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

I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up too much, but I think (repeat, think) we’re going to get through this winter okay. The daylight that streams through the skylights and the windows at Tabby’s Place is brilliant sunshine instead of the muted gray of winter. The sheets of plastic that serve as a windbreak on the open side of each solarium should be coming down soon if they haven’t already. And with warmer weather, work on Quinn’s Corner should shift back into high gear, with a countdown to completion in the summer months.

In the employee lounge that Fenek calls home, the news also has some bright elements and some that haven’t yet cleared up. On the bright side, his blood glucose levels were re-checked and it’s good to be able to say that they’ve improved to the point where his insulin dosage can be reduced.

Besides that piece of good news, here’s another: Fenek has been taken off the appetite stimulant he was receiving last month. When he’s off his feed, that’s unusual, so you know everyone was happy to see him chowing down again without any need for or form of coaxing.

But, on the other side of the ledger, you may remember that last month, the medical team was concerned about something they detected in his ear. As a result, Fenek was receiving long-acting anti-inflammatory medications. Since then, he was sedated to have that ear rechecked, and while the medications have helped, something still isn’t normal in there, and that means that soon he will be taken to a specialist for further testing. Until they know what it is, there’s that ever-present concern about what it might be.

In other news from the lounge, I’m told that Fenek and Shifty are less buddy-buddy than they ought to be. How much of that is due to personality conflicts and how much has some other cause is hard to say. It’s already an established fact that Fenek loves attention from and lap time with humans, but his reputation is that he’s not as friendly or easy-going with other cats. He’s only been living in there for a couple of months, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that all this is just normal getting-to-know-you behavior, and that once they determine who’s where in the social order, things will settle down naturally. Anyway, it’s another thing that humans are keeping an eye on.

All this care and observation and their costs are shared by you who donate so generously to Tabby’s Place. You, dear sponsor, share in our collective appreciation.

Before I go, I recently ran across this article that sums up what a good many cat owners (or should I say “ownees”?) feel about their furry feline friends. The author writes, “I wonder about her interior life: Could she be happier, and if so, what can I do to help?”

I don’t know about you, but I feel seen.

Until next month, I’m wishing you all good things.

Your correspondent,
John