not one of my brightest ideas.

I felt bad because when I visit her I want to let her know how special she is and how loved she is.

I had to come up with another plan.

Would she let me pick her up and hold her in my lap?

Now some cats love this and some cats do not.

I had never tried this with Colleen.

In the lobby, I had air-lifted her onto one of the sofas and then snuggled close to her and recently I had been crouching on the floor as she snuggled in one of the cat beds underneath the desk.

How would she react to being put on my lap?

I figured there was only one way to find out.

Unfortunately, I don’t speak “cat,” so I just lifted her up and plopped her square on my legs and waited for her reaction. Would she meow? Squirm to get off? Jump down? Huff and puff, like one of my cats at home does?

Or would she snuggle in close and enjoy the experience?

Yes, you guessed it. I can only imagine that she knows me well enough by now that a bond of trust has been formed.

And I have to say–there is nothing better than having a sweet, beautiful cat that you love sitting all cozy on your lap. It makes you feel, well, special.

And, yeah, I can guess that sitting on my lap wasn’t as good as lying in a comfy cat bed with the hot sun streaming all over your fur, but . . . well, maybe, it is second best?

I haven’t given up totally on the window ledge idea. I’ve been keeping an eye on our Colleen and watching her to see how often she actually does paw her face.

We initially hoped that a change of environment would lessen the stress in Colleen’s life and lead her to paw at her face less. And for a while, we thought that was the case. But we were wrong, and despite her meds, she still seems to be pawing quite a bit.

Truth be told, she has even had a session with an acupuncturist this month, but we haven’t seen a change in her behavior yet. That nerve inflammation seems to be the root cause of her pawing, but the treatments that we’ve tried haven’t been effective long term.

The good news is that the meds for Colleen’s anemia are working well. But our beautiful girl does have some “skin ick” on her chin which we’re dealing with. After all, she has a reputation to uphold.

Thanks, as always, for your continued support.