Riddle me this: what’s better than a home with one Tabby’s Place alum?

How about a home with two limited-edition, full-of-win Tabby’s Place cats?

In the past, we’ve often referred to adopters by their initials. Today I am officially proclaiming that boring. So today’s subject, P.D., will hereby be known as Winston. Emphasis on the win.

Years ago, in the early annals of Tabby’s Place, Winston fell for a big orange-and-white moosh named Taffy. Through the years, snuggly Taffy pulled in the hearts of several feline siblings…and his very own stuffed walrus. (There are unconfirmed reports that this was actually the original Lolrus.) With all the pride and joy of the best kind of papa, Winston visited Tabby’s Place earlier this month to share some tales of Taffy and his walrus and his furry housemates.

It seems Winston had adopted these non-Taffy cats from Places That Aren’t Tabby’s Place. Not that we would ever be bitter or resentful of that. As hard as it is to believe sometimes, there are actually cats outside of the sanctuary (and even outside of Ringoes - at least, that’s what they tell me). When any cat, anywhere, gets a papa like Winston, it’s a happy-danceworthy moment for us.

But Tabby’s Place cats are like potato chips: yellow and crunchy you can’t have just one. And once Winston laid eyes on a certain hairy hero in Suite A, it was all over but the adoption papers.

It’s been a long, strange trip for Taffy’s new brother. Sonny was a classic scaredy-cat in his first go-’round at Tabby’s Place, making his abode in the top corner of the Suite B ramp and avoiding human contact if at all possible. Yet, for all his timidity, Sonny couldn’t hide his Maine Coon-ey looks and massive-as-Mongolia gentle heart. And so he won a place in a loving family that promised to love him forever.

That was supposed to be the end of the story, and you and I weren’t “supposed” to be talking about Winston today…if only Bernie Madoff didn’t get his grubby hands on that promise.

Having lost nearly everything to that unsavory character, Sonny’s first family returned to Tabby’s Place in tears, not wanting to part with their beloved boy, but now unable to provide for his needs. Once a Tabby’s Place cat, always a Tabby’s Place cat, so we welcomed Sonny back “home.”

Once again, our big boy had an outsized shy streak, and shrank from our affections. But then…something started to shift. First it was the cats. Something about Sonny just seemed to attract kindred spirits of his own species. First Rusty, then Sylvan, then Beta found solace in Sonny’s non-anxious presence. Along the way, they must have whispered in his hairy ears that human beans are really kind of okay.

Sonny believed.

By the time he joined Team Winston last week, Sonny was ready in his heart and in his soul to be loved. I have to believe that he was meant to be with that first family who loved him so well, meant to blossom even more at Tabby’s Place, and meant, now, to live the rest of his years with his new papa, his brother Taffy and all his feline siblings.

And a certain walrus, too.

Tags: adoption, sonny, taffy

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