Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

The willow is too close to the house.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

This blog will pay for itself.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Off to the Vets

Off to the Vets

by | 141 Comments

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Heading to the vets with Ginny, Guesly (pronounced GOOZELY for the new folks), and Lily. I just took this picture of Tunch:

I know this is going to open me up to a whole bunch of abuse, but Tunch is really losing weight. He is tearing around the house from window to window, loves all the birds and chipmunks and squirrels, and is getting more exercise than he did in the old place. I bet by this time next year, he will be really svelte.

One of these days I am going to catch him on film doing what I call “hot-rodding.” I have a long hallway from my bedroom/office that opens up into the living room (where this picture was taken), and he sits out my office door, starts making some primal cat noises, and then fires full speed down the hallway and into the living room. And this is without the benefit of catnip.

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  2. 2.

    Faux News

    I don’t care what the haters say. Tunch has a noble presence like that of Senator in the Roman Empire. Minus the toga of course.

  3. 3.

    Lisa

    He is a handsome feller. He does have a bit of a spare tire. But as long as he is happy and gets a lot of exercise he will be fine. I have a chubby cat, and everyone concern trolled me about his health. He is nearly 20 years old and still tearing around my house, fat ass and all.

  4. 4.

    superluminar

    Are those three tails the result of his food consumption over the last day hour?

  5. 5.

    mr. whipple

    and he sits out my office door, starts making some primal cat noises, and then fires full speed down the hallway and into the living room

    That is really funny if/when theyhit a patch of wood floor.

  8. 8.

    norbizness

    I’ve seen it before where the cat loses weight and the stretched-out skin gives the illusion of a larger cat. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I can still imagine him saying “This is sweet. Camera crews are setting up, and I’m lookin’ totally ripped. Beefcake. BEEFCAKE!”

  9. 9.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Tunch most definitely appears to be eagerly awaiting one of Tiger’s girlfriends showing up and making a scene.

    Me too Tunch, this should be good.

  12. 12.

    Bill H

    We just saw Molly’s vet yesterday. Her rule is straightforward, “If a kitty can lick its own ass, it is not too fat.” Tunch appears borderline, but you have indicated that he can lick his ass, so he’s fine.

    Molly does the same thing with our hallway, and then has to kind of “spin her wheels” on the tile floor to make the turn at the end and avoid flying down the stairs.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m not a “new folk” any more, but I did ask the other day to be reminded how to pronounce Guesly’s name. So thanks for that.

    You must admit, the camera angle in that photo does make Tunch look a bit broad in the beam. Probably just a trick of perspective distortion, though (camera angle . . . perspective distortion . . . yeah, that’s it). But I would never hate on Tunch and would love to see a video of him “hot-rodding.” Can’t you just install a 24/7 catcam, like a security camera, to capture this adorable behaviour automatically?

  14. 14.

    ChrisS

    That is really funny if/when they hit a patch of wood floor.

    Out house is nothing but hardwood floors and the cats are both declawed up front (prior to us rescuing them). Every now and again the older one will taunt the younger one and they go ripping around the furniture, power sliding around the corners. 30 seconds later the older one is out of gas and she’ll hop back up to her bed and pretend nothing happened. Meanwhile, the younger one is left wondering why her playmate quit when things just started getting fun.

  15. 15.

    Morbo

    No, Tunch, your ass makes your ass look fat.

    @mr. whipple: Once in a while my/my parents’ cat used to try to turn on the rug on the linoleum and peel out spectacularly. When you saw the rug rolled up next to the refrigerator you knew why.

  18. 18.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    That is a great picture! He’s one handsome dude. Don’t listen to the haters Tunch, you’re total beefcake. Great way to start the day…unlike how it really started, with a cold shower. Maintenance guy, working on furnace yesterday, accidentally turned the water heater down to warm. Yeeeooowza.

  21. 21.

    cleek

    our cats’ running exercise nearly always ends up with Tricksey crouched in a corner, hissing, while Pepper stands over her looking confused – “what? why you hiss? what’d i do?”

    then i throw socks at them to break it up.

  22. 22.

    Punchy

    I love how he’s so fat, that his 2 front legs look like where they should be for BACK legs on a normal cat.

  24. 24.

    Rosalita (Formerly GReynoldsCT00)

    Very handsome photo, ‘fluffiness’ and all… I can’t give you a hard time, my cat Blue is pushing 20 lbs and he eats the same as the other two, who are normal. Go figure.

  26. 26.

    JGabriel

    My god, that cat has no hind legs. He’s just a pair of front paws and a mango-shaped furball in back.

    .

  29. 29.

    Skepticat

    Mike Kay wins the thread.

    My Maine coon cat does the explosive action thing, and it makes me nervous when he flings himself down the stairs, often ending up in an untidy pile against the front door.

    Despite the unflattering photo angle, Tunch does look quite healthy. And very handsome, of course.

  30. 30.

    mr. whipple

    You must admit, the camera angle in that photo does make Tunch look a bit broad in the beam.

    The camera adds 20 lbs.

  32. 32.

    Dave in Maine

    Damn is he big. Good thing he is getting some exercise. Does Lily ever chase him, or does he just bat her on the nose when she tries with a look that says “crazy dog, you think I’m getting up for that? Please!……”

  34. 34.

    Tokyokie

    One of these days I am going to catch him on film doing what I call “hot-rodding.” I have a long hallway from my bedroom/office that opens up into the living room (where this picture was taken), and he sits out my office door, starts making some primal cat noises, and then fires full speed down the hallway and into the living room. And this is without the benefit of catnip.

    I always referred to this behavior as “wacky cat,” which, sadly, most cats seem to grow out of eventually. Although my beloved Neyle, until his kidneys started going out on him, would experience one of two episodes of wacky cat a day. And our youngest, largest and most demented kitty, Vladimir, comes down with it regularly. Vlad has learned to love the relatively new hardwood floors; he’ll often work up a head of steam, then sit on his butt so that he’ll slide across them.

  37. 37.

    Randy P

    @Morbo:

    When you saw the rug rolled up next to the refrigerator you knew why.

    I guess our throw rugs are too heavy. I don’t see that. I do, however, find tablecloths all scrunched up and pushed two feet back from the edge of the table.

    I am not by nature a cat person, as I keep trying to remind my wife and the cat, neither of whom buys it. However, I really don’t have a lot of the instinctive understanding or bonding with cats that cat people seem to have (my wife, for instance, can get any cat in the world to approach her and make friends). So watching this cat, my question is, do all cats have this “maximum destruction in minimum expenditure of energy” thing, or is that just her?

  39. 39.

    Legalize

    Our new place is two floors and very long. All wood floors. Usually the male cat will be at one end on one of the floors making a god awful wailing sound until the female perks up her ears and goes to investigate. Seconds later we’ll hear the sounds of a scuffle, some hissing, growling, and some light screeching. Then comes the tear-assing down the length of the apartment on one floor, flying up/down the steps, and tear-assing down the length of the apartment on the other floor. This all culminates with a fight in the living room while I’m working or watching television. I never break it up. I figure someone deserves what he/she is getting.

  40. 40.

    Eric S.

    @Mike Kay: Stop it! It hurts to laugh this much after last night’s work out.

    I grew up with a Rubeneque black cat. My parents got him the year before I was born. He hunted and brought home gifts til his last days.

  45. 45.

    bemused

    Tunch looks so cuddly. I want to just squeeze him Is he a cuddly kitty?
    Cats are like humans. Some are just naturally svelte & only eat what they need. Others, fat or slim, would keep eating until they puke. You can’t leave food in the dish all day long for those gluttons. Then there are those kitties that aren’t really fat but have that saggy belly that swings to & fro when they walk/run. We’ve had them all.

  47. 47.

    RSR

    haha, I love when cats suddenly have to be at the other end of the house/side of the yard, etc.

  50. 50.

    LuciaMia

    He looks like William Howard Taft.

    Bingo!

    I was gonna say it looked like he got swallowed up by a giant meringue.

    How’s Tunch like, getting him to the Vet?

  51. 51.

    EEH

    @bemused:

    Then there are those kitties that aren’t really fat but have that saggy belly that swings to & fro when they walk/run.

    We call them flappers. Our neighbor’s cat had an impressive one and it really got going when he ran. Used to just crack us up eveytime.

    One of our cats is a Tuxedo, has muscles like a panther and in his younger days, he fairly rippled when he walked and he had the tightest tummy. He’s still the same weight but has developed a small flapper in the past couple of years so I think sometimes it’s an age thing, too.

  53. 53.

    Violet

    Gorgeous picture! Tunch is so good looking. He may need a nip and tuck if he continues losing weight. There’s a lot of fur to flap around.

  54. 54.

    bemused

    @EEH:
    Flappers is the perfect word for it. Our flapper cat was very active. I think he terrorized the neighborhood. We gave up trying to keep him inside at night. He was neutered but always came home looking beat up. I swear once he had black eyes. Odd that he had such a flapper belly when he was always out on the prowl.

  55. 55.

    Kevin K.

    Biscuit does the same running back ‘n’ forth but our Brooklyn apartment is kinda short and we only have two (very large — front & back) windows. My big problem is that she loves climbing up the screens. We’ve tried lowering the window, but if she can still fit under, she’ll actually climb up the screen and get stuck between the screen and the window. Funny but annoying. I’m really not looking forward to paying for new screens.

  56. 56.

    tesslibrarian

    Oh, John–Tunch is just a beautiful animal! The expression on his face is so serene, too. Happy, contented cats are a moment of zen.

    Glad he’s enjoying the new place–my girls hated the actual move to our house, and never liked the hardwood floors, but I’m pretty sure the wildlife shows in the yard and trees over the next 10 years made up for that. (Even though one of them regularly would hit the window leaping at squirrels in the dogwood right outside.)

  57. 57.

    jon

    Tunch is a she, and she’s stopped eating her own young.

    Thus is solved the mystery of the weight loss, but the larger mystery is: (Vincent Price voice) “Whither goest the Spawn of Tunch?” (Cackling laughter, thunder, et cetera.)

  58. 58.

    Josie

    @mr. whipple: I used to have a little Persian kitty named Pearl who did that on purpose. We had carpet combined with tile, and she would get speed up on the carpet and then skid as far as possible on the tile. She even got so good at it she could skid in a semi-circle around the staircase in the tiled room. It was her favorite form of exercise.

  60. 60.

    Alice Blue

    We have three kitties in the house right now. My 14 year old Jenny just wants to be left alone to eat, sleep and barf occasionally. The two males, Buster and Gus, get along nicely, but sometimes Buster tries to mate with Gus. They’re both neutered; I assume it’s some sort of a cat territorial/dominance thing.

  62. 62.

    Annie

    Tunch:

    “I think I will save the US…To get to Obama, first you have to get by me….”

  63. 63.

    Ash Can

    In all seriousness, I love Tunch to pieces. Whenever I see him I want to give him a big hug and shnorgle. But from that angle, I have to wonder if John’s missing an ottoman or armchair or two.

  65. 65.

    Face

    The two males, Buster and Gus, get along nicely, but sometimes Buster tries to mate with Gus

    Then don’t even attempt to enlist them into the armed forces.

  67. 67.

    Pangloss

    I think I would be tempted to constantly say, in a silly voice, “Where dat fat cat at?”

  68. 68.

    Brett

    I know this is wrong, but I love Fat Tunch. His weight gives him an air of majesty (like William Taft), and all he really needs is a monacle to make the whole scene perfect.

  69. 69.

    RoonieRoo

    In our house, we call it “Buggy runs” instead of hot-rodding. But hot-rodding is a good description.

    When we switched to raw feeding and our FAT girls went to their natural, healthy weight, it actually took a while after they lost the weight for the saggy skin to snap back and for them to not look so baggy and fatter than they were.

  70. 70.

    geg6

    @Randy P:

    I really don’t have a lot of the instinctive understanding or bonding with cats that cat people seem to have (my wife, for instance, can get any cat in the world to approach her and make friends).

    I’m with you on the cat thing. But I am just like your wife when it comes to dogs. Don’t know why. I’ve never owned a dog in my life. But there isn’t a dog in the world with which I can’t immediately become best of friends. When I first met my John’s dogs, he was warning me days ahead of time about how Henry has to be muzzled around strangers and Otis will probably hide. Instead, they both immediately ran up to me and started rubbing their heads all over my legs and hands. They get so giddy when I come over that it takes about an hour for them to settle down. They have to be locked in other rooms for the first few minutes I’m there or they’ll be jumping on me and I won’t be able to get out of the entryway. And Henry, the supposedly mean and vicious Lab, refuses to sleep in his normal spot on John’s side of the bed and insists on being on my side where I can’t out without stepping on top of him.

    I love those dogs.

  72. 72.

    Hal

    He’s giving off some serious Gloop and Gleep from that old Herculoids cartoon in this pic.

  73. 73.

    Max

    At least he stands out in the sea of beige and brown going on in the new place.

    I’m finally in Vancouver and am waiting for the movers to arrive with my gear on Friday afternoon.

    Max the Wheaten loves his new place. He’s running up and down the stairs, chilling on the deck in the back yard and already making friends with the dogs he shares a fence with.

    In @JohngCole’s honor, today, I am painting an accent wall – turquoise. It was burgundy and that is no bueno. Yea color! I’ll post a picture when it’s done and maybe it will inspire our lovely host.

    Going beachy and bright in the new place – will hopefully combat the grey PNW.

  74. 74.

    Karen

    My 14 year old female goes to the track every day. (Track = upstairs hallway & is carpeted.) She loves it. She’s a small cat, only 5 pounds, but you can hear her down here, she makes that much noise, running down the hall.

    Tunch, despite his heft, is a good lookin’ cat.

  75. 75.

    Svensker

    For those old enough…. Tunch looks like a shmoo. Oh wait, let me rephrase. Tunch looks like he ate a shmoo.

  76. 76.

    Maude

    Tunch is wearing fur slippers on his back feet.
    I had a cat that was exactly that size. He was very strong and always active.

  77. 77.

    MattR

    @Max: I am so jealous of you, John and all the other BJers in new homes. Especially since my house hunting trip today got cancelled since 2 of the 3 places I was planning on looking at were sold yesterday. I so need to get out of this 1BR apt and into somewhere bigger.

    EDIT: And of course as I hit “post” my realtor called with a couple new places that came on the market. So the trip is back on. Minor yay. (It will turn into a major yay if I actually see something I really like)

  78. 78.

    R-Jud

    We call it “the Zips”, not hot-rodding. When Quinn gets the Zips she’ll run right up your leg if you’re standing in her path. She leapt clear over the Bean’s head the other night. We were impressed.

  80. 80.

    Max

    @MattR: Where you moving from and to?

    Max and I are staying in a temp corporate 1 bd apartment while I wait for my stuff to arrive and Max the Wheaten HATES it. He’s sad and mopey in it. He perks right up when we get to the house. Max actually smiles and jumps around the minute he gets to the house and sulks in the corner in the apartment. Breaks my heart.

    Good luck on the search! I rented my new house in Van sight unseen and honestly, I couldn’t have done any better, had I come up here and looked for something.

    Good house vibes coming your way. Just promise you’ll put some color in your new place. :)

  81. 81.

    gogol's wife

    Tunch is far more beautiful than William Howard Taft, or any human for that matter. Even Colin Firth.

  82. 82.

    librulcarmelite

    Hey, Tunch looks like he’s part Turkish Van, so he’s supposed to be all barrel-shaped… and it looks like he’s already received the memo that Vans are the most handsome cats of all.

  83. 83.

    jl

    The darling Tunch has the aspect of an artistic antique vase (pronounced ‘vaaz’ in this case).

    Cole might want to take hin to Antique Roadshow and get him appraised, although I realize you can put no price on his sentimental value (at least when he is not trying to kill and devour Cole in his sleep).

  84. 84.

    MattR

    @Max: Moving from North Central NJ to Northern NJ. More importantly, moving from a 1BR condo into a house of some sort. That is the absolute necessity since I now work from home full time. Plus I would like to not share walls, ceilings and floors with other people as well as having a backyard I can fence in for Ellie to run in (and for me to BBQ in) I will get back to y’all for interior design tips once I have a place picked out.

    Glad you are happy with your new house. You at least see photos first? Did you have someone there looking for you? You better get them a nice gift :) I had to find a place for someone moving to NYC and she signed a lease without even seeing a picture of the place. I have never been so nervous as taking her to see it as she was moving in. Luckily it worked out.

  86. 86.

    Doctor Science

    @Randy P:

    do all cats have this “maximum destruction in minimum expenditure of energy” thing, or is that just her?

    *puts on ecologist hat*
    Yes, this is what we technically call “their niche”. No stamina to speak of, but deadly at the sneak/hide/spring.

    One side effect, IMscientificO, is that cats live considerably longer than dogs. Tunch and Lily are the same size, but Tunch may well live to be 18-20 or even more, while it’s unlikely that Lily will live to be more than 16-17, and 20 would put her in Guinness Book territory. Tunch would need to get to 30 to be extraordinarily long-lived by cat standards.

    Basically, I think cats sleep their way to a longer life.

  92. 92.

    Fair Economist

    I hope Tunch gets svelte before he creates new geologic faults. New faults would be very dangerous in WV what with all the left-behinds from mining.

  93. 93.

    sukabi

    How old is Tunch? I have a cat that was fairly well padded (not quite as full-figured as ole Tunch) and last year he started acting like a kitten again and losing weight, also got very needy…. took him to the vet and after $1K in vet bills (including a kitty cardiologist) found out that as some cats get older (mine’s 14) that they start developing thickening around the heart — much like people, and their thyroid function gets out of whack… causing the weight loss, more active kitty behavior…

    It’s been a year, my cat’s very svelt and still acting like a young kitty.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    I’d muster the “big-boned” defense if it weren’t for Tunch’s improbably dainty legs–the two we can see anyway. He’s certainly make an excellent paperweight in a seismic zone.

  96. 96.

    licensed to kill time

    Is Tunch’s belly solid fat or is that a lot of loose skin? I have seen older neutered cats with big swinging swathes of loose skin. When they sit like he is it looks like fat.

    He is very handsome, regardless.

  97. 97.

    Barry

    John Cole: “…loves all the birds and chipmunks and squirrels,…”

    Yeah, I can see that from his photo. And some sheep, goats, cows, pizzas, milkshakes and perhaps the odd whale which comes too close :)

  98. 98.

    Nazgul35

    Tunch looks great.

    We just had to put to sleep my little girl cat this morning. It was the first time I have ever had a pet this long (15 years) and had to do this.

    I am distraught, but feel better that her suffering is over.

    Love Tunch for all he is worth.

  101. 101.

    SIA

    Nazgul35, so sorry for your loss. That’s the worst part of loving the 4-legged critters.

  106. 106.

    Tax Analyst

    Tunch looks fantastic! He’s obviously built for comfort, not speed.

    But I do suspect he’s hiding some form of illegal contraband under that coat.

  108. 108.

    ThatPirateGuy

    I wish I could cuddle Tunch, he looks so cute. Much better than the drawings of him.

    I’d settle for cuddling one of my cats though.

  110. 110.

    Paul in KY

    @Doctor Science: Minor quibble Mr. Science Guy. You said: ‘Tunch would need to get to 30 to be extraordinarily long-lived by cat standards.’

    I’m going to say 25. I agree cats live considerably longer, but almost all conk out by age 22 or so. To have one live to 30 is very, very rare (almost unheard of). I think Guiness lists 36 as oldest domestic cat (I think it’s name was ‘Dorian Gray’).

  113. 113.

    Paul in KY

    Nazgul35, my condolences to you. I must say that as an LOTR geek, I find it at bit odd to be giving my regrets to an entity known as ‘Nazgul35’.

    As an aside, when I was young, walking to school 5 miles a day up hill both ways, we only had 9 Nazgul, not 35.

  115. 115.

    Paul in KY

    My bad, gogol’s wife, that last one was for Nazgul35. I’m not used to these new fangled ‘REPLY’ buttons.

  116. 116.

    HumboldtBlue

    Give him a golf club and call him “Hefty.” He could join Mickleson and Sager.

  117. 117.

    mrmike

    @Doctor Science:

    Basically, I think cats sleep their way to a longer life.

    There’s a rule of thumb that says every organism on earth lives just about a billion heartbeats. Humans have stretched that to about 2 billion with medicine and diet and such. Optimizing your expenditure of heartbeats is a good strategy nonetheless.

  119. 119.

    Anne Laurie

    @Svensker:

    For those old enough…. Tunch looks like a shmoo.

    From Wikipedia:

    The actual origin of Capp’s word “shmoo” has been the subject of debate by linguists for decades, leading to the misconception that the term was derived from “schmo” or “schmooze”. However, “shmue” was a taboo Yiddish term for the female reproductive organ,

    Yup, Tunch is a pussy!

  121. 121.

    Elie

    @Lisa:

    LOL! My Buddy is a bit “large boned”. At age 12 he is an active, curious and totally wonderful kitty. He is also a champeen mouse and all critter catcher…

  122. 122.

    Justin

    Tunch is like a Tyrannosaurus Rex: lots of angry bulk, a killer attitude, and tiny, almost useless forearms.

  124. 124.

    BettyPageisaBlonde

    One of these days I am going to catch him on film doing what I call “hot-rodding.” I have a long hallway from my bedroom/office that opens up into the living room (where this picture was taken), and he sits out my office door, starts making some primal cat noises, and then fires full speed down the hallway and into the living room. And this is without the benefit of catnip.

    In our house, we call that “ass bug.” As in, watch out, Endymion has ass bug!

  125. 125.

    Platonicspoof

    All you critics of poor little Tunch are just jealous of his owner provider minion.
    Close observation of the evidence shows all his fur standing on end, so obviously it’s just a case of extreme static electricity.
    (Note to John – tanker trucks used to hang chains to the ground to discharge static electricity.)

    @Svensker:

    Tunch looks like he ate a shmoo.

    Far and away the worst thing anyone has ever said about Tunch, even before Anne Laurie’s further unwarranted belittling of his Tunchhood!

  126. 126.

    asiangrrlMN

    Tunch! I love that cat so much. He has such an expression of peacefulness in his eyes. I will admit, though, that for the first time, he does look a tad plump to me. Still, that just means there is more of him to love, hug, and squooze. I will add that my boys eat roughly the same amount of food, and one of them (Raven) is a sleep 9.1 pounds, and the other (Shadow) is a plumper (to me, but everyone else says no) 10.7 pounds, and they are both equally active.

    @Nazgul35: I am very sorry for your loss. My deepest condolences to you and your loved ones.

  127. 127.

    Triassic Sands

    I know this is going to open me up to a whole bunch of abuse, but Tunch is really losing weight.

    He certainly hides his weight loss well.

  128. 128.

    Nazgul35

    Thank you to everyone for your comments…the out right despair is gone, now we have a prolonged sadness and loss.

    My wife lit a candle for her in her favorite room. Now the sadness and pain is left for us, her pain and struggle is over and she won’t be missed or ever replaced in our hearts.

    This is part of the costs for having them in our lives…in the end, it is worth the sadness. The pain will dull and go away and the happy memories will remain.

  130. 130.

    lawguy

    We’ve got a 25 pound male, Sonny, that we had to put on a diet last summer. He still looks like that, but is losing. He is not happy, nor are the other cats who also had to be put on a diet along with him. But he can now jump up. Bad parents.

  131. 131.

    Denny

    We referred to it as “Zooming”. Get 2 or three cats doing it at once, the house sounds like the basement in a bowling alley.

  132. 132.

    The Truffle

    Once I had a pooty named Lily, so I keep confusing John’s pets and forgetting that Lily is a pooch and not a pooty.

  133. 133.

    litbrit

    Tunch is absolutely gorgeous. His boyish figure is perfect–cats come in all shapes and sizes, and as long as he’s eating healthily and moving around a bit (what cat voluntarily moves around *a lot* once he’s passed kittenhood?) he’s exactly what he’s supposed to be: a gorgeous, cuddly dude. I’m assuming he’s cuddly, of course–the look in his eye tells me he’s only cuddly with a select few.

    My Marley could be his twin, in bas-relief. Last year, Marles ate a plastic ziploc bag (I have no idea why, nor did we know that was the problem until later); this clogged up his common bile duct and launched a nasty case of feline hepatitis, yellow-green ears and gums, you name it. He stopped eating completely, and a day went by where I tried to tempt him with chicken breast sauteéd in butter, bits of pecorino cheese, and even full-cream Greek yogurt, to no avail. Off to the vet’s we went, and in the next week, during which he was hospitalized, Marley’s weight went from 17 pounds to less than 11. I brought him home and stayed up with him all night, force-feeding him liquified cat-food through a wide syringe, praying he’d make it. The next day, I took him back to the vet’s for more IV hydration, and suddenly, the assistant came in, cheering: “Marley just passed a huge plastic bag! And now he’s eating everything in sight!” Normally I don’t want to hear the details of someone’s bathroom experience, thank you very much, but this was music to my ears.

    He quickly regained his weight and added a few more pounds for good measure, putting him just over 20 lbs. Like Tunch, Marles has the classic pear-shape thing going on, which you can see the beginnings of in this pic, which I posted back in 2008.

    Cats are the best. And so are big, mixed-breed dogs that think they’re people and get right up on your bed, knock all the pillows off, and lick your face when you’re crying so you’ll laugh instead. And so are horses, but I haven’t managed to talk the husband into inviting one home. Yet.

  135. 135.

    David Moisan

    My late cat Frisky, a Turkish Angora, used to love to run around, too. The thing with Angoras, though, is that they expect to play. If your Angora decides you’re her playmate, she won’t leave you alone.

    So explains Frisky’s 2 AM runs, where she would make me throw her toy mousie down the hallway where she’d run after it.

    And then fifteen minutes later, go back to her Dad to sleep.

  136. 136.

    litbrit

    Arrrgh, I should have said “Marley could be his twin, in negative”, not bas-relief. Fatigue and art-class metaphors don’t mix, and I have too much of the former and too many of the latter eating away at what’s left of my brain. (Other mothers tell me you lose 1/5 of your intelligence every time you give birth. I’ve got three sons; you do the math. Because I can’t!)

  137. 137.

    CynDee

    Tunch’s picture is everything that an official portrait should be. His presence is absolutely striking.

    Beautiful lighting, beautiful subject, beautiful moment.

  139. 139.

    Gatsby

    The only reason I would like to see a slimmed – down Tunch is because I want him to live as long as possible.. Otherwise, he is a fabulous-looking cat! Everybody’s cat lover dream!

  140. 140.

    Lesley

    Tunch is the Kirstie Alley of cats. And I mean that with love, nothin’ but love.

  141. 141.

    Lesley

    The thing I love about Tunch is he doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks. He loves himself.

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