Happy Birthday, Evan! (...and the Letter M)

Let's start with...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVAN!

Indeed, my sugary sweet (and sometimes sassy) boy Evan turns 12 years old today. As I've said so many times before, he's my little hero. Evan may be hind limb paralyzed, and he may battle urinary incontinence, megacolon, and a plethora of other health issues, but he's such a trooper, and I love him so much.

Those photos were snapped just this morning, and that's the birthday boy's new bed. The silver vine stick and little alligator toy behind him are also new for his birthday. The alligator is admittedly an inside joke, because especially when he was younger (and still occasionally to this day), Evan sometimes enjoys taking little (or big) nibbles of humans, other cats, and sometimes even pup Astrid, which has often gotten him compared to an alligator.

Evan, I hope you have the happiest 12th birthday! I love you so much!

I also just realized that I failed to scan his new birthday doodle for this year. So, he gets a little flashback doodle to celebrate.

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Now we're ready to partake in today's edition of the April A to Z Challenge.

I'm a broken record and so am again here to say that some of my favorite things in life are cats, drawing, writing, and the fantasy genre. And so, my A to Z contributions this year will be illustrations for a weird and wacky fantasy story I'm currently writing. This story co-stars a hind limb paralyzed orange tabby cat named Hobo, and this month you'll get to go along on some of his adventures.

Today we're at the letter M, which stands for "mom", as in Hobo's human mom. Her name also starts with M. I somehow can't remember exactly how I came to the name, but in the story I've been calling her Munroe. I've tried changing her name a couple of times, but now nothing seems to fit but Munroe. So, for reasons I don't even fully know, Hobo's human of a mom is named Munroe.

I scribbled up this doodle of Hobo's human something like a year ago, when I'd barely even started writing the story. I also drew her right after I got a bunch of new markers in various orange hues, which is in no small part why she ended up a redhead. I'd also never tried drawing hazel eyes, so her peepers were another experiment.

I mentioned earlier this month how drawing anything human honestly stresses me out. Drawing cats is the easiest and most enjoyable for me, closely followed by dogs. Humans, though, take me forever to draw, and the entire time I'm stressed beyond belief. Drawing anything humanoid just doesn't come naturally to me whatsoever, and especially since I was trying to make her more detailed than I'd ever drawn a human before, it took me a relative eternity to scribble up that there lady named Munroe.

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Tip of the Day

For today's tip, of course in Evan's honor, we'd just like to remind you all that special needs animals—or specially abled, a term that I find far more accurate—can still live happy, healthy lives in which they thrive. Specially abled animals can include those of all wonderful types, such as those with physically special attributes, like Evan. In addition, special abled animals can include those with known medical diseases or anomalies, such as diabetes, kidney disease, disorders of the thyroid, deafness, blindness, and cerebellar hypoplasia, just to name a few.

That all being said, if you are ever thinking of adopting, fostering, or even sponsoring an animal, don't forget those who are specially abled. Many of these animals are passed over at shelters, or even, sadly, euthanized. They are often deemed "imperfect" or "unadoptable", when the exact opposite is the truth. These animals may be different, yes, and they are indeed special. That being said, they also have so much much life, love, and lessons to offer.

Of course, though, we also have to note that when it comes to adopting a specially abled animal, always do your research, take all factors into consideration, and decide whether it is wise or possible for you to bring home a specially abled furbaby. Especially depending on their condition, these special furbabies can often of course live happy, healthy, long lives. But, again depending on their condition, their care may take additional effort, resources, and financing.

So, all in all, don't forgot those specially abled furbabies out there. They have so much to offer, and they can teach us all so much.