Those who know cats know that cats are otherworldly. When our orbits cross paths, magic happens. This is exactly how it goes when cats like Eartha and Pluto intersect with us on an interstellar trajectory upon landing at Tabby’s Place.
The very first thing most of us noticed about Eartha is that she is more muppet-like than just about any feline any of us has ever acquainted. Whether it’s due to her wide eyes, expressive whiskers, particular floof, or a combination of all of the above, Eartha certainly seems more out of this world than of it.
In a similar yet utterly different way, the very first thing I noticed about Pluto was that he sports a tail that doubles back in a bespoke ribbon. That tail, and the beautiful grey feline attached to it, are absolutely out of this world.
When we first met, quite some time ago, Eartha was enduring her introductory incarceration (the brief period when a cat is crated until all tests come back negative and residents have had a chance to become passingly familiar with each other) in the Community Room.
Much more recently, Pluto was enduring his introductory incarceration in Suite E. With Eartha, there came a warning to be exceedingly careful with interacting in order to avoid inducing a seizure. With Pluto, the only concern was that he might hurt his face while trying to push it through the bars to get attention.
Eartha has since been relocated to the medical department. There she can hang out in a limited-access space and play, rest, or plan to take over the universe. Or, as on one particular day, she can stroll around the main area doing important Eartha things until she randomly (and unprovokedly) bites the apparently offensive button on a volunteer’s pocket while said volunteer visits with Steven. True story.
If only you could have seen Eartha’s expression upon defeating her foe! Oh, wait! You can.
Ahem.
On very the same day, that Eartha taught that button a lesson, Pluto was absolutely overflowing with a sweetness fit to make the very stars giggle. He also attempted to flow out of his barely opened crate door. Why settle for chin scritches when laps are so very comfortable?
For the record, Pluto is no bigger than any atypical dwarf planet, in fact he is actually an order or three of magnitude smaller than the smallest Kuiper belt object. Despite being comparatively (to a planet or a bread box) diminutive, Pluto has perfected the art of total lap takeover. In fact, Pluto has perfected total heart takeover to the extent that he has already been whisked off to his forever home.
Such stellar news as adoptions like Pluto’s should be blasted across the galaxy with the force of a quasar spewing forth light across the lightyears. Such stellar news as the existence of muppety moppets like Eartha should explode forth with the brightness of ten billion pulsars combined.
Whether, like Eartha, cats come to Tabby’s Place to stay for uncounted solar cycles, or whether they, as with Pluto, blast through and onward like interstellar comets, each and every one is and will always be part of our beloved family. We will dote on them entirely and completely while we inhabit the same spaces. When they move on, regardless of the reason, they continue to inhabit our hearts and heads. The love we have for them will never fade, and that is simply out of this world.