Happy New Year, Team Pepita!

More importantly, let’s celebrate a giant Happy Birthday to Pepita!! Since we frequently don’t know the specific date when a kitty we take in was born, Tabby’s Place uses January 1st as the birthday for any unknown birth dates.  Our vet staff is quite experienced at assessing an approximate age for each new kitty and then we proceed from there on January 1st each year.

This year Pepita is a whopping ten years old! How in heaven did that happen? She still has the attitude and playfulness of a kitten so I never think of her as being a grown-up cat. I’ve been bringing you stories of this sweet girl for 6 years now and enjoying every minute of interaction with her.

Dr. Seuss puts so well how we should celebrate a birthday:  “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”  Pepita is absolutely true to herself, starting with her utter beauty:  her white collar of fur, as though a movie star with a big fur collar, enjoying a walk down the runway.

Her petite frame and svelteness just add to her beauty. And then there is her flirtatious, ‘come hither’ personality that no one can resist.  She loves attention and snuggling —the more attention, the better. She is always ready for the next volunteer or staff member to visit and dote on her.

And need I mention her love of fresh air and the solarium?  It is truly her happy place and I love to see how she jumps onto the shelf towers, walking back and forth as if she owns the place, kneads in a warm just-from-the-dryer bed I bring her, or hangs out on the solarium benches in the summer, spring and fall, and takes warmth from the heated igloo in the coldest of winter days. We have been lucky this month to have warmer than usual temperatures for January, and Pepita has taken advantage of that fact.

On the medical front, Pepita’s urinary tract infection cleared up and she is once again not needing the antibiotics. However, there is a little bit of thinning in her coat again recently—a mystery we have yet to figure out. The patch is just above her tail, so she is back on the allergy medication that helped to clear up this problem previously.

You may notice in many pictures that Pepita is standing with one or the other of her paws slightly raised. I always wondered if she hurt herself in some way, but it is just one of her many cute idiosyncrasies.

Pepita and all of us at Tabby’s Place are in awe of your continued outpouring of love for this girl, who you help to have the best life at Tabby’s Place for many years now.  Our hearts smile every time we think of you.

Wishing you whatever is meaningful and what makes you happy in 2021!

Your Correspondent,
Sheila