Tabs

Let’s talk about cats and snacks.

You ever notice how fickle cats are when it comes to snacks? In my experience, cats are very particular about their snacks. One day they’ll be all about the crunchies. The next day they won’t have anything to do with said crunchies.

Tabs was a diva with respect to many things, but he was extra diva-licious about his snacks. He’d get on these kicks where he’d only eat a certain snack in a certain flavor at a certain time of day, and of course there was a specific quantity of treats that had to be met; otherwise he’d make me run laps.

I remember a time when he was all about flaky treats in a pouch that were in some kind of gravy consommé, and he wanted it served on his favorite bone white china plate. Sometimes he even demanded a tiny little spoon. (He never used the spoon, of course. He just liked having it there.) 😊

Then there was this other type of treat, which was mostly gravy, and like…I was gonna say that there were other things in it, but no, it was all gravy… He insisted on pouring it into his mouth while he lounged languorously on his side like a feline Greek god. (My other hand was busy fanning him.)

Rosie

Rosie has never demanded that I fan her while I feed her, but she is particular about her treats.

Whenever it’s treat time, we like to joke around that it’s ladies’ night, and yes, there’s a song involved. Yes, it’s ladies’ night, and the feeling’s right. Oh, yes, it’s ladies’ night. Oh, what a night (oh, what a niiiight!).

Her chattering gets next level, too, when the treats come out. She’s a talkative cat, but when the treats come out, she’s like an auctioneer! She talks a mile a minute about who knows what.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

One morning before work a few years ago, Tabs was inspecting the company organic cat grass and catnip farm that encircles the corporate campus. He was just strolling along, as he often did, meowing to himself, when he walked up behind one of the feline farming engineers, an orange and white tabby named Sinclair.

Sinclair mustn’t have noticed Tabs walking up behind him because he didn’t stop what he was doing, and what he was doing was eating the merchandise.

Yeah! He was actually devouring the catnip…without written permission! He was practically mowing it down, chomping huge bite after huge bite. It was an historic violation of the Tabs the Cat Industries Code of Cat Conduct.

Now, on the one paw, Tabs could appreciate how much Sinclair loved catnip, because Tabs himself was a huge fan, but not like this. This cat was going too far.

Tabs cleared his throat to get Sinclair’s attention, who was like, “Oh! Um…yeah, hey. Hello, Mr. Tabs. Uh…I was just testing, because this patch seemed a little… We were really concerned about the weevils?”

“The weevils?” Tabs asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Sinclair fumbled. Tabs was tapping his back paw. An awkward silence hung in the air.

Sinclair was clearly nervous, and his eyes were darting all over the place. He was actually trying to replant some of the broken catnip stalks back in the ground.

Anyway, even though it pained Tabs to have to do it, he fired Sinclair following a full and fair investigation. The company just couldn’t have its own employees eating all the merchandise.

Rosie

Ever since Tabs crossed the Rainbow Bridge, Rosie has taken up the reins as the company’s Chief Horticulturist, and by all accounts she’s been doing a great job. Our catnip, cat grass and Zinnia yields are off the charts!

It’s almost time for the spring planting, and this morning Rosie and I did a full inspection of the grounds.

Everything looks ready to go.

Hopefully this year is a bumper crop.

If we have a good season, Rosie wants to add 20 pounds of fresh cat grass to every employee bonus. 😺

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tabs may have been tiny compared to jungle cats, but he sure had big cat energy.

He was a tiger! And a lion. And a cheetah. And a jaguar. All wrapped up in one husky package.

As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure he envisioned himself prancing on the Serengeti whenever he would launch off the softest part of my tum.

All of the animals, including the wild turkeys, are frolicking right now in our neighborhood. Dare I say, they’re channeling their big cat energy too.

Tabs had a very complex relationship with turkeys. On one hand, he wondered how they’d taste smothered in gravy. On the other hand, he knew his limits, and his limits did not include taking down a 20-pound turkey.

Rosie

As for Rosie, she’s small but mighty. Today, and she was looking particularly fetching by the way, she worked out some advanced math in her head regarding how much centrifugal force it would require to take down a turkey. Her calculations determined that the odds were not in her favor.

She’s still got some of that big cat swagger, though. Even though she knew she wasn’t having turkey for lunch, she still showed those big birds who’s boss.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I don’t know if you know this, but Tabs learned how to swim in Hawaii. Like many cats, at first he wasn’t keen on getting into the water, but by chance he met Michael Phelps on the world-famous Waikiki Beach. They were both staying at the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and they hit it off instantly.

Michael Phelps took one look at Tabs’s body and said, “You have the physique of a natural born swimmer,” and that was all the motivation he needed.

Tabs’s favorite stroke was freestyle, but he was also proficient in backstroke and butterfly.

Michael tried to convince Tabs to try out for the Olympic Team, and Tabs briefly considered it, but his modeling schedule didn’t accommodate the scheduling.

Rosie

I’m so excited to get home and see my Rosie Pose again, although I don’t think she was too bothered by my absence. Her petsitter sent us several selfies of Rosie looking completely relaxed.

I just know I’m going to find a science experiment in my refrigerator. Heck, there could be some sort of robot in the living room. Before we left, she was working on some code for the AI she developed at Stanford, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

It’s common knowledge that cats have a particularly strong connection to the magical planes of existence. They saunter between dimension doors, crossing over from one realm to the next, and are usually wide awake every night at the witching hour, so they see things… Many cats work the proverbial graveyard shift, and consequently nap all day long because they moonlight as magical spies or wizards’ familiars.

Yet despite their proximity to the Underdark, few cats parlay their supernatural connections into success in the human world.

Few cats other than Tabs, of course. Among his many titles, he was also Chief Feline Ambassador on the Council of Druids and Leprechauns. 🍀

As such, he was one of the only creatures on the material plane to know the whereabouts of every pot o’ gold at the end of every rainbow. 🌈

But with great power came great responsibility, and he didn’t tell anyone. 😊

Rosie

Rosie may not have her predecessor’s supernatural connections, but she knows what side her bread is buttered, so today she showed her appreciation for St. Patrick’s Day this week (one of the more magical days of the year according to druidic lore) with appropriate apparel.

How do you think she looks in her bejeweled clover collar?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

His Royal Huskiness, Master of His Meowmain, and the single greatest force in the history of kitty supermodeling. I don’t care what anyone says. He was the one who started it all.

This is the 700th installment of Sundays With Tabs! My tabby boy was here for 552 of them.

I miss him dearly. Tremendously. I tear up just thinking about it. He was and always will be the cat love of my life. ❤️

I mean, I’ve been blogging here on MBB since 2007… That’s a LONG time, and the only reason I’ve done it this long is Tabs. I can honestly say that he was my muse for most of those years. He was larger than life, both to me personally and here on the blog. He got my creative juices going. He made everything more fun, and he seemed to enjoy doing it. He loved the attention. He loved taking pics with me, loved the hugs and the stage direction, just loved being himself, and I loved being around him.

He was my partner, my confidant, my inspiration and my best friend. We matured together as people (and a feline). I’ll never forget him as long as I live.

Rosie

Rosie continues to do a remarkable job taking over for Tabs as CFO (Chief Feline Officer) of Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC. To her credit, she’s never tried to upstage Tabs. She isn’t as passionate about kitty modeling as Tabs was because she’s her own cat person, with her own hopes and dreams.

I respect and appreciate that about her.

Thank you, Rosie, for being yourself. You’re a bad-@ss and a sweet, brilliant girl. I love you very much. ❤️

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Spring was always Tabs’s thing. He loved the idea of the world coming back to life again.

Now I know it isn’t spring yet, but it’s just around the corner, and this time of year always makes me think of him because every year he’d tell me, “Beware the Ides of March,” and I was never sure if he was quoting literature or if he was indeed planning my demise for the Ides of March.

But that’s beside the point.

Cherry blossom season was his jam. There’s something about the fleeting beauty of the tiny pink flowers that touched his heart and his tum-tum.

He looked good in pink, but you know who also looks good in pink? Rosie pose. She finally took the plunge and wore her cherry blossom collar. It took me a while to convince her to wear it. Today she had me count how many pollinators were attracted to her collar (there were five including a small child).

Rosie now wants to start a beehive on our back deck for scientific research purposes, of course.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Girl, I hope you have your cats treats ready! You don’t want to be unprepared for National Love Your Pet Day, which was today, BTW.

Now, I want to say that both Tabs and Rosie would have clawed my eyes out if I ever forgot such an important event, but I’ve been lucky to assist for two borderline obnoxiously loving cats, so if I’d ever seemed to forget a day like today, they would have just smothered me with kitty hugs and biscuits until I conveniently remembered.

Here’s the thing about when our pet friends cross over the Rainbow Bridge… That deep love? It never goes away. It stays with you forever. When I picture Tabs looking up at me and slow-blinking his beautiful green eyes, I still feel the same warm feeling I’d get when Tabs was still here, and I can still remember how I felt when I’d open my door when I got home from work and Tabs would sprint from wherever he was to greet me, meowing all the way, and then plopping down right in front of my feet to do his back and forth tummy flash rolls. That gorgeous orange tum was so luscious…

Today I showed Rosie I love her with breakfast, lunch and dinner treats, which made her day. Knowing Rosie, though, she’ll use me spoiling her to figure out a scientific calculation to manipulate me into feeding her treats all the time, and she’ll test her theory using the scientific method. I’ll just become an unknowing part of a genius cat science experiment.

I love that Rosie’s so smart. Tabs — bless his heart — was the most beautiful, sweetest boy…but he was not the smartest cat in the shed (lol).

I love Rosie’s ability to problem solve. She’s quite the kitty genius. In fact, when we first brought her home, we were watching a show about kittens on TV one night, and when Rosie heard the cry of the kittens on the show, she looked all over the living room for those little baby cats. She looked behind the TV, underneath the TV and around every corner, whereas Tabs would have never figured something like that out.

I also love that Rosie sleeps with us in bed every night and how she does special things just for me. Like, I’m the only one whose head she’ll sleep on. Yup, she doesn’t do that with anybody else. 😊

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen