Greetings, FeLVie fans! It’s time for another update on our crew.
The best news first: Vincent was adopted! Yes, our large economy-sized, fluffy guy went to a home of his own. We couldn’t be happier for him, though it seems rather quieter in the suite since he left.
On a less happy note, poor Clifford was diagnosed with a form of ringworm on his nose over the past month. During the time we were waiting for the results of the culture, chest X-rays were taken (those were clear), and we biopsied the lesion on his nose, which didn’t show anything beyond his ringworm.
Clifford’s form of ringworm is called Trichophyton. While it is not as aggressively contagious as some other forms of the fungus (and, despite its name, ringworm is a fungus), we’ve still had to isolate him for treatment, and any form of ringworm can be challenging to treat, especially among cats who are already immunocompromised. Even with Clifford’s absence, we’re keeping the other cats out of the Quinn’s Corner lobby, and we’ve set up foot baths with disinfectant outside all three FeLV+ suites as a precaution.
New in Vincent’s former suite is Kiki, a pretty black-and-white girl. We believe she’s just about 6 years old. She was very scared when she was introduced to the suite, but she’s already made some good progress. While she remains quite shy around people, I’ve seen her in the solarium on the wide ledge of one of the elevated windows, and she’s been doing some exploring of her new quarters.
In other news in that suite, Leonardo DiCatrio experienced some weight loss over the past month. We’re concerned about that, and we’re watching him carefully.
Kitty Purry and Regina are on excellent terms these days, and we’ll often see the two of them snoozing close to one another or just hanging out together. See the video below where Regina is once again showing her love of Kitty Purry. Speaking of Regina, it appears that she’s in need of a wardrobe update. Our girl is somehow managing to wriggle out of what had been reliably secure scoot sacs, and that’s resulting in sores on her legs. Trust a cat to outsmart us—again!
Braveheart is delighted with the warmer weather, and he spends as much time as he can in his solarium, sometimes strolling around and using the tall scratching post, sometimes lying on a windowsill or grabbing a quick snack of kibble, and sometimes sleeping in one of the houses there.
Turning to the Old Boys’ Club, Francois received his regular annual vaccinations over the past month. He, Luke, and Trifecta are all thrilled with the warmer weather, and all are spending a significant amount of time in their solarium.
When I was there a few Sundays ago, Francois was perched atop a house in the solarium and permitted me to approach and pet him for a while. Luke was having none of that and retreated to a tall cat tree. And Trifecta followed me indoors and looked pitiful until I picked him up and put him next to me on the bench and gave him sufficient attention (well, I thought it was sufficient; I’m not sure he’d agree).
Hoopla Green and Batty are also rejoicing in the spring weather, and we can hardly prevail upon either to come indoors voluntarily. Batty won’t even come inside for kibble! The last time I was in to see her, I opened the human door between her suite and the solarium and called to her several times, but she was too busy testing the breeze and watching everything happening outside the solarium. When I went into the solarium and sat down, she looked at me expectantly, and I realized she wanted kibble. I slid some pieces along the floor, hoping she’d chase them before eating them, and she did.
I have heard that Amigo occasionally joins the girls in the solarium, but I haven’t seen that myself. He demands attention from people entering his suite (isn’t that why they’re there anyway?) and loves to scent mark the house he’s claimed as his.
It’s delightful to see how much more comfortable Shelly has become with people… perhaps she’s become a little too comfortable, because when I was in on a weekend recently, she used my left leg as a scratching post! It was certainly not an attack of any kind; she simply got up from a bed in which she’d been sleeping, stretched, wandered over to me, then reared up and started scratching on my leg exactly as she’d do on a post. Thank goodness I was wearing jeans that day! I gently moved her back down to the floor, then carefully picked her up and set her in my lap, which she seemed to enjoy very much.
Our FeLV+ “cast of characters” keeps us on our toes, no doubt about that. But we are more than grateful that you’ve chosen to assist us in making the lives of these special felines comfortable and happy. Thank you!
Your correspondent,
Stephanie