It’s hard to get the recommended daily allowance of certain nutrients.

Vitamin D. Fiber. Cuteness.

But, as always, Tabby’s Place has your back. Well, for one out of three, anyway.

Now, don’t start any supplementation regimen without your doctor’s approval, but to treat your cuteness deficit, I’m going to make a medically-legitimate recommendation: Solgar.

No, not Solgar. Solgar…the kitten named for a vitamin company.

Ordinarily, this would be the kind of name we might change if a cat came bearing it. Ordinarily, kittens need names like Squirrel or Snickerdoodle or, um, Scheherezade. But it isn’t ordinary for a certain staff member (who shall remain unnamed, but whose name may or may not rhyme with Zance) to name a kitten. Zance has balked at kitten-naming before, passing the buck to bossy, name-greedy friends whose names may or may not rhyme with Nangela and Wenise and Fanielle.

So when Zance takes a break from the ordinary and agrees to name a kitten, you accept the name.

When Unnamed One-Day-Old Kitten arrived at Tabby’s Place, it was brave Zance who agreed to care for her until our veterinary team could be reached. Never mind that Zance had never before cared for such a tiny bottle baby. Never mind that he didn’t know what time the vet team would be able to get there. Never mind that Unnamed One-Day-Old Kitten would be a great name for a punk band. So it was only right that Zance should get to name his hamster-sized charge.

OK, we made him name his hamster-sized charge.

The story goes that Zance spotted a sign for that other Solgar, and decided, out of desperation, had a revelation that this was Unnamed One-Day-Old Kitten’s true name. Never mind that “Solgar” better fits a vitamin, or a Nordic warlord (“I am Solgar, thane of the fjords! Blaaaarggh!”), or a Transformer. Solgar was Zance’s choice, so Solgar she would be. And be it known: she is more than meets the eye.

Danielle, Solgar’s ultimate foster mama, says that Solgar has exactly one hobby: sitting in a lap, making the itty-bittiest mini muffins, and suckling the air.

All together now: thud!

But – and I assure you this is not going to be half as lewd as it may sound – the air isn’t the only thing Solgar’s been suckling. And that’s a profoundly good thing.

When she first came to us, Solgar had all the problems of your garden-variety motherless child…including a BIG hunger. But despite her empty tummy, Solgar would absolutely not take the bottle. Thus she became a “tube baby” rather than a true bottle baby; at each feeding, Danielle had to gently, carefully snake a thin tube right down Solgar’s throat. It was the only way this bitty baby was going to get any nutrients.

Well, unless…

…to be continued tomorrow.

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