Author: Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday – Special Kitty Food!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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

Zorro here. Mommy and Aunt Kim did something really special for us. They made us some cat food. I mean, look at all this good stuff they ground up—chicken breasts, roast and liver.

They made it in Aunt Kim’s kitchen. Since we stay on Grandma’s side of the house, we couldn’t see them. But we could hear them, so we knew something was going on. We waited and waited and waited.

Finally, Mommy came over with a big bowl of fresh ground chicken with liver and a tiny bit of vegetables. Oh, man, it smelled so good. I couldn’t wait for her to put some in our dishes and put them down on the floor. I even stood up for it.

For the next few minutes, all you could hear was smacking. Ziggy eats faster than I do, but he’s a pretty polite kitty. Instead of chasing me away from my dish so he can eat the rest of my dinner, he stands there and stares at me. It was a little weird at first, but now I’m used to it. I usually leave him a few scraps to clean up.

Grandma was worried about us eating raw meat, but Mommy said it’s healthy for cats, because that’s how we eat in the wild. When we catch mice, we don’t cook them before we eat them. Besides, before Mommy and Aunt Kim grind up the meat, they put it in boiling water for a couple of minutes to kill any bad stuff. They’re also going to get vitamins to put in our food, so that we’re getting everything we need.

We think Mommy and Aunt Kim must love us and our cousins a lot to spend all that time making us yummy kitty food.

It’s Zaturday – Happy October 31st!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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.

It’s Zaturday – Weather Forecasters!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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

Zorro here. Mommy found out something interesting this week. Cats can sometimes predict earthquakes. I’m not sure what earthquakes are, because Ziggy and I have never been in one. Mommy says when earthquakes happen, everything starts shaking and things fall down. Aunt Kim told us about one that happened in North Carolina recently. Ziggy and I weren’t there, but she said she didn’t feel it anyway.

I’m glad earthquakes don’t happen in Florida, because that would be really scary. If everything started shaking, I would look for somewhere to hide, like the closet. Do you think the towels would protect me?

I don’t know about earthquakes, but Mommy and Daddy used to have two dogs that could predict thunderstorms. They were sisters named Bailey and Morgan. Bailey was especially good at it. She would start shaking and drooling before the sky even got cloudy. Mommy used to call them her little barometers.

Ziggy and I aren’t afraid of thunderstorms. We have a bunch of them in Florida. Mommy says it’s the lightning capital of the United States. But our cousin Blackie is terrified of them. When it’s storming, Blackie finds places to hide. Aunt Kim says one of his favorite spots is behind the toilet. But he likes to hide behind the couch and under the bed, too. This is Blackie:

He looks a lot like Ziggy except fatter. It’s a good thing Aunt Kim lives in North Carolina, because it doesn’t thunder much there. At least not anything like it does in Florida.

Ziggy and I don’t pay much attention to what’s going on outside, because we feel nice and safe in the house. We even feel safe in our catio, because it’s way high up off the ground.

I don’t know about predicting earthquakes or thunderstorms, but there’s one thing we can always predict. When we hear Mommy washing our food bowls and the pop of the catfood can being opened, we know what’s going to happen next: Mealtime!

It’s Zaturday – Cats on Leashes!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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

Ziggy here. Zorro and I have harnesses and leashes. Don’t we look sharp?

Our leashes aren’t for being taken on walks, though. Mommy makes us wear them when we travel. She buckles the loop on the leash into the seat belt so we can’t escape when she gets in and out of the car. Zorro wouldn’t even try, because he doesn’t like it outside. He even gets nervous when Mommy carries him to the car. In fact, when Mommy gets the leashes and harnesses out of the closet, he usually hides. But once he’s in the car, he’s fine. He curls up on Mommy’s lap and goes to sleep.

Mommy has to really watch me, though. I’ve jumped out of the car a couple of times. (Zorro says I’m a rebel.) I wasn’t going to run away. I just wanted to check things out. But the leash was too short for me to go far, and Mommy picked me up and put me back inside right away. Not too long ago, I figured out how to get out of my harness. Mommy looked in the back of the car, and guess what she saw. Yep, the harness was lying on top of Mommy and Daddy’s stuff, and there was no cat in it!

Now I have a new harness. It’s the same kind as Zorro’s, just a different color. I haven’t figured out how to get out of it yet.

Mommy read a story this week in a book about cats that said the Army tried to use cats on leashes to lead them into the jungle at night during the Vietnam War. We can see really good in the dark, much better than people, so it would make sense. But according to the book, it didn’t work, because the cats played with the soldiers’ pack straps and clawed at their boots. Mommy’s not sure if the story is true, though, because she checked with Mr. Google and couldn’t find anything about it. (I think if it really happened, Mr. Google would know about it, because Mr. Google knows everything.)

Mommy and Daddy used to have a cat that liked to walk on a leash. His name was Smudge, and he used to start purring when Mommy would get his leash and harness out, because he knew Mommy was going to take him for a walk. Zorro and I never met Smudge, because Mommy and Daddy had him a long time ago.

Mommy has just finished writing a book called Flee the Darkness, and Smudge is in that book. She hasn’t put Zorro and me in a book yet. I’m not sure what to think about that.

It’s Zaturday – Author Helpers!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

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

Zorro here. People say that dogs are man’s best friend, but lots of people love cats, too. Mommy says that almost half of people who own cats have more than one. I’m glad Mommy and Daddy decided to have more than one cat, because it would be really lonely without Ziggy.

Mommy said that one man who loved cats was Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote books, like Mommy’ does (except he’s a lot more famous than Mommy). One of his cats, Catterina, used to sit on his shoulder to watch him write.

I like to watch Mommy write, but if I tried to sit on her shoulder, I’m afraid I would fall off; Mommy’s shoulders aren’t that big. Instead, I like to sit on her lap, because she regularly stops typing to scratch my neck.

Ziggy likes to watch Mommy write, too, but he usually lies on the table. Mommy used to scold him for getting up there and make him get down, but she finally gave up. Ziggy is pretty hard-headed.

When we went to North Carolina last month, Daddy went with us. So Mommy got to write while Daddy was driving. Ziggy and I were both in her lap then.

Mommy says that having kitties close by makes her feel more relaxed and creative. Ziggy and I are happy to help her out this way, because she gives us lots of love and feeds us really good kitty food.