It’s Zaturday – Happy October 31st!

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Ziggy here. Mommy says today is Halloween. Mommy thinks Halloween is a creepy holiday, so she celebrates the fall season instead. Fall in North Carolina is prettier than it is in Florida, because the leaves turn cool colors. Zorro and I like to sit in the catio and look out at the back yard. Right now, the leaves are falling. Every time the wind blows, a bunch more land on the ground.

Halloween is a day that a lot of people decorate with scary stuff. Zorro doesn’t like scary stuff, because he’s a scaredy cat. I guess I don’t really like scary stuff either. There are lots of pictures of black cats around right now, because we’re supposed to be scary, too. But I don’t think we look scary. Do you?

We’re not scary. We’re sweet and affectionate and cuddly…well, Zorro is more cuddly than I am. Another way to say that is that he’s more needy than I am. Cats are supposed to be independent, but he always wants to be with someone. When Grandma takes a nap, he’s right there on her blanket.

When Mommy’s writing, he gets up in her lap.

 

When Mommy and Daddy have to leave us, he’s reeeally pathetic. He cries at the door, then curls up and goes to sleep. He’s no fun at all. It’s a good thing that Mommy and Daddy don’t leave us very often.

Zorro and I are going to sign off now with our own version of a Halloween picture—a black cat with fall leaves outside our catio.

It’s Zaturday – It’s Adopt-a-Dog Month!

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Zorro here. Ziggy and I heard Mommy say that October is Adopt-A-Dog Month. October is almost over, and so far, Mommy and Daddy haven’t adopted any dogs. I guess that means it’s going to still be just Ziggy and me.

We’re not sure how we would feel about having a dog for a brother. If he didn’t chase us, it might be okay. Before Ziggy and I came along, Mommy and Daddy did adopt some dogs, two sisters named Bailey and Morgan. They were kind of little, like us.

Hearing all the stuff about Adopt-A-Dog month, Ziggy and I were feeling really left out. We were wondering why there wasn’t an Adopt-A-Cat month, and Mommy said there is! It’s June.

I’m an adopted kitty. Mommy got me from the Humane Society in North Carolina. They took good care of me, but I was in a cage for what felt like FOREVER. I was so happy when Mommy finally adopted me.

Ziggy never had to stay in a cage. He showed up at our Uncle Keith’s house, and Uncle Keith gave him to Mommy. I guess that’s sort of like being adopted. I’m really glad Ziggy came, because he’s my best buddy. We have lots of fun playing together and chasing each other all over the house. We lick each other a lot, and we sleep together, too. That’s especially nice in the wintertime, because Ziggy’s got long hair and he’s nice and warm!

I’m glad people make months where they talk about adopting cats and dogs. I think all pets should have good homes.

It’s Zaturday – Happy Sweetest Day!

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Ziggy here. Zorro and I just got all excited. We heard that today is Sweetest Day. We were sure the day was all about us, because we’re the sweetest! I mean, see how sweet I look.

Zorro looks pretty sweet, too.

Mommy agreed that we’re sweet, but she said Sweetest Day isn’t just about cats. She said it’s a day to do something sweet for someone you care about. Hmm, I wonder what Zorro and I could do to be sweet to Mommy and Daddy.

Maybe I should behave myself and stay off the table today. That’s going to be hard, though, because it’s my favorite place to be.

Zorro says he’s going to curl up on Mommy’s lap and keep her company.

Mommy said that for Sweetest Day, people give candy and chocolate to those they care about. Zorro and I aren’t interested in that (unless they make some that’s tuna flavored). But we came up with some other ways Mommy and Daddy can be sweet to us. They could add more catnip to our toy. We both LOVE catnip!

Or they could just spend the whole day giving us attention.

Yep, cats definitely needed to be included in Sweetest Day. We could even have our own day—Sweetest Cat Day. Hmm, I guess we could call it Sweetest Pet Day and share it with the dogs. What do you think?

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

A Forever Home for Bruno

October is Adopt-A-Dog Month. You’re used to seeing my cats on here, but in honor of this month-long celebration, I’m devoting this post to dogs. A number of years ago, I found myself having to find homes for four abandoned dogs. Fortunately, the story had a happy ending…for everyone. (I originally shared this on Roxanne Rustand’s blog, Faith, Family and Four-Footed Friends, a Life in the Country.)

A Forever Home for Bruno

I am amazed and heartbroken over how many pets are just discarded.

Shortly before my husband and I were to leave for the holidays, a tenant moved out of one of our rental properties and abandoned five dogs—a black lab named Jackson, a lab/cur mix named Bruno and a dachshund mix with two puppies. The dachshund disappeared; the neighbors suspect the tenant came back for her. People advised me to call Animal Control for the other four. But in our county, as in most others, animals brought to Animal Control have a few hours to a few days, usually on the lower end of that range. I’m way too tender-hearted to carry good dogs to their death. So I enlisted the help of a friend and we googled rescue groups and sent dozens of emails asking for help.

Over the next few days, neighbors gave the dogs food we provided, and rescues responded asking for information and pictures. I went out armed with my digital camera, unsure how the two larger dogs would respond to a stranger. I needn’t have worried. They rushed toward me, tails wagging. Once sure they were friendly, I handed my neighbor the camera and sat down to pet them. Bruno immediately pushed me backwards and attempted to plant a sloppy kiss on my face. I went home with some great photos.

The puppies were easy to place. (Who can resist those sweet faces?) The larger dogs weren’t. It was the week before Christmas, and with many rescue foster families traveling for the holidays, there was no room. (Sorta reminds me of another Christmas story.)

Soon we were down to three days until we were to leave, and Bruno and Jackson were still homeless. My boss had lost an older lab and decided to take Jackson. Bruno and Jackson grew up together and were inseparable, so I asked if we could keep them together one more day while we tried to place Bruno. I would have taken him myself, but I live in a condo where I’m allowed two pets. I have a dog and three cats, all rescues. (One plus three equals two, right?)

My boss told his family about Bruno, and his wife said to make sure he gets a home. When he told her that was out of his control, she said, “Then lie to me!” She promised to distribute Bruno’s pictures around the school where she teaches. By lunchtime, a family had agreed to take him. By the end of the afternoon, both Bruno and Jackson were on their way to their new homes with their first scheduled play date lined up.

Bruno now has a home on ten acres with a loving family, other dogs and cows. He’s living the good life.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds more like him who aren’t that lucky. Calling Animal Control is quick and easy. Contacting rescues involves time and effort. But nothing beats the feeling of knowing some sweet dog or cat has found a forever home and you had a hand in it.

 

Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay

It’s Zaturday – Kitty Songs!

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Zorro here. When Mommy was little, she read a book called Jenny Lind and Her Listening Cat. It was about a famous singer who used to sing to her cat when she was a young girl. One day, the window was open, and someone really important heard her. They told someone else really important, and eventually, Jenny ended up singing all over the world.

Mommy likes to sing, too, and she sometimes sings to me and Ziggy. She says she doesn’t sing nearly as well as Jenny Lind, but I think she sounds just fine. When Mommy sings to me, she sings songs like “Rock-a-bye Baby.” I like it when she holds me and sings to me.

Mommy calls me her baby. I guess I am sort of like a baby, because I really miss her when she’s gone. Last month, she went to North Carolina and didn’t take us with her. She told us we couldn’t go that time, because she and Aunt Kim were going to be going somewhere on an airplane. I hope they don’t take any more airplane rides, because it seemed like she was gone FOREVER!

When she finally came home, I was so happy, I gave her kisses on her face. I felt like I couldn’t get close enough to her. After she went to bed, I snuggled and snuggled. And kneaded. Mommy doesn’t like it when I knead, because she says my claws hurt her. But I couldn’t help it. When I’m really happy, I knead. And I was really, REALLY happy.

Staying with Daddy is different from having Mommy around, but he takes good care of us. He sometimes sings to us, too, but he doesn’t sing sweet songs like Mommy. He makes up silly ones.

We love Mommy, and we love Daddy. But we’re happiest when we’re with both of them at the same time.

 

It’s Zaturday – Cousins!

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Ziggy here. Zorro and I have a new cousin! Mommy and Aunt Kim’s brother adopted a kitten. His name is Zach, and he’s solid black, just like Zorro and me and our cousin Blackie. This is him. He looks like a much smaller version of me, doesn’t he?

Now there are a total of five cats in our family, and four of them are black. Our cousin Kassie is the oddball. She’s a calico, which means she has a white tummy and orange and black on the rest of her.  She likes to help her mommy work, just like Zorro and I do. She’s pretty cute, isn’t she?

 

Something interesting about calico cats is that almost all of them are females. Mommy has a really complicated explanation for why that is, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. I just know that Zorro and I and our two other cousins couldn’t have been born calico cats, because we’re all boys.

There are a lot of places where people think calico cats are good luck. One of those places is Japan. In fact, Japanese sailors used to have a calico ship’s cat to protect against misfortune at sea.

Hmm, people think having Kassie around would bring them good luck, but that Zorro, Blackie, Zach and I would be bad luck. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? I think all us black cats are getting a bad rap.

We’re just glad that Mommy and Aunt Kim and Uncle Keith don’t feel that way. They think that black cats are special. But they would love us a lot, no matter what color we are.