The Marmalades are on the move again. This week, the ginger cats and their honorary-marmalade friends moved on up from the Special Needs Suite to Suite A.

Along the way, they also upped the ratio of “orange” to “non-orange.”

The suite that was once home to the likes of Steve and Hunter has always maintained a high level of orangitude. As of this time last week, we were at an impressive level of roughly 50% orange (thanks to ultra-orange Pikachu, aptly named Valencia, everybody’s favorite Dobro, and 1/3 each of orange-flecked Kimiko and Beta). When you consider that only about 10% of cats in Tabby’s Place history have been orange, this makes Suite Marmalade a dang awesome place.

And it was about to get awesomer.

Ms. EyesForTheShy came in with a crystal-clear set of cat criteria: her new family member must love cats and have a gentle soul. He or she would be a companion for a sweet and shy resident cat.

Her future kitty’s age? Negotiable.
Fearfulness of humans? Not an issue.
Coat color? Irrelevant.

And so it was that one of the sweetest - yet least-marmalade - members of the very orange suite found his home.

Willie had first come to Tabby’s Place with Sarah and Margo. He was reportedly, and I quote, “a horror” when he first arrived. A certain anonymous individual, whose name may or may not rhyme with Ronathan, regaled us of the way Willie defied gravity to mambo up and down the wall, eluding Ronathan’s increasingly-exasperated grip.

Sarah and Margo were both bashful, but Willie was something else. A hisser and a hider, this raven cutie-pie needed all the love we could give.

And so he became honorary-orange, and was bound for that land of socialization: Suite Marmalade.

Be it known that proximity to orange cats has mystical powers. What worked for Persephone and Hunter and the Flower Girls has now done the trick for a certain shy sable boy. You guessed it: Willie is in his forever home with Ms. EyesForTheShy.

But in order to get there, Willie had first to get into his new mama’s cat carrier…and, unfortunately for all involved, I was the only staff member available to make that happen.

It’s a vast understatement to say that “hijinks ensued.”

Although I’ve always had a sweet, horror-free relationship with Willie, I began to see Ronathan’s perspective when the time came to wrangle Wil into his carrier. Smart cat, this wily Willie. There was no need to hiss or spit or lunge or pop…all he had to do was hide behind Dobro (who took care of all the aforementioned tasks).

And, being a highly-trained and competent animal rescue professional, here’s what I did: stood like a slack-jawed doofus, shook my head and said, “oh, Willie.” I then begged Ginny (who could wrangle a saber-toothed tiger as though it were a Care Bear) for help.

I ain’t too proud to beg…not when it involves Dobro, anyway.

Fortunately, we (by which I mean Ginny, with zero help from my epically useless self ;-)) were able to get Willie into his carrier - on the same day, no less - and he’s now doing magnificently at home.

We call every adopter three days, three weeks, and three months after he or she adopts a kitty, just to check in and make sure everything is going swimmingly. At the three-day mark this week, Ms. EyesForTheShy reported that Willie, while still timid, is already being social and lovey with her. Considering it took him weeks - plural - to tiptoe into that territory here, I’d say this not-quite-orange boy knows he is home.

And the orange land he left behind? Now nearly 2/3 marmalade and counting. Is this all Dobro’s plan for world domination?

We can only tremble and wonder.

Tags: beta, dobro, flower girls, hunter, kimiko, miyagi, persephone, pikachu, steve, suite marmalade, valencia, willie

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