Fanny Mail: An Update From Agnes

Hi, Kiddies! You'll recall that in August I received a message from Agnes Whitaker of Poughkeepsie, New York. She had a question about getting her new cat to wear her old cat's fur. Then in early October I heard from Agnes again, when she sought advice on getting her new cat to clean her old cat's fur as if it were its own. I told her she needed to have that fur professionally cleaned, and that with proper cat storage the fur shouldn't be in danger of getting filthy again.

This weekend, I received an update from Agnes on her cat situation. Agnes writes: "Dear Grandmother Winsome, thank you for your thoughtful advice. You were right. The cat did not start cleaning the fur itself, so I removed the coat. However, due to a prior problem with the neighborhood dry cleaner, I decided to do the cleaning job myself. And though the fur has now regained its original softness, the coat shrank a bit in the process. I did manage to fit the coat back onto the cat, but only after shaving the cat's own fur off, and still it was a tight squeeze. The cat has been whining, so I stopped feeding it, hoping it would lose a little weight and allow the coat to fit better. But now I'm wishing that I had put in the effort to find another dry cleaner to have the coat professionally cleaned, as you suggested."

Sweetie, I'm glad to hear that your original cat's fur once again has that softness that you so love. And if your current cat fails to lose the weight soon, you could obtain a smaller cat that will better fit the now-shrunken coat. Either way, I hope you're able to enjoy the fur this holiday season.