We have a cat—just one now. How we miss Lily. She was the cat in charge—the one who filled our home with frivolity and fun. We love Sophie, and we’re enjoying the new Sophie who has emerged since she is, for the first time ever, an only cat. If you don’t believe that a cat’s personality can change, bring in another cat, a dog, even a fish in a bowl or observe her when a pet leaves. Cats 
can and will change right before your eyes.
Since Lily left, I also pay more attention to the outdoor cats—watching them from the windows, having long conversations with them when I see them in my yard or even over the fence. Because of the pandemic, I still don’t pet other people’s pets. I miss that. But I acknowledge them and I appreciate them.
Here are a few new photos I’ve taken of the cats I’ve seen out and about this year.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still mostly isolating and yes I get bored sometimes. One day last week we stepped out of our norm, rented a pontoon boat, and putted around our local lake for several hours—just the two of us. That was a nice break from the monotony and a nice change of pace and scenery. After all, we saved a few thousand dollars when we had to cancel trips this year, so why not spend some bucks taking little outings while still being safe in the out of doors?
entertainment—some of them you may not have thought of. Here’s a site offering several. I included it because there’s also a suggestion that your cat will like. 
So many things have changed this year for us and for our animals. Those of us who’ve been isolating at home have happy happy pets who adore having us around more often. But not all cats and dogs are so lucky. Way too many of them have lost their people. Overwhelmed families are surrendering their pets. And, at a time when animal shelters are needed most, they’ve had to close. Who’s caring for this country’s homeless animals? Foster parents. This is the era of the pet foster home.
animal lovers are stepping up to the plate and volunteering to foster adult pets as well as litters of kittens and puppies. It’s really rather a nice arrangement for a cat or a dog to live in a caring home instead of a pen while waiting for their forever home. And sometimes the foster home becomes their forever home, but this can’t be the case for those who continuously foster. You can’t keep every cat and dog you fall in love with. If you’re interested in additional information explaining how the pandemic is affecting our pets, visit here: 
If I were to choose my favorite pet holiday it would be National Kitten Day. This year it was on Saturday, July 10. I don’t know how you celebrated, but I celebrated by sending a donation to my favorite cat rescue shelter, ResQCats in Santa Barbara.
experts point out what kittens can do for us. And some of it is scientific! For example:
3: Watching kittens whether they’re playing or sleeping or simply purring in your lap can put you in a better mood.
Like most of you, I’ve loved many cats over the years. Some of them came to me full grown with their habits and quirks fully established. Others entered my home and my heart as kittens, who also came with preferences and even new habits, or would you call them whims? The truth is you never know quite what to expect when you introduce a new cat or kitten into your 
home.
loops where a kitten could get caught, no string, yarn or ribbon where they could reach it, toilet bowls closed all the time—glad we developed that habit—plenty of safe toys available, cubbies where a kitten can hide, places for them to claw, cozy beds where they may or may not sleep, secure window screens, latching screen doors so a kitten can’t inadvertently push her way outside, climbing apparatus for exercise and dexterity training. We’ve also maintained a habit of no faulty cabinet doors, cleaning supplies carefully safely hidden away. Litter
boxes conveniently placed.
doorstop to hold that door closed. (Of course the doorstop is in the shape of a cat!)
cats or fluffy cats of any color. Others prefer black cats or multicolored cats. One of my daughters likes brown cats and another one is fascinated by cats with a heart-shaped patch. There are pointed cats like the Siamese and Himalayan, ticked cats like the Abyssinian and any number of other types and styles and shades.
Some may wonder if that cat is grey with white or white with grey. When is a tortie actually a calico and vice versa? We’ve become so sophisticated in our deciphering of color and color combinations that a tabby is no longer just a tabby. It may be a mackerel tabby, spotted, ticked, or blotched. There are also the dilute tabby and the torbie. And they come in many colors.
A cat’s tongue is uniquely designed for a variety of purposes and, as you will notice with your own cats, they use their tongue a lot. Cats do a lot of grooming, and lapping, and tasting, and they’ll sometimes even try to clean the lotion off your hands or give you a little lick-kiss.
tongue. It is rough, and for a reason. It helps the cat clean himself well and it is instrumental in the lapping process. There’s a new study out that says the tongue is capable of holding pockets of saliva which is used in the fur-cleaning process. And the cat tongue itself is a perfect tool for keeping the cat’s fur clean—except for, experts in this study said, the Persian. Their fur is so thick and deep that the cat tongue cannot effectively penetrate to keep the fur clean to the roots and tangle free. That’s why, 
with some cats, brushing and combing are necessary to keep the fur from matting. So of course someone has invented a new brush that is supposed to mimic the cat’s tongue made especially for cats with difficult fur—I’ve had cats like that.
All is not bleak for cats this year. Although we’re struggling in ways we never could have predicted, and many pets are being displaced because of it, there are good-news kitty-cat stories being told all over the globe. Are you ready for some happy news?
two tuxedo kittens that were discovered with two other siblings in bad condition and struggling. The four kittens were rescued and loved back to health and they began thriving. It was obvious that the two tuxedo kittens shared a special bond. In fact they shared everything. They slept together, played together. If someone held Brioche, Choukett wanted to be held along with her. The other two kittens were adopted, leaving the two tuxedo females behind. Their rescuers knew these two had to stay together and finally a family came along who wanted them both. Don’t you love happy endings? Meet these adorable little girls here:
Did you see the story about a stray cat who carried her sick kitten into an Istanbul hospital emergency room? Medics examined the kitten and discovered, indeed, she had a problem with her back legs. Mother and kitten were transported to a veterinarian where the kitten received care.
According to statistics, a whopping fifty-eight percent of America’s household cats are overweight. Over thirty percent are considered obese. This trend shouldn’t be too surprising since sixty-six percent of American adults are considered overweight. Our pets are part of the family and it appears that we really do treat them as family by overfeeding them and allowing them to live a sedentary lifestyle.
condition that causes weight gain, but for most of our fur-babies, it’s simply an issue of too many calories and not enough activity. (Where have you heard that before?)
body clean, if he has become more lethargic, these could be signs that he’s too fat. What should you do? First, make an appointment with your veterinarian to find out if there’s a health issue.
If you’ve been around many cats you know that they can sound different from one another. There isn’t just a meow sound, there are pitches to the meow—each cat is capable of making a variety of sounds and some have a greater capacity to create different sounds. There are also cats that don’t meow at all. Sophie, for example, prrrrrts and meouwls—there’s no actual meow going on in her vocabulary. (Note: I wrote this over the weekend. The following day, Sophie looked up at me and said a very distinct “Meow!” I guess she told me!)
while I fixed her meals, and she meowed when she was lonely or bored.
hear. Lily did not actually purr until she was about five years old. You couldn’t hear a purr, nor could you feel a vibration at her throat. She flat-out didn’t know how to purr. What a surprise that sound was—to her and to me—when it finally came out. I remember the morning it happened. She was on my lap while I was working on one of the Klepto Cat Mysteries, when suddenly I heard a sort of crackle coming from her—soft and halting, like car trying to start. She lifted her head and looked at me as if to say, “What was that?” She began to work on it, and eventually got a good purring sound going, although it remained very soft.
Experts believe this is a sign that the cat is anxious, excited, or maybe frustrated.
