Dear Supporters of Colleen,

I have the saddest news to share. Colleen, our dear sweet beautiful girl, known for having the greenest of eyes, has passed away.

The Tabby’s Place staff arrived this morning to find Colleen barely conscious. The vet team quickly determined that she was in cardiac failure. After attempting to stabilize her and to provide heat support, the vet determined that there was no hope for recovery this time. The most loving thing we could do was to gently let Colleen go, surrounded by people who loved her, and so we did.

Her brave little heart finally gave up after so many years of battling a myriad of medical conditions: upper respiratory infections, kidney disease, facial inflammation, seizures, urinary tract infections, dental issues, and the latest discovery of a nasal tumor.

But that’s not what I will choose to remember when I think of Colleen. She may have had heart disease, but she was “all heart” when it came to how she lived, and she was a real lover. She purred with gusto whenever she was held and cuddled. She loved being petted. She loved the attention.

As you might imagine, Colleen and I had a close and special relationship, but it wasn’t always that way. When I first met her, she had this unusual habit of jumping down to eat, smack in the middle of my visit. It was uncanny. I wondered if she was always hungry. Was this a nervous eating habit? But as we became better friends, her need to pause our visits with a snack stopped, and she and I enjoyed just being together.

She was a real beauty. There was this delicate balance of black and white coloring interspersed throughout her coat, which gave her an elegant look, right down to that perfect dash of white at the end of her tail. She enjoyed being groomed, and I remember being surprised when she gladly flipped herself from side to side to accommodate my efforts to brush her. Perhaps, she knew just how beautiful she was and took pride in her appearance, or maybe she just wanted to feel loved.

Colleen wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t a big fan of the kittens that inhabited the Community Room each kitten season. They wanted to make friends and play, and she didn’t. Oh, she would tolerate their antics from time to time (I remember, once, a small kitten snuggling up with Colleen in the sun, and Col chose to stay and tolerate the little rascal), but she often preferred to be left alone and would hide out in a nearby box or empty cage, if it meant she could find some peace and quiet.

The hardest part for me will be returning to Tabby’s Place for my volunteer shift this week, and not seeing Colleen in one of her usual haunts in the Community Room. I could always find her curled up on her favorite bench near the window in the sunshine. Oh, she loved the sun. Or snuggled on top of a blanket, trying to hide from kittens. Or sipping from the lovely fountain. Just last week, she’d actually taken to venturing out to the lobby!

She was my reward every week at the end of a few hours of volunteer work. I would scoop her up and hold her, and in those minutes all was right with the world.

Yes, I was smitten with Colleen. I’ll miss her, and although she lived full time at Tabby’s Place and was wonderfully taken care of by a host of dedicated staff members, I loved her like she was one of my own cats.

In a very real way, Colleen was your cat, too. Dear sponsors, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts for loving Colleen so generously through the years. Even through today’s tears, we are all overflowing with thanks to you for making Colleen’s life such a feast of love. Raise a forkful of stuffing in her honor this Thanksgiving. Colleen was blessed beyond measure to be your girl, and we are eternally grateful to you.

Since Colleen has passed on, we have transferred your monthly sponsorship to another Special Needs cat in need of your support. Colleen has passed the baton of your sponsorship to gentle Felix. Like Colleen, Felix is a sweet senior with Special Needs. You can meet him here, and you’ll receive his first-ever update in December. Unless we hear otherwise from you, you will receive updates on Felix each month going forward.

However, you may also do one of the following:

• Choose to have your sponsorship transferred to support another Special Needs cat of your choice.
  You can see all of our Special Needs cats here.
  If you wish to do this, please contact us by email and let us know your wishes.
• You may choose to discontinue your monthly sponsorship. To do so, please contact us at 908-237-5300 with your request.

We do hope that you decide to continue supporting our cats in need. And, whatever you do, thank you for all your compassion and generosity to Colleen.