Happy October!

Happy October! Tonks is celebrating the arrival of this spooky month by hanging out in her Halloween scratcher house thingamabob. Well, she's more like hanging out of it than hanging out in it.

This here human may or may not have spent the last couple days chasing the kitties and pup around in attempts to get some Halloween photo shoots accomplished. The results were varied, and you'll be seeing them all throughout this month.

Happy first day of spooky month, friends!

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Doodle of the Day

Today's doodle is in honor of how Mother Nature just never wants to cooperate with the fact that it's autumn and Halloween is just around the corner. It may or may not be 85°F here today, and my sentiment is exactly the same as this perturbed cat.

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Tip of the Day

Given how much we love Halloween here, just like in previous years, we're going to share tips related to the spooky holiday throughout the entire month of October. We're going to start today with none other than the festive decorations. Most people might be more cognizant of their decorations and how they might affect the resident furbabies around Christmastime. However, also keep pet safety in mind if you put up Halloween decorations. Halloween decorations can come in all shapes and sizes, such as wreaths, garland, and all sorts of trinkets and goodies in between. If you're anything like us, you have all sorts of black cats and pumpkins out on display this time of year. No matter what kind of decorations you put out, make sure that anything your furbaby might chew on is out of their reach. Small pieces of Halloween decor, or parts and pieces of off larger pieces of decor, could lead to choking, obstruction, or perforation of the bowel if ingested. So, while you don't have to refrain from being festive and decorating for Halloween (or any holiday), you simply need to take your kitty or pup's safety into consideration when placing all decor.

Friendly Fill-Ins and Blurry Eddy

Hello, friends! First of all, let me apologize if there's any formatting weirdness in this post. I don't know what's going on in my town, but we're without internet both at my house and at my workplace. So, this post is being worked on using data on my phone, which often gives me grief when I try to blog from it.

That all said, we're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My co -host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. I find _________ annoying.

2. _________ is a favorite charity of mine.

3. I often have to explain _________ to others.

4. There's a lot of _________ in my life these days.

My answers are below in bold.

1. I find interruptions during my reading time annoying.
(I recently saw a meme about this, and I realized how true it is to feel annoyed when you're enjoying a good book and someone or something interrupts you. So, that's what popped into my head when answering this one.)

2. CATsNAP is a favorite charity of mine.

(This is the rescue group from where I adopted my girl Eddy. It's also the rescue group who helped me during the process of catching and seeking veterinary care for a neighborhood feral tomcat in need. My blog post on that is here, if you're curious.)

3. I often have to explain my furbabies' names to others.

(I don't feel like my kitties or pup have names that would be considered that outrageous, but I still often find myself getting some questions on them. People often have trouble understanding what I'm saying when I tell them pup Astrid's name, and once some little girls who met her on a walk just resorted to calling her Ostrich. I often get asked how Evan got such a human name, and my poor girl Eddy often gets called a boy, which does in fact make sense. Tonks is a name from the Harry Potter series, and anyone who doesn't know that tends to find her a name a bit unorthodox. Thimble is probably the name most admired by those who meet my furbabies, and I also happen to find it pretty darn cute, just like the kitty it belongs to. For the record, my mom came up with Thimble's name.)

4. There's a lot of Halloween moving watching in my life these days.

(I tried to think of what to put for this one, but really one of the most common thing in my life right now is trying to find any and every movie I can watch in the Halloween season. So, here we are.)

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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And 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.

You better believe blooper queen Eddy is here to share some outtakes. As always, she's happy to show off her blurry glory.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day 

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Tip of the Day

As we mentioned a couple days ago, September is Animal Pain Awareness Month, and so the last days of this month will include tips relating to that very topic. The previous tip was about some of the signs and symptoms you might notice if your furbaby is in pain. Today's tip relates to, of course, taking your kitty in for a veterinary exam should they be showing signs of pain. By way of examination and other potential diagnostic tests, a reason for any pain your furbaby is feeling might be deduced.

Moreover, if or when your veterinarian describes medications to treat or regulate your furbaby's pain, always monitor them closely. This is often especially important after the first doses of a new medication. Depending on the reason for pain, as well as depending on the individual animal, different medications can vary in their efficacy and side effects. Of course, some pain medications will, by nature, cause drowsiness or other such side effects. In some cases, though, there are other things to look out for. For example, some animals have noticeably adverse reactions to certain drugs, such as respiratory distress, hives or swelling, vomiting, or diarrhea. There are also cases when an animal might have a hypersensitivity to certain medications, making typical side effects, such as drowsiness, even more pronounced than anticipated or safe. Therefore, after giving your kitty or pup a pain medication (or, in truth, any medication), be sure to observe them carefully. If you notice any concerning or abnormal side effects in your cat or dog, of course do not hesitate to contact your veterinarian.

Remember Me Thursday

As we're sure most of you already know, today is Remember Me Thursday. The Remember Me Thursday website has often explained this day with one poignant sentence: "Remember Me Thursday is a global awareness campaign uniting individuals and pet adoption organizations around the world as an unstoppable, integrated voice for orphan pets to live in forever homes, not die waiting for them." Just like most of you, around here we are huge proponents of adopting cats, dogs, and other companion animals from shelters and rescues. That's why our post today is indeed centered around this significant topic.

I am of course a huge advocate for adopting shelter and rescue animals. Going one step further, though, I myself am also a huge advocate for adopting special needs—or specially abled—animals, if you are able to do so. They have so much to offer, as I have learned with my extra special Evan and Eddy. 

That there is a very old doodle from a few years ago. I was going to recreate it in some way this year, but that simply wasn't one of the doodles I actually completed lately. But I digress.

Now, it seems perfectly timed that Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop always falls on Remember Me Thursday, given that both take place on, well, Thursday.

I am of course beyond thankful for all of my furbabies. All of them are rescues, though only one of them was actually adopted from a rescue group rather than stumbling into my life by other means. The furbaby I actually actively adopted is none other than Eddy, who is a sort of specially abled kitty herself.

As some of you might know, when I adopted Eddy, she was suffering from some sort of acute neurological issue that appeared just a day or so after the rescue trapped her. She walked and ran in circles, had a head tilt, had right-sided facial nerve paralysis, and all that neurological jazz. I was actually seeking out a special needs kitty at that time, as I had just recently lost my geriatric angel Rosie and wanted to give another special needs kitty a home in Rosie's honor. And so, I became Eddy's mom. She has since recovered from her major neurological issues, though she did adorably retain her head tilt and facial nerve paralysis.

Want to see a photo of Eddy at her first appointment at our vet? Of course you do.

That little lamb there behind Eddy was her little buddy when she was a young kitten. He had to be retired (and bleached) when he kept being dragged into the litter box by Eddy, but now he's tucked up in a closet for safe keeping.

All that to say, Eddy and all of my rescue furbabies have brought me endless joy in life. Cats, dogs, and all animals in shelters deserve the chance to show just how much joy and love they have to offer. Because it's a lot. Today and every day, we are purring, woofing, praying, and doing our best to spread the word in order to help all animals in shelters and rescues find forever homes. They deserve it.

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

1. I find _________ annoying.

2. _________ is a favorite charity of mine.

3. I often have to explain _________ to others.

4. There's a lot of _________ in my life these days.

***

Did you know?

In honor of Remember Me Thursday, how about some facts on animal adoption?

Did you know that the average cost per day of basic pet care is only an approximate $3? That's less than luxuries like fancy drinks from coffee shops.

Did you know that roughly 25% of shelter dogs are purebred? Breeders are not the only source of purebred animals, because both purebreds and amazing mixed breeds can be found at shelters.

Did you know that a vast majority of shelter animals are already spayed or neutered and up-to-date on certain vaccinations prior to adoption? That means you'll pay the adoption fee and thereafter won't need to schedule or pay the typical cost of a spay or neuter or certain vaccinations.

Did you know that animals can make our lives happier and healthier? Science has proven this on multiple occasions.

Some of the above facts are ones you animal lovers out there certainly already know, and some are ones we've already shared in the past. Now we need to spread the word. Shelter animals have so much to gift us. They are special and filled with love. Let's get them out of shelters and into homes.

Adventures with Astrid

Today, pup Astrid wanted to share a quick snippet from a recent walk. She decided to show you all how seriously she takes her walks, hence why she wouldn't look at the camera.

If you look at her back right foot in that second photo, you can perhaps get a glimpse of how Astrid is missing the outer toe on that foot. She lost that toe almost exactly 6 years ago to cancer. She's been cancer free since, something for which I'm eternally grateful.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

I shared a new doodle recently that was similar to the one below, but also different. This one here inspired the new one I scribbled up this year, which was a bit darker in tone. Anyway, here's a little something from last year.

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Tip of the Day

Since September is Animal Pain Awareness Month, we'll be finishing out the month with a short series of tips on this topic. Today's tip relates to how our furbabies might let us know they are in pain. This can be a bit difficult sometimes, as cats and even dogs can be very good at hiding pain. This is why we must be very observant of our furbabies on a regular basis, in order to know when they aren't acting themselves.

The symptoms of pain in our furbabies can vary greatly, depending on the source of the pain, as well as the individual animal. You might see decreased activity level, or even a decrease in your cat or dog's appetite. Another potential sign is an altered gait, or an unwillingness or inability to move or jump. A cat in pain might avoid or miss the litter box, and a dog in pain might have accidents inside the house. Aggression and hiding are yet more potential signs that your kitty or pup is in pain. The list of signs and symptoms of pain in animals could go on and on. This is why it's imperative that you know your kitty or pup's norm, and that you make frequent observations of their activities and behavior in order to catch when anything is out of the norm. Altered activity or behavior could mean any number of things, pain being one possibility.

Tonks Tuesday: Snoopervising Duties

Hello, friends! It's Tonks Tuesday, and the calico herself agreed to pose for a photo. This week she told me she'd do her very best to look at the camera instead of out the window. Did she keep her promise?

Tonks really just can't help but get a tad bit distracted by the window. After all, there's just so much to snoopervise out there! And this girl takes her snoopervising duties very seriously. This time she was watching some crows screaming away on the front porch.

Happy Tuesday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

Today is the last tip in our disaster preparedness series, and it is one that we have repeated many times, on many different occasions. This tip is to always ensure that your furbaby has some form of identification. In the unfortunate event that your furbaby becomes separated from you in any form of disaster or emergency, some form of identification could more easily bring them back to you. A collar with an ID tag as well as a microchip are the most common forms of ID for our kitties or pups. In addition to ensuring this identification is on your cat or dog, also make sure that the information is up-to-date. If you have moved addresses or changed phone numbers, for example, make sure this is reflected on your furbaby's identification. No one ever wants to consider being separated from their kitty or pup, but should this happen in an emergency or any event, your furbaby is more likely to find their way back to you if they are wearing some form of identification.

Mancat Monday with Exhausted Evan

It's Mancat Monday, which means you get a dose of mancat Evan.

Evan tried really hard to stay awake for more photos.

He works so hard to keep the household in line, though, that he was just too exhausted to model for long.

Poor Evan. He has to work especially hard when his human of a mom is home on the weekends and therefore needs lots of extra snoopervision. Even better, our internet decided to go out last night and is still out, hence why his Mancat Monday post got delayed. Poor, poor Evan.

Evan hopes you all get some naps in today! Happy Monday!

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Doodle of the Day

I realized I never shared one of Evan's sort of summertime spooky doodles. I guess it's okay that there are blooming flowers in the background of this doodle, though, because just because it's officially autumn doesn't mean it looks it yet. Anyway, here's a doodle of what Evan's probably thinking as this mom of his watches all sorts of Halloween movies when it's not even October yet.

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Tip of the Day

Our current series of tips is about disaster and emergency preparedness for both yourself and your furbaby. Today's tip on this topic is to contemplate and decide on a proper caregiver for your furbaby, should there be an emergency rendering you incapable of caring for them. Thinking on such unfortunate hypothetical situations is never something anyone looks forward to, but it is nonetheless something important to consider. You will want to ensure that someone you trust might be prepared to care for your kitty or pup in an emergency. It is of course important to discuss this with the person in question, and to ensure that they are truly able and willing to take on the care of your furbaby, should the need arise. In some cases, this might mean including in your will that this person would become your furbaby's caregiver. Overall, though not an ideal topic with which to occupy your mind, it is indeed significant to have a safe and secure plan for your furbaby's care should something render you incapable of caring for them. Think of family or friends whom you trust, whom your furbaby knows, and whom have displayed an ability and willingness to take on the care of your kitty or pup.

A Caturday Art Cat-o'-Lantern

It's the first day of autumn. That means it's officially the season of Halloween. That means it's cat-o'-lantern season.

Truth be told, I meant to include an actual kitty friend for that cat-o'-lantern in this doodle. But, I was so excited to scribble up my first cat-o'-lantern of the year that I apparently forgot to include the actual kitty. The cat-o'-lantern counts as a kitty, though, right?

Happy Caturday, friends! And happy autumn!

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Tip of the Day

Yesterday's tip discussed having rescue alert stickers posted at your home, to aid rescue workers in getting all of the animals at your home to safety in the event of an emergency at your house. Today's tip is to have a means of alerting rescuers that there are animals in need of care at your home in the event that something were to happen to you while you are away from home. For example, you could have a pet alert info card in your wallet or in your car, indicating the types and number of animals at your home in need of care should you, God forbid, be rendered unable to make it home to care for them as needed. It is never desirable to consider the possibility of such emergencies or disasters occurring, but it is nevertheless important to think ahead and plan ahead for your kitty, pup, or other companion animal's care in the event of any type of emergency.

Friendly Fill-Ins and Snaggleteeth

Hello, 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. _________, _________, and _________ are a few of my favorite things.

2. If I had _________, I would _________.

3. You don't have to be young to _________.

4. _________ comes with age.

My answers are below in bold.

1. Animals, art, and books are a few of my favorite things.

(I love my kitties and my pup, I love drawing as well as listening to the art known as music, and I love both reading and writing. And that pretty much sums it up.)

2. If I had a winning lottery ticket, I would donate to and assist with far more animal rescue resources.

(I've always wanted to be more involved in animal rescue in some way. I try to do what I can, but if I won or some way came upon a large sum of money, and if I could perhaps quit or at least cut back on the 9 to 5 work life, I would love to put more time and resources into animal rescue efforts.)

3. You don't have to be young to be silly.
(I really struggled on how to word this one. At first I tried to be all poetic and typed out, "You don't have to be young to have a child's heart." Then I realized it sounded like I stole those words right of Hannibal Lecter's mouth, so now you get this. Anyway. What I'm getting at is that, no matter how old you are, you can enjoy the little things or have childlike fun. I watch animated movies and sometimes read books written for a middle grade audience because sometimes that's what makes me happy and helps me have fun. So, be as silly as you want, no matter your age.) 

4. Self-acceptance comes with age.

(I feel like sometimes kids are so impressionable or are surrounded by so much peer pressure that they don't realize it's okay to be your true, genuine self. You don't have to fit into a mold, and it's okay if you like things that others find different or even weird. If it makes you happy, and as long as you're not causing harm to anyone or anything, you do you. I feel like that's something people realize more when they get older, though I wish people of all ages lived like that.)

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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Are you ready for your Friday Eddy fix? You are? Well, good. Here's the tabby girl. Well, mostly, here's her adorable little snaggleteeth.

I love getting photos of Eddy's special little face. That's why you've seen more than one photo like this on our blog. I just can't help but snap shots of that adorable mouth on that adorable face. The right-sided facial nerve paralysis she's had since kittenhood is what makes Eddy's cute teeth do what they do, and I love it so much.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

Today's doodle is honor of the fact that, at least if you ask me, Halloween is right around the corner. I, personally, cannot wait.

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Tip of the Day

Today's disaster preparedness tip is a rather specific one, and it is to consider using a pet rescue alert decal or sticker at your house. These decals or stickers are meant to alert rescue response teams as to how many and what kinds of animals are in the home. They can be placed on a screen door, on a window near a door, or somewhere similar where rescuers can easily see it. This type of information on what animals are in the home can help in the case of a house fire or any emergency evacuation, especially in cases when you are in any way unable to inform response teams as to how many and what kinds of animals are in the home and in need of rescuing. There are a variety of these decals or stickers available online, but one easy way to get them is through the ASPCA, as you can visit their website and order free pet emergency alert decals for your home.

Alerting emergency personnel of the animals in your home can help them to more quickly rescue your companion animals in the event of a fire or other emergency. This being said, though, please do ensure that any such decals or stickers are kept up-to-date. Not only is this important for ensuring that all animals in the house are properly accounted for, but is also important for the safety of emergency personnel. For example, if one of your furbabies has passed away but it is still included on an displayed pet emergency alert at your home, then emergency crews might put their lives at risk looking for an animal who is not even present. So, while these pet emergency alert bulletins can indeed benefit your pets' safety, also ensure that you use them properly in order to keep emergency personnel equally safe.

Thankful Thimble Thursday: Window Whiffies

I unfortunately didn't get a poem written for this week's edition of Angel Sammy's Poetic Thursday Challenge, but we will resume with that next week. For today, though, Thimble is of course here for Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Today, Thimble is grateful that we had quite a few days of window whiffies weather.

Have you all been getting to enjoy some window whiffies? We're supposed to have a couple days of storms and then hot weather again, but the extended forecast is calling for window whiffies weather again soon enough. Whew.

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Now, let's share 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. _________, _________, and _________ are a few of my favorite things.

2. If I had _________, I would _________.

3. You don't have to be young to _________.

4. _________ comes with age.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

A lot of summertime chores bleed into autumn, and so you simply have to make them fit the season. Hence this doodle, I guess.

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Tip of the Day

Today's National Disaster Preparedness Month tip is to, in the event of a disaster such as a hurricane, do your absolute best to consider the care and safety of animals who may not be your typical indoor companions. For example, do you help care for feral cats, even an entire feral colony? If so, please don't forget them in potential disaster preparedness plans.

Obviously, evacuating feral furbabies may not be anywhere nearly as easy as relocating your tame, indoor kitties or pups. However, do still do all that you can to ensure that you include ferals or strays under your care in the event of an emergency. Especially if there is a known threat of a disaster, try to find a way to access traps or other means of capturing and transporting ferals. And, of course, do your research ahead of time regarding safe areas that would be willing to take in ferals or strays in the event of an emergency. There may indeed be organizations willing to help with this feat. Therefore, also do your research in this regard and reach out to various animal rescue organizations to determine if they can offer assistance.

Another consideration to make are animals such as horses and livestock. As best as absolutely possible, try to always think ahead, even before a disaster is on the immediate horizon, and make sure that you have access to trailers and other necessities for relocating large animals. And, again, do your research ahead of time regarding where you might be able to safely relocate animals such as horses or livestock.

Trying to orchestrate the relocation of numerous animals in the event of a disaster can indeed be very daunting. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, time or resources are short. In the end, though, you have to simply do the absolute best that you can. The best way to do this is to always think ahead, be prepared, and have a plan. Make sure that you take the time to research safe options for all creatures under your care, and then, accordingly, make plans that could be implemented in the event of a disaster or other emergency.

Woof Woof Wednesday: Window Views and Bunny Ears

Pup Astrid decided it's been too long since you've all seen a photo of her enjoying her beloved window.

That might not be a great shot, but can you believe what happened while Astrid tried to pose for some better ones?

Do you see that? Do you see those bunny ears that Astrid did not ask for? Humans. Can't live with them, and can't live, well, with them.

Astrid hopes all of you friends of her have less obnoxious humans. She also wishes you all a happy Wednesday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

It's pretty much Halloween season, so you better believe the spooky, kooky decor is out and about in our house.

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Tip of the Day

We're in the midst of a series of tips for National Disaster Preparedness Month. Yesterday, we discussed preparing emergency supplies or a travel kit, so that you and your furbaby will be ready to handle a disaster, evacuation, and so forth, should the need arise. Today, we're here to remind you to go yet another step further and to have a plan. In other words, in the event of a disaster or other emergency, how and what will you do in order to ensure the safety of both your furbaby and yourself? For example, if you live in an area where disasters might make evacuation a possibility, have a safe a safe destination secured, not only for yourself but for your furbaby as well. Do you know of a motel or hotel, or another similar shelter, where animals are allowed? Or, do you have friends or family where your kitty or pup will be allowed to stay? If necessary, research veterinary offices, boarding facilities, or other similar facilities out of harm's way, where your furbaby could be taken in the case of an emergency.

Emergency plans don't just relate to possible evacuations, though. For example, if you live in an area where tornadoes are a possibility, have a plan for where in the house both you and your furbabies can safely hunker down. Pick a safe room in the center of the house, for example, and have a plan for getting your kitty or pup there in a hurry. If needed, have leashes, carriers, or other necessary tools ready. Depending on where you live and what your situation is, always think ahead to how you will keep both your furbaby and yourself safe in an emergency situation.

One last comment we'll make on this topic is to, as needed and possible, practice your emergency plans. Make sure that everyone in your home knows the plan, and that everyone will know their part in the action. Doing a trial run or two can never hurt, to ensure that everyone is on the same page, and that everything will run as smoothly as possible in an actual emergency.

Tonks Tuesday: Toy Time

It's Tonks Tuesday, and today the calico is showing off one of her favorite toys.

If you can't tell what that is, it's a rather robust silver vine stick that used to be completely wrapped in twine of a sort. As you can see, the twine is the in process of being removed by the calico. That's probably because she loves dragging the toy around by the rope. Well, she also clearly loves huffing, rubbing, and just generally loving all over this beloved toy of hers. The raffia at the ends of the stick is also very much enjoyed by calico Tonks.

I just randomly stumbled upon a pack of those silver stick toys on Amazon last year. Between the cats at my house and my parents' house, they're a huge hit. I'm lucky that none of the kitties nor the pup in our family are chewers of sticks or anything of that sort. That means they get to enjoy toys like this, which Tonks won't complain about one bit.

Happy Tuesday, friends!

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Doodle of the Day

The other day we shared a doodle of Thimble making friends with a ghost. I believe I actually used that doodle to go with last week's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge, but either way, it starred Thimble and a ghostly friend. When I scribbled that doodle up a couple weeks ago, I also happened to scribble up a doodle of Tonks playing with the ghostly friend, and that drawing happens to go well enough with today's playful post. So, here you go.

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Tip of the Day

As we mentioned yesterday, we're in National Disaster Preparedness Month. Our newest series of tips, therefore, relates to this. Today, we're here to discuss having emergency supplies and travel kits prepared, should you and your furbaby need to evacuate suddenly. After all, destructive hurricanes, tornadoes, and other such disasters can, sadly, put people and their pets in the line of danger, as well as without a place to live. Therefore, especially if you are in an area where disasters might lead to evacuation, but also of course simply to be prepared for an emergency, do consider having an emergency kit prepared for your kitty or pup.

When preparing an emergency travel kit, think of the things your pup or kitty might use or need on a daily basis, or even weekly basis. Anything that they need on a regular basis can of course be included in an emergency kit. For example, an emergency kit for your furbaby would do well to include a week or so worth of their food, water bottles, bowls, and any medications they require. That is often not all that can or should be included in a cat or dog's emergency travel kit, though. If you rack your brain for anything that might be useful in your furbaby's emergency kit, you might consider a blanket or two, a spare leash, a carrier, a transportable litter box, litter, toys, your cat or dog's medical records, pictures of your cat or dog, and even cleaning supplies, such as paper towels and dish soap. All in all, consider anything and everything your furbaby uses or needs on a regular basis, and then create a travel kit based on that. In the case of an emergency, having such supplies already prepared can allow for you and your furbaby to evacuate and get to safety in a timely manner.

Mancat Monday: The Feral Edition

Hello, friends! You were supposed to get this post yesterday. My apologies for going MIA again. It was just a bit of a chaotic weekend, and I ended up never opening let alone turning on my laptop to work on the post. But, here we are now!

So, I mentioned on Friday how I ended up seeking help for a neighborhood feral on an urgent basis last week. We've had some feral cats come and go in our neighborhood for years on end. I always put food out for any that want a bite to eat, and so a lot of them know my house is a place to stop by for a meal.

All that said, one of the two current feral tomcats in our neighborhood showed up at my house exactly one week ago looking like this:

If you can't tell, that's part of a gutter downspout extender stuck around his neck. I can almost guarantee he got himself in that predicament and that a human did not do that to him, because even after a couple years of this cat stopping by my house for food on and off, he's still by far the most feral, least approachable cat that has ever lived in the neighborhood. The poor guy must have thought he smelled something delicious in whatever gutter that might have been attached to, because he clearly had his head in there real good. For a second I worried it happened at my house, but my gutters and their extenders are white. A lot of houses in our neighborhood have brown or grey ones like the one stuck on the poor kitty, so it's impossible to know where it happened, not that it mattered at that point.

That picture right there was the first glimpse I got of him, and I could barely tell the gutter extender was even on him. Then he turned sideways and the first photo above was the view I got. I was devastated for the poor boy. I immediately started trying to think of ways I could get that off of him, all while knowing that this cat runs away if he so much as sees me through the windows of my house.

The unfortunate thing is that I have a trap for catching animals like this guy, but it is currently missing. When my grandpa and then my grandma passed away a couple years and we acquired a bunch of their stuff, a lot of things got shuffled around and put in storage, and the trap went missing during that era. So, after discovering him like this, I kept putting more food out, because though this guy will run off if I come into sight, he also knows my appearance means more food likely showed up on the porch, and so he'll usually wait a bit and then come back. With more and more food to coax him to his usual eating spot, I tried lying in wait, tried to hide from this guy, tried to find ways to sneakily grab the gutter downspout extender and get it off of him, tried to find ways to trap this guy without an actual trap, and you get the idea. I failed all of the attempts, because this feral fellow is smart and very much so not a fan of humans. My only consolation is that the gutter extender was plastic and allowed for breathing room, and he was still able to eat and then jump over my gate to leave my yard like he always does.

All that to say, there are some rescue groups in my town who are willing to loan out traps as well as assist with acquiring medical care for feral cats. I got into contact with one of them, also explaining to them that this guy is not only in an unusual predicament, but also still intact, which I'd seen evidence of many times when sneakily watching him from my house. Thanks to the aforementioned rescue groups, within hours I had a trap in hand and there was already a vet willing to see him immediately whenever he was caught.

Trapping him admittedly didn't happen all that quickly. First of all, this guy shows up only every couple or few days. Lately, or at least before all of this, he was showing up every third evening like clockwork. What's more, there are other cats in the neighborhood, at least one being another feral I know of, and even more cats that have families but are simply let outside sometimes. And in addition to all that, because I feed cats, my yard gets a ton of opossum traffic overnight. Cats don't usually show up at my house overnight because of that. Despite my efforts to keep the trap out of service during opossum rush hour, I still managed to trap a baby opossum early one morning, and it was really fun trying to coax him out of the trap so that I could set it up again for the cat before I headed out to work.

I'm rambling, aren't I? Anyway. My mom came over to my house regularly to check the trap while I was at work last week. When I got home on Thursday, the trap was still empty. I added fresh, extra stinky tuna to the trap because you know how I mentioned above that the kitty had been showing up every third evening? Well, Thursday was the third evening since I'd first seen the kitty with the gutter extender stuck around his neck. I got ready to walk pup Astrid, and before heading out the front door with her, I checked the trap on the back porch one last time.

Brown kitty was inside the trap, but he hadn't set it off yet. He was straddling the plate that would cause it to close. I got a picture of that, which I'll share here. The photo is admittedly terrible, as it was taken through both the main door as well as the screen door, both of which are in need of having their dog nose art cleaned off of them.

While I was looking out the door, distraught upon thinking the kitty knew not to step on the plate in the trap and therefore worried he'd escaped untrapped, pup Astrid came up to watch with me. The feral fellow apparently heard Astrid approach, and then upon seeing her through the door, he panicked enough that he stepped on the plate and was thereby successfully trapped. Thanks, Astrid.

I'm not sure if you can tell all that well in the above photo, but the kitty was indeed still wearing his gutter trash necklace.

Those photos there were taken after he'd had about 15 minutes to slightly settle down. I had contacted the rescue group and a volunteer immediately headed out to come pick him up and take them to their vet. Before that, I had kitty covered in an old towel I'd grabbed and sprayed with Feliway.

Before the above photos were snapped, the poor kitty was freaking all the way out. He even managed to get his arm through the front of the trap and was jostling the door of it a bit, which is why you see the door of the trap pushed up against the house in some of the photos.

The rescue group volunteer took the feral little fellow straight to the vet. It was already after 5 pm at this point, but the vet sedated him, got the gutter downspout extender off of his neck, neutered him, vaccinated him, gave him a pain and antibiotic injection, and even microchipped him so that if he's ever found or trapped elsewhere in the future, I will hopefully be contacted.

This feral little fellow was deemed unable to be handled without sedation, so he spent the night in a large carrier at the vet's office for monitoring. The next morning, the rescue volunteer brought him back to my yard in that carrier. I was unable to be there, because it was mid-morning and I couldn't miss work that day. But, my amazing mom made sure to meet the rescue volunteer at my house and to get photos and video for me.

The volunteer said the poor kitty was very unhappy and was thrashing around in the cage, which is why his litter box was overturned and all that jazz. Just seconds after that photo was snapped, my mom and the rescue volunteer opened the cage door and the kitty dashed away faster than the speed of light.

I haven't actually mentioned this yet throughout this post, but I've been calling this kitty Bishop for some time. So, meet Bishop, friends. If you're curious, I'm a big fan of sci-fi movies and sort of just got in the habit of naming my feral friends after characters in the movie Aliens. There has been Hicks, Hudson, and Newt, and now we have Bishop as well as a little orange guy I've been calling Jonesy.

I admittedly haven't seen Bishop since he was released back into my yard. I've been putting food out in extra locations, including the perimeter of my property in case he's currently too afraid to enter my yard. Today would be around when he'd usually visit according to his old schedule, but we'll see if he's ready to come by yet. I hope he visits me again, but for now I'm at least glad he's free of his gutter trash necklace. I can't tell you how much sleep I lost last week, or how many nightmares I had while sleeping, because I was so worried he was going to get caught on something with that on him, or that it would get crushed or shift and he wouldn't be able to properly breathe or eat. He's free of it now, though, and he's neutered and medicated and all that good stuff, thanks to the amazing rescue groups and veterinary resources in my hometown.

I mentioned the other feral who comes around, whom I call Jonesy. He also needs neutered eventually, but so far he's also only coming around when he feels like it and not always with much consistency. At least he's not in an emergency situation like Bishop was. Though Jonesy has yet to let me approach or touch him, he overall does not act as quite as feral as Bishop, and even gets within a couple feet of me as long as I don't make any sudden movements. I'm wondering if, whenever I'm able to trap him, if he'll be deemed adoptable, or if he'll be trapped, neutered, and released like Bishop. I'm not sure how Jonesy would act once caught. I'm hoping he'll be a candidate for an indoor life.

Want to see Jonesy? Here's a little glimpse I got of him, since he's less likely than Bishop to run if he sees me taking a photo of him through the door. He also doesn't seem to mind seeing the other kitties through the door, though he's absolutely not a fan of pup Astrid.

Don't worry, Jonesy got more food after those photos were snapped. He's by far the smallest tomcat who's ever shown up at my house, but he also eats more than any others have. He can down multiple cans of food in one sitting. Though sometimes he visits me every day for a span of time, Jonesy lately only visits me every so often, and so I feed him as much as he wants when he shows up. When I first started seeing Jonesy I started to wonder if he was a female, and he hardly ever lifts his tail high enough for me to verify. But, recently he did, and he is absolutely an intact male. So, at some point this boy will have to lose those jewels.

Happy Monday, friends!

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For anyone curious, or if you'd like to donate to their cause, the rescue group that helped trap and transport Bishop is CATsNAP. That's also the rescue group from which I adopted my girl Eddy. Another rescue group helped orchestrate and fund Bishop's medical care, and that group is Hospice Hearts. I am beyond grateful for the care and kindness both groups offer to all animals in our area.

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Doodle of the Day

Today's doodle sums up last week when I was pulling my hair out trying to help feral kitty Bishop. It also probably depicts how Bishop felt about the situation, especially after the obnoxious humans got him trapped.

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Tip of the Day

September is National Disaster Preparedness Month. This is timely, as many in our nation are currently affected by hurricane season. Given this month dedicated to disaster preparedness, we'll be doing a series of tips on this topic. Our first tip in this series is a simple precursor to the more detailed tips that will begin tomorrow. And this tip today is to please realize and understand that if a situation is not safe for you, then it's not safe for your animals. For this reason, please do absolutely everything in your ability to never leave your cats or dogs behind in the event of a disaster. If the only safe option for you is to evacuate, then that is also very likely the only safe option for your furbaby. For this reason, never wait until last minute to consider preparations and plans, as then it might be too late. Always have preparations and plans thought through or ready. We'll start discussing such preparations and plans in more detail tomorrow. For now, though, when it comes to potential disasters, please indeed keep in mind your furbaby's safety in addition to your own.