Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 363 (Again)

Hi, friend. I hope all is well. How’s it going where you are? Dry, I hope. Or are you also reveling beneath the watery joy of an atmospheric river?

Oh, yes, we’re still dealing with the rain out here in once-sunny California. I think we’ve only had two clear days since mid-December.

It’s raining here again, and I was looking back through the blog archives today with a cup of coffee when I came upon the following installment of Sundays With Tabs from September 13, 2015.

I got a little verklempt, not gonna lie…

Here’s a reposting of that entry.

To my tabby boy out there across the Rainbow Bridge, I miss you, buddy. Love you so much. See you again someday. 🌈

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 363

I know that you know a lot about Tabs through his modeling, philanthropy and other endeavors — his fabulous life — but here’s a look behind the glam at what it’s really like to live with Tabs on a day-to-day basis.

I worry sometimes that he’s older than I always thought he was

I mentally prepare myself — scratch that. I keep trying to mentally prepare myself for the day when I wake up, and I don’t have Tabs there to greet me.

I can’t even handle the thought… It makes me so sad. 🙁

A few months ago, we took him to the vet for his regular checkup, and the vet said, “I think he may be a little older than we initially thought he was…” His eyes aren’t as bright as they once were, and he’s starting to slow down. He’s also getting ornerier, and he sleeps more during the day.

I worry that I might not have the time I thought I’d have with him, and I know that seems very greedy of me and self-centered, but I can’t help it. I just want my companion to live forever.

I think about collecting his whiskers…

A couple weeks ago I found one of his little whiskers — I call ’em little whiskees — while cleaning the living room, and his whiskees are interesting in that they aren’t all white. Some of them are black, and some of them are black with little sections of white.

I picked it up, and I walked up to El Hub and asked, “Do you think it would be too crazy cat lady if I saved all of Tabs’s whiskees?” because I’d been thinking about how when he finally goes to cross the rainbow bridge, I won’t have anything of his with me, and El Hub said, “Yes, that would be very crazy cat lady of you.”

So I threw it out…but you know what? I’m gonna start collecting his whiskees anyway, and then when he finally goes away, I’m probably going to spread his ashes on the hill behind us, because he loves being outside.

I feel guilty sometimes when I see outdoor kitties lounging around

Oh, Tabby, I wish you could be the outside cat that I know you see yourself as, always running around, chasing things and lounging about.

When I see kitties outside, especially at the end of the day enjoying the sunset or napping, I wish Tabs could have that same luxury, but I know that it’s probably safer for him to spend the evenings indoors. Where we live here in Novato, there are wide open spaces with coyotes (we see them a lot) and other predators around.

He gets all “bitey” now

Sometimes I wonder where my sweet cat has gone, or if he’s just temporarily on hiatus.

Tabs has been doing this thing lately that we call “being bitey.” He’s always been a very sweet cat, and he still is, but lately he’s gotten more aggressive with biting. He’ll nip my elbows or my shoulder while we’re just relaxing, and I think it’s because we recently changed his food. Tabs gets three meals a day now of wet food — morning, afternoon and night (his doctor thought it would be better for his health), but he used to have free-range access to a bowl filled with crunchies, so I think he’s acting out.

Sometimes he’s so needy, but it’s very sweet

Tabs is a little needier than most of the cats I’ve known. He’s very people-oriented, and he likes to be around his peeps all the time. He follows us around wherever we go in the house. If we’re in the living room watching TV, he’ll come downstairs and sleep on “the forbidden chair,” which used to be the forbidden chair…but now it’s just his chair. Or he’ll sleep on the opposite side of the room, just as long as he’s in the same room with us. He constantly has to be around me or El Hub, but we love it.

Late-night lurvies when I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night

I’m pregnant now, and I go to the bathroom — not kidding — three or four times in the middle of the night, but Tabs doesn’t seem to understand that these bathroom breaks aren’t related to him partying.

I think that he thinks that whenever I go to the bathroom, then come back to bed and lie down, it’s solely for his amusement, because he’ll jump on the bed, crawl on top of me and start purring. Then he’ll start kneading my hair and giving me head-butts. And he does this multiple times a night, every time I go to the bathroom.

He goes into supervisory mode every morning

I joke all the time about Tabs being my boss because sometimes it really does seem like he’s my boss! 🙂 Like in the mornings, when I first sit down at my desk, the first thing he does is walk into my office and lie down on the floor behind my chair to clean while keeping an eye on me. Basically, he’s supervising and making sure I’m doing my work.

I think it’s funny, but really, I think it’s mostly because that room is the warmest room and gets the most sun in the morning.

Sometimes when he goes for walks he just likes to sit in the front stoop and look around

Tabs loves to go for walks on his harness, but sometimes he doesn’t want to wander around our little circle or go exploring down the hill. Sometimes he’s just happy to be a little guard cat sitting in front of the house, where he can look around and watch the birds.

I think he really enjoys that.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen