Happy Meow-O-Ween from Shadow, Peanut, Mia, Kizmet, Rolz, and Jazmine!

Wishing all you humans and your animal friends a safe and happy Halloween!

Handsome Shadow models for National Black Cat Day

The UK charity Cats Protection created National Black Cat Day on October 27, 2011, to celebrate black cats’ majesty and combat low adoption rates and negative stereotypes. According to its website, the campaign has been successful, with black cats now spending less time in its care than when they launched it!

At Zee and Zoey’s, we love hearing news like that and are happy to share an image of our handsome black cat rescue, Shadow, who showed up at our garage door as an abandoned (and likely abused) kitten early on the morning of November 8, 2019. His journey had some ups and downs, but I can truthfully say he is now completely comfortable with his other cat mates and us and is thriving.

Happy Black Cat Day to all the beautiful house panthers out there, and we hope this day inspires even more adoptions worldwide. There is also a related holiday, Black Cat Appreciation Day, celebrated earlier in the year on August 17. Animal rescue advocate Wayne H. Morris created it in 2011 to memorialize his 33-year-old sister and Sinbad, her twenty-year-old black cat. Furthermore, October is also known as Black Cat Awareness Month. We think any opportunity to celebrate black cats is worth taking!

Shadow on the backyard pavers surrounded by stunning greenery

Happy 13th birthday to sweet Jazmine!

It’s hard to believe our golden girl, once a tiny kitten who Dan and I adopted in March of 2014 after meeting her at the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, FL (love at first sight, of course…), is now a golden girl herself at thirteen years old! She is certainly a young-at-heart thirteen, but according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), she is now the equivalent of seventy-four human years. Read more

Kizmet, a few days after we adopted him. How could anyone resist him?

Fourteen years ago, a tiny tabby kitten who had been found abandoned on the streets was given a birthday of July 4, 2012. A few months later, while stopping at Pet Supermarket during my lunch break to buy cat food, I walked past the cat adoption cages as I had done countless times before. My survival rule was simple: say hello without lingering too long.

Then I looked into his eyes.

In that instant, nothing else mattered. I picked him up, and he curled against my chest, a perfect fit, purring as though he’d been waiting for me all along. I tried to reason with myself. We already had a hectic household of seven cats. Dan was out of town. I was only supposed to buy cat food.

I handed the store clerk my business card and asked if they could hold him for a couple of hours while I talked it over with Dan. I sent him a photo of the kitten, secretly hoping he’d talk some sense into me.

Instead, he simply said, “Get the cat.”

And just like that, Kizmet came home.

I named him Kizmet—a play on kismet, meaning fate or destiny, with the “z” that had become a tradition in our Zee & Zoey feline family. Looking back now, I can’t imagine him by any other name.

Today, America celebrates its 250th birthday. Kizmet celebrates his 14th.

For fourteen years, he has quietly reported for duty every single day.

He is a kind, intuitive, happy, sweet, silly, and compassionate cat. He comforted Jazz, Harley, Zee, and Zoey through their end-of-life journeys, quietly staying by their side, then comforting me through the inevitable heartbreak that followed. He was also the first to welcome Jazmine and, years later, Shadow into our family.

We first learned of Kizmet’s healing powers in 2013, when Jazz was transitioning to his journey to the afterlife. Kizmet lay at my feet the whole time, offering love and comfort.

Kizmet was the first to welcome Jazmine when we adopted her in 2014. He has been her faithful protector ever since.

Kizmet likes treats, but he doesn’t demand them like the others. He loves attention but doesn’t try to steal the spotlight. Rather, he’s patient. He sleeps in my office during the day just to be near me. Then, every evening after dinner, once I settle onto the couch to watch television, he knows it’s our time. Without fail, he reports for snuggle duty. It’s one assignment he has never missed.

Kizmet loves the kitchen counter. Not so much for treats as for the chance to be close to his beloved humans during mealtimes.

Kizmet has a playful and athletic side. He loves to have these fuzzy pom pom balls tossed up for him to catch in mid-air!

He’s also my shoulder warmer, my overnight head pillow, and the quiet heart of our family. Never the loudest. Never the most dramatic. Just endlessly loyal, loving, and present.

Kizmet, in his ever-present quest to be as close to me as possible, is sitting between my back and the back of my chair!

Since I work remotely from home, Kizmet spends most of his day on the couch in my office with me.

Kizmet likes to lay his head on mine and wrap his paws around my head, hugging me.

Happy 14th Birthday to my faithful little guardian.

Thank you for fourteen years of unwavering love, quiet devotion, and faithful service.

Still Reporting for Duty Since 2012.

Happy Birthday, Kizmet!

Happy Father’s Day!

Today we celebrate all fathers—whether they’re dads to children, cat dads, dog dads, or caregivers to any beloved creatures who depend on their love and care.

This Father’s Day, I’m also remembering our beloved Zee, shown here with each of his kittens—Peanut, Mia, and Rolz (and Zeuss Catt in spirit, who now lives in Boston). Though he’s no longer with us, his love and legacy live on through the family he left behind.

Wishing all fathers, both human and furry, a day filled with love and perhaps a few extra purrs.