Greetings for the new year, devoted Macaroon sponsors,
Happy Birthday, Macaroon! Since we aren’t always sure exactly when each cat who lives at Tabby’s Place was born, we mark each resident’s birthday as January 1st. Big Mac turned 8 this month— although I’m hesitant to call her Big Mac any more as she has maintained a nice, healthy weight and lots of energy as she enters the new year. She’s so full of fun that it’s hard to believe she is 8 already. Most definitions of when a cat becomes a ‘senior’ propose it is when they are between 7 and 10 years old. I predict that for Mac it will be closer to the higher end of that range. She shows no signs of slowing down!
Mac’s news this month revolves around stories of eating and not eating and of feline relocations. I’ll start with the funny story that Danielle, the Sanctuary Operations Manager, whose office Mac shares, told me. There’s one easy-going cat named Missy in Mac’s office who is on a special diabetic diet, and is thus permitted access to food pretty much whenever she wants. To enable this and restrict other cats from getting at food non-stop (remember that Mac and others in her room were at one time quite overweight and we want to avoid that happening again), there is a special feeder that is closed and only opens when Missy comes close enough to detect a signal from her microchip. Missy’s microchip had been paired with the feeder by our vet, an activity that requires Missy to be close to the feeder when it is paired (similar to pairing your phone via Bluetooth to your car).
Well, over the course of a few days, Danielle noticed that Missy’s feeder was empty quite often, more than usual for Missy, but didn’t think much of it. Then one day when she was in the office with the furry girls she saw Mac casually walk over to the feeder and much to her surprise she watched as it magically opened for our sweet Macaroon! Of course, Mac started to chomp down on the food, delighting in access to food from this super-secured feeder. Puzzled by this, Danielle mentioned it to our vet and asked how this could be happening. Dr. C said “Uh-oh, I think I know what might have happened.” Apparently Mac was standing close enough to Missy when Dr. C was doing the pairing of microchip to feeder, resulting in Mac’s microchip accidentally being paired as well. It was a quick fix to deprogram Mac’s microchip, but certainly reinforced what an opportunistic girl our Macaroon is!
Over the last few weeks there has been a shuffle of cats from various suites and offices to other locations. This happens periodically as the staff assesses the personalities, diets, and other special needs of the Tabby’s Place population. Though it is an adjustment for them (cats really don’t like change), it is all for the best in ensuring their health and happiness in the long run. For Macaroon, three of her gal pals have moved next door to the employee and volunteer lounge—Reese, Zencada, and Jackie. Mac doesn’t seem phased by this and has been taking advantage by trying out some of the trio’s former locations to sprawl, as territorial instincts always set in when there is a resident shuffle. The three girls who moved to the lounge had no trouble adapting, as they still have a great big window, more space, more visitors, and they think they can access the volunteers’ snack pile (though we are doing things to guard against that).
Thank you for your devotion to Macaroon. My wish for you as we enter the new year is peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, and energy to chase your dreams.