Tonks Tuesday with a Pumpkin Pal

Halloween is just around the corner, and so Tonks has been finding herself quite festively hanging out with all sorts of kooky friends.

There's a bit of a seasonal clash in this photo, since Tonks is sitting next to her pumpkin pal while posing on one of her Christmas scratchers. Perhaps she's reminding me that I haven't yet watched The Nightmare Before Christmas this season, so I need to get on that.

Tonks and all of us here wish you a terrifyingly terrific Tuesday!

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Spooky Doodle(s) of the Day

Today's doodle is another new Halloween one starring Hobo, the paralyzed kitty from the silly fantasy book I'm having fun scribbling up. For certain reasons, it co-stars my parents' sweet angel tuxie Talon.

In this story, there's a spooky cat café called Graveyard Dishes & Hisses. The doodle above is an illustration of the first time Hobo and his human find themselves at the café, which occurs on Halloween itself.

Around this time last year, I had just come up with the idea of Graveyard Dishes & Hisses. I immediately scribbled up a doodle of how I envisioned the sign you might see outside its door. I'll go ahead and share that doodle again right now, because why not.

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Tip of the Day

Today's Halloween tip is one we're sure you all know, and it's to practice proper door safety. This is of course most relevant if you are handing out candy on Halloween night, or if you are hosting a Halloween party with a number of arriving guests. Knocks on the door, the doorbell, children or adults in strange costumes, and all of the hustle and bustle of Halloween can scare some furbabies. On the other hand, some cats or dogs might enjoy guests, and so they might be attracted to the door on Halloween. Either way, if you have increased traffic at the door on Halloween, there is always the chance that your kitty or pup could escape if proper precautions are not taken. This is why it is important to practice proper door safety, so that you can avoid escapes.

There are of course a number of options for keeping a cat or dog from escaping out a busy door on Halloween. You can set up a safe room for your cat or dog and keep them in there during the Halloween festivities, so that they have no ability to escape from the house when people show up at the front door. Depending on how your house is set up and how determined your kitty or pup is to reach the door, you can also put up baby gates or pet gates to keep a cat or dog in an area of the house away from the door. If your furbaby is leash trained, and as long as the leash is securely held, your kitty or pup can also be kept safe in the house by attaching them to their leash, with of course someone holding said leash. You best know your furbaby as well as the setup of your home, so use whatever method is the safest, most surefire way of keeping your kitty or pup from escaping out a busy door on nights like Halloween.