We celebrated National Kitten day last month. There are still more kittens than usual this year that need homes and some of those kittens are growing out of the cute kitten stage. Their chances of being adopted are starting to wane. What can you do?
1: Help socialize kittens at shelters so they
are more adoptable.
2: Post pictures of homeless kittens on your social media pages.
3: Donate to your favorite shelter on behalf of the kittens.
4: Sign up to foster kittens.
5: Talk to friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. about the benefits of adopting a kitten (or two)
Use your imagination to come up with more ways you can help.
You might not follow celebrities because you don’t care where they go, what political affiliations they have, who said what to who, or who slapped who. But if you adore cats, you might be interested in which celebrities share your feline love. You may already know of some famous people in history who were owned by one or more cats. Ernest Hemmingway, for example, had a 
thing for polydactyl cats (those with extra toes). In fact the island of Key West, Florida is still home to dozens of cats from his original pair.
were Florence Nightengale, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton and Teddy Roosevelt. And today, there are probably many more celebrities with cats than we know. Here are a few who have made this love public:
Each of my cats have come into my life with different purr-sonalities and activity levels. Some are more athletic and energetic than others, and they each have their own way of showing affection. Most of them have taught me new ways to play with a cat. Lily, for example, loved to jump after crinkly paper wads when thrown high up into the air. Some cats adore wand 
toys. Sophie’s play activity generally involves a toy mouse with a long tail. She tosses them into the air and attacks them. Max chewed the tails and noses off the mice the first chance he got.
Olivia has quite a repertoire of play activities. When she was younger she’d bring me her toys to throw over and over again for her. Cuteness! She no longer fetches, in fact her favorite game keeps me almost as active as she is. I buy her chew sticks for her teeth health. She loves them, but not to chew on. She wants to chase them. We have a long uncarpeted hallway and she adores it when I toss a chew stick or her balls down the hall so she can chase them. I have to do the fetching, but I don’t mind because it’s so much fun watching her leap for a bouncy ball or skid across the floor when trying to stop.
Here are a few national holidays you should know about—sure you should and so should others. Bring them up when you chat with neighbors over the fence, as you visit with fellow church-goers on Sunday, with passers by on your daily walk, and with folks at your favorite coffee shop. This will also give you something to talk about on the phone with those annoying telemarketer that won’t give you any peace.
fun day to prepare for. You can display your favorite kitten cards, books, and calendar pages. Draw or paint or sculpt a kitten. Visit kittens at your local shelter and help socialize them. ADOPT a kitten—now we’re talking.
July 11 is All American Pet Photo Day. You know what to do here—photograph your pet and post the best one at your FaceBook page or Instagram or just frame it and enjoy looking at it from your easy chair. If you’re not very good at capturing your cat’s or dog’s 
personality in the photos you take, read up on pet photography and practice, practice, practice. Or take your pet to a professional photographer. Everyone needs at least one GREAT photo of his cat or dog or iguana.
Cats love to climb, so most of us who have cats have brought at least one climbing apparatus for them. The more cats, the more cat trees and cat walks and tunnels and other items of entertainment and exercise for our cats. You can buy these things at pet stores and online or pick them up at yard sales, build them, and create them from things you have around your house and yard. Here’s a fun site featuring twenty unusual cat trees to give you some ideas. Sure cats become attached to their climbing apparatus, but they also love exploring something new that appears in their home. Consider changing out your cat trees from time to time or move them to different spots.
It’s not that cats hate noise—they’re purrfectly fine with it as long as it’s of their own making. Cats meow when they want something or are complaining about something. They might bang on the blinds to get your attention—oh the clatter, and some of their toys are noisy, but what they don’t like are sounds they don’t expect. They especially dislike loud noises like the booms, pops, and crackling that come from fireworks. 
In my experience cats aren’t quite as upset by fireworks as dogs are, especially when their trusted human is close by and not reacting to the sounds.
It’s been hot here and in many other parts of the US. What does that mean for your cat? If she’s an indoor cat, she probably has the luxury of some sort of cooling system, and if she’s like most cats, she’ll take advantage of it. If you want to coolest spot in the house, you’ll have to move the cat. We had a Himalayan once who sat right in front of a window cooler on hot days, her fur blowing in all directions. She loved her spot next to the cooler.
showing.
Some kind souls put out chill-houses for neighborhood (or their own) cats—igloo-like houses designed to keep the cats cooler in the hot weather. Purchase an insulated house for your cats (indoors or out) or add 
pans of ice to the cubbies in the cat tree or cat house.
In 2017 California became the first state to ban the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores except for possibly those animals from shelters and rescue facilities. This move was designed to encourage rescue and adoption. By then, some cities had already placed a ban on pet stores selling pets from breeding mills, and the momentum continues.
A week ago we launched Book 8 of the Calico Cat Mysteries—Giddy-Up, Olivia! Have you read it yet? I have fans who simply devour these books. They read them in one sitting. They put up their “do not disturb” sign, turn off their phone and the TV, curl up with their cat, and read. Then they wait for the next book to arrive.
