Happy February, fabulous feral Valentines!

You make our cats feel loved 365 days a year, and I hope your Valentine’s Day was jam-packed with joy. Even if you happened to be eating your heart-shaped truffles solo this year, know that you most definitely were not alone — the cats, the rest of the staff and I were with you, in spirit and immense affection.

It’s true: we’re smitten with you.

Speaking of smitten kittens — and your all-season love — I’m delighted to share that last month‘s sweet smidgens are doing marvelously. The “Dublin Dudes,” our FeLV+ foursome, are jubilant jumping beans in our Special Needs suite, defying gravity, defying their diagnosis, and melting our hearts at every turn. They are living, leaping, loving proof of the value of every cat’s life, whatever his past or his challenges. We can’t predict what will be written on the pages of Dublin, Donegal, Doolin and Dunmore‘s yet-unfilled books, but we can promise them that every one will be a love letter.

Meanwhile, the dudes’ sisters, wee Kinvara and Adare, have been adopted — together! And our tenderhearted little mama cat, Taco Bella, has also received a “Be Mine” valentine. That’s right: the brave former feral who raised her kitten with devotion will now be doted on by a family of her own.

Thanks to you, February means “family” for some new faces, too. One of those faces was recently wrenched in pain. Angelic Archie came to us from a feral colony, but the only wild thing about him was his mouth. We’re treating this creamsicle cutie’s severe dental disease, and have also removed an irreparably injured eye. Most importantly, we’re wrapping him in immense, intense, irrevocable love. He’s a Tabby’s Place cat now, and he’s learning the joys of being treasured every day.

(He’s also learning the delicate pleasure of “lickable treats,” the Archie equivalent of eighty dozen roses.)

Just down the hall, love is blossoming for another formerly feral fella. Magellan appeared at one of our longtime TNR colonies, a befuddled explorer with an apparent upper respiratory infection (URI). We assumed we would welcome into the Tabby’s Place feral family the usual way: trap him, neuter him, treat his (presumably simple) medical issue, and return him to his colony.

But, as often in the realm of cats, life and love were complicated matters.

It quickly became evident that Magellan’s miseries were no simple URI, and Magellan’s spirit was starved for love. Life had been all thorns, no roses, for this stately senior. Along his journeys, poor Magellan had been walloped by dental disease, lung worms, FIV, FeLV, significant rhinitis, and lice, and he was painfully underweight. Despite all of this, the fire-colored elder burned for love. Although he has a feisty streak (as I assume we all would, under the circumstances), Magellan is enchanted by our affection…and, thanks to you, he’s just landed a never-ending supply.

Love is never simple, is it, dear sponsors? To open our hearts and lives to one another — feline or otherwise — takes courage.

How grateful I am that Magellan, Archie, the Dublin Dudes, and all our cats are cradled by your brave hearts. Your generosity — of both money and spirit — is the stuff of quiet miracles, day after dazzling day at Tabby’s Place.

Happy, happy love day, every day, and thank you from the depths of my heart!

Your correspondent,
Angela