According to one particular person, as a fan of sumo and as a very actively involved volunteer at a cat sanctuary, I am, apparently, “a cartoon version of a real person.“ I’ve also been told that The Warner Sister Dot should play me in the movie of my life.
I’m sure this has readers scratching heads in curiosity, disbelief, and bewilderment, perplexedly wondering what this could possibly have to do with Tabby’s Place: A Cat Sanctuary. First, refer back to the first sentence. Second, EVERYTHING!
Okay, slight hyperbole aside, this has to do with kindred spirits. In particular, this has to do with a gentle-spirited cat with whom I feel an interspecies kinship – like connecting with like. The real-life cartoon cat whose soul speaks to mine, whose wavelengths reach peaks that resonate with mine, is Harvey.
A fellow volunteer told me recently that she brings family and friends to visit Tabby’s Place explaining, “You have to see it to believe it.” Well, that’s Harvey in a nutshell [Note: I did not say acorn. In a nutshell, an acorn is an oak tree. Thank you, Hank Green.] Over time, Harvey has become the stuff of, well, EVERYTHING!
Okay, easing back from the repeat hyperbole, the name Harvey has some serious roots, and it spans an immense, diverse panoply. Going back to the heart of the Golden Age of Hollywood, two classic movies released just four years apart would have been nothing if 
not for a Harvey. The Harvey Girls, a 1946 film, was based on real-life Harvey House waitresses. The 1950 film about an invisible rabbit named Harvey was less realistic and heaps more whimsical (read: more like our Harvey) than the earlier movie.
It doesn’t end there! Harvey Cedars is a town on Long Beach Island, NJ. Harvey is also the name of an Animal Crossing character. [That Harvey is a dog that accepts MEOW coupons as currency!] Matt Harvey is a Major League Baseball pitcher who recently retired. And, that’s not all!
This is getting important!
Harveys is a United Kingdom based company that is famous for their sherries.
The Harvey Wallbanger is a cocktail with a kick.
And, that brings us back to our Harvey.
Harvey, a cloud-soft tabby, is a fluid, but neither in the manner of his namesake sherries nor cocktail. Rather, Harvey is liquid in the manner of cats. He pours over the edges of beds. He oozes off the ends of benches to land, semi-gracefully (more or less) on the floor. He positively drips with cartoonish floppiness.
Harvey is turning my heart into mush!
From the moment we first met, Harvey and I connected. He startles easily, but he overcomes startlement readily and eagerly. This sweet refreshment in feline form wants nothing more than to be seen and loved and petted and petted some more and maybe fed…okay definitely fed. Harvey is perfectly content to share space with fellow coat room residents Atari and Nola. Harvey is beyond perfectly content to share space with people. A slow approach is all that is needed to unlock full access to this cat that no illustrator could capture faithfully. Meet him, and you’ll understand that there is just something about Harvey that will keep you coming back for more.