Everybody needs a comfort buddy. At Tabby’s Place, thanks to the Comfort Buddies volunteer socializer program, these abound. Being Tabby’s Place, the program does not set the upper limit for the comforts and buddies that bound boundlessly, generally in the shapes of cats…but also humans.
Among the buddies that socializers (within and without the program) socialize with on a regular basis are those that could be classified as pillows of floof. This is technical terminology and will be explained with due solemnity and somberness, which is to say none at all. Instead, oh, never mind. If you’ve been here before, you get it. If you haven’t, you’ll catch on faster than Olive can hustle across the lobby to greet a newly arrived visitor.
For the record, Olive is not a pillow of floof. Olive is the queen of the lobby, and that has been and will continue to be a topic for a different day. However, Olive does share proximity with no less than 3 pillows of floof. These include, and are most assuredly not limited to Sootie, Luna, and executive office denizen and executive-executive director of Tabby’s Place, Marcia (Please do not tell Marcia that she was included in the list. I’m currently in good standing with the executive-executive director and wish to remain that way.).
Why do these particular cats qualify as pillows of floof? Well, because they do.
Because Luna looks exactly like the ramen-cat caricature on my favorite t-shirt. No joke – not about the t-shirt or that Luna looks precisely like a live-action rendition of a cat that walked out of an anime movie. Also, she broke the wand toy. Okay, we broke the wand toy (To be fair, whatever it was made of was undermined by the water that seeped in and stayed in from the sterilization process.). Oh, and she wouldn’t let go. Oh, um, me neither. We had a grand time, and all of her floof was sticking out in all the directions, which had something of a squishmallow effect on her entire appearance.
Because Sootie (pictured in the header) is a mushy-mushkins with a perfectly-lengthed tail that suits her perfectly-lengthed body and plushy skooshiness. Sootie is sweetness incarnate. The mere sight of her in all her lushness all cozied up on top of a bed is invitation enough to snuggle. Twining gentle fingers through such fur and eliciting purrs is enough to make a person swoon.
Because Marcia is Marcia. Do I need to explain? Okay. Let’s try for…uuummm…uh. Marcia. There. Hmmm…sorry. IYKYK. IYDK, schedule a visit, and maybe she’ll demonstrate. Possibly not. Maybe. Marcia is not a classic pillow of floof, but the very existence of this sleek, chatty, unable-to-work-a-cat-door kitty spreads comfort across the globe. I do so solemnly swear.
You may have noticed – if you’ve been looking at the photos – that these front-of-house lady-cats all have black fur. “Black” is not a prerequisite for being a pillow of floof. It just so happens that on a particular day, a realization dawned after my having spent cherished time with a few of the black cats that bring so much good fortune and charm to Tabby’s Place. Among these black cats were Akira and Vincent.
Why, you might ask, does Akira qualify as a pillow of floof?
Because. Oy. Okay, I’ll try to do better. Because Akira? Well, yes, because Akira exists, but also because you’ve never seen anything so comfortable looking and zen-tastic as Akira nestled in a cozy cubby in her suite. When she’s curled up, Akira somewhat resembles a puddle of night spilling over into the daylight. When she opens her eyes and looks at you, she casts a spell that chases away doubts and fears. Instead, she provides a glimpse of the best of everything. Sure, maybe she needs a hypoallergenic diet, but that doesn’t stop her from being the purest kind of comfort-er in existence…except maybe for Vincent.
Oh, dear. Vincent. You might have read about him on this very blog very recently. My heart skips beats when I think of Vincent: his FeLV+ status; he is not yet adopted (Hope is big!); his dreamy good nature. Even the briefest Vincent visit is enough to chase cares and concerns into the deepest hiding. They tremble in the wake of the wonder that is Vincent. He is, after all, the ultimate pillow of floof and a transcendent bringer of comfort. Sit on the floor, and, faster than the ramyun would be ready, you will have a full lap and a content heart. That big head! Those solid paws! The way he invites and melts into mega hugs! Kisses are welcomed. Tummy rubs are purr-ful. And, after the shortest of intervals, all is right with the world.
Suffice it to say that any time spent with any of these pillows of floof, or any of the other varieties of comfort buddies (both official and unofficial) is time very well spent. Tabby’s Place itself is a place that provides both comfort and buddies to all who enter. Need more proof? Come for a tour. We can’t wait to show you around!