Dear Friends,

Yesterday began Daylight Savings Time (DST) here in New Jersey. Maybe you love the idea of this seasonal time change or maybe you hate the idea. Though DST has a long and hotly debated history, I don’t believe the cats at Tabby’s Place have long discussions of the merits of having more daylight in the evening and less in the morning. Nor do they really care about the benefits in terms of energy usage or the other rationale used over the years to justify keeping this tradition.

I did, however, read that pets may be affected by the time change in this article. I can see how milking cows an hour earlier might mean they are not really ready. So I was anxious to observe whether DST was affecting the Tabby’s Place fur babies when I arrived one hour early for my volunteer kitty feeding shift.  Would they be delighted to be fed one hour earlier this morning? Would they even notice? Would they eat less? Take longer to get started eating?

Hmmm…  I could detect no discernible change in the attitude or behavior of the cats on this fine morning.  If they normally gather by the door where food emerges when the humans come in first thing in the morning, they did that today. If they typically gobbled down the food, they did that today.  When the food is placed in front of them, they eat!

Now I do remember last fall when we switched to standard time and came to feed an hour later that the cats all seemed a bit more anxious to be fed then. I even heard some “hurry up” meows back then. My not-so-scientific analysis:  “spring forward” routine has less impact than the “fall back” routine on the cats!

Pepita has been enjoying numerous warmer days as spring approaches. Not that the chilly weather ever really stopped her from her favorite hangout: the solarium. That is where she was this morning, anticipating and taking part vigorously in an absolute lovefest!

She knew I had missed a few weekend visits over the past few months due to snowy and icy roads, so she took full advantage today of all the love I could give:  petting, kissing, lap time, ear rubs, and the like. Steven was in the solarium as well, so he shared in the love as he truly enjoys when the volunteers can visit.

Our sweet girl had some weight loss at the start of the month so we will keep an eye on that. She looked just fine to me but the staff is diligent about weighing the cats regularly so they can catch any irregularities that might point to deeper issues. While it seemed that her skin was improving last month, it got worse again so she is on an increase of her allergy medicine to two times a day. I’ve included a picture so you can see what we are talking about.

In my last update, I mentioned a newcomer to the suite—Stefan (not to be confused with Steven), who was just starting to integrate with the other cats. In true Pepita style when it comes to other cats, she is generally ignoring Stefan.  I have observed that this is her general approach to new suitemates: live and let live. That is—unless you get into her space or her face! So we shall see whether this continues.

When I arrived today and was walking past the hallway window where we can see into Suite A on the way to the lobby, I noticed Pepita curled up with what appeared to be another cat. This is a bit unusual for her, so I did a double-take. What to my surprise did I see on the second look? Not another cat, but a stuffed black-and-white kitty in the cubby where Pepita was curled up. That provided a good laugh to start the day!

You make such a difference in the life of Pepita through your kindness and generosity. She and we are blessed to have you as such an important part of the Tabby’s Place mission: to save cats in hopeless situations. I can see in her bright eyes and loving nature that Pepita is enjoying her life immensely.  For that, we have you to thank from the bottom of our hearts!

Enjoy the first bits of spring and we will catch up again when the flowers are blooming here.

Your correspondent,
Sheila