November 8, 2019 was the date I heard a meow outside our garage door early in the morning, the day a little black kitten decided our home was the one he knew in his heart would be the perfect forever home for him. He, of course, was right. Despite trying to find his owner, we had a strong hunch he had been both abandoned and abused, so keeping him really was in his best interest and somehow, he seemed to have already known that when he came upon our house. 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

A year ago today, a small black kitten showed up in front of our garage in the early, dark hours of the morning. Already a seven cat home, we were not looking to expand our feline family. But it was meant to be and this little guy who we named Shadow is now celebrating his first Gotcha Day with us. We could have never predicted the crazy world we live in now back then, but we could predict Shadow would fill our hearts with love and joy.

Happy first Gotcha Day Shadow – you’ve turned into a gorgeous and gregarious handsome panther cat and here’s to hoping for many, many more years together!

My first photo with Shadow in November 2019. He’s gotten so big since then!

October is National Black Cat Awareness Month* and last Saturday (aka Caturday) to promote the cause, I shared a photo on several Facebook pages dedicated to black cats of my black cat rescue, Shadow, with the brief caption, “Celebrate! The Beautiful Black Cat.” The picture was simple – a closeup of him with an uncluttered, softened background, with my equally simple call to action in the text of the post: “October is Black Cat Awareness Month, so let’s celebrate this Caturday by sharing the awesomeness of black cats with pictures of your beauties today! This lovely model is our rescue, Shadow, who showed up at our doorstep about a year ago.” Read more

Then and now. Our Jazmine has matured into such a beautiful adult cat.

Seven years. Our precious, beautiful, and loving ginger baby, Jazmine, is seven years old today. When Dan and I first came upon her at Global Pet Expo in March of 2014 at the Imperial Cat booth as a rescue kitten up for adoption, there was an initial internal struggle of “do we,” or “don’t we,” despite her melting our hearts instantly upon looking at her sweet face. It wasn’t so much because we didn’t want to, it was more a matter of me specifically. We had recently lost our beloved Ragdoll, Jazz, in 2013 and I didn’t know if I was mentally ready for another cat in my life or acclimating it to our seven other residing cats in an already fragile cat dynamic, no matter how ridiculously adorable this kitten was. Read more