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The more things change….

The more things change….

SteveFunny thing about christening Adoption Room #1 “Suite Marmalade.”

That title of great orangeness has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy…and the more orange things change, the more orange things stay the same.

ZinniaEagle-eyed Tabby’s Place adorers will have noticed something troubling on our Adoptable Cats page.

For about a week, Zinnia and Petunia were flagged as “ADOPTED.”
And then, all of a sudden…they weren’t flagged any more.

Yes, I’m afraid you’ve guessed it. The Flower Girls were (sigh) returned. I wish I had a good explanation to share for this, but your guess is as good as mine. The best explanation my heart can find is that it simply wasn’t meant to be.

And so Suite Marmalade became more marmalade than ever before.

If you’ve been keeping track, that’s now five ginger cats in Suite M.: Steve, Dobro, Hunter, Petunia and Zinnia.

Steve meets Hunter, by JessThe good news? This hyperquirky quintet gets along smashingly. While they may rival their next-door neighbors in terms of collective weirdness, the wildman Dobro and “his” kittens are perfectly content together.

And, lest you worry that the lone grown-up in the posse is passing along his hissy, “down-with-human-beans” attitude, let me put your mind at ease. While Dobro is still no fan of our suspicious species, Steve and company are as affectionate as ever.

Steve meets Hunter, by JessIn fact, it would seem everyone in Suite Marmalade is doing a fine job of keeping his bad habits to himself. “Inappropriate eliminators” Steve and Hunter haven’t given Dobro or the Flower Girls any tips on going outside the box (although I see a book deal here…Inappropriate Elimination for Dummies). It’s fascinating, really: each of them has quirks in superabundance, but each is content with his own package of puzzles, without taking on the traits and tics of his roomies.

As so often when it comes to felines, Suite Marmalade offers a lovely parable for us human sorts. Just imagine if we could coexist with our fellow freaks (because, if we’re honest, do any of us escape that description?), confident in who we are and content to love our neighbors exactly as they are. We’d feel no need to change them or to change ourselves to fit in. Like a jumbly-looking set of jagged puzzle pieces, somehow we’d all fit together in a way more beautiful than if we were each a simple round peg.Petunia

Lest we take the metaphor too far, be it known that I’m not recommending you start peeing on the floor (or hissing and spitting at strangers, for that matter). But I’ve got to believe – for Dobro, Steve, Hunter, Zinnia and Petunia as well as us human beans – that being loved in all one’s freaky glory makes a cat/person better. Somehow the grace of not having to be anything other than what we are in order to be loved has a way of making us ever-better versions of ourselves.

I see it happening in Suite Marmalade. Be it ever so slowly, even Dobro is blooming this spring. I won’t overstate the case; there are no Dobro love-fests happening just yet. But, I can now make eye contact with him…and he doesn’t head for the hills or hiss like a savage saber-toothed tiger.

Hunter (during his first sojourn at Tabby's Place) by JessAs for Steve, those pee problems are dribbling away. A quartet of litter boxes, each anointed with a different kind of litter, seems the ticket to keeping him content and continent. He aced the biggest test of this when Hunter joined his suite. In the past, any sort of change in the cast of characters would put the kibosh on Steve’s good bathroom habits. But, as you can see in these photos, Steve was not only fascinated by his lookalike new buddy – he was also sufficiently un-stressed that he kept right on using his litter boxes.

When it comes to Hunter, this mini-marmalade guy is intent on proving his innocence. Not once has he been caught doing dirty deeds in Suite Marmalade (and, until we establish CSI: Ringoes, we’re not going to be doing DNA tests on the pee outside the litter box). Could he have been framed? Or is the grace he gets from the humans and roomies of Suite Marmalade changing his ways, ever so gently?

PetuniaOne thing is clear to me: while it’s a delight to have the Flower Girls back, they won’t be gracing us for long this time. How anyone could resist such purry, happy-hearted loves is beyond me. But, things do unfold as they’re meant to – and even these angel-girls are not without their quirks.

Thank goodness! Who among us would want a world or a cat without quirks, after all?

4 thoughts on “The more things change….

  1. I just adore the Orange & White Club at Tabby’s Place. I’m sure these five cuties will find the right forever homes for their lovely quirkiness in no time. I’m a big fan of quirky myself. I’m quirky. All of my cats are quirky. Quirky is fun. 🙂

  2. As you said these five won’t be long before they find their forever homes. As far as the flower girls, it is sad that the adoption did not work but probably better for all concerned that it was recognized early and neither two or four legged parties were put through any tramatic experiences. It is unfortunate but sometimes you don’t know the outcome till you try. They are cute and like you said they won’t be around for long.

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