December Greetings to You, and to All Fenek’s Friends!

Did you see the article about the woman in Japan who loves cats but can’t have any in the place where she lives? She missed the way cats feel, but she also saw an opportunity, and some months later her creations — bedsheets that feel like cat’s fur — were put on the market.

I can understand why she did it, and if you’ve ever had a great lap cat like Fenek, you understand it too. It should come as no surprise that they’ve sold out the first batch and are hard at work making more.

I’m sure it’s a very fine substitute, but it’ll never replace the genuine item. Fenek, for example. This past month has been a good one for our favorite Distinguished Gentleman cat. In a word, he’s stable. No acute crises, although his weight has fluctuated a bit, he’s been in good health and spirits throughout.

Fur has grown back on both sides of his torso where it was shaved for his medical needs months ago. On his ears, too, there’s no residue from the salve they’d been treating him with. He’ll never be young again, but more and more he resembles the Fenek of old, rather than an old Fenek. For that, everyone at Tabby’s Place has you to thank. Every day your generous donations help him.

Last month, he and the other cats who call the lounge home were packed up and taken to another room. That sojourn only lasted long enough for new furniture to be unpacked and set up in their lounge. The new tables are smaller and take up less floor space, and now there are chairs with wheels for the humans.

There’s also a rack of small lockers against one wall, and by necessity that has eliminated the space for one of the cushioned chairs which used to be along that wall. That leaves one padded chair, and Samantha has it. Several boxes rest on the floor for the boys, while the girls enjoy elevated places. Along with Samantha and her chair, Rashida always claims the highest spot on the cat tree.

While there is new furniture for the humans, one thing you won’t find in the lounge is a simple bespoke cat bed. For Fenek, just like any other good cat, a plain old box lined with a soft blanket is OK with him. He won’t even demand that the blanket feel like cat fur.

But I’m thankful that he also likes laps. On one recent visit, I watched him approach the table where I sat, and after making some quick mental calculations of distance, elevation, and necessary force, he leaped lightly onto the table. (My guess is that he had quickly learned that the new chairs have wheels, but no brake pedal.)

From there, it was a short walk over to me and a quick step down to my lap, where he nuzzled me before settling down and closing his eyes. Maybe he dreams of being a maverick fighter pilot, like OwlKitty.

But then, for some cats in North Carolina, life in the cockpit of a fighter jet was no fantasy:

Wishing you all good things this holiday season!

Your correspondent,
John