March greetings to you, and to all our kind and caring Kitten Fund sponsors!

I hope your past month was good, but personally I’m happy that February is behind me now. We’re back to normal now, but during the month, both my wife and I picked up a virus that our primary care physician told us has been going around.

Of course, it kept me from visiting the cats, and even after recovering, it left me easily fatigued. But I wanted to visit them, because I knew it would be worth the effort.

I looked forward to Quality Time with brave queen Alessia, sweet-tempered Pepita, affable Taylor Ham, and especially the little ones in the kitten room. Four of the seven residents were among the fourteen who came to Tabby’s Place early this year from Animals Lebanon.

Pepper, Caramel, and Agave all have varying degrees of medical eye issues that may affect their vision, while their littermate Leia is completely blind. Foster mom Lynn helped socialize them early on, and she provided the photo at the top of this page, showing (from left) Agave, Pepper, and Caramel sharing various regions on or near her lap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although they were calm in their foster home after arriving from Lebanon, there was another period of adjustment when it came time to introduce them to the Kitten Room. Reports are that all four of the newcomers quickly became overstimulated, which then led to growly, hissy, and swatty misbehavior.

Sometimes, when I visit the kittens, the room is quiet because they’re all played out, but it wasn’t on the late February day I showed up. Even tiny Berry was active and showing his spirit, refusing to back down from larger adolescent Scooby, who reared back and stood his full height, but stopped short of further confrontation.

As I sat down, from the opposite side of the room I could hear a low and particularly grumpy-sounding growl. Moments later, its owner, Agave, an orange and white man-cat-in-training, appeared and steadily advanced toward me.

Already on the bench with me was Leia, and even without eyesight, her hearing must have alerted her to Agave’s approach. Yet when he hopped up beside me, Leia didn’t seem to be expecting it, and the two exchanged growls and swats before Leia turned and left.

This seemed like a good time to help calm down Agave, so I said some soft words and spread a soft blanket across my lap, and he made himself at home on it. As he settled down, I began to pet him, and from that point on, the only vocalization he made was a loud, extended, and contented purr.

Comings and Goings: Scooby and Shortbread went home together last month, as did Snickerdoodle and Lark. Rib Eye went into a temporary foster home so that she could be put on a trial of a hypoallergenic diet. I’m also told that Berry has had a few rounds of loose stools, so he was started on a fiber supplement.

For more news, Tabby’s Place’s Instagram page has photos of all the February adoptions, while Angela’s Epilogues blog post has more about what went on last month in a place that gives hope to those in hopeless situations.  Tabby’s Place is able to help these kittens and cats with the aid of your continued generosity. Thank you so much for caring and for your ongoing support.

Until next month, I am wishing you all good things.

Your Correspondent,
John