Hello, Olive Fanciers!

It’s time for another update on our lobby greeter. In medical news, there’s nothing to report this month; Olive has enjoyed four weeks of stable health, and long may it last! Oh, she’s still as feisty as ever when she’s having her bladder and colon expressed, but that’s just her personality, and our staff understands that and knows how to handle her.

I was in two Saturdays ago during the afternoon, and I saw something that made me do a double-take in astonishment. Olive was sitting near one of the lobby chairs; she was just minding her own business, not sleeping, but not doing anything in particular. Suddenly, Prescott, a gray tabby girl who’s a fellow lobby resident and had been investigating the lobby hallway, came up to Olive and began sniffing her, as cats do. The truly startling part? Olive didn’t react at all. No hissing, no growling, no swatting; Olive didn’t even move away.

She must have known Prescott was there and was right next to her, but she simply didn’t react. I stared in surprise, with my jaw lightly scraping the ground. This must have gone on for at least a full minute before Prescott became distracted and moved away. The worst part? There were no witnesses except me! Our lobby can get pretty busy on Saturday afternoons, but there were two separate groups of visitors being taken on tours, and it was one of those rare occasions when no other people were in the lobby. I wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t seen it myself.

Initially, I thought Olive might be under the weather, given her lack of a response, but I saw her scoot over briskly to a visitor an hour or so later, and she looked fine. And there have been no reports of any illness or concern from the vet staff about her. So she must simply have tolerated Prescott’s being right next to her. I’m hoping that this will become a habit with our little girl.

We love our little black-and-white fireball just the way she is. And thanks to you, we can continue to care for and cherish her.

Your correspondent,
Stephanie