Believe it or not, a cat spends the majority of her day napping in order to reserve energy for her hunting and survival skills.

Cats are notorious nappers, sleeping nearly 16 hours a day. We humans might consider it lazy or excessive, but the truth is, that’s how they’re wired. Cats are natural born predators and need to reserve their energy to keep their hunting skills sharp. That’s why they’re instinctively more active around dawn or dusk, a term known as crepuscular, as frequently exhibited by those random bursts of energy our cats can have. But because the majority of pet cats live in an environment in which their basic feeding needs are catered to, requiring little to no hunting skills, the need to expel energy is even more important for them to stay fit and healthy. Read more

Happy Easter from all of us at Zee & Zoey’s!

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic this Easter. I remember years ago, when my kids were young, how we’d have a house full of company. My brother, Dave, and his wife, Kathy, would visit from up North and they’d bring their 3 kids, as well as Kathy’s parents. My Mom lived nearby and we also had a revolving door of resident cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more. We’d spend the time coloring eggs, swimming, going for walks, going to the beach, grilling outside, and whatever else we could think of.

No matter the event, there was always one of my cats helping out. This was Jazz along with my youngest son, Joe, and my niece, Allison back in 2000.

It was hectic and crazy and all kinds of nutty, but it was also wonderful. It seems everyone is all grown up now – my kids are long since moved out, Dave and Kathy’s kids are all in college, and the extended family I now share with Dan are also all grown up and we normally don’t see them around Easter. I’ll still be celebrating the day – thankfully my boys both live near me, as well as my Mom, and they’ll be coming by for dinner, but it’s a much quieter time now.

My sons, Chris and Joe, back in 1998 when we were in the backyard preparing for an Easter egg hunt. Also with us is Bailey and Bandit – no matter what we were doing, we always had a parade of dogs following us!

The cats will probably be the only ones crazy – typically signified by jumping up on the counter while I’m trying to cook, or on the dining room table while we’re trying to eat (insert feigned shock that the cats do this – “oh my goodness, I’ve never seen them do that before!”). And of course, if Chris brings his dog, that will also cause some nutty behavior with my cats, along with a few nose swats, hisses, and general displeasure from one or two of them.

Cats on the table? I don’t see any cats on the table…

It doesn’t mean we won’t have a good time, or that I’m unhappy, it’s just different, that’s all. I guess I had imagined by this point in my life I’d have grandchildren as opposed to grandpets, but as long as I have love in my life, that’s all that matters, and I’m surrounded by lots of that – both in human and fur form!

Easter is a calmer time now and instead of a house full of kids, we celebrate with a house full of furbabies!

And much as my cats might appear to be annoyed by the company, deep down they’re not. Zee and Peanut revel in the attention (obsessively so) and Rolz and Jazmine have quite cleverly figured out that having a dog in the house increases the chances of treats and snacks happening more frequently.

Keep Easter safe for your cats by avoiding dangerous temptations such as curling ribbon, cellophane grass, chocolate, and Easter lilies.

What kind of day will you all be having? Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s a day filled with blessings. And don’t forget how curious our feline friends can be  – Easter is a wonderful time but there can be many things dangerous to cats. Curling ribbons and cellophane grasses if ingested could become entangled in their intestines, causing them to twist and close off requiring dangerous surgery. Chocolate is highly toxic to cats and so are those beautiful Easter lilies we are all familiar with. And if a cat eats a small toy or decoration, they could possibly choke on it, so really the best thing to do is keep these types of temptations away from your cat. To be safe, keep both the phone number of your veterinarian and the pet poison helpline programmed on your phone in case of emergencies (poison helpline is 855-764-7661).

As if Angry Bird isn’t angry enough…now he has to deal with these less than super feeding bowls…

Hey everyone! We’re giving our human a break today and sharing some of our own thoughts. We heard today is the Super Bowl and all we can say is hooray! We’ve got some super bowls at our house and it’s about time we got a whole day to meow about them! Bowls mean food to us and eating is one of our all-time favorite things to do. The problem – while our human did mean well – you know, feeding us healthy food on a regular basis and all, years ago she was doing it using stainless steel bowls that were anything but super. She wasn’t a cat expert back then and didn’t realize they weren’t the best option for our health. Read more

Never mind if I’ve been naughty or nice…it’s more like, have you taken into account my feline instincts BEFORE you judge me?

It’s officially the holidays – a time when one is frequently asked whether they’ve been naughty or nice, suggesting perhaps that if they’re naughty, Santa might not bring them a gift. When it comes to our cats, it’s not so much whether they’ve been naughty or nice; it’s how the holidays actually affect their instinctual behavior, sometimes causing them to be unintentionally naughty when they’re typically otherwise nice. Read more

From big things, like my friends, family, and my cats, to the little things, like popcorn and leopard print, I’m grateful for so much in my life!

I love Thanksgiving – it’s a wonderful day of good food, good football, not working, counting blessings, and sharing time with my family. But honestly, I try my very best to live every day being grateful for what I have. It’s not always easy, even with the best intentions; life can be messy, complicated, stressful, and downright disagreeable. Despite that, there is always something to be grateful for if you look hard enough. And usually, you don’t have to look too far – this is just a sampling of what I mean, but here are some of the everyday things I’m grateful to have in my life:

My cats, my family, my friends, coffee, chocolate, sweat pants, wine, Cheez-Its, a great book, board games, the good health of my loved ones, when the Miami Dolphins win (this one is happening less and less), when a cat gets adopted, my fitbit, leopard print, nature, trips to the beach, Netflix, feeding my birds and squirrels, Facebook, talking to a real person on the phone (this is also happening less and less), Photoshop, riding our Harley, wearing cat ears, Christmas cookies, chia seeds, family photo albums, my iPhone 7plus, yarn & crocheting, popcorn, music, when people are kind to one another, fun fonts, having a job and being able to pay my bills, the privilege of having food to eat every day, a safe home to live in, and the freedom to be me.

How about you all? What are some of the everyday things in your life you’re grateful for? Have a blessed day from all of us at Zee & Zoey’s, and as I do every year, here’s my favorite picture of my gang for Thanksgiving and a visual reminder that despite what certain kitties might tell you, NOT ALL FOODS ARE SAFE FOR THEM TO EAT!

Can someone please hurry up with this blog post and say grace so we can eat!

The most miraculous part of Thanksgiving? That Rolz and Peanut were behaving and DID NOT even touch this turkey!

Thank you to Brian’s Home for putting together this Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. Please join if you can.