Happy Halloween
from
Allegra, Ruby and Ingrid
We’re celebrating Halloween over on The Conscious Cat Facebook page: post photos of your Halloween kitties!
Month: October 2012
Ruby’s Reflections: Eating Treats, the Ruby Way
Hi everyone! It’s Ruby! It’s been a while since I got to write something here!
Mom said I should share with you what I do when she gives me treats. She says it makes her laugh every single time I do it. I don’t know what she’s talking about. Treats are serious business, and there’s nothing funny about eating them!Continue Reading
A word about Hurricane Sandy
What a difference a few days make. This photo shows Allegra and Ruby relaxing in our sunny bedroom last Wednesday. This evening, we’re preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. Right now, it’s just raining a little, but we’re supposed to get high winds and heavy rain starting Monday morning, and lasting into Tuesday evening. Other areas to the east and north of us are expecting even worse conditions.
We’re as ready as you can ever be for an event like this. I only just returned from Atlanta last night, where I spent a fun-filled three days at Barkworld 2012, a social networking conference for pet businesses. I was a little nervous about not being able to prepare for the storm, especially after I saw numerous photos of bare store shelves on Twitter. When I arrived home, I found that a dear friend had stopped by and dropped off a large case of bottled water and batteries for me. I think it was quite possibly the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me! This morning, I brought in all my deck furniture, cleaned up the leaves so they wouldn’t clog up the drains, and went in search of ice and non-perishable food.
Since Allegra and Ruby are raw-fed kitties, I stocked up on grain-free canned food in case we loose power and the frozen raw food goes bad.Continue Reading
Sunday Purrs: The Benefits of Stretching
Stretching is an important part of healthy living: benefits range from increased flexibility and mobility to better athletic performance and decreased risk of injury. A regular stretching program has been part of my daily routine for more than 30 years. I’ve had minor back problems ever since I was a young adult, and twice daily stretching exercises have most likely helped save my back again and again.
And who better to teach us the importance of stretching than our cats? Have you ever seen a cat get up from a nap without thoroughly stretching first?
Stretching is actually an instinctive activity: most people stretch without having to be reminded before they get out of bed. It appears that our bodies naturally protect us from injuring ourselves by moving too fast after a period of inactivity. Depending on your age, and what kind of physical condition you’re in, you may find that even getting up from being seated at your desk for a long period of time will result in aches and pains unless you stretch first.Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: new window perch
If you’ve read our blog for a while or follow us on Facebook, you’ve seen lots of pictures of me and Ruby on our window perch. It’s one of my favorite places to hang out, whether it’s for watching the world go by outside the window, or for a nice long snooze.
Last week, something bad happened to my window perch: Mom found a hole in it! It started out as a tiny little hole, and neither Mom nor I worried much about it, but it got a little bigger every day, and pretty soon, I could stick my hole paw through it. That’s when Mom decided we needed to get a new perch.
I wasn’t all that sure I wanted a new one. After all, I, and all the kitties who came before me, had molded it into a perfect hammock shape, as you can see in this photo. But Mom said that the hole could turn into a hazard. I guess that’s one of those big words humans like to use when they’re worried that something bad might happen to us kitties. Like we’d be silly enough to get our head stuck in that hole. Mom really worries too much.Continue Reading
Sunday Purrs: Silence
Guest post by Angie Bailey
Have you ever met someone who veers toward the verbose side when a few words — or even silence — will do the trick? If you’ve met me, then you certainly have. I think my loquacious leanings are partly because I’m an extrovert, but also because I sometimes feel nervous and need to stuff empty space with words, no matter how trivial. When I find myself jabbering in circles, I’m typically met with either blank stares or polite smiles. And then I continue jabbering, because it feels safe to fill the gaps.
Cats are completely comfortable with silence; they even walk silently. What’s more peaceful than the calm quiet of a cat? Their eye and tail movements speak volumes without even once muttering a meow. I’ve certainly met some chatty cats; in fact, my Phoebe is one who isn’t afraid to speak. The difference is that when she speaks, it’s purposeful: she has a message to convey. I also have messages, but sometimes they could be communicated in fewer, more thoughtful, wordsContinue Reading
Sunday Purrs: Zoobiquity presents a vision of One Health
I recently reviewed Dr. Michael Fox’s book Healing Animals and The Vision of One Health: Earth Care and Human Care, a fascinating vision of a world where the healing of animals, care for the earth, and a revolution of our food and health care systems all work together to create One Health, driven by an integrative and holistic approach. I have since become very interested in this concept of One Health, and as a result, I was intrigued when I came across Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing by Barbara Hatterson-Horowitz, M.D. and Katherine Bowers.
Zoobiquity is a simple idea—animals and humans get the same diseases, yet physicians and veterinarians almost never talk to each other. Zoobiquity is a new approach to medicine that brings together human doctors and animal doctors to treat the diseases shared by patients of many species.Continue Reading