Thursday, May 5, 2011

“It Takes Tu-na”


I am in the business of evaluating words and whether they are used economically. I laughed this morning while catching up on clippings that fellow editors had sent my way. One article made it to the top of the stack because with a headline like “Why a Good Script Is Like a Thong Bikini,” there can be no cause for delay. Another article was about the dedicated volunteers at the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, who attributed their recent success in trapping feral cats to “a lot of tuna.” Those four words say it all and also reinforce the thong-bikini philosophy of covering ground sparingly.

“A lot of tuna” brought back vivid memories of setting humane traps for Lillie, Perkins, T.J., and Miss Tommie. It took the two of us, Cat Man and Cat Lady, to catch these then-young cats who were born beneath our pier-and-beam house and to bring them safely to Dr. O.’s for their initial checkups and vaccinations. Now, eleven years later, I can still remember the routine of opening can after can of smelly tuna in our backyard, hoping to lure and domesticate an innocent mama kitty and her litter of two calico girls and a grey-tabby boy.

I don’t recall emptying the shelves of the supermarket, but my husband and I definitely needed a lot of tuna to fulfill our mission. As a result, I rarely order tuna sandwiches for lunch anymore, although Cat Man swears that a bit of mayonnaise might make Fancy Feast’s flaked fish-and-shrimp combo edible for humans. I advised him to stick to his day job and leave culinary flights of fancy to a new generation of cat rescuers. That said, he is allowed to spread the word that “it takes tu-na” to make the cat world go 'round.

Query of the Day: Do you feed tuna to your cats?

2 comments:

  1. A little late here, but yes. Oddly, Pharaoh doesn't really care for it, however all of ours go nuts for sardines, which is pretty much a regular part of their diet, along with raw, ground turkey and yogurt. Mia is the only one who can tolerate raw chicken livers, which she devours. Sheba is the finicky one: she won't touch ground beef or shrimp. She's also the only one who doesn't constantly sniff the carpet for something to eat like the others. I call them the "crack kitties."

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  2. I feed Bella (also known as Bella Brook and "lovey") tuna when I have run out of wet cat food. However, after reading Kephra's post above I may consider venturing into the realm of homemade cat food. While, "lovey" can eat my food, I hope I never have to resort to eating hers, yuck!

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