National Tabby Cat Day!!

To all of our Tabby furiends everywhere!

HAPPY NATIONAL TABBY CAT DAY!!!

I have been in love with tabbies since my first kitty, Bobo, who was an incredibly handsome tabby:

 (Bobo was found as a stray when he came to live with me, he was 6 months old at the time)

And of course our precious and crazy Cody

Tabby cats will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart!!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: "A tabby is any domestic cat (Felis catus) with a distinctive 'M' shaped marking on their forehead, stripes by their eyes and across their cheeks, along their back, and around their legs and tail, and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, dotted, lined, flecked, banded or swirled patterns on the body—neck, shoulders, sides, flanks, chest and tummy. "Tabby" is not a breed of cat but a coat type seen in almost all genetic lines of domestic cats, regardless of status.^[1] The tabby pattern is found in many official cat breeds and is a hallmark of the landrace extremely common among the general population of cats around the world. The tabby pattern occurs naturally and is connected both to the coat of the domestic cat's direct ancestor and to those of their close relatives: the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) and the Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica ornata), all of which have similar coats, both by pattern and coloration. A genetic study of tabbies found five genetic clusters to be ancestral to cats of various parts of the world.^[2]"

Since today is also National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day I also wanted to include a photo that was taken in 2007 a week or so after I adopted Cody after a Petco adoption drive. So hard to believe it was 13 years ago!!

"A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not." Ernest Hemingway

"What do you mean I can't have more Turkey?" (Wordless Wednesday)

sorry about the poor photo quality.
 Had to crop it
 and was also trying to juggle
eating my turkey sandwich at the same time

We Missed World Veterinary Day 2020!!!

Cody and I are appalled that we missed World Veterinary Day (which we didn't find out until now, falls on the LAST SATURDAY IN APRIL).

While we are grateful for ALL that Veterinarians and their staffs do, this year probably more than ANY YEAR we are extremely grateful for all that our Veterinary practice (DePorre Veterinary Hospital) is doing to help keep our pets safe and healthy while we remain on Corona Virus lockdown.

From "virtual text chats", through the Anipanion app ("telemedicine"), to curbside appointments, to still handling phone calls and questions with caring, professionalism and love. WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR ALL they are doing to keep our pets healthy while utilizing SAFE actions to do so.

FROM AVMA.ORG: The theme of World Veterinary Day 2020, which falls on April 25, is “Environmental protection for improving animal and human health.”

The WVA created World Veterinary Day in 2000 as an annual celebration of the veterinary profession, taking place on the last Saturday of April. Starting last year, the WVA has partnered with Health for Animals, the global animal medicines association, on the World Veterinary Day Award, which honors one WVA member’s activities related to the theme.

Details about World Veterinary Day and the World Veterinary Day Award are available at the World Veterinary Association website.

Sending Purrs and Prayers to Dad Terry of Brian's Home

Mom and I were reading  blog posts yesterday and were extremely sad and worried to read that Dad Terry of Brian's Home is in the hospital with heart issues. We want to thank Sandee at Comedy Plus for letting everyone know.

We deeply believe in the Power of Prayer so Mom and I went through our archives and found this old photo of me that looks like I am praying. Mom, Dakota and I are praying with all of our might that Dad Terry is ok!! He is extra special to us and to sooooooooo many!

Mom is blessed to have met him many times in person, and we consider him to be one of our bestest furiends in the blogging world.  He is just as nice as you would imagine that he would be.

Please take good care Dad Terry, we need you in our lives! We also send our love to his wife Celesta and to all of their kitties and the ferals. 

Much love and many purrs and prayers,

Caren and Cody

Earth Day 2020 (50th Anniversary)

"The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. The enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary."

"Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable."

"Over the 24 hours of Earth Day, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day will fill the digital landscape with global conversations, calls to action, performances, video teach-ins and more."

"While Earth Day may be going digital, our goal remains the same: to mobilize the world to take the most meaningful actions to make a difference."

"Visit earthday.org on April 22 as we build an Earth Day unlike any other — We’re flooding the digital landscape with livestreamed discussions, a global digital surge, and 24 hours of actions that you can take, right now and from wherever you are."

FROM CAT CHAT WITH CAREN AND CODY:If there are any positives to come out of the Corona Virus nightmare, it is that the animals at Yellowstone are no longer hiding from people, they are resting in the roads and roaming freely. I have read that in California, (in the L.A area), you can actually SEE THE SKY instead of smog.......you can hear the birds.....I am sure there is less pollution in the oceans/rivers, etc. Out of any negative there is always a positive, we just have to look for it!

"I Am Not A Skunk" a Fun Children's book Written by Ellen J. Pilch that is PURRFECT for "National Look-Alike Day"

A number of weeks ago, (make that QUITE a number of weeks ago!), the sweet and most THOUGHTFUL friend-to-many, Ellen J Pilch,  book author as well as the author of the darling blog, 15andmeowing, surprised me with a copy of her latest book "I Am Not A Skunk", which she  sent to me to gift to my cat-loving, almost-2-year-old granddaughter. I am HAPPY to do so!

She will LOVE it!

I was under no obligation at all to feature this darling book, but am more than happy to do so! When I noticed that today is "National Look-Alike Day" I decided it was the PURRFECT day to feature "I Am Not A Skunk" because this day is all about "look-alikes"

You know how they say we all have a twin out there? I am certain that most of you can recall an incident where someone approached you and told you "Oh my you look just like my dear friend such-and-such!!"  (I have had that take place many, many times and all I can say is, Heaven help whomever looks like me...but I digress),

"I Am Not a Skunk" fits this day purrfectly because it is about a homeless black and white (also known as a "Tuxedo kitty), who is excited to find a family, but she has to first convince skeptical Uncle David that she is indeed NOT a skunk. Sarah and her "Auntie" discovered the black and white kitty when they were out planting flowers in their garden. When they told Uncle David about the kitty, he was CERTAIN that it had to be a skunk and NOT a kitty!  When you read "I Am Not a Skunk" you will learn about the ingenious plan that Sarah and "Auntie" devised to prove to Uncle David that the black and white visitor was INDEED A KITTY AND NOT A SKUNK!! 

"I Am Not a Skunk" is loosely based on how Ellen's cat, Emmy came to live with her.

Photo of "Emmy" Graciously provided by Ellen J. Pilch

From the darling illustrations which were done by Nicolas Peruzzo, to the precious story involving mistaken identity, it is certain to have the little ones giggling with delight! It's just precious and I urge you to pick up a copy today! I will be sharing it with my granddaughter soon, (paws crossed), as soon as we are permitted to visit her face-to-face again!

I give it 5 paws up!!

Thanks so much again Ellen, I will be sure to let you know how she likes it! xoxo 

Available on Amazon

It's ok to go a little bananas!!!!

That's why we pulled this photo out of our archives and dusted it off because today is

 BANANA DAY!!!!

It's the day to celebrate bananas in every form. In the above photos Cody was lounging after a "banana high" from his Nip Nanner!!! 

From Days Of The Year:  Banana Day is a bit like a heady mix of April Fool’s Day and Halloween (without the sweets or vandalism) and with a helpful portion of healthy eating thrown in for good measure.

The origins of Banana Day, which is aimed at celebrating bananas in every conceivable sense of the word, are murky. However it’s known that every year students at many prestigious American universities use Banana Day as a way of celebrating this humble lunchbox standard. They eat and share weird and wonderful banana concoctions (banana punch, anyone?), they dress as bananas and they generally go a bit…well…nuts. And bananas too, of course

Throughout these crazy times in which we are all living, I am certain that each and every one of us at some point has felt like we were going (or are about to) go bananas at any time!

Hang in there all, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!

Lots of love from us to you!

"Brothers Are We" #NationalSiblingsDay

Happy National Siblings Day All!

I know Dakota and I aren't "brothers" in the traditional sense, but we all know that sometimes those who aren't your blood (or species) oftentimes make the BEST siblings of all!

Happy 13th Birthday to our Crazy Cody!!!

HAPPY, HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY 

TO OUR  PRECIOUS, CRAZY, INDEPENDENT,

BRAVE, FEISTY, CUDDLY, LOVING BOY!!!

If the above photos look familiar to you, they should! I used them last year. Poor Cody, with everything going on, the constant cleaning and washing of our paws, etc., I decided not to add any more stress for ANY of us and didn't want to make Cody sit through another photo shoot!

It's so hard to believe that Cody is 13!!! He was only 2 when this blog began. Our crazy cuddle bug has brought us so much joy in 13 years, he helped heal my broken heart when my Bobo passed. He is special beyond words. That being said as the years go on he is way more mischievous than he was when he was younger!

With all of the madness in the world right now, when Cody comes to sit next to me on the couch, (which he has done EVERY night), just his presence helps to sooth me. We are blessed to have this crazy cuddle bug and cherish each day with him.

Happy, Happy Birthday my Cody, Dad and I adore you and Dakota does too!! 

We also want to send a HUGE thank you to Timmy, Dad Pete and family for this PAWESOME card!!! We send them TONS of love and hope they are staying safe! Be sure to visit their  blogs here and here!

 Stay safe and healthy everyone, going to try and be better about visiting everyone's blogs.....some days I just can't motivate myself to get it together but I promise I will try and do better! Love to all of you!