Greetings, Sponsors!

Have you been hiding from July in the air conditioning as I have? Whew, it is hot and humid out there in my solarium! But inside my suite, of course, I can snooze away the day in comfy-cool air.

If you can believe it, I have been doing even more snoozing than usual this month, mostly because I haven’t been feeling my best. I never want to include anything but happy, positive news in my updates, but I know you want to know what’s really going on in my world. So I must admit, I am still struggling with my—um—bottom. My correspondent is going to help me use the correct medical terms here so we can explain exactly what is going on.

The inflammation in my rectum had initially improved, so we stopped the antibiotics I was taking. Sadly though, the inflammation got worse again. The tissue in my rectum is very thickened, which is causing something called “a partial stricture.” My correspondent says we kind of explained it last month, but we should maybe explain it a bit more. It basically means that the worse the inflammation and the thickening gets, the more narrow my rectum gets… which as you can imagine, is not a good thing. Sometimes I bleed a bit from the irritation when I go poop. It is painful, but I know that my super fantastic vet team is doing everything they can to help me.

They think I might be allergic to something that is causing this to happen. So they changed our feeding schedule here in Suite A so I can receive something called a “hypoallergenic diet.” I thought, “Oh no! I don’t want to be on a DIET!” But my correspondent calmed me down and explained that this does not mean I have to eat less food. It just means that I will be eating a new food that doesn’t have ingredients in it that we suspect might be causing my allergic reaction. My medical team thinks that my old high-fiber diet was creating excessive poop in my system, which was making everything worse. This new food will help my body reduce the excessive pooping. Less, um, “action” down there means my body will have more time to heal, and that will mean less irritation.

So I am on board with this plan, and I just know it is going to get better very soon. I will try not to be embarrassed about telling you all of this because I know you love me and you want to know everything about my health. Plus I want to be able to thank you from the bottom of my furry grey heart for everything your sponsorship is doing to help me. Without your help, I would never have the careful and dedicated care I am lucky enough to have here at Tabby’s Place. My super fantastic vet team is dedicated to keeping me as comfortable as possible, and they are working on getting me a consult with a specialist to see what else can be done to heal my poor bottom.

So I am attaching a picture of me snoozing since my correspondent found me like this when she visited recently. She petted me and told me stories and I loved every second of it, but I stayed asleep the whole time. I guess I am a bit more tired lately.

But I am still joyful, my dearest friends. I can assure you that my joy for life has not wavered, and I am still the happiest little love bug in Suite A. I am also attaching a fun picture of me and one of my besties Angelo. We were both hungry at the same exact time, so we decided to snack on some dry food together. We snuggled in and just ate from the same bowl, because why snack alone? Snacking, like napping, is always better with friends, don’t you think?

Well, I hope you are enjoying July wherever you are, and I hope that you come to visit me if you are close by. I am always thinking about you and I am so inexplicably grateful to have you out there helping me. Without you, I don’t know where I’d be! Until next month, be kind to one another.

Love, Mary
(with help from your correspondent, Florie)