Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond. Photo credit: ZZP Publishing, LLC .

Coral Springs, Florida  – As someone who has had pets all of her 50 plus years of life, award-winning author and blogger, Deborah Barnes, knows only too well the heartache of having to say goodbye. With estimates from the American Pet Products Association that over 65% of American households have pets – some 80 million dogs and 96 million cats – along with other fur, finned, scaled, and feathered creatures – she knew she wasn’t alone and that many others could relate to the pain of losing a beloved pet. That is how and why her most recent book, Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond was born.

Barnes, creator of the popular blog, Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles, originally shared her emotional and difficult decision to help her dying 15 year old cat, Mr. Jazz, cross the Rainbow Bridge with her blog readers. The love and support she received was overwhelming and it was then she realized an outlet was needed for people to share grief that was not a clinical “self-help” format. Everyone wanted to share a similar personal story and the comments on her blog became therapy of sorts, not just for her, but for her readers as well.

Taking that comforting and nurturing approach, Barnes decided to write the book as a meow memoir in the voice of Mr. Jazz so he could share his life and death journey with readers and offer them guidance and understanding through a pet’s perspective as to why sometimes letting them go can be the greatest gift you give them.

Barnes also wanted the story to be much more than a book on pet loss. At its core, Purr Prints is a sweet and inspiring story replete with memorable moments that will have readers laughing, crying, and nodding in recognition. From his days as a kitten nobody wanted, to finally being adopted into a loving human and multi-pet filled family that had its share of ups and downs, to his final months whereby his health was declining and he had to deal with things like frequent visits to the vet, being force-fed food, resentment issues, litter issues, and the finality of coming to terms with the fact he was dying and needed to convince his beloved humans to let him go – its a story any pet lover can relate to.

The book ends with a resourceful “Coping With Pet Loss” section to help readers on all levels – emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and even physically to empower them with ways to honor the journey of the pet lost as well as ways to find the strength to heal and mend a broken heart. The reviews have been fantastic – 5 star rated on Amazon with endorsements from Steve Dale, CABC, syndicated radio host, and syndicated newspaper columnist; Bonnie Poirier, pastor at Ministry of St. Francis of Assisi; Marty Tousley of Grief Healing.com, and  Alice Villalobos, DVM (Quality of Life Scale) among others:

“Deborah Barnes has created a supportive gift with a book that soothes the broken hearts of bereaved pet lovers of all ages as her cat, Mr. Jazz, unfolds the story of his life and end of life with her. Readers enjoy the quirks of pets living in multiple pet households with other cats and dogs. We are all enriched by Barnes who gives us a psycho-emotional glimpse into the wonders of the human-animal bond and the natural feelings of grief and denial during end of life decision making and the difficult days of pet loss.”
~Alice Villalobos, DVM, FNAP~

“I read this book within days of the sudden loss of my 14 year old cat – my best friend, my confidant, my traveling buddy, and my healer. Told from a cat’s perspective, it’s charming and amusing as he tells his life story, but it’s also full of words of strength, wisdom, and comfort to help you through the process of grieving the loss of a treasured friend. This book was a great help to me in a time of great sorrow. I’m sure I will return to its pages many times while learning to say goodbye and thank you to my beloved pet.”
~Denise Pittman, Amazon Customer~

Purr Prints of the Heart is a timeless book for all ages and a multitude of circumstances. It is a gentle hug in book form to help heal broken hearts and is the perfect gift to give someone who has lost a pet and is struggling with how to make sense of it all. For further information, reviews, or purchasing information, please visit www.purrprintsoftheheart.com.

Deborah Barnes resides in the tropical paradise of South Florida with her fiance and feline family of seven. She is the author of the 5-star rated books, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey – A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary and Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond as well as the award-winning blog, Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles that continues to cover the everyday journey she shares with her cats along with topics from the humorous behaviors of cats to very serious subjects on pet responsibility. Deborah was awarded 2013 “Writer of the Year” by Friskies Purina on behalf of the Cat Writers’ Association (CWA) and she is also a CWA Board Member.  She is also Secretary for the nonprofit, Pawsitively Humane, Inc. of Miami, Florida, whose mission is to create public awareness and reduce the numbers of animals on the streets and in shelters through an extensive educational campaign.

Contact Information:
ZZP Publishing
Deborah Barnes
954-993-8253
info@zzppublishing.com
Website: www.zzppublishing.com

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Deborah autographing copies of Purr Prints for her fans and readers!

Yes, from this point forward, I hereby bequeath those shopping days after Thanksgiving that are defined by blockbuster, super-mega sales as BFSBSCM. As in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. I’m not certain how it’s pronounced, but in the world of Zee & Zoey, it simply means savings on what we love (cat stuff) without getting in a car to drive and deal with crowds, parking, and hassles.

We only have two products – our books – The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey – A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary and Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life Death, and Beyond – but they are REALLY GREAT BOOKS and if you are looking to buy for yourself, or for as holiday gifts for others, now is the purr-fect time!!

If you are interested, just email me at info@zeezoey.com and we can figure out the payment and shipment together. All books ordered directly through me for this special include a designer bookmark and custom tissue wrap. They can also be inscribed with any sentiment you like and drop shipped if it is a gift for someone.

Here’s a small snippet of what people are saying:

Purr Prints of the Heart 

“Purr Prints of the Heart takes the reader on a journey that is like a salve in book form that offers comfort to all who have to deal with,(or have had to deal with), the inevitable loss of a beloved and cherished pet. Written with eloquence, grace, humor and a love that transcends the pages, I defy any pet lover not to see themselves depicted in this literary treasure.”

~Caren Gittleman – Cat Chat With Caren and Cody~

“I highly recommend this book for anyone who is having difficulty dealing with the illness or loss of their beloved pet. And for anyone looking for a warm, fuzzy story filled with a lifetime of happiness, sadness and all of life’s ups and downs and experiences, through the eyes of a cat of course, this is a wonderful book.”

~Pam Hilton Harvey~

“Purr Prints Of The Heart, as told by Jazz the Cat, is a wonderful book telling about Deborah’s journey with Mr. Jazz, from the time he entered her life to the time where he had to cross over to the Rainbow Bridge. It is a touching story of the beauty of being staff for a beloved cat (and dog too). If you are a pet owner, it is a must read. Deborah dearly loved Mr. Jazz and had to learn how to deal with deep grief when he passed away. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from reading this book – one being that our time with beloved pets is precious, but even death can’t separate that love.”

~Mary Roever – Mario’s Meowsings~

Purr Prints of the Heart is not only a wonderful story, but it is a helpful book that comes with a guide for coping with pet loss. When ordered directly from me, it will come with a heart medallion sticker, tissue wrap, and a bookmark.  (Regular Price $15.95 / Special Price $7.95)

The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey – A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary 

“I do believe that anyone who has a cat or cats should read this book. I am 70 years old and I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I laughed, cried and everything else that could be emotionally brought out of me. How would I rate this book? Amazon only has 5 stars, I would give it 10 stars. Great, great book.”

~Amazon Customer~

“I just finished this book yesterday and I am still overwhelmed. The book is written with so much love and passion and I could not put is aside. It is really encouraging to realize that in our selfish world there are still many people who care about our environment and the animals. Love and respect for those courageous cats. The story about Deborah Barnes and her animals is heart warming and just beautiful.”

~Valerija~

“After reading the description, I expected to be enchanted… but the experience of reading the book was so much more… the book exceeded my expectations… the best way to describe it would be to say that it felt like I was invited to be part of their lives while I was reading the book… so to come to the end of the book was like saying good-bye after spending a long holiday with a close family friend…”

~Trishka~

The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey is not just an inspirational story, it is a work of art. Filled with custom illustrations and stunning photographs, anyone can be proud to give this book as a gift. All books ordered directly from me come with my trademark leopard print tissue paper, a Zee/Zoey sticker, and a designer bookmark. (Regular Price $21.95 / Special Price $10.95)

Thank you in advance for your patronage and Happy Shopping!!!

One of my all-time favorite pictures that captures the loving bond between mother and child – Mama Zoey snuggling with her baby Rolz when he was about 4 weeks old.

I will be off-line most of the weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom as well as my mother-in-law, so I wanted to make sure to wish all of you a Happy Mother’s Day in advance in case I miss you!

It’s kind of a bittersweet day because not everyone has a mom to celebrate with, or a mom that they have a perfect relationship with, so I kind of take it in stride and just celebrate it in the broadest sense possible because the act of mothering can imply so many things to so many of us. Read more

This was the dress image I saw courtesy of Tumblr. No matter which way I look, the dress is white and gold (or possibly a lavender and gold). What color do you see?

Like a gazillion other people, I too have been caught in the recent controversy of “what color is that dress – black and blue or white and gold?” From the image I saw, to me the dress is 100%, hands-down, clearly white and gold. However, I happened to catch The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday and she had the owner of the dress on the show, wearing the actual dress, and it was 100%, hands-down, clearly black and blue. I’ve always been pretty good with colors, so all of this got me to thinking… just what color is my cat Jazmine? Is she golden-orange and white or something else? What do you all see??

I always thought Jazmine was a pretty ginger and white cat… Maybe all this time I was wrong and she really is black and blue! What do you all think?

As most of us in the cat blogosphere know, Wednesday’s are reserved for light fare – typically a couple of pictures and very few words. When I had written my post for today it was created in that tone – just something fun and humorous, complimented by a stunning picture of my cat Jazmine. I had no idea BlogPaws would be announcing their nominations for the Nose-to-Nose Social Media Awards, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out Zee and Zoey’s blog was nominated in the category of “Best Cat Blog.” But that’s what cat blogging is all about at Zee and Zoey’s – from the silly to serious and everything in-between, we try our best to be a blog that embraces our passion, love, and dedication to all things cat related.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone for their support over the years – your friendship and readership means the world to me. And special congratulations to my peers, friends, and colleagues who have also been honored with a nomination – please click here for the list of nominees and I can’t wait to see you all at BlogPaws this May where the winners will be revealed!

Christine and I at our booth right before the expo opened – she had brought two of her fosters for adoption, Sobe and Daphne, but unfortunately we did not find them forever homes. If anyone in the South Florida area is looking for beautiful calico cats to adopt, please let me know.

So, I went to the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale Pet Expo last Saturday on behalf of Pawsitively Humane with Christine Michaels and the big question on everyone’s mind (especially my cats) was, was I capable of coming home without another cat/kitten in tow given my prior history of impromptu adoptions with Kizmet, then Jazmine? Read more