Dear devoted Pepita sponsors,

I bring good news!  Later this week I will be with Pepita in person, as a very small number of volunteers are being brought back into Tabby’s Place, using a strict protocol to keep everyone safe.  I’m so delighted to be among the first volunteers to come back in. I’ll be helping to feed the kitties and will attend to a few other tasks on a shift once a week, and, of course, will get to visit with my #1 Tabby’s Place kitty!  Then I can bring you actual encounters with her, but for this update, I am still bringing you the news that the loving staff has passed along to me about Pepita.

The executive director and managers at Tabby’s Place have put together a comprehensive reopening plan, one that slowly brings back volunteers and requires all of what you might expect:  use of masks, temperature taking, answering key questions, social distancing, one-way movement in the building, a maximum number of people in the building at any time, and so on.  I was blown away by the thoughtfulness and effort put into the creation of the plan.  It will be quite different than how we have operated in the past, especially in terms of how many volunteers will be onsite at any one time. It will be quite a while before the sanctuary is back to how things used to be, if ever. The world has changed and Tabby’s Place has changed with it.

One exciting change of late is the use of technology to enable virtual adoptions since we are not open to the public just yet.  I’ve been amazed at the number of wonderful adoptions that have taken place with this new contact-less method.  This has reduced the number of residents at Tabby’s Place, as concurrently we have restricted intake of new cats except for those in emergency situations.  Restricted intake is needed because the small staff has to handle all activities that volunteers would usually perform, as well as their regular duties in caring for the cats (administering medicine, testing, grooming, etc.), which means it is hard to increase the number of cats without suffering a dip in quality of care. And we definitely don’t want that! It is also due in part to a much lower level of donations for several months. One of the ways to manage sanctuary costs is obviously to care for fewer cats. But our donors are strong and donations are starting to come back so that we can help more felines in hopeless situations soon.

Because the reopening and ramp-up will take some time, volunteers can also sign up for a new program called Curbside Volunteering, where volunteers, one at a time, can take specific cats for stroller rides around Tabby’s Place outside.  It will be great for the cats and will allow volunteers to visit with the cats, whom they miss terribly.  The Aged to Purrfection therapy cats must really miss their outings to the senior center, so this will be great for them. We know how much Pepita loves her stroller rides, so I am sure she will be a popular rider in this program!

So how has your gentle girl been this past month? Her mysteriously missing fur has continued to grow back.  The vet team has decreased her dosage of allergy medication and since her skin still looks good on the lower dose, she will continue on that dose. Also, this past month Pepita was noted to have a very large amount of urine production, with full bladders every time her bladder was expressed.  The vet team ran a test and found that she once again had a urinary tract infection.  Darn!  She gets these frequently and we always celebrate when she goes for a month or two or three without one.  She was started on an antibiotic and is responding well to the treatment.  Of course, Pepita continues to enjoy the sunny solarium weather, no matter what is going on in the world or with her suite-mates. The fresh air and butterflies, birds, and other outdoor attractions keep her busy in between her long naps in the sun.

We know this pandemic has touched so many people that it likely has touched you in a significant way.  It makes us all the more grateful for your dedication to Pepita and to Tabby’s Place.  With your love and generosity, we can continue to care for these beautiful, funny, charming cats who otherwise would be left to fend for themselves in a rough world.

I look forward to bringing you detailed stories of sweet Pepita next month. Until then, as another correspondent said to me recently, “Find joy where you can.”  That seems like the best advice for all of us right now. I hope you were able to find a bit of joy in this update and in knowing how much you mean to us at Tabby’s Place.

Your correspondent,
Sheila