Dear Supporters of Colleen,

I can remember when I first met Colleen, when she was lodged in one of the smaller suites, that the rumor buzzing around her was that she had tried to “escape” from her room. It seems that either a volunteer or one of the lovely ladies who works at Tabby’s Place had been going in or out of the door and in those few seconds, Colleen–the very sprightly Colleen–had slipped through the opening and made a mad dash down the hallway.

Now where she was going–who knows. Hot date??

Lately, for the past few months, as you know, Colleen’s been hanging out in the lobby area–which is a very busy place– and I’ve been noticing that her preference seems to be for the quieter areas. I’ve found her snuggled more and more under desks or squirreled away in Jonathan’s office. I guess other people noticed that, too. And, although, she loves to find a sunny place near the door, my suspicions are that the lobby was becoming a bit too crowded for her.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I came into the lobby and couldn’t find Colleen in her usual haunts. I scoped out Jonathan’s office. No Colleen. And, of course, my heart began to pound. No, I am not a pessimist by nature, but Colleen has so many things against her, I cross my fingers continuously and hope that all is well for our sweet girl.

And it was.

Colleen had moved herself into the Community Room. And what a lovely place to be. It is much quieter, and when I walked through the magic door, I spotted her, all snuggled, comfy and cozy in a cat bed underneath a desk, of course.

Here is our new routine. The Community Room is chock full of windows. So when it is sunny outside, I lift Colleen up and carry her to a window, where there is a blanket splayed across the sill. She snuggles down and basks in the sunlight. It’s so warm and sunny there. She loves it. I pet her and she purrs. And purrs. And purrs.
Twenty minutes go by. I even pull a chair up. This is our special time to be together. Then she either hops down, or I gently lower her to the floor and she wanders over for a drink–a long drink, and sometimes a snack or two, and then she’s ready for a hardy nap.

Oh, the life of a pampered cat.

Now, you might think–slightly low key. Not at all. After all, with a name like Colleen–a true Irish girl–and with St. Patrick’s Day having just come and gone–we can well imagine how Colleen spent her holiday. We’re guessing she somehow “escaped” from Tabby’s Place, hitched a ride to a local bar, had a few beers in honor of St. Patrick, sang a few of the old Irish tunes, and then made it back to her comfy cat bed by the time the first human arrived back the next morning. How do we know this to be true? Well, someone did report smelling beer on Colleen’s breath.

More power to her, I say.

On the medical front–Colleen still remains a bit of a mystery. She’s still pawing her face–something I’ve witnessed myself first hand. Or she tries to find something to scratch her face on. That behavior has the folks here at Tabby’s Place concerned, so they increased her medication and started her on a steroid. Of course, they are keeping a super close eye on her because the steroid can make her diabetic. At this point, her glucose readings are a bit high, but OK. The meds can also make her a bit drowsy, and truth be told, when I came to visit her recently, she was deep in sleep. And we all know how cats love to sleep anyway, but no one wants to sleep their entire life away. Finally, Colleen is also being checked regularly for anemia and since her numbers tend to fluctuate, it remains a constant challenge to keep her healthy.

Does beer drinking contribute to anemia, I wonder??

Anyway, thanks as always for your generous support of our dear girl. When I see her, I’ll give her a special a hug and kiss from all of you and please never hesitate to come visit if you can. She is the friendliest of souls.

Enjoy the Spring!!