Sunset Kitty

I recently bought this unusual cat image painted by Michelle Bailey of Takoma Park, MD. I asked her to share a bit about how she selected the subject.

Michelle wrote, "We often see our neighbors' cat, Belle, sitting in the front flower box of their house when we walk along Sherman Avenue. This particular fall day, the light from the setting sun onto the house was spectacular; especially the softly focused spot of light right around Belle. As a realist painter using mostly my own reference photos, I always have my camera ready. I instantly knew I would paint this."

You can view and purchase more paintings, including other cats, at her Etsy shop here: http://www.michellebaileyfineart.com/paintings-2/

Cat Helping Out in the Garden

This is a fun video of a cat playing with dirt -- the ultimate "cat in a garden."

A Little Bit of Lubi

A few weeks ago, I visited my neighbor Eileen Schramm and was greeted by this fluffy, white ball of love. She said it was her neighbor's cat and her name is Lubi. Eileen said, "Here she owns the 'hood, fiercely defending it against any four-legged intruders, no matter the size. She'll stare down the biggest dogs. And she's still deeply attached to rolling in dirt and mulch! And belly rubs."

Her owners, Debi and Yasmin, shared the photos below and said, "Chikarubi (called Lubi, Lubi-lu or Lubs - long u) - since she was sprung from a cage, named after a prison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikurubi_Prison). We found her at a market in Hanoi, Vietnam… in a tiny cage, sitting right in a dirty bowl of ‘gruel’ (who knows what it was!)   They put her in a plastic bag and weighed her, selling her to us by the kg!!! This meant she was supposed to be someone’s next meal :-(  We paid US$12 for her! (exorbitant for Vietnam!!!) We took her out of the plastic bag and eventually found a cardboard box at a nearby market stall for her and home we took her… on our motorbike! We put her straight into a bath - she was very well behaved …. and that was the last we saw of that behaviour ;-) The vet thought she was about 5 months old when we got her. She’s lived in Vietnam, (4 years) Cambodia (3 years) and now the US … came on the plane with us. Now she is 9 and a half! My little baby!!"

"First Bath!  Poor baby!"

 

"I can’t believe I didn’t know she would want to be an outdoor kitty… even when we lived on the 6th floor and had a little balcony, she found one of the 3 potted plants and made that her home…. and many many more in other apartments, houses we’ve lived in!"

 

Really Riley

Rillito Nursery & Garden Center in Tucson, AZ, said: "This is Riley. He is 19.5 years old and adopted us! He is a good and mellow boy and loves attention! He is an old boy and his kidneys are slowing down, but he is still master of his nursery and has a staff and customers who cater to him "

Here are a few pics of him in younger days:

 

Roman Cat Sanctuary

Planning a trip to Rome anytime soon? Cat lovers should add the Torre Argentina (Roman Cat Sanctuary) to their must-see bucket list. As profiled on Atlas Obscura (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-argentina-roman-cat-sanctuary), "this archaeological wonder was excavated as part of Mussolini’s rebuilding efforts in 1929, revealing extensive multilevel temples that lie sunken 20 feet below modern street level. Besides several different temples, Torre Argentina also contains part of the famous Theater of Pompey, upon whose steps dictator Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed in 44 BCE. Today, volunteers at Torre Argentina care for approximately 250 cats."

The location has its own web site here: http://www.romancats.com/torreargentina/en/introduction.php, where you can donate or "adopt" one of the felines. Many of the cats are disabled or are from abusive households.

Photo at top by Jakub Hałun (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo at bottom by Wknight94 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Headturner

This ad from Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs shows a Cat in a Garden -- yet, it doesn't. How is that? Through the magic of Photoshop, says Mark Osgerby, Marketing & Public Relations at Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc. "It was stock photography that we took at the nursery and the project was largely photoshopped," he explained. We wish it was a real cat-in-garden image, but we appreciate the effort and nod to discriminating garden felines.

Maurice in Hospice Care

Ann Amato-Zorich is seedstress at Cistus Nursery, owner at Spiffy Seeds, and owner at Milton's Garden Menagerie in Portland, Oregon. She shared this beautiful black cat and says: "Momo (aka Maurice) is just over 16 and I rescued him when he was one. I used to have three black cats and I believe in black cat rescue adoptions, but somehow I've ended up with a black-and-white family recently. (We have four cats. In addition to Maurice and the two young ones (LuLu and Felix), we have Mona - who is also black and I found her in a parking lot one rainy November evening when she was a kitten. She's part feral and lives in the garden and in the basement. She is our ghost cat.)

Our young cats will mostly be indoor and roof cats. We lost an incredibly beautiful black part-Maine Coon named Quincy Mercurio Carbone to a coyote and we never want to go through that again. Portland sadly has quite a few urban coyotes now. Quincy disappeared the night before his first birthday. It was so sad. He disappeared without a trace and a coyote was seen on our street again within a day or two so it's fairly obvious what happened.

Maurice was diagnosed with cancer on his jaw over 6 weeks ago and he's still with us. Each day now is a blessing. He's lost some of his sight. but has adjusted and continues to follow his routine. LuLu is a great caregiver, but Felix, well, not so much.

UPDATE on 11/12/16:
I am sorry to report that Maurice has passed away and gone to the big garden in the sky. Here a few more photos in happier times.