A Janus cat!

Wow. I never knew this kind of cat existed. What a beautiful cat. It makes me smile when I read something like this because even though Frankenlouie isn't perfect, he's still a healthy cat that deserves a wonderful forever home. What a wonderful story.

Check out the story here. 

natural cat litter brands

In the past, I never had given much thought to cat litter or which one was better. I thought they were all pretty much the same except their prices.

A friend of mine, Amanda, is the kind of person who enjoys organic materials, natural products, and more. More than a year ago, she introduced me to World's Best Cat Litter, which was made of corn. Through her, I learned about all the chemicals that so many cat litter brands have. Most of them are not good for cats to inhale.

Shortly after, when I adopted Opi and Puck, I decided to use World's Best Cat Litter. It actually did smell better and I caught a whiff of corn when pouring it into the litter box! After several months of using it, I realized that the only thing that bothered me was that the litter "dust" would get on my cats' paws and it was visible on my clothing (when i picked them up) and especially on the couch where they take naps. The couch had to be vacuumed frequently. This made everybody in my house annoyed.

Then I was determined to find another cat litter that was using natural products. After browsing through Petsmart, I found Swheat Scoop Natural Wheat Litter, made of the obvious - wheat. I have been using it ever since! No dusty litter anywhere. The only thing that I noticed about this particular litter is that when trying to shovel the clumps of urine, it does break easily sometimes. Unfortunately, Swheat Scoop doesn't have clumping kind.

When visiting my sister a month ago, I helped clean her litter box which she used Tidy Cats or Arm & Hammer, and one whiff of it made me go "WHOA!" Smelling all the chemicals and clay was too strong for me!


Give natural litter a try! I promise you'll never go back!

Swheat Scoop comes in regular or multi-cat litter 
Can be found at Target.

World's comes in 3 kinds: clumping, multi-cat, and scented
Only found in Petsmart or Petco.

meet mars!

oh you mean, Bruno Mars?

No, the one and only Mars Max!

It was about two weeks ago when my bestie, Tori, was saying she fell in love with a cat she saw at Petsmart's Adoption area. A week later, she still had Mars on her mind... So Tori and Joe (the boyfriend) decided that it was their calling to adopt this beautiful cat. He was originally named Max but they decided to call him Mars and put Max as his middle name. Has a nice ring to it!

Mars is an adult cat who is said to be about a year old. He has a cauliflower ear and nothing else! He's a healthy boy who is definitely a lap cat. 

Congratulations to Mars for finding a forever home!

photogenic cat!

Tori and Mars

lovin' the couch!

surprised kitty

Totally my favorite!! 
I just can't get enough of this little one! :D

nala, princess of hayward

Meet Nala, The Princess.

she's my sister's cat and she's a British Shorthair Tabby Cat. Like how the ladies like to say it, "40 is the new 30"... In Nala's world, 14 is the new 5.

I recently went to visit my sister in California before the birth of her baby. Watching Nala act like a Princess always makes me smile. She and my sister has this bond that is really lovely. :)

Adopting a pet is cheaper than getting it for free.

Often when a person is ready to get a pet, they go to the classified to find a free kitten, puppy or any little one. But the truth is, getting a free pet is not cheaper than adopting one as one may think. 

When you get a pet for free: you have to think of costs out of your pocket such as a vet check up, specific tests, spaying/neutering, et cetera. 

When you adopt a pet: you pay a one time fee that includes vaccines, spaying/neutering, one vet check up, and more. 

Here is something I came across Petfinder.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why pay a pet adoption fee?

It may be tempting to look for a free pet in your local classifieds rather than pay a pet adoption donation. But the reality is, no pet is free: You'll be responsible for her vet care, food and supplies for the rest of her life (see more information on the annual costs of pet ownership). Pet adoption fees vary by organization, but often cover the basic veterinary care you would have to pay for with your "free" pet.

Where does my adoption fee go?

Ask the rescue group, but fees usually include:

• Spaying/neutering $150-300
• Distemper vaccination $20-30 x2
• Rabies vaccination $15-25
• Heartworm test $15-35
• Flea/tick treatment $50-200
• Microchip $50

Another note on "free" pets

Unfortunately, individuals who do not have a pet's best interests in mind often scour classifieds for "free to a good home" ads. Therefore it's recommended that anyone seeking to rehome a pet request an adoption fee (see more on finding homes for pets).

Reference: 

http://www.petfinder.com/pet-adoption

think about it!

If you're thinking about getting a pet, I would like you to consider looking through the listings of pets that need a home via adoption agencies and rescue groups. You'd be surprised to find exactly what you're looking for, regarding temperment, age, personality, et cetera.

how they sleep.

Puck is a big fan of the human touch. He definitely loves to sleep on you. His most favorite sleeping position is when he thinks he dug a "hole" between my legs and plop there. I don't know what it does to him but he's quite obsessed with it!

Opi, on the other hand, is NOT a fan of the human touch. When she sleeps, she sleeps alone. She often likes to sleep on the couch and most preferably leaning on an armrest. She sleeps in funny positions too. Just too cute to me! 

cat portraits

My favorite portraits of them by far! 

the story of how it all began.

you know how when you do a good deed or you make a difference, you feel really good about yourself and your presence in the world?

that's how I feel when I look at my two cats, Opi and Puck.  A while ago, I had been inspired by a friend and his family who adopted two deaf dogs. that was when I started thinking about how I wanted to adopt a deaf pet.  My thoughts ran wild. I wanted to own a deaf cat, deaf dog and even a deaf rabbit. :)

In January 2010, I had lost my cat, Tyke, to cancer. He was 10 years old and my first pet. I am sad to not be with him as much as I wished since I was away at in college most of his life. He was really a tough cat to others but for me, I felt that I knew him so well. When he was put to sleep, I couldn't imagine not having a pet to call mine anymore. I moved back home after I received my masters degree and knew then my parents felt the same way.

Inspired by the family who adopted two dogs, I started looking for a deaf cat.  Just my luck, i found Opi who was only 20 minutes away from me. A month and a half later, I felt that Opi needed a friend. That's when I found Puck (an hour and a half away from me) and adopted him as well.

During the process of adopting them, I had learned how people can be really picky with adopting the right pet.  It's normal that we all want a healthy pet so that they're with us for a long time.  But you'd be amazed how many people shut down the idea of an animal that is slightly different than the norm.  Even my old veterinarian had speculated that deaf animals would come with poor health. Where she had come up with that, i have no idea. Opi was pregnant when a rescue group found her. After giving birth, people adopted all the kittens but no one was interested in her. Probably not because she was nearly 2 years old (which is still a "baby" if you ask me!) but because she was deaf.  Then the rescue group found a litter of kittens that had no mother. They let her nurse them for a while until they were ready for homes.  The same thing happened again; people adopted the kittens but showed no interest in her.  I came into the picture shortly after.

If you go to petfinder.com and search under special needs, you'd be amazed how many animals there are on the list that are "not normal" in the eyes of our society.  Some are perfectly healthy and just got that one thing that makes them unique. But they end up in foster care for too long or become euthanized. I had a conversation with a lady from the rescue group where she was telling me about one cat that is such a perfect cat, but because she had an bad infection in her eye, it had to be sewn shut.  There she is, waiting for a home longer than most just because she only has one eye open. I saw this cat and was she beautiful! I would adopt her if I could.

So if you're thinking about wanting a pet, I strongly encourage you to explore the animals out there. I mean, really explore. Don't just look for kittens or puppies. They're the ones that will most likely find a home in a heartbeat.  It's the ones that are deaf, have just an eye sewn shut or even an older cat that really needs a home. The older the animals are, the harder it is for them to find a home.  They need you and your love.

I promise you, you'll feel so good when you look at them everyday, knowing that you gave them the opportunity of a good life that every animal should have.