If you’ve read this blog four a while, you know that I have a special relationship with the maple tree outside my bedroom window. The tree is at its peak right now, and the warm glow from the leaves warms my entire bedroom. Continue Reading
Buckley’s Story
Buckley and Thanksgiving Weekend: Forever Linked
It’s hard to believe that it’s been eight years since Buckley passed away. Thanksgiving will always be associated with Buckley for me, and not just because Thanksgiving Day 2008 was the last full day I spent with her. It’s also because I am so thankful for the many gifts this gimpy little cat who captured my heart from the moment I first saw her brought into my life. Continue Reading
In Memory of Buckley
Six years ago, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Buckley passed away after a long illness. For all those years, I’ve always commemorated her anniversary on the Friday after Thanksgiving, regardless of the actual date. This year, the anniversary falls on the actual date, November 28, and somehow, even though it’s been six years, this confluence makes this anniversary more poignant for me.
Thanksgiving will always be associated with Buckley for meContinue Reading
See You at the National Capital Cat Show
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
Remembering Buckley
It has been four years since Buckley’s passing. She died on November 28, 2008, which was the Friday after Thanksgiving that year. Rather than observing her anniversary on the actual date, I will always mark this event on Thanksgiving weekend. Even though I still miss her every day, after four years, the sadness is tempered by appreciation and gratitude for the amazing changes she has brought to my life, and, through her book, to the lives of so many others.
Without her, I might not have become a writer. Without her, The Conscious Cat might not exist. Even though Amber inspired this site, its original purpose, in addition to sharing my passion for and knowledge about cat health, was to build a following prior to publishing Buckley’s Story. Most importantly, without her, my heart might not have been opened to the many wonderful lessons she taught me during her brief time with me.
Those of you who have read Buckley’s Story already know Continue Reading
We’re the Tortoiseshell Sponsor at the National Capital Cat Show
I’m excited to announce that Buckley’s Story is the Tortoiseshell Sponsor at the National Capital Cat Show! The show takes place September 10 and 11, 2011, at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA.
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, purchase autographed and personalized copies of Buckley’s Story, and enter a drawing to win an autographed copy of the book. We’ll also have lots of fun freebies for you and your cat!
And that’s not all! I’m also excited to announce that we will have a very special guest at our booth for the entire show: Dr. Fern Crist, the veterinarian you know from Buckley’s Story and from several articles here on The Conscious Cat. Dr. Crist will be answering your cat health questions.
We will also be selling healing gemstone cat collars and jewelry (for the humans) designed and handcrafted by Dr. Crist. The stunning designs incorporate Dr. Crist’s love of rocks and vast knowledge of the healing properties of gemstones, her artistic creativity, and her veterinary experience.
The bracelet below is my most treasured piece of jewelry, and only one example of the gorgeous pieces Fern creates. She made this bracelet for me after Amber died. Each stone was selected for its healing properties for helping with grief, sadness and depression.
The photo below shows only some of Rock Spirit Designs’ cat collars. Cat collars can be custom made to help with specific health conditions.
So mark your calendars, and plan to join us at the National Capital Cat Show! For more information about the cat show, please visit the official website of the National Capital Cat Show.
Buckley’s Story honored as Finalist in the 2011 International Book Awards
I am very excited to share the news that Buckley’s Story is an Award-Winning Finalist in the “Animals/Pets: General” category of the 2011 International Book Awards!
The International Book Awards honor knowledge, creativity, wisdom and global cooperation through the written word. Over 300 winners and finalists were announced in 140 categories. “The 2011 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the world,” says Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of JPX Media Group. “Finalists and winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise.”
What makes awards like this one, and the 2010 Merial Human Animal Bond Award, which was awarded to Buckley’s Story last November by the International Cat Writers Association, so special is not just the recognition of all the hard work that went into writing the book.
It also means that even more people will hear about my little cat, and the way she changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. It means that her lessons will be shared with an even wider audience. It means that perhaps, somewhere out there, someone will find comfort in reading about my personal story of navigating through the devastating grief that comes with losing a beloved cat.
The spirit that was Buckley was endless love and joy. I can feel my little cat smiling now.
Torties, Friendship, and a Very Special Book Signing
This has to be one of the more unique post titles I’ve ever come up with – but what transpired earlier this week was one of the most unique, and special, experiences of my life. Let me explain.
It all began on August 17, 2009, when I wrote a post titled Tortitude – the Unique Personality of Tortoiseshell Cats. It rapidly became one of the most popular posts on this blog. When you google “tortoiseshell cat,” “tortie cat,” “tortitude” and any number of other combination of these terms, the post pops up in the first three results on Google’s results page. Readers started leaving comments sharing stories about their torties. It rapidly became so much more than just a blog post. With more than 3500 comments to date, it has turned into a real community of tortie lovers. (Editor’s note: as of April 2012, the post had more than 9500 comments.)
About a year ago, a core group of tortie lovers began to post almost daily, and what started as an exchange of tortie stories turned into online friendships. We not only continued to share tortie stories (and anyone owned by one of these cats knows there’s always plenty of new material!), but we supported each other through life’s ups and downs.
There is Harry in Virginia, who, along with his wife Julie and daughter Rachel, volunteers and saves untold feline lives with Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, and his tortie Brooke. There is Bernie in Western Pennsylvania, who had never had a cat in her life until a determined tortie named Steeler decided that she wanted to live with her. There is Jay in Eastern Pennsylvania, who taught his tortie Stirfry to trust humans again. There is Bernadette in Western Pennsylvania, whose two senior torties Kelly and Cookie grace some of her artwork. And there are many more: Glen in Canada, who rescued his tortie Kasey from a rough life outside a mechanical plant. Shannah in New York and her tortie Emma. Michael in Arizona and his tortie Honey. The list goes on and on.
With two exceptions, none of us had ever met in person. I had met Bernadette at the Cat Writers Association conference in November of 2009, and I had met Harry and his family at the National Capital Cat Show in Chantilly, VA in September of 2010. I had never met any of the others, and I never really expected to. Then Bernie, Jay and Bernadette decided that they would make the trip down from PA to come to my book signing at the Stray Cat Café, to benefit Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, on April 10. As Bernadette put it in her write-up of the event, “On Sunday I took off for Falls Church, Virginia with a person I’d never met before to get together with a bunch of other people I’d met on the internet. Sounds like the sort of thing they tell you not to do, but I happened to know that each of these persons, including myself, owned at least one tortoiseshell cat, so I knew the worst we’d do is talk about what our cats did in the litterbox or deposited on the floor.”
Finally, we would all meet in person, after talking to each other on the blog for over a year. When Bernie, Jay and Bernadette arrived at the Stray Cat Café, it was like being reunited with old friends. The evening flew by. Harry and his wife Julie graciously invited us to their home for brunch the following morning so we could continue our gathering before the PA contingent headed home again. We spent a delightful spring day on Harry’s screened in porch, enjoying a delicious brunch, with five of his seven cats, including the lovely Brooke who started it all, hanging out with us.
This day will forever remain in my heart as one of life’s special memories. The time went by much too fast, and we all reluctantly said our good-byes.
All of us continue to marvel at how all of this came about. We couldn’t come from more diverse backgrounds. Our interests vary widely. Our love for our torties brought us together.
This day will forever remain in my heart as one of life’s special memories. The time went by much too fast, and we all reluctantly said our good-byes and sent the PA contingent on their way home.
Friendships can start in the most unexpected ways if you open yourself to the possibilities. In our case, we have Brooke, Steeler, Stirfry, Kelly, Cookie, Amber, Buckley, Allegra and all the others to thank for opening our hearts, and our lives, to new friends. I, for one, will be forever grateful for these wonderful cats, and the wonderful new friends they’ve brought into my life.
Photos, top to bottom:
Amber and Buckley, photo by Ingrid King
Julie, Ingrid and Harry, photo by Bernadette Kazmarski
Bernadette Kazmarski with me, photo by Renee Austin
Jay and Bernie, photo by Bernadette Kazmarski
Buckley’s First Christmas
In memory of Buckley’s first Christmas with Amber and me:
An excerpt from Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher
Soon, it was time to get ready for Buckley’s first holiday season with Amber and me. I traditionally put up my Christmas tree during Thanksgiving weekend. It is a small, four-foot high artificial tree that I have had for close to twenty years. While I like the idea and especially the wonderful pine scent of a real tree, I also find it too much of a hassle to deal with having someone bring the tree into the house for me and then to remove it again at the end of the season, so I have been quite content with my artificial tree over the years. And since having a fake tree has even become the environmentally conscious thing to do in recent years, rather than feeling like I should be making apologies for it, I am now politically correct. The tree sits on a small table next to the dining room cabinet. The table is draped with a red tablecloth that reaches all the way to the floor, creating a perfect little cat tent underneath. Amber always enjoyed hiding underneath the tree during Christmases past, and now Buckley got to share in the fun. It provided endless entertainment for both cats, and it was a new experience for Amber to be stalked by Buckley from underneath the tree.
In addition to playtime, the tree also provided lovely moments of quiet contemplation for all three of us. Most evenings before going to bed, I turned off all the lights in the living room except for those on the tree and put on some soft Christmas music. With both cats curled up on my lap, we simply sat by the tree and enjoyed the lights, ornaments, and the profound sense of peace these moments brought. This experience has always had a meditative quality for me that was greatly enhanced by the shared energy of the two cats.
Amber had never been all that interested in the ornaments on the tree. I decorate the tree with ornaments I have collected over the years, many of them cat-themed, which should come as no surprise. Some of the ornaments have great sentimental value, such as the silver bell that I brought home after cleaning out my father’s condominium after he passed away. As far back as I can remember, that silver bell was on the Christmas trees of my childhood. Other ornaments were gifts from friends or items I had picked up while traveling. I always hung the breakable ornaments on the side of the tree furthest from the dining room table. In the past, Amber had occasionally jumped up on the table and batted at the ornaments she could reach from there. Thankfully, she had never tried to jump up on the table the tree was sitting on. I was not sure what to expect from Buckley, but she turned out to be far more interested in the tent underneath the tree than the actual tree or ornaments. I never once even saw her on the dining room table trying to bat at ornaments she could have reached from there.
Buckley’s first Christmas was a special time for all of us. This little cat had never gotten presents before in her life. Needless to say, I completely overdid it that year, and I was not the only one. Many of my friends also showered Buckley, as well as Amber, with toys and treats that Christmas. Buckley had a difficult time deciding what was more fun—the actual toys and treats or helping me tear them out of their colorful wrappings and ribbons. She had a wonderful time that first Christmas, playing with abandon and giving herself up to total joy.
Amber’s Mewsings: Keeping Mom Organized
I know all of my fans have probably been wondering what happened to me – it’s been so long since I wrote something here. I’ve been busy keeping Mom organized – things have been crazy around here! Mom’s book about my sister Buckley (and me! I’m in the book, too!) has been really well received and is generating quite a bit of buzz around the internet. I’m so happy for her – I love it when Mom is happy, it makes me feel happy, too.
What I don’t like quite so much is that Mom is busier now, and there seems to be a little less time for reading, cuddling and watching tv. She always makes sure that we have time together, and I really look forward to bedtime now and snuggle next to her all night long. It seems to be the one time when I have her undivided attention! But I understand why she’s busy, and that it makes her happy to be this busy. And I try to do my part. I sleep on the perch next to her desk most of the day because I know that my presence inspires her writing (see photo above – that’s me, being Mom’s Mewse). I help with packing up books to mail to people – I’m really good at playing with the tissue paper she wraps them in (Mom says I mess up the tissue, but what does she know!). I also remind her when it’s time to take a break and to give me a treat or to feed me. It’s important that humans take kitty breaks every now and then.
I know underneath all this excitement, Mom is also a little bit sad, because it’s almost a year ago now that Buckley transitioned, and it brings back a lot of memories for her. For me, too, I do miss my sister. I’m just better at understanding that she never really left us, she just changed forms. I still have long conversations with her and I know that she’s hanging out here with us all the time. I only wish Mom would feel her more often. She’s getting better at it, and I try to help her.
That’s all for today. It’s time for another nap. Being Mom’s Mewse can be very tiring.
Buckley’s Story – Release Day
Even though Buckley’s Story has been available online for the last few days, I choose to make today the official release date. Today would have been Buckley’s “birthday”. I don’t know her actual birthday, so I designated the day she came home with me as her special day. I think she would like the idea of her book being announced to the world on this day.
This has been a whirlwind week for me. On Monday, I received the first softcover copy. I can’t even describe the feeling of opening the package and holding an actual book in my hands. I’m not given to overly dramatic displays of emotion, but I jumped up and down and danced around the house! On Tuesday, the hardcover arrived. I didn’t think it was possible to get even more excited than when I received the softcover the day before, but apparently, it was. The hardcover is the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen. Okay, so I may be a bit biased, but the glossy cover is perfect, the interior design and the photos came out crisp and nice. The overall effect is exactly what I had hoped for.
My publisher had told me it would take four to six weeks for the book to appear on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com, so when I got an e-mail from a friend Tuesday afternoon telling me he had just ordered the book online, I just about fell off my chair. My hands were shaking as I entered amazon.com on my keyboard. And oh my gosh – there it was! My book. On Amazon. And on BarnesandNoble.com.
The book will be available at bookstores nationwide eventually, but it’ll take a little while for that to happen.
Meanwhile, as if all the excitement about the book wasn’t enough, my brand new website, http://www.ingridking.com, also went live on Monday. This is my first professionally designed website, and I’m so happy with what my wonderful web designer came up with. I feel that the site perfectly reflects me, and the book.
What an incredible week. It still seems surreal at times. And in the midst of all this joy, there is a bittersweet component. While the book is a lasting tribute to my sweet little cat, it also makes me miss her all the more. But since Buckley’s message is all about living a joyful life, I know she’s celebrating right along with me.