Camouflaged Sunday Selfie

Hello and happy Sunday! Today's quick little selfie was snapped by Evan. He took it while standing in front of one of the walls in our house that sometimes nearly camouflages him.

Handsome Evan wishes you all a wonderful day!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

In case you haven't seen our past couple of tips, we're currently in a series all about decorating your home around the furbabies in your life. Today's tip on this topic is to use couch or chair covers, or even just regular blankets, on your furniture. This can help protect the furniture beneath from excess pet hair, as well as from all varieties of accidents that can happen in a home with kitties or pups. We also mentioned in yesterday's tip that you can use furniture covers or blankets to help protect couches and chairs from kitty claw, or even claws of pups. In addition, some cats or dogs might be a bit more on the greasy side, such as Sphynx cats or furbabies with certain ailments, and furniture covers can also help keep couches and chairs clean in this way as well. There are covers designed to fit and protect entire pieces of furniture, or you can simply place a spare blanket on your furbaby's favorite chair or on their favorite part of the couch. Either way, furniture coverings can help protect your couches and chairs from direct damage. Whereas it's not exactly easy to clean an entire chair or couch, if you use a cover, you can easily remove it and throw it in the wash. I'm sure this is not a novel concept for any of you animal lovers out there, but we thought we'd throw this tip in here regardless.

Caturday Art: Christmas in...August?

I went through my drawings the other day and finally scanned all of the new ones I have not yet shared. The whole scanner situation is a long story, but the short version is that a number of drawings I've finished over the past few weeks are now finally ready to be shared. That said, amidst the whole scanner debacle, I realized that one of the long lost drawings was my new Christmas in July doodle for this year. So, who's up for a bit of Christmas in August?

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here before, but except for my pencil, pen, and markers, I use very few tools when drawing. And by that, I mean I don't use a ruler. That's in no small part because I don't feel like fiddling around with perfection in my notebook, and also because I constantly misplace my ruler and I simply can't find it. That's why some drawings, such as this one here, look like they exist in the realm of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Don't slide off that table, Gnome Santa. You might end up covered in lemonade if you do. That, or the house panthers might eat you.

Happy Caturday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

We're still in the midst of our series of tips all about decorating your home around your furbabies. Today's tip on that topic involves protecting your furniture from kitty claws. After all, cats do indeed have claws. That's simply part of who they are. That being said, that doesn't mean there aren't safe, humane ways of protecting your furniture from those claws.

To begin, of course place cat scratchers throughout your house in order to give your cat appropriate places to use their claws. Cats often like to scratch as a more or less territorial display, so make sure that at least some of their scratchers are somewhere visible and in the open. You can also place a scratcher near any furniture to which your furbaby's claws gravitate. This way, your kitty can have an appropriate scratching location where you can immediately redirect them should they begin to use the furniture instead.

We recently mentioned this next idea in another tip, but we'll say it again. To protect your furniture from cat claws while also giving your cat a proper place to scratch, you can wrap sisal rope around furniture legs, rails of staircases, and other similar locations. Again, this not only protects those home features from cat claws, but also simultaneously gives your cat another appropriate place to use their claws. Another potential form of protection against cat claws for your furniture is a heavy-duty couch or chair cover.

As we said above, cats indeed have claws. Those claws are simply part of who they are. While those claws can sometimes find their way to furniture, there are proper ways to combat this. Simply research types of scratchers for your kitty to use, create your own scratchers using sisal rope, or find another way to protect the furniture while also treating your kitty and their claws in a humane way. When your kitty scratches furniture, calmly redirect them to a proper cat scratcher, so that they can learn where they should and should not sharpen those claws of theirs. Of course, also don't forget to regularly trim your kitty's nails.

Friendly Fill-Ins with a Rhyme on the Side

Perhaps I had indeed successfully scheduled yesterday's post, despite me assuming I had simply forgotten to schedule it. After all, I am almost positive I had today's post scheduled as needed, and yet it didn't post. I don't know if Blogger is just glitching out sometimes, or if I'm just losing my mind. Either way, I again apologize for this late post. I'm going to look at all our future planned posts and see if I can't figure out if I'm doing something wrong, even though the process of scheduling a post is really quite simple. All that said, here today's post...finally!

It's Friday, which of course means it's time for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. Are you ready? 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. The highlight of my summer so far has been _________.

2. August is a good time to _________.

3. _________ often gets me into trouble.

4. _________ every time I _________.

My answers are below in bold. They're all about the furbabies this week.

1. The highlight of my summer so far has been finding pain management that works for pup Astrid's hip.
(I'm not a big fan of summer, its heat, its humidity, or any of that jazz. But, I am a fan of the fact that Astrid's painful hip no longer seems to bother her at all after the vet prescribed carprofen for it. Astrid will need to have bloodwork done every 6 months or so to make sure her liver and such are okay with the pain meds, but for now, everything is going great for her. She used to get up and limp or act stiff after sleeping, but she hasn't done that even once since starting on her new pain meds, which makes both her and myself very happy.)

2. August is a good time to practically live at the vet, apparently.
(None of my furbabies and really sick or anything like that. It's simply that they all seem to be due for their annual exams and such around this time. Thimble and Tonks are the next ones going, their appointment being August 24. Also, Evan still goes to the vet's grooming services every 2 weeks for his sanitary shaves because of his urinary incontinence. He had one such appointment yesterday, and another one in 2 weeks. I guess that actually means he's the next one going to the vet, as his next grooming visit is before Thimble and Tonks go for their exams. But I digress. I also made a trip there this week for Evan's medicated shampoo and more of pup Astrid's aforementioned pain meds. I feel like I live at the vet these days, but they work amazing wonders for my furbabies, so I won't complain.)

3. Moving my toes under the bedsheets often gets me into trouble.

(Eddy is a toe chaser at nighttime. Teeth and claws are often involved. Pray for my toes.)

4. Evan demands treats every time I enter the kitchen.
(I'm not even talking about actual cat treats. Evan enjoys tastes of things like chicken, tuna, butter, and even coconut oil. Actually, coconut oil is his favorite. He knows it's in the kitchen, so when I head that way, he chases me, quite literally making demands. My furry children are really bossy, probably because they've learned being bossy usually works, because I very often obey.)

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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Since we didn't share our poem for Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge yesterday, we'll go ahead and share it now.

This week's already late poem actually covers both last week's photo prompt and this week's photo prompt. Those two prompts are the images below.

Admittedly, I again took some major liberties in referencing those photo prompts. You might not even be able to notice how I incorporated them without me telling you. So, for the first photo, it relates to a certain kitty in a litter box in my poem. For the second photo, it's very briefly referenced by a cat bed sort of roller coaster ride. As if that's all not confusing enough, here's the weird little poem:

The Cat Bed

Mary Sue bought her cats a brand new bed.
She proudly gazed upon it with a wide smile on her head.
When she offered the new throne to the two felines,
It was to the box in which it arrived that one of them made a beeline.
Mary Sue's other cat continued to sleep in its favorite spot.
That being, well, none other than the litter box.

In desperation, Mary Sue sat the cat bed on the floor.
"Here, kitty kitty kitties. Come get the new bed," she implored.
She was, in fact, ignored.
The cats remained in their boxes and snored.

There was one consolation for Mary Sue,
Because there was one way the new cat bed was used.
If she carried it and dashed around with the cats inside,
They'd stay put as if partaking in a roller coaster ride.
And then, after that, to those darn boxes they returned for some shut-eye.

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Are you ready for your weekly Eddy fix? Yes? Good, because we have for you the adorable girl and her adorable snaggletooth.

Eddy and all of us here wish you a fantastic Friday!

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Tip of the Day

Our kitties rule the household. That often means they more or less have free roam of the place. Sometimes, though, that might become a bit difficult for them, for a variety of potential reasons. If your cat, or dog, is allowed on furniture, make sure that they can easily and safely access it. This is something to especially take into consideration for cats or dogs with mobility issues. Geriatric, arthritic, injured, and any other specially abled furbabies may require some form of help getting onto couches, chairs, beds, tables, shelves, and other pieces of furniture on which they are allowed. Sometimes all you have to do is put low stools or boxes next to the furniture, as long as said stools or boxes are safe and sturdy. There are also pet stairs and pet ramps available on the market, which can be placed beside beds, couches, and other relevant furniture. So, if your furbaby is allowed on furniture, keep in mind what might affect their ability to get onto said furniture. Age, injuries, and other such factors can make it difficult for your cat, or dog, to reach elevated locations. Take all such factors into consideration, and help your furbaby adjust as best and as safely as possible.

Thankful Thimble Thursday

Hello, friends! I again forgot to schedule this post. I've only been trying my hand at blogging for something like 8 years, so obviously I still haven't learned my lesson on this. After making sure the other future posts I've prepped are successfully scheduled, I'll now post this one for today. Since it's going up late, I'm going to move some of its original content to tomorrow, namely our weekly poem.

For now, let's go ahead with Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Thimble is of course here to share her gratitude for this week. Can you guess what she's thankful for?

Today, Thimble is not only thankful for the bright and shiny sun, but also for bugs she can chase. Which is exactly what's going on in this photo. It seems like every time I open the door, a fly welcomes itself into the house. And the kitties love the chase, of course including Thimble.

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Now, how about 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. The highlight of my summer so far has been _________.

2. August is a good time to _________.

3. _________ often gets me into trouble.

4. _________ every time I _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

In yesterday's tip, we discussed ways to make rugs nonskid, in order to combat the actions of our active furbabies. Inspired by that thought, we'll now be doing a bit of a series on how to potentially decorate your home around your furbaby. After all, those furry cuties rule our lives in every way.

Today's tip is another one about rugs. This time, though, we're first going to mention possibly choosing a rug with a variety of colors, or that has a somewhat busy design on it. One of the primary reasons for this is to help mask dog or cat fur, or even to hide potential stains that might result from sharing your home with a pup or kitty. In this same line of thought, also consider how easy it might be to clean a particular rug before you purchase it.

Another consideration to make when it comes to selecting a rug for a home with furbabies is the rug's height. If a rug is too tall, for example, it might get caught on feet and kicked around more easily, by both you and your furbaby. This is something that does play a role at our house. Hind limb paralyzed Evan requires low rugs, or else his method of ambulation causes him to get caught on the elevated edges of rugs. The result of this includes him traveling around the house with a rug hooked to his legs. We know that not everyone is going to have a paralyzed kitty scooting around their house, but, nonetheless, do take into consideration a rug's height and how it might affect your furbaby.

Yet another consideration to make with rugs is how rugged they are. Consider how much traffic a rug will be getting, not only from humans, but also of course furbabies. Will the rug you're interested in hold up to cat claws, for example? If or as needed, you can even try looking for rugs that are technically for outdoor use, even if the rug will indeed be used indoors. Rugs manufactured for outdoor use are often heavier duty, and so if such a rug works better for your home and is safe for your kitty or pup, this is another route you can go.

Lastly, it's worth it to note that you should always be observant of your pup or kitty's habits around items such as rugs. Did you just get a new puppy who tries to chew on or eat rugs, for example? If so, either refrain from placing rugs, or always watch them around rugs or other similar items, otherwise they might end up with an intestinal blockage. This is just one more reason why it is so important to be observant and aware of your individual kitty or pup's habits and behaviors, and to proceed accordingly. That may very well mean decorating your home to better suit your furbaby.

Adventures with Astrid

This week's edition of Astrid's adventures yet again takes us to the pup's favorite local park. This time, though, she particularly wants to show off what it's like to be in the park on a bright, sunny day.

Astrid admittedly isn't the biggest fan of summer or the heat it offers, but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy strutting her stuff through the sunny park for all to see.

Astrid hopes you all enjoy an adventure or two today!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

In a home with a hind limb paralyzed cat, a rowdy dog, and a plethora of other furbabies, rugs on hardwood, laminate, tile, and other similar floor surfaces do not easily stay put. That being said, today's tip covers just a couple ideas on how you can try to keep rugs in place when you live with playful, active furbabies who often just cannot help but move those rugs around. To begin, you can get rugs that come already equipped with a nonslip backing. There are also separate nonslip pads that can be placed beneath a rug. Even these options are sometimes not enough to keep rugs in place, though. For something a bit more heavy-duty, you can try something such as double-sided carpet tape. Similarly, you can use velcro strips, placing one on the rug's underside and one on the floor beneath it, thereby attaching the rug to the floor. I have even heard of people using something such as silicone caulking on the bottom of rugs, which, when dried, will have a nonskid effect. Sharing our homes with furbabies can mean that rugs throughout the house end up in all sorts of disarray. To combat this, you can brainstorm and test out which potential nonskid or adherent methods might work best for you, your furbaby, and your home.

Tonks Tuesday

Hello, friends! This will hopefully be our last late post for awhile. Things at work have started to settle back down now that all of my co-workers who were on vacation have returned. My workplace is often still a bit of a chaotic mess, as is every workplace, but it's slightly more manageable now.

That all said, it's Tonks Tuesday. So, of course, here's a Tonks for you all to enjoy.

Does anyone else love paper bags as much as Tonks does?

Happy Tuesday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

Today we have the last tip in our litter box series. This tip is to consider using some sort of litter mat or tray, in order to keep your home environment free of as much rogue litter as possible. Litter often comes out of the box when our kitties dig and dig in the litter, or on our kitties' paws when they leave the box. This can ultimately result in litter not only outside of the box, but also throughout the house. To combat this, try placing a litter mat or tray under or outside of the litter box. There are such mats and trays available on the market, which are specifically designed to catch stray pieces of litter so that it can't travel throughout the rest of the house. For a cheaper option, though, you can also use a rug to catch litter, or you can even try something such as a boot tray. Another option is to place the litter box within a larger container, such as a giant storage container or a kiddie pool. This would allow for rogue litter to remain in that outer container, rather than spreading throughout the house. No matter which above option you might use, though, make sure to include litter mats, rugs, trays, or containers in your cleaning regimen.

All of the above being said, litter mats and trays may not always be able to trap every piece of litter. So, to further help keep litter at bay and your house clean, do be sure to sweep up stray litter as often as possible. It's not a bad idea to make a habit of sweeping up rogue litter each time you scoop the box.

There are a number of options for helping keep stray litter from spreading throughout the house. You can buy specifically designed litter mats or trays, you can try a similar makeshift option, and you can of course keep a broom at the ready in the litter area. Of course, do make sure that any mats, trays, or other methods you use do not deter your kitty from using the litter box in the first place.

Mancat Monday

Hello and happy Monday, friends! Given that it is indeed Mancat Monday, Evan is here to kick off your week the right way. That is, with his cute albeit sleepy little face.

Have a magnificent day, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

Today's tip in our litter box series is to, if or as needed, go for a DIY litter box. This could simply entail picking out a plastic storage container to use, rather than getting a typical plastic litter box. This method might save you money, as some litter boxes cost a decent amount, and some storage containers are inexpensive. You would especially save money if you already have a safe, sturdy, clean storage container not in use, which could therefore be converted into a litter box. Going for a makeshift litter box is might be a good option if your cat, or even the layout of your home, requires a size of container that is difficult to find in the world of litter boxes. For example, if your cat is on the extra large side, and has trouble maneuvering in even some of the larger litter boxes on the market, you could purchase a giant storage container and convert into a litter box better suited for your cat. If the sides of a storage container are especially tall, potentially hindering a cat's ability to climb in, you can cut away part of one side to create a doorway, as long as you ensure no sharp edges result.

There might be a number of reasons why the litter boxes you see at the pet store might not work the best for your cat, yourself, of your home. If this is the case, consider what other containers could be used as a DIY litter box. Of course, though, above all else, almost make sure any box you use is safe, and that your kitty approves.