Greetings, Team FeLVie!
It’s time for another update on our crew.
We’ll start with the ladies this month. “R” is for Regina. It’s also for rambunctious, which perfectly describes this little ball of energy.
When I was in a couple of weekends ago, Regina rushed up to sniff me, then pounced onto a fur mouse. She was amusing herself with the mouse until she spotted a hapless ant in her suite. You could almost see the “Woo hoo! A moving toy!” thought bubble over her head. She batted repeatedly at the ant, who somehow kept climbing out from under her paw, until the insect took refuge under a litter pan. Even then, Regina batted hopefully at the area of the pan under which the ant had vanished for some ten minutes.
Meantime, Puff was standing at the door of her suite, crying repeatedly and looking into the Quinn’s Corner lobby, where two visitors had the nerve to be paying attention to a feline other than herself. What were they thinking?
Over the past month, Puff had a good stool check and complete blood count—so good, in fact that we’re decreasing her steroid dose. Both Regina and Puff have special dietary requirements, so their suite is slowly transitioning to poultry/beef wet food. We haven’t received any complaints so far!
Hoopla Green spent my visit sleeping peacefully in a cat bed in her solarium, but it was the middle of the night in the cat world, which is to say around 2 pm in the human realm.
And little Batty has made excellent progress over the past month. Her weight is up, so having access to kibble on the climbing structure is clearly working for her (Regina cannot access food on the structure, and Puff doesn’t seem to bother with Batty’s food).
When I visited Batty, she was resting in a cubbyhole on the structure, but I got multiple slow blinks and a large economy-sized purr. Better still I was able to pick up kibbles from an adjoining cubbyhole, place them one by one right down under Batty’s nose, and have her eat them. She even put her nose right up against my hand several times.
Oram had an echocardiogram over the past month, and his heart is in stable condition, for which we are very grateful. We’ve started taking him on stroller rides, which he absolutely loves; the real challenge is getting him to leave the stroller once he’s back in his suite.
Tucker adores the miniature house in the solarium, and he can often be found sleeping on one of the two levels inside. Clover has settled in quite nicely, but I’ve discovered she can be a little “grabby” with her claws.
Sweetie remains very frightened of us for the time being.
Sammy’s weight is increasing, and she’s eating well, but her faucitis (inflammation of the soft tissue in the mouth) has returned, so she’s been put on steroids to see if we can get the inflammation under control.
Charles was sedated for an ear canal flush and x-rays of an air-filled pocket in the middle ear (called the “tympanic bulla”) over the past month. He is continuing with his daily ear drops and will follow up again with a specialist.
I neglected to provide you with a description of Abacus last month. He’s on the large side, but pretty skinny at present. His fur is all black except for one tiny spot of white on his chest.
I cannot figure out whether Abacus understands how to use the cat door in his suite, which allows the boys to go between the interior suite and their solarium. I’ve seen Abacus in his solarium several times already, but I’ve never seen him use the cat door. Of course, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t use it. But at least when I’m around, our boy appears to prefer getting between solarium and suite the proper way—with a human holding the people-sized door open for him. Good thing he’s not spoiled at all!
Suitemate Checkers is still nervous around people, but I saw him in the solarium when he thought I wasn’t looking. And Checkers is very comfortable around Trifecta. The two will sit right next to one another; I saw them doing that and their tails were crossed on the floor (as is invariably the case in such moments, I didn’t have a camera or cell phone with me).
Speaking of Trifecta, he had a blood glucose curve done over the past few weeks, and his insulin requirements remain unchanged. He lost some weight, but a physical exam and bloodwork showed no abnormalities. If you’ll recall, we switched that suite’s diet last month, so the boys get no more kibble; it’s possible that that caused Trifecta’s weight loss.
One final note, although this is not directly related to our FeLVie crew. If you live near Tabby’s Place, we are holding a Kitten Shower on Sunday, June 23rd, from noon to 4 pm. There will be tours of our facility, refreshments, and kittens! We’d love to have you join us for the occasion.
In Latin, the phrase is Amor omnit vincia. Translated into English, that’s “love conquers all”. You’ve shown us the truth of that statement by choosing to help us help these cats who live with a greatly misunderstood disease; you’ve demonstrated your understanding that these felines can and do have genuine quality of life. Thank you!
Your correspondent,
Stephanie
