Happy June, community cat champions!

The month of the Strawberry Moon has always struck me as the kindest on the calendar. Spring and summer touch nose-to-nose, and gentle things bloom in gardens and lives.

But without love, even the sweetest season brings only struggle.

A soft, sooty little cat gave birth outdoors this spring, bravely doing her best by her brood. There are few living creatures more selfless than a mother cat, and Locos Tacos gave her all for her newborns.

But Baja Blast, Quesarito, Nacho, and Gordita were weak and dehydrated…and tiny Burrito was fading fast.

That’s just when love shone like a searchlight. The frail family turned up in a Tabby’s Place TNR colony, and your generosity turned the tide.

It was a tumultuous “takeout order,” and several things were evident on arrival. The courageous mama cat would need the aid of many “mothers” for her wee ones to grow into full zest. The hour was now to wrap baby Burrito in tenacious Tabby’s Place love.

And Locos Tacos…was not exactly grateful.

As you can see, our fervent feral mama couldn’t forgive us for removing her babies. Of course, we brought them back to her side as soon as we’d weighed them, but Locos Tacos continued to watch us with worry. Surely she knew her beloved babies were in trouble, but she couldn’t glimpse the grace that had just found them all.

That was okay. The greater part of loving feral cats is understanding that they speak a very different dialect of “love.” While Locos Tacos would never welcome our touch, we would embrace her…and race to save her family.

Most of this mewing “meal” weighed in near six ounces, but weak Burrito was half that. We made the decision to place him with one of our most skilled caregivers, to syringe-feed him and monitor his upper respiratory infection closely.

Left outdoors, Burrito surely would not have survived. But as May mellowed into June, our tiny gentleman grew strong. Once a struggling string-bean, Burrito beefed up into a healthy baby!

Meanwhile, a tenderhearted volunteer fostered our spicy mama and her other four kittens, and the family thrived. Volunteer Donna has cared for many protective mother cats and their babies, so Locos Tacos was loved just the way she is. Locos and Donna developed an understanding: Donna could briefly remove the kittens to check on and weigh them, and Locos would watch carefully, but without hissing and spitting.

Love was landing in her heart, day by cautious day.

This is the part of the story where love learns, as if for the first time, the meaning of its mission. While we would selfishly prefer to pad Locos Tacos’ life from all danger, keeping her in the land of blankets and couches, she would see this as a pale half-life. Locos Tacos longed for the world that made her feel alive.

We are entirely in the business of “alive” at Tabby’s Place.

And so, spayed, healed, and loved to the uttermost, Locos Tacos made the jubilant journey back to her colony. She would be safe now, with no more languishing litters. Our caretakers will keep a close eye on her, ensuring that she’s well-fed and secure in all seasons.

We can only hope that somewhere in her fiery spirit, she’ll remember the bewildering people who drove her bananas…but delivered her to the most joyful June of her life.

She was moonstruck by your mercy, and now every season will be sweet.

Meanwhile, Burrito and his brothers and sisters will never remember their perilous beginnings. They’re growing up in a fiesta of fun, with kisses and giggles on the menu hourly. By the time you read these words, it’s likely one or more will have been “ordered” by an adopter with an appetite for joy.

Joy is the business of June…and Tabby’s Place…and you.

Dear sponsors, I can’t thank you enough for making love your line of business. The world at large would hardly give them a glance, but you cherish our free-roaming feline families. On behalf of Locos Tacos, Burrito, Gordita, Baja Blast, Nacho, and Quesarito, thank you for your selfless love!

With great affection, your correspondent,
Angela