Sundays at the Shelter

Ms. Grace Lillian finally took possession of the new box house.
But first she remodeled.

Maybe I cut the doorway a bit too narrow for her?

Tags: cat toys, Gracie, tabby and white cat | Category: Home Cats, Shelter Cats | 9 Comments »

Maggie got something in the mail, and all we got is this stinkin’ box.

“Whatcha got in there, Tommie?”

It’s actually a pretty good box…

Gracie sighs, “Will it be my turn soon?”

Tags: cat toys, Gracie, Mickey, polydactyl, tabby cats, Tommie | Category: Home Cats | 16 Comments »

Our Gracie, who was once a shelter cat, wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season!

Tags: Gracie, PAWS animal shelter, Shelter Cats | Category: Home Cats, Shelter Cats | 7 Comments »

This is our own cat, Ms. Grace Lillian. She’s trying to get on Santa’s Nice List.

But is it too little too late? Poor Tommie!

Tags: Gracie, tabby cat, Tommie, torbie cat | Category: Home Cats | 6 Comments »

Resting from our labors. Mickey Mouser

Grace Lillian

Tommie
Wishing you all a Happy Labor Day!

Tags: Gracie, Mickey, Tommie | Category: Home Cats | 15 Comments »

It was so very nice to receive this blogging award from the lovely Nerissa the cat at “Nerissa’s Life“.
As part of the award, I’m supposed to tell you 10 things about this blog.

1. It all started because of our cat Gracie.
2. More than 10 years ago, I began volunteering at PAWS.
3. After three years of cleaning cages and litter boxes, petting, playing and brushing the cats, I fell in love.
4. We adopted a tiny tabby and white kitten and named her Ms. Grace Lillian.
5. I took lots of photographs of her in her new home, and brought them to the shelter so that the staff and other volunteers could see how she was doing.

Here’s baby Gracie.

6. One day the shelter director asked me to help photograph the shelter cats.
7. Having just gotten my first digital camera, I added photography to my list of volunteer duties.
8. Every week I’d send my pictures off to PAWS and also email them to friends, family, and other cat lovers.
9. My email list got huge! And then I heard about this thing called a blog…
10. My first post was in March 2009 and this is post #367.

It’s so much fun visiting other cat bloggers. The perfect place to find them is at the Catblogosphere.
There are also some really good bloggers who are kind enough to leave comments. You can click on their names and visit them too.

Tags: animal shelter, Gracie, PAWS animal shelter, torbie kitten | Category: Shelter Cats | 11 Comments »

When I’m not at PAWS, or home playing with my own cats, I illustrate children’s books. What do I most like to draw and paint? Cats!
I just got copies of my new book starring my own Tommie and Gracie.

Leave a comment on this post and I’ll choose one person to get a free copy of the book.
Good Luck!

Tags: cat book, Gracie, Tommie | Category: Home Cats | 32 Comments »

The nice people at Mr. Chewy offered us a $50 gift certificate to their site.
They have a huge selection of cat and dog food. There’s also free shipping if you spend over $49.
I ordered treats for the cats at PAWS and the box arrived the very next day!

My cats were so excited!

Then I told them that they could only keep the box…*

*Only kidding. I paid for an extra bag of treats for my cats at home.

If you shop at Mr. Chewy, use the code SWAN3421 on your first order and get 10% off. They’ll also donate $10 to an animal shelter.

Tags: cat treats, Gracie, Mickey, Mr. Chewy, PAWS animal shelter, Tommie | Category: Home Cats, Shelter Cats | 6 Comments »

Here’s Mickey checking out the ipad app, “Game for Cats“. It has three levels of play which include a mouse, a butterfly, and a dot of light similar to a laser toy.

Gracie was briefly amused, but when the mouse went off screen she tried to get under the ipad to see where it had gone. Cats are hunters and my cats weren’t interested for long- once they found out they weren’t going to actually catch anything.
Still, it’s a free app and if you have an ipad, Mickey and Gracie suggest you check it out. Tommie opted to take a nap.

If you like people games for mobile devices, my daughter has a review site – Best Game Apps.

Tags: cat toys, Gracie, Mickey, tabby cat, toys | Category: Home Cats | 4 Comments »

After the Holidays, we had a lot of cardboard boxes in the garage.
You will need way too much time on your hands, a glue gun, and many many long strips of cardboard for this project….

but the cats really are using it! Directions HERE.

Tags: cat furniture, catnip, Gracie, polydactyl, Tommie | Category: Home Cats | 6 Comments »