Sometimes, you have to envy Jeremiah’s lifestyle. While many of us are rushing around at this time of year, Jeremiah’s biggest concerns appear to be securing a good place for a snooze and eating. Jeremiah has decided that the current incarnation of The Basket, while not the equal of the original, is periodically suitable for a cat of his station, and now and again you’ll find him there. Otherwise, he seems to like the ramp at the top of the cubbyholes. We keep the cubbyholes well-stocked with comfortable old blankets and towels for our cats, but Jeremiah will sometimes sleep on the ramp even without something soft underneath him. We’ve been very pleased with Jeremiah’s overall well-being this year, which has been quite good. Evidently, his low-stress way of living contributes to his continuing good health!

If you’ve been a sponsor of our Big Guy for a while now, you know he tends to be very reserved when among his suite-mates, so it was with considerable surprise and pleasure that I saw him get up and come toward me as I went into his suite a week or so back.

As it turned out, however, I wasn’t what interested him. While everyone else was angling for attention from the human, Jeremiah was just headed for the nearest food bowl, which happened to be close to where I was standing. Once he’d finished his snack, he paused for a quick grooming session before jumping back onto the top of the cubbyholes. He began settling in for a nap, but suite-mate Jack suddenly jumped onto the ramp, sat very close to Jeremiah, and even lifted a paw toward him. The Big Guy’s sole response was to turn his head, flatten his ears very slightly, and stare fixedly at Jack, who quickly changed his mind and came over to rub on me. You’ll have to decide for yourself if running away is the better part of valor, but I wouldn’t want to be in a fight with Jeremiah. This is unusual behavior for anyone around our Big Guy, but we’re hoping it was just a fluke.

As the year comes to a close, I’d like to thank you for helping us keep Jeremiah well-fed and content. Ideally, we’d like to see our Big Guy adopted into a loving home. In the meantime, it means a lot to me that there are others out there who understand how wonderful Special Needs cats can be and are willing to make a difference in the lives of these uncommon animals. Happy New Year!