This week’s innerview-ee, Weevil Anthony Shatley, is Very Hansome an Spruce, super frenly an (ess-PESH-ully considerin’ his scary an pruh-CARRY-us beginnin’) has a Totally Crispy Biscuit at-ti-tude.
Or, rather, I should say, CAT-ti-tude. Yep, Weevil’s a CAT. (Ackshully, if I hadn’t seen him in The Fur, I wudda thought he was a Dog. Or a dog inna cat suit. No Woof!)
Weevil is the O-FISH-ull Mascot of United Way of Indian River County, an organi-ZAY-shun of humans that helps fellow humans in lotsa diff-rent ways.
Me an my assistant met Weevil at his office. He was waitin’ in this room with a VERY big, important-lookin’ table anna buncha chairs. A middle-sized black an white tuxedo-style cat came right up to greet us, an gave me a frenly nose bump: No hesitation (no wag-an-sniff, of course, but also no uh-LOOF Sniff-an-Size-Up either).
“Good afternoon,” I said, innerducing myself an my assistant an tryin’ not to look surprised at this hansome, middle-sized cat’s un-catlike-in-my-experience duh-MEEN-er.
“Welcome! Com’on IN. Mr. Bonzo. Have a seat. May I call you Bonz? I’m Weevil Shatley. Call me Weevil or Weev, either way’s fine. This is my Mom, DEA-na.”
“Absolutely! Bonz is fine,” I said. “A pleasure to meet you both. I understand you have quite a tail to tell.” I opened my notebook. “I can’t wait to hear it!”
“It IS quite a tail,” Weevil agreed. “I’m not sure exactly where I am in my allotted 9 lives but I know for sure I’m one lucky fee-line, this time around. Mama calls me a FOUND-ling.
“My mem-rees are Fuzzy: That was a whole year ago, last April 26. First thing I can remember is I was lost, an all alone. I remember being with a buncha other tiny fluffballs, all warm an cozy with our Mommy, but, nex thing I remember, I was all alone an wet an it was in this deep, dark place an it wasn’t soft like Mommy, I couldn’t see anything an I was scared.”
“Oh, for Lassie’s Sake, Weevil, how AWFUL!” I gasped. “How did you get out?”
“As it turned out, I was right here, in our parkin’ lot, a tiny, wet, buh-draggled fluffball, stuck way down inside what they called a Storm Drain: as it happened, at the Very Same Time, Miss Deana (my Future Furever Momma) was also right here, with the staff, gettin’ ready to go to an e-VENT.
Two humans, Mr. Miguel an Miss Tricia (they’re on the staff like Momma), were loadin’ Important Stuff inna Van, when they heard me mewin’ for help. An they SAVED me! They hadda lay on their tummies an reach wa-ay down to grab me.
“They gently carried me back into the office to show everybody, an figure out what to do with me. That’s when Miss Deana made the decision to take me home, JUST till she could find a furever home for me. See, she already had a dog, Junebug, an was absolutely NOT lookin’ for another pet. Speshully a cat.
“She took me to Dr. Nix, who said I was only about a week old an still Totally Helpless. I didn’t know even Basic Cat Stuff like how to drink milk or even how to Do My Dooty. (Cat Mommas teach their babies those things but I guess I got lost buh-fore those lessons.)
“Momma fed me speshull kitten formula with a suh-RINGE every two hours, an taught me how to eat; an also how to Do My Dooty. She’d rescued several other animals when she was growin’ up: a possum anna few squirrels, among others, an kept ’em in the laundry room till they were OK to go back to the Wild.”
“What about Junebug?”
“I think I was so liddle that Junebug didn’t see me as a cat, just a tiny fellow creature who needed help. She was the only Momma I knew, an she taught me like I was a puppy, from her point of view as a Dog. Dr. Nix calls it SPEE-shees I-denna-fuh-KAY-shun. So I identified Junebug as my Momma, an she i-denna-fied Me as her puppy.”
“Oh Woof! That’s a-MAZ-ing!” I exclaimed.
“I KNOW! I’m SO lucky! I spent a lotta time in the office at first, cuz Momma hadda feed me several times a day. Everybody at the office was SO kind. They were always poppin’ in to see how I was doin’.
“When I was healthy, an old enough, an started eatin’ regular kitten food, I began stayin’ home with Junebug, when Momma went to work.
“By that time Miss Deana had decided to keep me furever, so I hadda Furever Human Momma anna dog Momma. So I identify as dog, mostly. (I probly groom a lot more than ackshul dogs, an I can get into positions dogs can’t erven buh-GIN to do.) Also, I’m not aloof. When someone’s at the door, I stand at the top of the stairs and growl. But I am very cor-jull with human frens an fellow workers. I nap like a dog, sorta a Sploot. An I love to roll around in the grass.”
Then Weevil got a serious, sorta faraway look, an pawsed briefly. “Then one day, it was this past Jan-you-wary, Junebug hadda go to Dog Heaven. I greeved for a long time. At first I was confused cuz I couldn’t find her. I searched for her all over the place; hung out in the dog house, thinkin’ she might be back. I still feel Very Sad. She was the Best Pooch Mom ever. But now I have the Best Human Mom ever, an also my pawsome staff famly at United Way: Miguel an Tricia, an all my United Way aunties: Jessica, Sydney, Cindy, Annette, Amanda, an Meredith.
“I am totally Livin’ My Best Life EVER!”
Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about Weevil’s movin’ story. And how it seemed like a wonderful example of Nature vs. Nurture, all wrapped up in a hansome, charming little cat who mostly sees himself as a dog.
