Adventures with Angel Astrid: The Burning Bush

I've been seeing a lot of burning bushes turning red in our area over the past couple of weeks. I can't remember the actual scientific name of these shrubs, but that's beside the point. I always like seeing them this time of the year, probably because I enjoyed watching the leaves turn bright red on the one in my parents' yard as a kid. That said, today's memory with my sweet angel pup Astrid involves her investigating one of the many burning bushes in our neighborhood.

We hope you're all enjoying some fall foliage! Well, at least those of you in climates that permit that this time of the year. Happy Wednesday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

Today's doodle is a very old one, but I share it pretty much every November. After all, it portrays how the holidays feel this time of the year.

I have drawn multiple doodles in this vein over the years. I even already have a similar-ish one outlined for this year. I hope to work on it soon, if the chaos of life permits.

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Tip of the Day

In case you missed it, we're doing a series of pet cancer prevention tips during this Pet Cancer Awareness Month. Today's tip is one we've mentioned on more occasion than one, and is one that many of you have probably heard. This tip is to always keep in mind that it is indeed possible for cats and dogs to get skin cancer, especially on vulnerable parts of the body such as the ears and nose. For this reason, monitor the amount of time they spend outdoors in the sun, but also the amount of time they spend sunbathing in windows or doors. If your furbaby does spend a lot of time in the sun, perhaps look into pet-friendly sunscreen, and discuss safe options with your veterinarian as needed. There are also windows or window films that block out UV light, which is another option for keeping our furbabies and their skin safe during their sunbathing sessions. The sun can indeed be fun, but also dangerous, so do keep a close eye on those furry sunbathers.

Tonks Tuesday with Unicorns

On Halloween Tonks showed off her favorite spooky blanket. Today, she wanted to show off another favorite sleeping spot of hers. My mom recently found this old blanket with unicorns, and she gave it to me for my blanket-loving kitties. Tonks absolutely adores it.

Though I don't yet have a photo to prove this, those unicorns glow in the dark! I didn't even realize that until I turned the lights out one night and the couch beneath Tonks looked radioactive.

Tonks hopes you all have a cute and cozy blanket to snooze on!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

I thought I had shared this old series of autumnal doodles in September, but when I checked I don't see that I did. So, let's share them now. I hope to get at least a couple of new doodles in this vein done in November, but for now here's an autumnal oldie.

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Tip of the Day

It's Pet Cancer Awareness Month, so we have another cancer prevention tip for you today. We're here to talk a bit about vaccines. While vaccines can be important for the prevention of various diseases, especially for those furbabies who go outdoors or are in another way more susceptible to disease, it is still crucial that you be knowledgeable about the potential side effects of some vaccines. In some cases, vaccines can lead to injection-site tumors, commonly cancerous fibrosarcomas. To help prevent these, you can keep furbabies, such as cats, indoors. This could render some vaccines far less necessary, since your furbaby would likely not be exposed to the diseases certain vaccines cover. In other cases, such as if your furbaby does go outdoors or might be exposed to certain diseases, simply do your research. Ask your veterinary office what types of vaccines they use, as some vaccines do not contain the components typically believed to cause injection-site tumors. Vaccines are often a highly debated subject in any case, so always be knowledgeable about them, about what kind your veterinary office uses, and which vaccines your kitty or pup might need.

Mancat Monday: Evan's Halloween Aftermath

I failed to share a day-after-Halloween post yesterday like I meant to. So, on this Mancat Monday, Evan is here to give a demonstration on how we all felt after indulging in far too much candy. Or, in Evan's case, indulging in too much Boo Brew.

I can't judge Evan on his current status. I myself ate far too much pizza and candy on Halloween. I also made some festive cupcakes for my family and had more than my share of those. Afterwards, I felt very much like Evan looks above.

Evan and all of us here hope you had a happy and frightfully festive Halloween!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

It's become a tradition for me to share this here old doodle right after Halloween. After all, it portrays not only how Halloween night goes, but also how the world turns to Christmas pretty much as Halloween is ending.

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Tip of the Day

November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month. We have many times before shared tips on the prevention of cancer in our kitties and pups, and we're going to repeat that series of tips over the next few days in honor of this month's importance. We'll start with none other than spaying and neutering. Spaying and neutering your furbabies is not only important for population control, but also because, like humans, they can develop cancers of the reproductive tract and related systems. This can include uterine cancer, mammary cancer, and prostate cancer.

What's more, timing of spaying and neutering can also be crucial. It is important to ensure that a kitty or pup is of course old enough and big enough for neutering, but also not too old. This is because, for example, there is an increased risk of mammary cancer in female cats and dogs who are allowed to go through one or more cycles prior to being spayed. We could go on and on about this topic, but let's suffice it to say that, as most of you certainly know, it's incredibly important to spay and neuter your cats and dogs for more reasons than one. We'll even say it again. Please spay and neuter your kitties and pups, and do so before they can be affected by an increased risk of cancer.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! In our humble opinion, this is one of the best days of the year. We hope you all a enjoy a day that's not-so-spookily fun and festive!

The other day, I did my annual tradition of carving pumpkins. My sweet boy Evan supervised the event. I don't know what I would have done without his expert help.

While Evan did his inspections of the pumpkins, Thimble and Eddy stayed close to their treat basket. They know it'll be filled soon, so they just can't wait.

As for Tonks, she opted for a cozy time on our Halloween cats blanket. Her favorite image on this blanket is, of course, the calico with a witch hat.

While the kitties all worked on their own spooky preparations, last night my mom and I did our annual Halloween tradition of visiting the display of hundreds of jack-o'-lanterns at a pumpkin farm in a neighboring town. It's always my goal to find as many pumpkins carved like cats and dogs as I can. There were a number of kitty pumpkins this year.

My excitement for the below kitty is one that will likely only make sense to me, but even so, let me ramble for a moment. Just as my mom and I finished our umpteenth and what we thought was our final pass through the jack-o'-lantern display, my mom saw one far away, tucked behind some weeds in a spot we hadn't noticed before. She thought it was an owl, and so I zoomed in on my camera. Turns out, it's the kitty character from that fantasy series I've mentioned here many times on our blog. This pumpkin is carved in the likeness of the magical Persian tortie cat named Princess Donut, who wears a tiara.

Now, we did find a couple of dog pumpkins as well. Just as in the past couple of years, someone carved  none other than Scooby Doo himself.

I'm pretty sure this next one is a dog with one ear up and one ear down, and it's pretty darn cute.

And then there was the classic paw print, to represent all the animals.

Now, how about some random pumpkins with designs that stuck out to me?

That there dinosaur reminded me of pup Astrid in her dragon or dinosaur-ish Halloween costume. I was so happy to see it there, as well as all of the other pumpkins above and below.

Most years we see at least one or two pumpkins carved with Christmas trees or even reindeer. We didn't see those this year, but someone did carve Scrooge McDuck.

Glowing pumpkins weren't the only things haunting the woods at the pumpkin farm, though. We got a sighting of a little something else as well.

Talk about a Halloween scare!

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I'm disappointed that I still didn't finish my new Halloween doodles for today's post on the big day itself. I have 9 frightfully festive drawings all nearing completion, but none fully finished. I started the drawings nearly 2 months ago, but I fell a weeks behind on them when my parents' sweet kitty Trapper fell sick in September and then sadly passed last week. I was helping my parents give him injections and fluids at their house every day, not to mention that I often simply lose motivation to pursue my creative endeavors in times like that. Trapper was priority, though, and I'll never regret that.

I intended on finishing at least a couple or a few of the drawings last night, but I somehow failed to remember that my mom and I usually go through the annual pumpkin farm jack-o'-lantern display many times and so are usually there for a couple hours. I got home so late last night that I worked in my sketchbook for only a short time afterwards.

I'm just rambling now. I'm still debating what to do about this year's Halloween doodles, but for today's Halloween bash I do have some festive flashback drawings to share. I have not yet this spooky season shared a few of my favorite Halloween doodles from the past, and those are ones portraying my kind of Halloween night with my furbabies.

Last year I scribbled up this doodle, with all my costumed kitties watching a scary movie starring pup Astrid on Halloween night.

Below is a similar drawing I created a couple years prior to the one above.

And this one below is yet another similar one from quite a few years ago.

I love scribbling up doodles like those above, because they really do portray how I enjoy spending Halloween night. And that would be at home with my furry family, watching scary movies and eating candy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Tip of the Day

Our final Halloween tip is to use this spooky holiday as a chance to spend some quality time with your furbaby. Whether you're already staying tucked inside on Halloween night, or whether you wait until after handing out candy, do consider getting cozy and festive with your kitty or pup. For example, you can cozy up with your kitty or pup on the couch and read a spooky story, if that's your kind of thing. Another option is to of course watch a spooky movie or TV show, if that strikes your fancy. Of course, as we mentioned yesterday, do keep in mind your furbaby's sense of hearing and comfort when selecting a scary movie and volume level. For something more calm yet spookily festive, consider sitting down with your furbaby to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, or a certain famous orange tabby in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Halloween night is of course also the perfect time to not only enjoy yourself some treats (of course without sharing anything toxic with your furbaby), but to also give your kitty or pup any festive toys or treats that you got for them.

Halloween may sometimes be considered a night filled with tricks and terrors, but you and your furbaby can instead use it to spend some quality time together in a festive yet safe manner. So, cuddle up on the couch and spend some cozy and festive time with that furbaby. Happy Halloween!

Frightfully Festive Fill-Ins and Eddy's Halloween Bloopers

Hello and happy Friday, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. On Halloween, I will _________.

2. When it comes to Halloween candy, I will gladly trade my _________ for more _________.

3. If I had to wear one Halloween costume for an entire year, I would dress as _________.

4. I _________ scary movies.


My answers are below in bold.

1. On Halloween, I will hand out candy, of course eat candy, and watch scary movies.

(This is such a boring answer, and one that I've happily mentioned so very many times here on our blog. But, I love my annual boring Halloween plans. My parents and sister spend the evening at my house, and we enjoy pizza and candy and even cupcakes alongside our horror movie marathon. Granted, our "horror" movie marathon also often involves the Halloween specials starring Garfield and Snoopy.)

2. When it comes to Halloween candy, I will gladly trade my sour loot for more chocolate bars or banana Laffy Taffy.

(I don't eat candy very often because of some food intolerances, but when I do eat candy I'm not all that picky. I've always enjoyed all things chocolate, and I have a weird love for the artificial banana Laffy Taffys. I also love any candy with caramel, peanut butter, and fruity favors, and I enjoy both typical candy bars as well as chewy or gummy candies. One thing I'm not a fan of, though, is sour candy. So, I'll gladly trade that out for just about anything else.)

3. If I had to wear one Halloween costume for an entire year, I would dress as a witch. 

(I figure I could make a witchy costume look normal-ish enough for everyday purposes. After all, witches come in all types and fashions, right? Heck, some of the witches in books and movies like Harry Potter and Practical Magic wear jeans and such, so surely I could be a witch who wears comfy clothes.)

4. I have a (concerning) liking for scary movies.

(I'm a big fan of scary movies. That's probably not a good thing, but I admittedly enjoy the thrill. My dad is the same way, and I even go to my parents' house two evening a week to watch scary movies with my dad. He and I have probably seen hundreds of movies in the horror genre.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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Now, it's time for the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop, hosted by none other than Melissa and Mudpie of Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, & Meows.

A couple weeks ago Eddy shared some photos of her hanging out with a ghosty friend. Even better, she saved her bloopers from that photo shoot for this week's Halloween edition of the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop. So, here's blooper queen Eddy blurrily slapping around her ghosty friend.

Eddy turned into a ghost hunter this Halloween season!

Happy Halloween Eve to all!

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Spooky Flashback Doodles of the Day

I got a ton done on this year's Halloween doodles last night, but I unfortunately still haven't put the final touches on them. I'll be sharing a few of them tomorrow for the big day itself, and I'll share the others on the couple of days after Halloween, as those are still All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

For today, we have the last couple of doodles from last year's series starring my parents' kitties in Halloween costumes. First up are the beautiful dilute torbie and calico sisters named Freya and Gemma. They got to be the creepy little girls from The Shining.

And then there's Flitwick. This little boy is my girl Tonks's littermate, and he's also known to be a typical little brother who enjoys harassing his siblings at my parents' house. Since he also has a penchant for biting his victims, he got to dress as a shark.

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Tip of the Day

If you enjoy watching horror films or other similar movies for Halloween, keep your furbaby in mind when you adjust the volume. As you all certainly know, cats and dogs have impeccable hearing. A noise that sounds normal and tolerable to us might for them sound far more loud and uncomfortable. So, take into consideration your kitty or pup's heightened sense of hearing when watching movies, especially those with loud music, screams, and so forth. If you are watching a loud movie this Halloween, or any day of the year, be sure that your kitty or pup has a quiet area of the home away from the television where they can retreat should they wish to.

Thankful Thimble Thursday: Boo Brew

It's Thursday, not to mention two days before Halloween, so Thimble is of course here with some festive fun for Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Like Evan and Tonks earlier this week, Thimble is grateful to be enjoying a spooky drink brought to her by a ghostly friend.

Thimble says the Boo Brew both smells and tastes fantastically like catnip, and she welcomes you all to take a taste!

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Now we of course have the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. On Halloween, I will _________.

2. When it comes to Halloween candy, I will gladly trade my _________ for more _________.

3. If I had to wear one Halloween costume for an entire year, I would dress as _________.

4. I _________ scary movies.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Spooky Flashback Doodle of the Day

I've drawn my sister's kitties Toby and Winky in Halloween costumes not once, but twice now. Two years ago I drew them as the clown characters from the Terrifier movie series. Even as a horror movie aficionado, I would not recommend anyone watch these movies. They're gory as sin and pretty darn horrendous.

Last year I made a second attempt at Toby and Winky's Halloween doodle, this time in Harry Potter-inspired costumes that were far more to my sister's taste.

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Tip of the Day

Do you want to give your furbaby an extra fun treat for Halloween? We're thinking most of you already know that pet stores typically offer festive toy options around the holidays, including Halloween. Nevertheless, we're reminding you to consider looking for the pet store's festive holiday section, or for festive options in the general toy aisle. If necessary and feasible, you can even use such festive new toys to help distract a furbaby who gets anxious or excited by the sounds and overall hustle and bustle of Halloween night festivities, such as trick-or-treaters visiting the house. Of course, if you are handing out candy, festive new toys should be given in a safe area of the home away from the door. And, yet another caveat is to always check new toys for any potentially dangerous parts and pieces. You know your kitty or pup best, so when picking out new festive toys for them, always keep in mind their tendencies to chew on or eat certain toys. It's fun to be festive, but it's also very important to be safe.

Halloween Adventures with Angel Astrid

I've shared the below photos of my sweet angel pup Astrid over multiple Halloween seasons now. I just love them so much, though. They may not look like much, but they're Astrid in the Halloween costume she wore every year until she outgrew it at about 10 years old.

The costume packaging technically said it was an alligator or something of the sort, but we always said Astrid was dressed up as a dragon. After all, her name comes from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.

The costume did come with a hood that would have given Astrid a way more reptilian look, but she hated wearing it and so I never made her. These photos don't show it, but the collar of this costume also lit up green, so she'd show up in the dark and just generally looked all glowy and cute. She got so many oohs and awws and compliments when she wore this out in public.

I'm so glad to have these October memories with Astrid.

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Spooky Flashback Doodle of the Day

Today's flashback doodle is one I scribbled up not too long after Astrid passed away last year. It is, of course, my sweet pup in her dinosaur getup. In my sketchbook, Astrid was even willing to wear the hood of the costume.

As for Astrid's collar, for her last few years she wore one just like in this doodle. It's the pattern of Sally's dress from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

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Tip of the Day

If you think it might be fun and festive for your pup or other furbaby to get in the Halloween spirit with a chocolaty treat, consider getting them some goodies made with carob. Carob is a chocolate alternative, and it can give items such as candy and baked goods an appearance and even flavor that is similar to chocolate. What's more, carob does not contain the component found in real chocolate that is toxic to cats and dogs. There are carob pet treats on the market, and even items such as cookies for furbabies are sometimes made with carob. So, if you think your pup or kitty might enjoy some chocolaty treats of their own while you enjoy some candy on Halloween, then consider the safe and festive alternative that is carob.