Happy September, Pepita Fans!

I believe September is having an identity crisis!  By now, here in New Jersey we would be expecting cooler temps and maybe some early leaf color turning, but the first half of the month has felt much more like August—hot, muggy, and not any real hint of fall in the air!  Nonetheless, Pepita is enjoying the solarium and whatever action is out there in the garden and walkway in her view.

This month has provided very little opportunity for me to visit with Pepita, which makes my heart quite sad.  Her suite (Suite A) had several kitties contract ringworm and so reduced visitation is in order. When ringworm is detected at Tabby’s Place our protocols get quite strict, as we want to reduce the risk of it spreading beyond the suite.  What does that mean?

Oh, the suite still gets its regular cleaning each morning and the kitties don’t get to escape their meds either, but any person entering the suite or the solarium must use a footbath with disinfectant (step into the footbath with your shoes to disinfect them, step out onto a towel, before and after visiting the room), everyone must wear gloves, and no hugging the cats! So it doesn’t make for the most fun time visiting. And it is really encouraged that visits be limited until the ringworm situation is under control.  When a kitty is found to have ringworm lesions, they are sent off to Ringworm Spa (as one volunteer likes to call it) where they get regular dipping to treat it and hang out in that place for a while until they are ‘cleared’ and can return to the suite.  Because we had a few kitties with ringworm in Suite A, all the other cats, including our sweet Pepita, were started on an oral anti-fungal medication to ward off the ringworm.

Pepita has been in good health this past month but the lack of visitors is, I’m sure, putting a damper on her spirits. She is also not participating in the Aged to Purrfection visits for the time being. I did sneak in one visit where I was able to give her some treats and provide a few pets (with gloved hands)—you can see her rolling about on one of the hammocks out there.  But I’ve been steering clear for now for the most part. Whenever I do look into the solarium window to see her, she seems quite happy to be out there in the fresh air.

Pepita can’t see the wonderful progress on Quinn’s Corner, but I can tell you how excited I am every time I walk through the expansion, which is finishing up construction and getting fully equipped for operation.  Floors are in and the laundry and dishes area (Central Operations for many volunteers) will be a vast improvement, with much more capacity to process all the dirty cat beds and towels and blankets that make our fur babies comfy, and more space for everyone to work without being on top of each other.

The suites and solariums for the new residents are just about done and new solariums have been added as extensions to a few areas in the existing building, too.  Our grand opening won’t happen until the spring when we are fully up and operating and have some of the feline leukemia cats in residence. For now, the focus is to get our temporary occupancy certificate, move our operations over to the new space and finish connecting the two buildings. But each step brings a lot of excitement to the staff and volunteers!

Thank you for your ever generous heart in supporting our gentle girl. I’m hoping in short order to be back in with her and extend your love to her in person.

Your correspondent,
Sheila