Dear Friends of Tux,

Happy June to you! It sure feels like summer outside AND inside Tabby’s Place where the humidity and air conditioning are beginning their summer dance. Tux savors the sun and doesn’t mind warming his fur in a window.

Tux and I have enjoyed several snuggle and purring sessions this month. He now knows that when I enter the Community Room, I will likely stop and indulge him in prolific pets and some gentle grooming (removing that sticky lactulose).

The most recent week has been particularly exciting for Tux and his fellow Community Room cats. Why, you ask? Well, after more than a year of pandemic procedures, Tabby’s Place has reinstituted the Morning Meeting with the volunteers. Now every day at 9:30 am, the Community Room table is populated with friendly folks who gather to learn the latest news about the kitties and procedures to follow for cleaning the building. What could be more exciting? Well, starting June 7, the cats will be able to see smiling human faces again as those that are fully vaccinated have the option to shed their facemask indoors. At this time, we remain closed to the public, but the kitties are overjoyed to see more friends in their midst.

Recently, the morning meeting provided a great opportunity for Tux and me to share some time together. It was my first morning meeting with volunteers and the chairs were filling rapidly. Tux was curled up in a bed on the floor so I decided to enjoy some quality time with him and took a seat on the floor by his side. He was happily purring with abandon as everyone filed into the room.

Tux would like to mention to you that while he enjoys this change, some of the more reserved cats of the Community Room are a little overwhelmed by this new routine. The newest resident, Siesta, came to us all the way from Lebanon and then spent quite a number of weeks in ringworm quarantine. After weeks of only interacting with one or two people at a time, witnessing the room fill up with people was rather alarming. He’s slowly adjusting.

Tux has experienced good health and spirits this month. His medications remain the same, as we learned that a full weaning from a low dose of steroids increased oral inflammation. He has seemed more active and engaged this month which I believe is his way of saying that he likes having more activity at Tabby’s Place. It also provided more frequent photo opportunities to share.

Summer seems to be off to a good start at Tabby’s Place. In addition to the protocol changes, we are breaking ground on our first physical expansion since opening in 2003. Quinn’s Corner will expand our footprint and allow us to open our doors to two groups of underserved kitties:  those with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and neonatal kittens. You can learn more about Quinn’s Corner here.

All this excitement has us all ready to celebrate AND take Tux’s advice to enjoy a few cat naps along the way. He wants to thank you for sticking by his side and sharing in his adventures and care. None of this would be possible without your generous heart and kind spirit!

Your correspondent,
Lisa