Happy Easter
from
Allegra, Ruby and Ingrid
As a special Easter treat, we bring you Simon’s Cat in “Hop It”Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: Adoption Anniversary
Today is my adoption anniversary! I’ve been in my forever home for two years now! Back then, I thought that day was the happiest day of my life for sure. But every day since then has been even happier, and things got even better when Ruby joined us last year.
I love my life! I love my Mom, and I love my little sister, even if she sometimes is a pain in the you know what. We have so much fun together, and Mom makes our lives so nice.
Look how tiny I was back then!
When I first came here, my big sister Amber taught me how things were done in my new home. Continue Reading
Ruby’s Reflections: House Cleaning
Hi, everyone! It’s Ruby! Mom says I have a “propensity to get myself in trouble.” I think that’s human speak for “I know how to have fun!”
The other day, I was helping Mom clean the house. I like almost everything about that, except for when Mom brings out the big scary monster. It’s this big blue thing with a long tail, and it makes this really scary noise. And it moves all over the house, and eats stuff that is in its path. I hide all the way in the corner of the living room behind an end table when the monster is running free, because I know it can’t get back there. I don’t know why Allegra isn’t afraid of that thing – she actually follows it around the house!
Other than the monster, though, helping Mom clean is great fun. Allegra and I both like to bat at the lambswool duster. It’s like a big fuzzy toy, and we like to try and subdue it! I think Mom likes when we help her, because she always praises us, and we even get treats after the big monster goes away.
But the other day, I guess I did something Mom wasn’t thrilled with. She had sprayed something on a small stain on the carpet, and then turned away to grab a paper towel. I immediately went to investigate. There was some white bubbly stuff there that looked very interesting. I cautiously stuck my paw in it. Next thing I know, I hear Mom scream “Ruby, no!”Continue Reading
Sunday Purrs: Replace fear with love
Let go of fear, embrace change, and move toward joy. – Buckley
This was one of Buckley’s most profound lessons for me. I had grown up being a worrier. I could easily come up with the worst possible scenario for any given situation and turn it over in my mind endlessly, to the point where I often ended up paralyzed with fear. I knew that this propensity to worry was holding me back from really letting myself live my life to its fullest potential.
When I began to understand and really believe that we have the power to control our thoughts and that our thoughts are vibrations that affect what we experience in our reality, I was able to short-circuit the fear and worry cycle more easily. It became clear to me that wasting time being afraid of something that might never happen would only attract the very thing I did not want into my experience. Worrying also made a statement that I did not trust in the wisdom of the universe. I knew on a deep level that things would always work out. With time, it became easier to redirect my thoughts away from fears about the future and focus on the present moment instead.
Buckley reminded me of this every dayContinue Reading
The Day that Changed Three Lives
March 31 is an important day for Allegra, Ruby and me. On March 31, 2010, I met Allegra for the first time. The same day a year later, I met Ruby for the first time. I’m not even sure what to call this day. Meeting Day? First Look Day? At any rate, it was a day that changed three lives.
I found Allegra on the Facebook page of a lcoal animal hospital. I contacted the adoption coordinator, who told me that Allegra had just arrived at the clinic after living in a foster home, and that they didn’t really know much about her yet. I made arrangements to meet her. That March 31, I spent about an hour in an exam room with her. The photo above was taken that day. She was your typical ADHD kitten – discovering and exploring everything, whether it was a stethoscope hanging from a hook on the wall or a syringe cap on the floor.
She didn’t pay all that much attention to me, but I started to fall in love with her anyway.Continue Reading
Allegra and Ruby on bedtime rituals
Allegra and Ruby sleep with me every night, which makes bedtime one of my favorite times of the day. Most nights, Allegra joins me first, usually within a few minutes of me going to bed. Ruby tends to be busy at night and often has mysterious Ruby things to tend to before she joins us an hour or two later. But why don’t I let them tell you about bedtime rituals at our house.
Allegra: I love when bedtimes gets near – it’s one of my favorite times of the day, too! I can tell we’re getting close when Mom brings out the toothbrush and toothpaste. She brushes Ruby’s and my teeth, and then we get a treat.
Ruby: Yay, treats! I don’t mind having my teeth brushed, but the treat is the best! It’s really big, and before I eat it, I bat it all over the house! Wee!!!
Allegra: You’re so silly chasing that treat, Ruby.Continue Reading
Sunday Purrs: Food as love, and finding your hug
Guest post by Holli Thompson
A couple of months ago, our cat, Little, became voraciously hungry.
Little is my son’s cat, and having been raised by a young boy, he’s never wanted anything other than food and my son’s love. Little comes running when my son whistles for him, and like many cats he’s always been independent.
Then something changed. Little began crying for food all day long, looking up at whomever was in the kitchen at the time, insisting loudly on being fed. “Did you feed Little?” Became the question of the day, and I began to give him little spoonfuls just to keep him quiet.Continue Reading
Sunday Purrs: Put a Stop to Anxiety
Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry are caused by too much future,
and not enough presence. – Eckhart Tolle.
I’ve previously shared some simple steps to stop worrying. As with so many other things, my cats have been my greatest teachers when it comes to living in the moment, and when you do that, it’s pretty much impossible to worry. I try to listen to them whenever I find myself sliding back into my old worry habits, but when I find that I can’t break the worry cycle, then I know that there’s something else going on. And usually, that means that worry has escalated into anxiety.
Anxiety is worry’s ugly cousin. While worry happens in the thinking part of your brain, anxiety comes from the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotions. While worry and anxiety are closely related, it’s usually a little easier to short-circuit worry. Worry is centered around something specific, whereas anxiety is a more generalized feeling of unease.Continue Reading
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2012
Happy St. Patricks Day
from
Allegra, Ruby and Ingrid
We want you to show us your green today! If your cats are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, share your photos on The Conscious Cat Facebook page.
Mews and Nips will return next Saturday.
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Ruby’s Reflections: what’s in a name?
Did you know that I’m a trendsetter? I didn’t, either, until one day last week, when I was sitting on Mom’s lap while she was reading a press release about the Top 10 Trendiest Cat and Dog Names. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What? You think I can’t read? Think again! Anyway, here it was, in black and white: the name Ruby made the top 10.
At first I was a little miffed. Don’t get me wrong, I love my name, but I thought I was unique and special and that no other cat in the whole world has such a beautiful name! I know Mom didn’t pick my name because it was trendy. Mom is too cool for that – she doesn’t do things just because they’re “in.” But then I thought it’s actually kind of flattering that so many other people named their cats Ruby. Just because of me! How amazing is that!Continue Reading
Allegra’s Baby
Allegra has a very special toy. It’s not fancy; in fact, it’s an ancient toy that actually belonged to Feebee, who has been gone for twelve years now. She dug it out of the toy basket one day, and apparently decided that it was going to be her “baby.” It’s a soft, plush little stuffed mitten with a tail that has a pompon at the end. She never actually plays with it, but yet, it’s clearly very special to her.
She picks it up and carries it around the house, chirping and singing and sometimes yowling. It sounds a bit plaintive, a sad little cry, as if she had lost something. The first time I heard it, I thought she’d hurt herself! As soon as I look for her when she does this, she drops the toy and stops, which is why I haven’t been able to get a video of her with the toy.
Amber had her own version of this special toy: a green and tan fuzzy mouse that I got for her when she first came to live with me. For the entire ten years that she was with me, that mouse was her special “baby.” Like Allegra, she’d pick it up, carry it around the house, crying and yowling. Amber would often sleep with her “baby,” something I’ve not seen Allegra do. Continue Reading