Dear Colleen Supporters,

My heart jumped twice in my throat this month already! Colleen can do that to me.

Whenever I arrive in the lobby and Colleen is nowhere to be found, I panic. After all, the medical information I’ve been told about her and that I share with you each month swirls around in my brain and I sometimes, forgive me, imagine the worst. What if…and I let my mind, just for the moment, turn dark.

Where is she?

Now, all lovers of Colleen, don’t panic, for Colleen is doing just fine medically. Although she continues to mystify us, the good news is that she has progressed to a non-diabetic stage and hasn’t needed insulin for quite some time now. In fact, the staff has even stopped giving her daily blood glucose checks. Yeah! So that was one bit of good news!

In terms of her anemia, she seemed better earlier in the month, but then when we measured the iron in her blood later on, the levels had dropped. We tested to see if she had some kind of parasite. No. We did X-rays to see if her kidneys were calcifying. No.

Since we struck out on every diagnosis, we decided to treat Colleen’s anemia problem as if her kidneys were the cause because we know that she has early kidney disease. So fingers are crossed that this “backdoor approach” will work.

Finally, our sweet girl suffered another episode where she pawed at her face. We plan to consult with a neurologist to determine the cause of that strange behavior.

Even with all this medical news, though, our kitty was overall doing well. So where was Colleen?

I just happened to peek into Jonathan’s office and there she was. . . curled up in a snuggly cat bed, near his desk, sound asleep, looking oh so comfortable and completely oblivious to the world. Now Jonathan is the boss of the operation here at Tabby’s Place and I didn’t dare intrude to give my favorite cat her usual hugs and kisses.

I waited until the office was vacant before sneaking in and paying
tribute to Colleen. She glanced up all sleepy eyed, but truth be told, she seemed more inclined to do some more lounging around and sleeping.

From Colleen’s perspective, I think it’s all about feeling comfortable. A few weeks before, when she was still hanging out in the lobby and not in Jonathan’s upscale office, I had whisked her out of her cat bed and brought her up on one of the sofas to sit on my lap for a solid round of petting. Ater I left, I returned her to her cat bed. Well, as I was wandering through the lobby a half hour later, there was Colleen. She had jumped back up on the sofa–having discovered she liked it up there!

Please allow Colleen and me to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Happy New Year! Good Health and Good Wishes. And thanks as always for your support.