Hello sponsors!

It’s hard to believe that we are already into September. Some of the younger volunteers here have been telling me how NOT fun it is to go back to school after a fun summer of freedom. I am so glad that kitties don’t have to go to school. Although I guess I am sort of in a “school-ish” type of setup sometimes when I work with my human friends on learning how to control my behavior. I do not mind those lessons at all, because it means that I am getting human attention, which is what makes me the happiest.

And I feel proud of myself, to be completely honest. I hope you don’t think I’m being braggy, but I feel like it’s a pretty big deal. Not every kitty would be open to learning new ways of being, and how to evolve into his best kitty self. But it just feels right to me. I think it is opening lots of new doors for me in my future. Hopefully, ultimately, the door to my forever home someday!

And while I am lucky enough to be here at Tabby’s Place, I believe that my new knowledge is helping everyone around me, kitty and human, feel calmer and happier in general. Suite FIV was a bit of a war zone for a while there, with lots of us (including me) butting heads, but now it is ever so much quieter. I just spend my days chilling out in my solarium, enjoying my plethora of personal space. I think my suitemates understand how tough it is for me to have other kitties up in my furry face because a few of them feel exactly the same way. So we are learning to co-exist and let the little things go, instead of fighting over everything.

In my spare time, when I am not loving on every single human visitor who comes through that solarium door, I am even starting to experiment with yoga. Have you ever tried yoga? When my correspondent visited to help me write this month’s update, she was telling me that she adores yoga. She says that it always makes her feel calmer, both physically and mentally. So she taught me how to do the sphinx pose. I am attaching a picture to this month’s update to show off my new skill. Pretty good for a beginner, right? My correspondent said I was the most handsome sphinx she ever saw. I don’t know, maybe I will become a kitty yogi and travel the world teaching classes for other cats who are learning to manage their aggression. Stranger things have happened in this world, that’s for sure.

My other picture is of me eating my favorite wet food for dinner. Wet food is the BEST! I snarf it up immediately. YUM! Thanks to you and your generous sponsorship, I have lots of yummy wet food every single day. I simply cannot thank you enough!

And you will be happy to know that I had another healthy month. In fact, a staff member recently said that I am in “excellent health.” It doesn’t get much better than that, eh?

And due to the lack of drama around here in general, I am now out free all night long with my suitemates. No more taking turns in a crate to prevent fights. Yay for us! Although I do still prefer to be in a crate while the humans do their morning suite cleaning so that I can stay calm.

Sometimes all of that activity gets me too wound up and I have been known to redirect aggression when I get overstimulated. That’s just a fancy way of saying that I have bitten or scratched someone when there was a lot of activity around me. I am not proud of it, but we can’t expect perfection, can we? Every once in a while, when there is chaos near me, my stress just bubbles up and I lash out at the nearest human or kitty. But I’m okay if I can get some personal space away from the action, and just chill on a cozy bed in a crate until things quiet down again. I hope you understand and love me anyway.

I am always thinking about you and hoping that life is good wherever you are. My tiger-striped heart is full of love for you, as always. Until next month, my friends…

Love, Rufus
(With help from your correspondent, Florie)