Dearest Friends of the Felvie Kitties,

I hope your December has provided much joy and will continue to do so throughout the month. Tabby’s Place is a wonderful source of hope to all who enter.

The best news first: Our Toby was adopted! You didn’t hear very much about him, because he was adopted so quickly. He’ll have good company, too, as he was adopted by the same family that adopted FeLV+ Sammy. It’s so wonderful to see one of our crew get a home! We try to be as good to them as we can, but it’s no substitute for a home where they’re cherished.

Did you get to our Thanksgiving With the Cats event? If not, promise me you’ll try to make it next year. We had a record crowd, and our FeLV+ crew was a big hit with our visitors.

But now, it’s time for our monthly FeLV news.

Hoopla Green underwent her annual physical exam, including her yearly vaccinations. She’s in good health and continues to test negative for feline leukemia, meaning that there is currently no active virus in her system. It’s been cold here lately, but she has a heated water bowl and a warm house in the solarium, along with kibble, and she seems quite comfortable. (She can come inside anytime she chooses, but prefers the sunroom.)

While Batty likes to spend time in the solarium with Hoopla, she’s also out and about in her suite these days. She’s obviously much happier now that Clifford isn’t there to bully her. Batty continues to deal with some congestion and wheezing.

Clifford has been moved to the Quinn’s Corner lobby full-time, and he’s delighted with the change. He’s been in much better spirits, which is good, as before the move, he did not seem to be bouncing back from his sedation and dental to the extent we wanted.

We’re monitoring Clifford for discomfort in his thoracic spine, but no glaring orthopedic issues are showing up on his X-rays. He may be experiencing some nerve pain, though, so we have him on medication and will keep a sharp eye on him.

Turning to the Old Boys’ Club, as I call them, on a recent rainy Sunday, Mr. Rogers simply couldn’t keep awake long enough to emerge from his cubby hole when I entered his suite. It was raw and chilly, but Luke was in the solarium, very interested in something not visible to this human.

And Trifecta and Francois were sharing a cat bed, which was very sweet. Francois is no longer on eye medication, a nice plus. Having two black-and-white cats in one suite can be confusing, but fortunately, Luke and Francois are different enough in appearance that we can tell them apart without any trouble.

The keys are the tails and the noses. Luke has an all-black tail, while Francois has a black tail with a white tip. Francois has a white nose, and Luke has a small black patch just under his nose. For your viewing pleasure, there’s a cute video of interaction among Trifecta, Francois, and Mr. Rogers at the end of this update.

Speaking of confusing, there are now two all-black cats in our third FeLV+ suite:  Kitty Purry and Polka. Polka talks a lot more, has a different facial appearance, and is, not to put too fine a point on it, very much like a bull in a china shop. Even one of our vet techs calls him “a wild man.” He never seems to stop moving and is constantly blasting through a nylon tube or stalking a suite-mate or chasing a toy.

In his defense, he’s a young cat, so he has a lot of energy. I saw him chase a toy and end up barreling into Regina, who had been napping peacefully on a large cat bed and did not appreciate the intrusion. Yet he’s also been seeing good-natured play-fighting with Braveheart, and Braveheart was giving as good as he got.

Braveheart is really coming out of his shell, playing in the open, and accepting love. You can see him with his catnip toy in the video at the end of this update.

Polka continues to be crated overnight, as he needs a special diet for his gastrointestinal issues. He appears to have a chronic upper respiratory infection, as well, for which we’re giving him long-duration injectable antibiotics.

In more news about that suite, there was concern about Regina for a few days, as she wasn’t herself and had very loose stool. Our veterinary team performed blood work and examined her, but we found nothing amiss, and she appears to be fine at this point.

Despite the cold, Pisa continues to spend her time in her solarium, where she is, to use modern parlance, hooked up. When I saw her last, she had a heated water bowl, a bowl of kibble, and a large heated cat bed, on which she was curled up in a very comfy-looking nest of blankets.

Leonardo Di Catrio continues to make progress with people. While he doesn’t appreciate Polka’s antics, Leo came over to me for attention and allowed me to pet him for a while. Kitty Purry is still adjusting to Polka’s endless energy. She watches him carefully and at times seems fascinated by him.

And so another year is rapidly coming to a close. It’s difficult for me to put into words how much we appreciate your support of our FeLV+ crew. You have chosen to be a champion for felines who have been dismissed for too long, and by too many people, as hopeless cases or not worth trying to save.

You understand what love can do when it is put into action. And we don’t have the vocabulary to express our gratitude enough for that. The most joyful of holidays to you, your family, and your friends, and have a happy, healthy 2026!

Your correspondent,
Stephanie