Magical Monday Motivation

Since Evan got to show off his handsome self yesterday, on none other than Cat World Domination Day, he agreed to give up his Mancat Monday post so that another kitty could have a turn here on our blog. And what other kitty will you be seeing today?

Tonks! Just look at those sleepy eyes. This is actually a very rare moment of Tonks caught sitting still. What's more, it's not really a very good shot at all. I barely got this photo snapped before Tonks woke up and was up and running amok again.

I think Eddy may have lost her role as the most difficult kitty to photograph in this house. Kitten Tonks and her kitten sister Winky seem to be allergic to sitting still, especially for the camera. If it came down to a competition between Eddy and the kittens over who could take the blurriest photo, I'm starting to think the kittens would now win. I never would have thought any kitty could take that title from Eddy, but I have been proven wrong.

That all being said, we're now going a bit magical on you. In the post in which we introduced Tonks, her sister Winky (who owns my sister), and her brother Flitwick (who owns my parents), we mentioned how they were all named after characters from Harry Potter. The fantasy genre is well-loved in my family, so furbabies named after random fantasy characters has happened on far more than one occasion. Did you know that my angel Rosie and her brother Sammy were named after characters in The Lord of the Rings?

That being said, for the next few days, in honor of the kittens' magical names, our doodles are going to be a bit, well, magical. We know that certainly not all of our friends are fans of the fantasy genre like we are. It is, after all, sort of like an acquired taste. I acquired it from my dad, in fact, who read fantasy stories to me on the regular as a child. But, we do hope that, even if you aren't a fan of fantasy, you might still find some enjoyment in these doodles.

That's not all. This doodle and overall topic of magic inspired the motivational thought we wanted to share with you all today. Though Annie of McGuffy's Reader is taking a well-deserved blogging break, and her Sparks blog hop is therefore on hiatus, we still feel compelled to share a positive thought. So, today's magical words of wisdom are:

"Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We hope all of you friends of ours have a magnificent, magical, motivational Monday!

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Our  Tip of the Day:

Today's summer safety tip for strays and ferals relates to the trap-neuter-release (TNR) practice. TNR is crucial for keeping the feral cat population under control, as well as keeping individual ferals as safe and healthy as possible. This being said, always keep the weather and environment in mind when embarking on a TNR effort.

The summer heat can of course pose an extreme danger to cats being trapped. Potentially fatal overheating or heat stroke can occur if a cat is trapped and left sitting in the trap in the sun. In addition to this, traps are often made of metal, which means that if these traps are sitting on a hot surface, such as asphalt, the trap as well as the cat inside can overheat in this way as well. To combat such issues, try to trap and thereafter keep ferals in the shade. After they are trapped, do not leave the cats sitting out in the sun and heat, but instead transfer them somewhere cool as soon as possible. Also keep in mind the cats' safety when transporting them. For example, as you all surely know, the interior of a car can quickly become like a deadly oven in the summer months, so do not leave any animals, including trapped ferals, inside hot cars.

TNR is of course a very important practice for the safety and well-being of feral cats. That doesn't mean there aren't risks to the cats, though, and that includes the weather. So, if you are assisting in the significant task of trapping ferals, of course always ensure the cats' safety in all weather.