Greetings, FeLVie Fans!

It’s time for another update on our FeLV+ crew, so let’s jump right in.

We hope your spring has been filled with pretty blossoms, birds chirping, and lots of love! One of our newest felines to Quinn’s Corner is Blossom, who you can see in the photo on the left.

Trifecta and Dewie were once again the stars of a recent Whisker Wednesday, a monthly event held at a local breast cancer support group.

Trifecta is giving us some cause for concern these days. He lost weight over the past few months, and we’re trying to determine the cause. Of course, we did blood work, but the results came back with no explanation. Possibly, it’s because of his diabetes, which has been difficult to control lately. His blood glucose levels were in the normal range for several weeks, so we decided to try taking him off insulin altogether. But after just a short time, he began to exhibit a decreased appetite, low energy, and vomiting. Yup, you guessed it; his blood glucose levels had increased again.

Trifect had a Freestyle monitor placed on his back for ten days, so we could continuously keep track of his levels and fluctuations. (Do you think the manufacturers of such devices ever envisioned their being used on felines?) When it was removed, we continued to measure his blood glucose levels daily and adjust his insulin levels accordingly. He is once again better regulated on a single unit of insulin.

Luke continues his devotion to Trifecta, who continues to ignore him. For your reading pleasure, here is a great post about Luke on the Tabby’s Place blog: Cat of Many Colors.

Meanwhile, Dewie is still elbowing everyone else out of the way so he can garner all of the human attention. Abacus experienced a brief but intense upper respiratory infection, but he’s back to his old self now, even to the point of annoying his suite mates and attempting to show Dewie that HE is the true boss of the suite.

I discovered that Sweet Pea is very fond of catnip. Someone left a catnip toy in his suite, and he went to town over it, rubbing on it repeatedly, giving out ridiculously tiny squeaks, and acting completely goofy.

Regina has done nicely over the past month, and, amazingly, hasn’t managed to escape from her scoot skirts or anything else (we’re pretty sure she’s just lulling us into a false sense of security, though).

Pisa remains very shy with people, but she loves her solarium, and you can usually find her there, curled up in one of the cat-sized houses.

And we have two new felines in this suite: Blossom is a petite brown tabby (pictured upper left in this update), who’s definitely on the timid side, but enjoys some human attention. And Clifford is a fine big boy, mostly white with tabby patches. He’s got an outgoing personality but can become overstimulated. Clifford has lost a little weight since his arrival, but we know he needs dental treatment, and we suspect some discomfort in his mouth might be the reason for the weight loss. He’s scheduled for a dental exam soon.

We were a little worried about Hoopla Green, as she was noted to have a decreased appetite and seemed quieter than normal. But her weight has actually increased over the past month, and she’s clearly relishing the warmer weather by spending much more time in her suite’s solarium. This beautiful girl’s photo is in the top banner today.

Batty now splits her time between the suite, the solarium, and Quinn’s Corner lobby as her confidence keeps growing, and it’s wonderful to see that.

And Puff? Oh, my. Miss Puff’s infamous “seesaw” appetite, first waxing and then waning, keeps us guessing. But over the past few weeks, she had an echocardiogram that showed HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy—the most common kind of heart disease in felines) and focal pulmonary edema (a localized accumulation of fluid in her lung). She’s now on two new medications to combat these, and so far she’s responding well; her most recent laboratory tests and x-rays are improved. Puff’s coat was getting quite matted, so she had her usual summer “lion” haircut.

Our FeLVie crew keeps us on our toes, challenging us and delighting us daily. And you’re an integral part of that; we couldn’t care for these wonderful cats without you.  If you live close enough to visit, please do so, as they would all love to show you first-hand how much you mean to them. Thank you so much!

Your correspondent,
Stephanie