Dear Friends of the FeLV+ Crew,
It’s officially spring! Welcome to another update on our FeLV+ cats.
If I have not written about Boba and Espresso before now, that was an oversight.
Boba is a pretty, rather petite, brown-tabby-and-white girl, who decided after initial uncertainty that she likes the humans around her. She has become more affectionate with us and will walk around you looking for “pets,” even settling down very close to you when you sit, though she does not enjoy being picked up.
Boba’s sister Espresso, an all-black female, is getting used to us a bit more slowly, but she and Boba have been seen playing together when there are no people present in their suite. Both girls came to us from the streets of Philadelphia.
The third resident in this suite, Rhode Island native Hoopla Green, is just beginning to explore her surroundings. She remains very shy with us.
Meanwhile, best friends Tucker and Oram continue to wrestle vigorously with one another.
On a recent Sunday when I was in visiting, Oram wandered in and out of my lap for about fifteen minutes, and I discovered then that he carries his tail curved over his back, a very cute habit. He enjoys the higher perches in his solarium.
It seems that Oram is quite the escape artist; while his suite is being cleaned, he’ll make a break for it. Luckily for us, he can only get to the Quinn’s Corner lobby, and no cats live there.
While Oram was interacting with me, suitemate Tucker was napping and couldn’t be bothered to wake up, but some twenty minutes later he was going after a wand toy as energetically as if he was a kitten! We have taken to crating Tucker while his suite is cleaned, as the activity seems to overstimulate him.
I had thought that Durin was Mr. Mellow, and most of the time he is, but he surprised me the last time I visited. He wandered into the solarium, where he stood testing the breeze and grooming himself.
Suitemate Ponce de Leon, who had been ensconced on my lap, suddenly got up and stood in the doorway to the solarium. Instantly, Durin stiffened to attention and began to stalk Ponce. After a few seconds, Ponce decided that discretion was the better part of valor, turned around, and came back to sit with me. Durin ran up to where Ponce had been and lifted a front paw toward him. As stalkings go, this was definitely half-hearted, but it was completely unexpected. Durin is doing well.
And what about Ponce and his recent weight loss? We still don’t know. He had an abdominal ultrasound, which showed nothing obvious. We’re taking X-rays and he has a GI panel pending.
We are still concerned about our lovebug, especially as several staff members reported instances of low energy first thing in the morning. Ponce was not begging for treats or attention and was not interested in treats when they were offered; that’s not like our boy. Now, we have been giving him an injectable pain medication after his dental a bit ago, as he continued to show some oral discomfort. We’ll keep on doing so, as it seems to help him significantly on a day-to-day basis.
That’s enough for one update! It makes us happy to know that there are people in the world like you, people willing to help us care for felines with misunderstood conditions like FIV and FeLV. Thank you!
Your correspondent,
Stephanie