A delightful holiday season to you. I hope this monthly missive finds your hearts wrapped in miracles and mirth.
You know, cheesy Lifetime original movies weren’t the ones to first come up with the idea that this is a season of miracles. There are reasons deeper than tradition that we set our world alight with twinkling hopes every December.
As usual, the cats are ahead of the curve on this one.
Our first feral miracle didn’t exactly arrive wrapped in sparkly ribbons. When he first appeared at Tabby’s Place, tiny Aloysius was little more than a frozen clump of orange-and-white hair, tired tail dangling like a broken ornament.
As ragged as he looked, the feral-born baby’s medical state was even worse. In addition to being emaciated and severely hypothermic, Aloysius had dangerously low blood glucose. If he’d not come to Tabby’s Place on that very morning, Aloysius would surely have left this earth before the afternoon.
The desperate kitten’s survival was still as brittle as a candy cane, however. Our senior vet tech was a whirl of furious energy, pouring fluids and warmth and love and prayers into Aloysius as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Even if he didn’t make it, we took comfort in the fact that the tiny boy would spend his final hours warm and loved.
But there was no need to hedge our hopes: he made it.
Not only did he make it, but Aloysius sprang back to life with the giddy glee of 10,000 elves. In three short days, the five-month-old had put on a pound, and in less than a week, he was quite literally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as you can see below. The weeping is over; the rejoicing has come; and the mightiest feast of joy is yet ahead for this sure-to-be-adopted baby.
But this season is entirely too generous to grant us just one miracle (though Aloysius would be more than enough!). Oh, no — there was a quiet wonder unfolding down the hall.
Tabby’s Place residents Sequoia and Banana had both come to the sanctuary skating the fine line between “feral” and “friendly.” There’s no surefire way to draw this line, and sometimes it’s honestly not easy to decide who should be released to a safe colony, and who should stay at Tabby’s Place to ultimately be adopted.
Sequoia, a stately adult with serious eyes, had started to make slow but real progress with us. He was never aggressive, only nervous, and over several months he came to let us pet him.
He also came to find his calling.
Starting with lookalike neighbor George, Sequoia began taking a shine to teenage kittens who had likewise been trapped outdoors through our TNR work. After a season of snuggles with Sequoia, George found his courage and went on to be adopted. Then, this month, Sequoia did it again.
As you can see above, bashful baby Banana found a friend in Sequoia. Just like George before him, Banana found his friendliness through Sequoia’s gentle “mentoring.” And, as of this update, Banana is scheduled to be adopted by one of our Tabby’s Place volunteers.
These are, of course, only the tiniest sliver from the epic pie of feline miracles at Tabby’s Place. And if I should somehow get Radio City Music Hall to put on a spectacular solely to thank you, that would still show only the tiniest fraction of our gratitude to you.
So I’ll say it simple but true: thank you, dear sponsors. You are the ministers of miracles to our feral felines at Tabby’s Place, and you have my deepest thanks. May your holiday season abound in joy.