Greetings, FeLVie Fanciers!

It’s time for another update on our crew.

Both Checkers and Trifecta lost weight over the past month. You’ll recall that, because of Abacus’s special dietary needs, we cannot feed any kibble in their suite. Result? All of the boys get a canned food lunch every day. They are enthusiastic eaters, so this measure has met with their full approval.

Speaking of Abacus, he seems to be rowdier than Checkers or Trifecta would prefer. I’ve seen Abacus go up to Trifecta and start grooming him, but pretty soon that devolves into some very rough play.

The last time I saw the boys, I had to (gently) drop a blanket over Abacus to get him to stop jumping on Trifecta, who’s much too good-natured to take offense or retaliate. In the same suite, I saw a young volunteer cleaning the solarium; when she was finished, she walked slowly up to Checkers, gently reached toward him, and “skritched” him carefully on both sides of his neck for a couple of minutes. Checkers seemed taken aback at first, but he didn’t dislike it or run away—a very positive sign.

Speaking of positive signs, Sweetie has started to calm down a bit. He doesn’t hiss at me any longer when I stand in front of his cubbyhole and talk to him. I still cannot get close to him, but that will come in time. At the end of June, someone living in his suite (Sweetie, Tucker, Oram, Clover, Sammy, or Charles) decided it was a good idea to consume a whole mouse and then vomit it back up for the staff to find. The culprit was not Charles; he was crated for bloodwork. Other than that, we have no idea.

Tucker was affectionate with me for the first time. We were hanging out together in the Quinn’s Corner lobby, and I got a big purr when I stroked his head a few times. Tucker still gets overstimulated easily, but it’s nice to see him settling down. He loves toys, but Clover might be even more enthusiastic about them. Clover was in the Quinn’s Corner lobby when some visitors in an adjacent suite brought out a laser toy for Regina. Clover immediately ran over to the outer door of the suite and clearly wanted to engage, but of course with cats being so territorial, we cannot simply allow felines from one suite to go into another.

Oram and Sammy are delighting in the summer weather. I would have guessed it had been too hot here for cats to be outside voluntarily, but the two of them seem to revel in it. And we are growing concerned about Charles. He had blood work run over the past month and a couple of abnormalities were noted in the results. None of the abnormalities necessarily indicate anything on their own, and nothing was too far outside normal range, but the results might point to something out of balance. In addition, his energy level has been a little lower and his weight has been trending downward this month, so we’re keeping track of his food intake overnight. Charles will be seeing a specialist in August to follow up on his ear issues.

Hoopla Green continues to bask in the sun and test the breeze in her solarium; like Oram and Sammy, she truly loves it there. Puff has had a good month medically, although she can’t understand why the humans would want to pay attention to anyone except herself. She regularly stands on her hind feet and scrabbles at the glass doors of her suite with her front paws if she wants attention or sees something that interests her in the Quinn’s Corner lobby.

Batty continues to make progress with people, and I can now pet her on the head for a short time. Her weight is back up since we began placing a small bowl of kibble on the built-in structure so she can graze during the day, so we know it was a good decision. Regina is on antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, first brought to our attention by her leaking during expressions. Given that this is Regina, it has not slowed her down much.

Our FeLVie crew can have a lot of special needs, and they require more care than most other cats. Because of your generosity, we can provide the care and love they need and deserve. Thank you!

Your correspondent,
Stephanie