Take time to STOP and smell the cat-food. I'll wait in this box

To the lady with thumbs: "The 4 of us don't think you're cooking much lately and we haven't seen you bake in.......forever. We are getting concerned."

"I presume you will eventually not have time to open cans?"

"For the sake of our welfare, I have taken the liberty to place an ad in the local paper for a new home for all of us."

"I'll sit in this box since it is International Box Day and
I expect the phone will start ringing any minute now."

"How will they resist?"


hugs, 4  frail, forgotten waifs

Bro's will be bro's

What a joy it is to care for these two little munchkins

They are rough & tumble then sweet and loving.

                                                               CHASE
Their purrs shake the foundation of this comfy log home.

How I adore these two.

These little bro's.

The small one copy-catting the other.

Thankfully, never having experienced a cruel hand.

Always ready for adventure.

What a busy day. Many cats to care for, new cats to meet & I purchased a  new vacuum cleaner (it's like gold to me). Anyone with pets knows this is VERY valuable.  I have gone through 2 this last 12 months thinking they were great and they turned out to be junk. I think I finally found the best one out there for the money.  I'll do a consumer report on it soon.
I'm off for my 'fish & chips' night. A girl gotta pamper herself :-)
Catherine from http://cornerofcatsmind.blogspot.com/ won the give-away. Drop over and enjoy her blog.
There are 108 cats at our local shelter. PLEASE drop over if you can and make a donation or better yet give one of these beautiful cats a loving home.
Hugs, Deb 

& the winner is..............

It was only appropriate to throw all your names into Gary's fishing hat to find the winner of the teenie, weenie, itsy-bitsy fish dish for your kitty. You'll just have to trust me on this. The winner is Catherine at Corner of Cat's Mind.http://cornerofcatsmind.blogspot.com/
Congratulations and please send me your address. Our postal strike has ended (as you know) and I will get this off to you right away. Everyone should drop over to Catherine's blog to meet Banjo and enjoy some fabulous photography.

It is so hot and sunny here. The cats have been basking on the deck. Sierra watched as I cleaned up after a wicked rain storm the other night. Some of my pots were flooded so I'll be pampering them a bit tomorrow. All the garden flowers and herbs just loved the rain.

My tomato plants were flooded. That's what I get for not having drainage holes in the pots. I put lots of rocks in the bottom but it didn't do the job. Holes will be drilled in tomorrow..

hugs, Deb

Teenie-weenie itsy-bitsy give-away

I saw this the other day and had to get one, well.....two. One for me and one for you.

I figure this will hold enough food for your kitty for one serving or make a wonderful treat dish.

So, you know what to do. Just leave a comment and your name will go in the hat. If you are a follower it will go in twice. I don't care if you have won before. If you want it....comment. And that's that.

Comments will be accepted until tomorrow night and then I will announce the winner on Wednesday.

HOT, HOT, HOT here. Love it! The Postal strike is over today. I can finally mail the last give-away to the winner. Sorry Phil, it has taken so long but the public have no say in these strikes.
My cat-care book is filling up for the summer. Every day more calls come in and new kitties are added. Business is GROWING by leaps and bounds.

Can this possibly be comfortable?

(btw ... there are 4 cat beds only feet from her) She's tenacious if nothing else.


hugs, Deb

never coming back

The local train tracks are now for one thing and one thing only.....summer walks with the dog. For more than a century the railroad passed through our town. I used to love to hear the train whistle in the distance as it flew through. A small town with a freight train passing through 3 or 4 times a day. It was like something out of one of those old black and white movies. I just liked it. Now the rails are deteriorating and the weeds are growing up around the tracks. You might even spot wild-life grazing on them.
The end of the rail-line changed how I felt about this town. It wasn't so unique or charming anymore. Then the big stores came in...Walmart, Home Depot, Rona and so on. All the smaller stores have suffered for it. Can we even call this a 'small town' anymore? I don't think so. Too bad!

He stares again, down the railroad track
Looking for something, that's never coming back
And just like his old friends, and their days of yore
The train don't come through here, anymore."
(from the song "Anymore" by: Lyle Dillabough)

Cats don't care about stuff like this. They live in the moment and if they can settle their caboose in anything that resembles a box...then life is good.

                                                           (our Sierra)
Puffin is doing well in her foster home. She is becoming more relaxed and loves to be petted. Shelly (the foster mom) thinks she will be adoptable soon. Thanks for your nice comments about her.
I have a teeny weeny give-away so drop by tomorrow. No really, Please do....it's so so cute. 


hug, Deb

Cat den

It didn't rain today but it was dreary and muggy. I was off to visit a friend with the lady who is fostering little Puffin (Shelly) to see how she put together a cat den on her house.

Meet Dora

Dora does have freedom but not while the baby birds are in their nests.

She was fit to be tied.

I have cat-sat many times at this home but Shelly wanted to look this thing over with measuring tape in hand. The cat goes in and out through the office window. It's really neat.

Back home, I am still cleaning up the office and organizing my life.

Here's where I sit and enjoy your blogs. The cat basket is still empty. Not one of my cats has taken over Ginny's place as office cat.

This will be tackled next. Hidden behind a door is 40 some photo albums. I need a way to store them properly. Anyone have any suggestions?

I throw a bag of 'stuff' out at least twice a month lately and most of it goes to a thrift shop in town. I am serious about only living with what I need and love. If it has sentimental value I most likely will keep it but if it is something someone gave me and I feel that someone else could use it, is it not better to move it on? I think so!

I always have an audience while I work

hugs, Deb

Doin' nothin

It's been a great weekend of doing nothing and eating bon-bons but Kane & I did 2 long walks today so no guilt.

Buddy (new cat client) is already coming around 

and today I was petting him while I was dishing out the smelly stuff. He's pure white *swoon* and is built like a bull-dog. I'll feature more of him on Friday.

I decided to dust my office today.

My files need work but I thought I'd show you this great idea I got from http://cozylittlehouse.blogspot.com/ to use a dish rack to hold them and the utensil holders work for pencils. I decorate each file just to make them less tedious to work with. Why not? Brenda at Cozy Little House shows you how to decorate just about anything in your house or garden. Drop by and say hi. You will love her blog..

If you have been following my blog for awhile you may remember little Puffin that was picked up as a stray and has been a resident of our local animal shelter. Today Puffin came to Carleton Place to be fostered by a lady named Shelly who does a lot for cat rescue in the area. Puffin is 1 1/2 years and spayed. 'I'm so happy to see her out of the shelter and someone working with her. She is so shy and would hide when people would look or talk to her. When I was at the shelter last week I tried to take photos of her but she just got 'big-eyed' and hid. Although she is still scared she is now in a home where time can be spent helping her to learn to trust again.

It is still rainy here and the cats are making the best of the baskets.

Aren't these two something else? It is real, true-blue love.

So tonight Kane joins me for a movie & popcorn.

Have a great evening.

Hugs, Deb 

all to myself

I love when I have a few days to myself.

It doesn't happen often so I treasure it.
Tonight I made corn on the cob and garlic bread for my dinner. No man would be satisfied with that but I was. For dessert....grapes.

I have been waiting for this weekend but I hadn't ordered rain.
Blah!

The cats are dining on salmon (bones and all)
The rain came down in buckets tonight so Kane didn't get a walk. He's actually stuck to my ankle because there was some thunder and that will put him off for the rest of the night. Sometimes I wonder if he was one of those dogs that get tied to a dog-house and left outside to pine for their owner.  He's so terrified of thunder and fire-works that the only explanation is that he was left outside and couldn't get away from it. He is a rescued dog so who knows. Poor dog.
I have a new cat this weekend to cat-sit but so far he is afraid of strangers so this one will take some work.
The others are repeat customers (I like to call them) and will dance around my legs as I prepare their dinner.

Tomorrow.....my dinner might be popcorn.
hugs, Deb


p.s. Adoptions seem to have slowed down a great deal at shelters and more cats come in at this time than any other. Please help your local shelter to feed and care for your area's cats. Take a bit of time this weekend and drop in to the closest shelter and make a donation or sign up to volunteer over the summer months. They are desperate for our help and our funds to feed the numbers that come in EVERYDAY. Why are adoptions down throughout the summer? Because we are busy with our lives and forget all about the animals that sit in cages in shelters that are full to capacity. Even if you just take one day a week to  help or make that needed donation of money or food it would make their chance of survival much higher. Think....what would we do without our local animal shelters? We should be cheering them on and giving our time.
hugs, Deb

Feline Friday - Cooper & Ozzie

    He stretches 'til he just can't stretch no more
Cooper has the friendly gene and he's using it to the fullest. I love this guy and he loves me. He also loves everyone else. There is so much love and charm in this cat that it could be divided up between all 97 that sit at our local shelter presently and  they could then advertise.....ALL CATS HERE ARE FRIENDLY.

It has shown through studies that if the paternal cat of a litter is friendly then that gene is passed on to the kittens. It is known as 'the friendly gene.'  It goes without saying that the amount of handling of the kittens is crucial in providing happy, social kittens to the adopters. But sometimes the kittens are not socialized all that well and still you may end up with extremely friendly cats. When you see that the theory of the friendly gene being passed on seems to make more sense.

Now, if they have a 'goof-ball' gene then Cooper's housemate, Ozzie most likely had that passed on. I love him to pieces, too.

OZZIE

I have a busy weekend ahead. Hope you do too!
http://www.lanarkanimals.ca/ is our local shelter. Take a look at what they have.

hugs, Deb

Teach your children well

This is one of my dining-room windows. The roses are a birthday gift from my daughter, Allie. "Thanks honey" and the shamrock I have had for years and it comes to life every summer filled with gorgeous white flowers.

Lately, I have been hearing of incidents where cats are biting children in the home. When I hear this I get so infuriated because I can picture in my mind what goes on before the cat actually had to bite. Too often cats are handed to kids as 'toys' with no proper training of how to treat them and very little supervision. Cats are just expected to take the pounding, pulling, grabbing, squeezing and not fight back. When I was fostering for the shelter years back one of the criteria for an adopting family was to have no small children in the home.

 I did get some flack for that because people would say "my child is not mean" but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that parents were not taking the time to educate the kids on proper handling of the kittens so I just made it a rule...NO young CHILDREN. I never regretted it.

What to do if bitten by a cat

The first step is to secure the cat from the victim. More often than not there is a child involved. Immediately remove the child from wherever the cat is. Wash the wound with warm water and soap. Rinse all soap.

Cover the wound with a clean, dry dressing. If you have an antibiotic cream then apply some right away. Most cat bites will cause infection. It is best to consult your physician in case the wound needs stitching.

If you do not know the cat you must get medical treatment in case of rabies. Rabies is fatal to humans if not treated. 

I have a one year old grand-daughter now and she lives with 2 cats. She loves these cats (as much as a 1 year old could) and is now being taught to treat them gently. At one, their first reaction to a small animal is to grab, pull and pound on. Children can get too rough and eventually the cat will have had enough. You cannot blame the cat. Imagine what that feels like for the animal. Imagine a small kitten being squeezed too hard. It is our responsibility as cat owners to teach our children to have a gentle hand with cats.

Teaching my kids to be gentle (1987)

 It is as easy to start out right teaching our children to have respect and know the proper way to handle the cat as it is to teach them to be gentle with their human friends. 

If you don't, the results might be a bad bite with possibly a scar to follow and a child that will be a bully to animals or terrified of cats. As far as the cat is concerned, many end up in shelters or euthanized. Prevention is the key here.

and that's that!

hugs, Deb

White Wednesday

I am busy these days meeting new clients and starting to care for their cats. I have a new diabetic cat to care for and a cute old dude named Buddy. I'm sure you'll meet him soon.

The weather here is gorgeous and it makes it hard to stay inside. Since the humidity was quite low today, Kane joined me for a walk. He was so happy to come along. He's been having to stay behind because of the heat lately.  We walked along the Mississippi River and spotted a family of geese. 

It was interesting to see how they pondered what to do when arriving at an obstacle in the river.

They eventually turned around and headed back. I was so into watching them that I forgot to take another picture. Duh!

Here's a little white for White Wednesday.

My white corner in the kitchen has a new addition (Cuisinart) that I was given for my birthday. I know it's not white but oh boy, do I love the coffee it makes. This grinds the beans and fills the house with the aroma of amazing coffee.

hugs, Deb

Waiting for you

Custer needs a home.

Custer has 3 legs but is getting around very well.
I think he is as sweet as pie and would give you his life-time of love.

John is still waiting for  a home. (See him on my side-bar) He has been neutered so he was in a cage today. He is one of my favorite. Man,  those eyes melt your heart.

He wasn't as sad as he looks here. He was very affectionate, happy for company & did get out of the cage.

Taurus is 4 years old and oh my goodness he is a sweetheart. 

These are just 3 of the gorgeous cats at LAWS that we cuddled and played with this morning. Shelly and I could have stayed all day if we didn't have commitments. So many lovely, friendly, playful cats await a loving home. We met Sheila today who volunteers with LAWS as a cat care-giver. She makes sure that each and every cat has time out from the cage and gets to roam around and meet other cats. She volunteers 4 days a week. I watched her primping and cleaning and loving up the cats. I think she must go home each day feeling that she has made a difference for these little souls.

Here's the website http://www.lanarkanimals.ca/cats1.asp?page=1

You know what to do

more tomorrow

hugs, Deb

Farewell to Guiness

Is there not a down-side to every job? Mine is losing one of my client's cats to a disease. You met Guiness last year when I posted some fun pictures of him.

Here he is ordering breakfast.

 He was hilarious! He was loving and he was gentle. (oh God, here come the tears) Why does it never get easier? You would think after years of loving and working with cats I could cope with the loss of one but they are all so magnificent and beautiful that it just tears me up inside to see one lose a fight. Guiness peacefully left us today after fighting cancer.

I am so happy I got to know him even though it was a short time.

He's kneading my arm here.

I already know he's in heaven now waiting to be re-united with those who loved him.

Rest in Peace, funny little guy.

Love & Hugs, Deb

One emotional ride

This past week or so has been a time that I will not soon forget. I wondered why I felt like I had been hit by a truck tonight when 2 week's worth of events came crashing down on me. Two weeks ago I took a flip and broke a rib. I spent the next week healing and preparing for my son's wedding. My son was married last Saturday, I turned one year older on Wednesday, we celebrated Father's Day today and on Wednesday my husband retires from 35 years of civil service. I tell ya, we have kept Hallmark in business the last few days and emotions run high around here.

Along with all the family happenings I have been busy with new clients and familiar ones. I am also going into week 2 of caring for our German Shepherd friend, Helma. Am I tired....yep! Am I sore....oh ya! I think someone told me a rib takes 6 weeks to heal. I believe that.

Tomorrow I head up to the Lanark Animal Shelter to photograph some cats. I do my part trying to help find homes for these poor adult cats that get lost amongst the kittens. I know Johnny is still there and would like to check in on him, too.

When our Sierra isn't waiting on the front porch for the mailman she can often be found bothering the next door neighbour's dog, Toby.

This never goes anywhere. She just likes to tease him because she knows he is tied and can't do anything. She is a bit of a brat, ya know. Don't worry about Toby, I brought her home.

Wishing you a fine Monday..
Hugs, Deb

Happy Father's Day from the family & furries

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, GARY & JOHN

Have a relaxing day!

hugs, Deb 

(no...didn't get a new kitten. This kitten we rescued from the street years back and found it a good home)

Charming Ebony

Mr. Ed chases the sun

It's been a busy, hot day and tonight I'm just kickin' back with a bowl of popcorn. I had lots of kitties to care for and Helma, the German Shepherd needed 2 visits. I spent an hour making sandwiches for my daughter's friends' stag tonight and then back out for the dinner rounds. Ebony, the little black beauty I am caring for until next week has finally come out of her shell and is showing some affection. She is so gorgeous and has a calm nature. 

What is it about black cats (with a white spot) that make me feel I have to 'dress up' to be in their company? We sat on the floor and played with her toys and I was glad I had just had a pedicure. :-)

"I see you..you gorgeous thing"

Tomorrow we are celebrating my birthday (gagh!) and Father's Day with the kids. Breakfast out....my favorite. (I'm thinking french toast)

Hope you have a Happy Father's Day.

hugs, Deb

travel tips if they really must go

Most cats feel very vulnerable off home ground. That is why I started my in-home (their home) cat-sitting service 16 years ago.

But if you must travel with kitty you should be well-prepared.

I have a few travelling tips for those who plan to travel with a cat. 

1. No food or water within 4 hours of departure.

2.Make food and water available on a long flight but line the carrier with towels or shredded paper in case of an accident.

3.Inform the person next to you that you have a cat.

4.If your cat is travelling in cargo area, attach dishes to the inside of the carrier and freeze the water so it will thaw after take-off and not spill out during loading.

5. If travelling by car be aware that some state require a veterinary health certificate in order to take an animal across state lines.

6. Once you have arrived at your final destination, set up your cat's litter pan and make sure all windows, doors and other potential kitty escape routes are closed and locked.

7. No matter how small your cats are or how well you think they get along, resist the temptation to cram two into one carrier. 

8. Never try to sneak your cat on board without a reservation. Being able to travel with your pet on board is a privilege given to us by the airlines. 

Sierra has informed me that she's not going anywhere.


(If anyone has traveled with a cat and has some valuable suggestions,  please let us know)

Safe travels!


OMGosh - I should be tarred and cat-haired. I forgot to post the MOST IMPORTANT TIP....be sure to have identification on your cat before boarding or travelling by car. Thank you Knatolee from http://knatolee.blogspot.com/ for adding that most important tip. Drop by and visit Knatolee 'cause she has some adorable animals and chickens too.

Hugs, Deb