Spring is always a time of transition at Tabby’s Place, and so it has proven this year. With so many wonderful FIV+ adoptions over the past few months, Thomas has acquired a couple of new suitemates.
Jimmy is a handsome, orange-and-white male (of course, Jimmy isn’t quite as good-looking as Thomas, but really, who is?). What’s really unusual about Jimmy is his ability to get along so well with other cats. I’ve seen him go up to our favorite marmalade boy and touch noses, with no swatting, hissing, or growling resulting. Given how territorial Thomas can be, this is very good news for the peace of the suite.
Princess Zara, Thomas’ other new suitemate, has been a little more of a challenge. She has decided that she’s the most important cat in the room and deserves most of the attention. Despite her smaller size, she has shown no hesitation in shoving or swatting Thomas out of the way when it comes to human laps. His Orangeness is less than delighted by this, but Zara is a tough cookie, and she’s given ample demonstration that she’ll not be pushed around.
With the return of warmer weather, Thomas has once again decided that his solarium is The Place To Be. A couple of weeks ago, on a sunny day, I was in his suite, and he, Jimmy, Nuttin, Zara, and Oreo were all inside. When I was leaving, I kept the suite door open just a fraction of a second too long, and sure enough, Thomas leaped out into the hallway. But instead of trotting up and down the hall, as most cats do, he made a beeline for the door of his solarium and sat outside it. I let him into his solarium and came in after him to say hello to some of the other cats.
But that wasn’t a good idea, because Thomas didn’t want me to leave. Every time I approached the solarium door, Thomas ran up and stationed himself directly in front of it. It was some fifteen minutes before I could get out of there, and that was only because Thomas got distracted by an insect.
Medically speaking, Thomas has had a very healthy and uneventful month, save for a mild upper respiratory infection that’s since been treated. In fact, Thomas’ health is so good that he’s one of our few FIV+ cats to be chosen to participate in a study with the University of Pennsylvania.
Veterinary researchers have discovered that a particular medication, typically used to treat vomiting in chemotherapy patients, appears to hold promise for increasing white blood counts and decreasing viral particles in the blood of HIV+ patients. The medication seems to be safe in cats as well, and we’re excited that it may help our FIV+ kitties in the future. The University of Pennsylvania has sent a team to Tabby’s Place to treat Thomas (as well as Jimmy, Fern, Leopold and Oreo) with this new medication to see if it’s as effective as we hope it may be. Anything that might help extend and improve our FIV+ cats’ lives is exciting news at Tabby’s Place.
As always, my thanks to you for helping us keep His Orangeness well-fed and content.