Greetings, Olive Fans!

Ready for another update on our black and white wonder?

I’ve been volunteering at Tabby’s Place for a long time now, and we’ve had quite a number of disabled felines come through our doors. It used to annoy me when someone said that one of the disabled cats didn’t know he/she was disabled; how can a person possibly tell what a cat is thinking? But over time, I’ve come around to that viewpoint a lot more.

Take Olive, for instance. True, she’s paraplegic. But if she does recognize that fact, it obviously doesn’t bother her in the slightest.

She’s always the first feline in the lobby to check out anything new.  She’s one feisty young lady, and she can move with what seems incredible speed. I had evidence of the latter just a couple of weeks ago, when I was in the lobby.

Our Divya was sleeping in her basket on the front desk when I went to say hello to her. I have a soft spot for Divya (it’s a long story), and I’ll usually sneak her a treat or two. But it turns out that Divya is not the only cat attuned to the sound of a treat bag opening. Olive had been all the way across the lobby when I was walking up to the desk, but she hustled up to me so quickly I nearly tripped over her; one instant she was ten or twelve feet away, and the next, it seemed, she was right at my feet, looking up expectantly. I could only laugh. Far more important to Olive, however, was that she got a treat, too.

Medically, we believe Olive’s new medication is making bladder and bowel evacuations easier for both us and her. However, it’s very difficult to get her to take her meds; she has an extraordinary talent for excavating meds from pill pockets, and she’ll chunk down the latter while leaving the meds behind. One day at a time…

Thank you once more for helping us provide excellent care and a good (though hopefully temporary) home for this spirited girl!

Your correspondent,
Stephanie