Panthera is a promise.
You can have a soulmate as steadfast as life, filling your lap like the breath fills your lungs.
You can have your most fun friend since elementary school, the feline equivalent of recess, applesauce, and giggles during nap time.
You can have “nap time” anytime, on your own schedule, just the two of you.
There is just one thing you must do in return.
You must stomach it.
What is it? It’s nothing, really. It is a blip on the big screen of the greatest film since The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Panthera is infatuated with you in IMAX proportions. She bursts into popcorn when you peek into her suite. You are better than butter, as far as she is concerned. You are the reason applause was invented.
You are the coming attractions for everything Panthera ever wanted. If Panthera made a movie about you, it would be called My Everything.
In the meantime, if they ever do a remake of Milo and Otis, Panthera will let you be Milo, which may be the first time a cat has ever willingly been a dog.
That is just how much Panthera loves you.
In fact, Panthera’s love is guaranteed, whether or not you can stomach it.
Right. “It.” What is it?
Oh, it’s too small to mention. It’s a pebble in the shoe of the grandest epic since Casablanca. And you will need comfortable shoes, since Panthera will burst through the door when you arrive.
Your face is showtime for a showdown with time. Follow Panthera, galloping giggly down the hall. She is not trying to get away from you. She is trying to get you to come away with her, away from clocks and obligations, away from work and worry, away to Paris.
Panthera has never been to Paris, but she is pretty sure it is the room from whence the wet food comes.
Anyway, if Panthera runs fast enough, and you catch her, she is hoping she can bend time itself, so you and she will get to spend your kittenhood together. She will be five weeks old, and you will be five years old, and you will both get a second chance at seeing everything for the first time.
As she runs, Panthera peeks over her shoulder, pinwheel-eyed and smitten. Because, as much as Panthera loves everything, the best part of “everything” is you. You are cooler than Bogart and more elegant than Bergman, especially when you wear the hoodie with the ravioli stain.
If they ever do a remake of Casablanca, Panthera will rewrite the ending so Rick and Ilsa fly to New Jersey together and share an egg sandwich.
That is just how much Panthera loves you.
You are, after all, her everything.
But there’s one inconvenient thing about “everything.” Everything includes itchy sweaters, decaf, and tragic plot twists. Everything includes stains, and sighs, and sacrifices. Everything includes it.
Can you stomach it?
It is, well, Panthera’s stomach.
It is hard to get adopted when diarrhea has a starring role in your story.
Tabby’s Place has witnessed the entire twisty plotline of Panthera’s gastrointestinal tract. She first came to us as a kitten in 2024. Her pure heart enamored an adopter, but Panthera’s medical issues proved too difficult. After two years, she returned.
The little chocolate cat is not bitter. When you have already decided to love everything, that includes the storylines you would not have written yourself. Panthera is convinced that all her loose threads will lead to a blanket in a lap. Someone will gladly stomach the small inconveniences of caring for a cat with tummy troubles. Hollywood may never make a movie about the mundane miracle of loving someone just the way she is, but Panthera and her person will do it anyway.
That is just how much Panthera will love you, whoever you are, perhaps reading these very words.
Everything will be worth it, because you will decide Panthera is worth everything.
You will need to stock the concession stand with medication and prescription food. You will need to make concessions to convenience, in favor of care. But perfection is a fantasy, and a dull one at that. “Perfect” would not even get a one-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Love, messy and true, gets one billion percent on Fresh Liverwurst, the cats’ preferred movie review site.
Love can stomach it. Love belly-laughs at buffoonery, kisses the cat, and scampers down the hallway to explore more “everything.”
There is always more “everything.”
Panthera promises.
That is just how much she loves you.