I realize it’s been forever since I posted and I wanted to let you know all is well, just many personal and work-related commitments that have been keeping me busy and off the radar. Now that the world is starting to normalize a bit more, I wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a wonderful summer before time escaped me and to share some tips to keep our cats safe, happy, and healthy during this time of year, as they can be adversely affected by the upcoming 4th of July, the searing summer temperatures, and the influx of gatherings that will be occurring in the months to come as we begin to invite more family and friends back into our homes. Read more

Me, back in 2014 when I began to draft Purr Prints of the Heart, a book to help those dealing with pet loss.

I’m not a professionally trained pet loss expert, but I am an expert at experiencing pet loss and the grieving process. Over the course of my life, I’ve had countless beloved pets – cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more. I’ve also lost many of them, so I know just how devastating the loss can be. I know the deep, dark pain that resides in the very core of your heart as a result, making it seem impossible you will ever be able to move on and be happy again, as well as the emotional demons that can invade your every thought as you replay the death over in your mind. I know the subject so well, I wrote a book on it: Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death and Beyond, including a guide for coping with pet loss for people who may need help with the grieving process (endorsed by Bonnie Poirier, pastor at Ministry of St. Francis of Assisi, along with Marty Tousley of Grief Healing.com, and Alice Villalobos, DVM / Quality of Life Scale), and I also created a national day to honor those pets we’ve lost – Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, held August 28 of each year. Read more

While not recent, this was Harley’s last photo. We had no idea at the time it would become a memory, and not a moment. 2020 has reinforced that sentiment deeply – be grateful for what you have, as you never know when it will be gone.

2020 was a time of hardship, pain, sacrifice, and uncertainties but it was also a time of reflection, reinvention, self-discovery, and a new landscape of blessings. Like many, I say good riddance to much the year has brought, but I’m also grateful for what it gave. Read more

At 15 years old our beautiful Zee is the purr-fect model to champion senior cat adoptions.

2020 will forever be known as the year of COVID, redefining life as we know it. Hardships, challenges, tragedies, and more became part of the landscape. Social distancing changed how we participated in milestone moments in life – births, deaths, and holidays to name a few. It changed how we worked, how we shopped, how we communicated and so much more, often making it difficult to find the silver lining in any of it. But silver linings did exist – one for me – my relationship with Zee, our 15-year-old Maine Coon cat. Working remotely from home since March I’m able to spend more time with him than I ever would have before and I’m grateful, especially as I’m painfully aware my time with him is no longer measured in infinite possibilities of days ahead, but of finite moments that are coming closer to an end. Read more

For Mia and me, our happiest moments are those that are also the quietest.

I love all my cats, each for their wonderfully distinct personalities, but I share a special affinity for my sweet Mia, a cat who most vividly mirrors me if I were a cat and she a human. We both have our moments of strength and boldness, but for the most part, we are introverts at heart, rather unbothered by our frequent desire for peace and solitude. Read more