Pooja Viswanathan
In this issue, Natural Selections interviews Muffin and Velvet, the cats who live with Sarah Mereby (Fuchs Lab, The Rockefeller University) and Eddie Spencer. I wasn’t able to meet these lovely creatures but Sarah graciously transmitted my questions to them and their answers to me. Please write me at pviswanath@mail.rockefeller.edu if you have pets!
Pooja Viswanathan: How old are you? In human years?
Velvet: We are 21 years old and 1.5 years old in human years.
PV: Is there a story behind your names?
V: I was named by the people that work at the shelter that I am from. It is very fitting since my coat is very soft and sleek.
Muffin: I was named by my hoomans. They told me I am super cute and small like a muffin. I’m not so small anymore though.
PV: What is your first memory?
M: My first memory was waking up to find I had been put in a mailbox in the middle of winter. I was so scared! Thankfully I was rescued by the local shelter, which led to me meeting my hoomans. Meeting my hoomans is my favorite memory.
V: My first memory was meeting Muffin at the shelter. The shelter told me that I was the only survivor of all my siblings. Muffin has been my friend and a part of my family ever since.
PV: Which humans do you live with? When did you meet them?
V: We live with Sarah Mereby and Eddie Spencer. We met them at the shelter in January 2018.
PV: How do they belong in the Tri-I community?
M: Sarah is a Research Specialist at The Rockefeller University.
PV: Where do you live?
V: We live in Montclair, NJ. We just moved from Lyndhurst, NJ. We love our new house. We got to learn how to go up and down stairs and there are so many new places for us to hide. Also there are plenty of birds and squirrels to watch from the window.
PV: If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would you live?
V: I would live wherever my hoomans and Muffin would live.
M: I would live in a restaurant since I love to eat and would help eat any leftovers.
PV: What are your favorite foods?
M: I love to eat canned cat food. I do not have a favorite flavor. I eat so quickly that I can’t even remember what flavor I had or whether I had a full bowl to begin with. I also love to try to eat Velvet’s portion. Never know if Velvet had a better flavor or was given more food than me.
V: I love Friskies Shreds. My favorite flavor is salmon. I am very picky and have taught my hoomans to only give my shreds and not pate. Ew. I also like treats: Ahi Tuna flavor! I also like to drink water out of hooman’s glass. It always tastes best when it’s nice and cold. Sharing with hooman is the best. Although I don’t know why they get mad at me when I take a small lick of their water.
PV: What is your favorite weekend activity?
V: We like to hang out with our hoomans on the weekends. That’s the best. We normally like to watch TV with hoomans and sit in our cat tree while looking out the window. We also like to play with hooman. We love our feather toys.
M: I like to snuggle with Eddie.
V: I like to follow hoomans everywhere around the house to make sure to help them if they need my assistance.
PV: Besides your human roomie, who is your favorite human in the Tri-I community?
V: I have met Stephanie who works at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I love making new friends.
M: I can’t remember. I am a bit afraid of meeting new people.
PV: Do you have a funny story to share with us?
V: One time hoomans brought home a cat stuffed animal that is about the same size as us. We were so convinced it was real. It was very scary. We both approached it very slowly and pawed at it. We were worried we were being replaced by a new cat. Thankfully it’s just a decoration. It wishes it could be like us.
PV: Is there some way we can see more pictures of you on the interwebs?
V: You can follow us on the Instagram account @catasticday or use the hashtag #muffinandvelvet.
PV: If you could have any human ability, what would it be?
M: Being able to open cans of cat food. That’s the dream.
V: Being able to play the piano. I love when hoomans play piano. It’s very relaxing. I’ve attempted to play the piano myself by jumping on the piano keys but it doesn’t sound as good as when hooman plays.