“You want to throw me Taylor? He’s right behind you.” This might not be the strangest statement to be overheard at Tabby’s Place. In context, in fact, it was perfectly reasonable. Besides, it was not meant literally, since nobody at Tabby’s Place would throw any cat ever under any circumstances (except possibly as part of an unimaginable rescue from something that we will not be imagining here). “Throw me a Taylor” could not be done literally anyway, since the generously proportioned tuxedo named Taylor Ham tipped the scales at a whopping 18.06lbs on a recent Friday.
Some 18.06lb cats are perfectly sized at that weight. Mr. Ham (also known to some as Hammy) is not one of those cats. Taylor Ham’s eating regime has been duly adjusted. Not so Bello’s, whose marginally more sizable 18.66lbs is marginally less questionable. On that particular date, he edged out Taylor Ham in size, but this was not a competition. This was Weights and Nails, a staff task that is attended to on a regular basis.
Weights and Nails is one of many tasks where volunteers cannot usually lend a helping hand, except maybe to handover a towel. However, with permission, a volunteer can tail staff and see what happens when feline, claw clippers, and scale (not the fish kind) are all brought together, one at a time and in succession until the fullness of weights and measures have been noted across the sanctuary.
To even out the balance sheet and to keep the record straight, the aptly named Winky was the smallest adult weighed on that day. At 8.5lbs, he’s not half the size of mellow Bello or Mr. Ham. Do not mistake that for meaning that Winky is half the cat than either of the bigger boys (Tootsie knows that all cats are ALL CAT, even when they’re tripods). Winky is full force tabby in all of the best ways. He is as sweet as his caramel swirls and as salty as his orange collar promises. Orange collars inform staff and volunteers about the likelihood of unpredictable behavior and sometimes dodgy choices that the wearers might make. The collars are important for Weights and Nails.
Not that staff actually need such reminders. No matter how cooperative they might (strong emphasis on MIGHT) be otherwise, the cats are perfectly capable of communicating their displeasure with and unwillingness to participate in certain types of interactions without any collars of any color. Olive, the lobby Queen, is especially insistent on making sure that everybody within a 10 mile radius knows EXACTLY how she feels about being thusly handled. Emphatic disapprovals notwithstanding, staff know exactly what measures are necessary to prepare for and to perform such tasks. They also understand the importance of teamwork in such ventures. Being the ark that Jonathan built, at Tabby’s Place, these teams are typically twosomes.
On this particular day, the twosome on task were the kaleidoscopically kind duo of Karina and Kelly. With each cat, they met sass with tenderness, and they responded to wriggliness with epistles and poetry of love. Karina is especially eloquent when it comes to sweet talking felines that would rather not participate in these regular, necessary events. Kelly, for her part, is steady, calm, and assured when wielding clippers, even with a feisty friend. Together, they got the job done…even though Jericho had to wait until the next day.
Without having been there, it is only a guess that Weights and Nails on Jericho took an entire day: a few minutes to prep him for the intrusion, a bit of time for the actual clipping and weighing, then the rest of the day for everyone involved to recover. For the record, Jericho’s collar is so orange that the freshest, most perfectly orange oranges pale in comparison.
Jericho could bring down walls if he really wanted to. Luckily, he’s happy to share his office and solarium with the dynamic Danielle, whom he entrusts to direct operations to his satisfaction. IT is entirely possible that Jericho weighed in with something unrepeatable about Weights and Nails, though. Even so, measure for measure, it’s a necessary endeavor.
For the record, following is Olive’s commentary on the day’s event as well as some gratuitous photos
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