Expert Advice on Cat Health, Nutrition and Lifestyle.
Here in the United States, we’re celebrating Labor Day today, and this post is dedicated to all the working cats out there.
My two hard working girls, Allegra and Ruby, are taking a much-deserved break today. And I think I may just join them and take a little break, too. We’ll be back tomorrow with our regular fare of feline health articles, product reviews, giveaways, and everything else you’ve come to love about The Conscious Cat.
Enjoy your Labor Day!
A few months ago, I wrote a Sunday Purrs column titled “Be Your Cat.” I was happy to see that I’m not the only cat lover whose life has been improved by looking to my cats for inspiration on how to be a better person. In a recent Feline Wisdom column in Edge Magazine, Angie Bailey shared ways in which she has grown to be more like her cats.
Guest post by Angie Bailey
As I age (okay, I’m only 43, but I’m feeling wise and Maya Angelouish), I am less concerned with putting up appearances and fretting over sanctimonious scrutiny others may cast upon me. It’s quite a liberating feeling and one that I hope continues until I’m an old lady wearing pajama bottoms to Walgreen’s and singing “Come on Eileen” from the open windows of my phat Buick LeSabre. I know that saying “life is short” sounds so cliché, but it’s the truth. This physical life, that is.Continue Reading
It’s my birthday today! I’m four years old! I know Mom and Ruby have some fun things planned for me today. It’s going to be a great day!
Check out my birthday present! How cool is this!
Creative visualization is one of the core concepts of the human potential movement. The process uses the power of your thoughts to affect the outer world. Visualization has been successfully used in the fields of health, education, business, sports, and creative arts for decades.
The best book about creative visualization is Shakti Gawain’s classic Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Mind to Create What You Want in Your Life. In the book, Gawain outlines four basic steps:
Step 1: Decide on what you wantContinue Reading
I’m excited to announce that The Conscious Cat and Purrs of Wisdom are the Learning Ring Sponsor at the National Capital Cat Show! The show takes place September 7 and 8, 2103 at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA, right outside the nation’s capital.
The National Capital Cat Show is one of the largest cat shows in the country and features a huge selection of cat supplies, including cat toys, cat food, grooming supplies, and friendly people willing to help you with your cat questions. It’s truly a cat lover’s paradise.
Come visit us at our booth and purchase autographed and personalized copies of Purrs of Wisdom and Buckley’s Story. We’ll also have lots of fun freebies for you and your cat!Continue Reading
“Authors like cats because they are such quiet, loveable, wise creatures,
and cats like authors for the same reasons.” Robertson Davies
Cats and writers just seem to go together. According to Barbara Holland, author of Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend and Lives, “a catless writer is almost inconceivable. It’s a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat.” I think she’s right.
I certainly get inspired by my two feline mewses, Allegra and Ruby. I couldn’t write The Conscious Cat without their inspurr-ation. But the best piece of writing I ever saw about how cats inspire writers comes from Muriel Spark’s A Far Cry From Kensington:Continue Reading
I had been considering getting an iPad for quite some time, and a couple of weeks ago, I finally took the plunge. The iPad is my first Apple device, and I like almost everything about it. I use it for various aspects of my business, and it has made my life easier – and isn’t that what technology is ultimately all about? And yes, I admit it: it’s also just plain fun.
What I didn’t expect is that Allegra and Ruby would also enjoy it. But why don’t I let them tell you about it.
Ruby: What is that flat thing that Mom keeps staring at, Allegra?
Allegra: I don’t know, Ruby. Looks likeContinue Reading
The benefits of meditation are endless: from helping us handle stress better to getting in touch with our true spiritual nature, meditation has been proven to make our lives better. In fact, there is so much evidence that meditation is good for you that it seems like meditation should be as much a part of our daily lives as breathing.
Once you’ve established a daily meditation practice, you can’t imagine not having it in your life, but until you get there, the thought of daily mediation seems to bring out a long list of excuses for most people. “I don’t have the time.” “I don’t know how.” “I can’t sit still.”
You don’t have to meditate for hours to gain benefits from mediation. Continue Reading
Summer afternoon: to me those have always been the two most
beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James
Summer is my favorite season. I love everything about it, and even the recent heat wave doesn’t make me love summer any less. Hazy hot and humid days are just part of what summer is like in this part of the world, and you’ll rarely if ever find me complaining about being too hot.
Allegra and Ruby are indoor cats, but I think they, too, prefer summer over every other season. The sun puddles are more plentiful and last longer this time of year, and they get to enjoy summer breezes coming in through open windows. And on the really hot days, they get to celebrate the fact that they’re air-conditioned kitties!Continue Reading
Hi everyone, it’s Ruby! It’s been a while since I got to write something for you!
Mom says I have a propensity to get myself in trouble. It’s not entirely clear to me what that means, but I’m pretty sure it means I like to have fun. And that’s true!
The other day, Mom opened the door to the “forbidden room,” (Ingrid’s note: I usually keep the door to our guest bedroom closed – no real reason, just habit), and I dashed inside before she could close the door again. Since I rarely get to go in that room, I love to explore! Mom said I could stay in the room for a little while, so I got busy! After a while, Allegra joined me and we both had a great time checking everything out.
All of a sudden, Continue Reading
I’ve previously written about the value of taking a break and playing hooky, and I do try to take my own advice. But there was something I hadn’t done in far too long: completely getting away from it all. Even though I love my life, and I love working from home, sometimes, a change of scenery and a complete departure from routine are just what the doctor ordered.
So last weekend, I flew up to Hartford, CT, and spent the weekend with three different friends in Connecticut. And with 20+ cats and kittens. I stayed at the home of my friend and fellow writer, T.J. Banks, on Friday. I had never met Tammy in person. There’s always a bit of trepidation when you meet an online friend in real life for the first time, but I needn’t have worried. We never once ran out of things to talk about, and we were comfortable with the occasional silence – a true gift when it comes to friendship.Continue Reading