Even though I am not a charity, but as long as you are working in the animal industry, you will always end up being involved with animal rescue. Simply because your website is out there, people in desperation will contact whatever that comes up on Google search. I guess I am doing my SEO properly so I often end up receiving calls from people who needs help with cat rescue mission.
Also, after being in this business for over a decade, I often got calls from various cat charities who might be in need of help. I always try my best to help as much as I can.
But over the years, I realise one problem. Sure, we can go out and help one cat, two cat, three cats, or even a colony of cats. But why are those cats there in the first place? Why are cats being abandoned?
When I first turned 30, my mission was to start a cat business and work for myself. I have just turned 40 this year. (FYI: my original plan was to go to Paris with a good friend to celebrate for a weekend, but then the pandemic hits….so here I am. I will celebrate it when the pandemic is over)
In my 40s, I want to get into education, so to raise the awareness of the public on cat welfare. I strongly believe that with education and public campaign, there should be less and less cats needing rescue in the long run. And that’s going to be my mission for the next decade.
As one of the first steps of me starting this journey, I have created this infographic about TNR (Trap-and-Release or Trap-and-Return). Please feel free to share this far and wide. The more people learning about the best practice in cat welfare, the better chance for cats to have a better life everywhere. If you want to print this out, click on the download button below to download a PDF file.
It’s hard to believe Catsmas is just around the corner but here we are…
I don’t care for Christmas very much myself. Especially since I started working as a cat sitter, Christmas is always a stressful time for me. Holiday season usually means 16 hours day for those of us in the pet sitting industry.
Having said that, for a bit of fun, I have complied a list of gift list for you all – both for cat lovers and cats! Enjoy!
Look at this amazing cat house by Mau Katz! I discovered this website recently where they are lots of amazing stylish ‘cat stuff’! Who said cat stuff can’t be stylish? Check it out.
Da Bird is a best seller cat toy featured on Jackson Galaxy’s show. An incredible thing about Da Bird is the range of refill head available so to keep it interesting for your cats. There are sparkly heads, furry heads, different kinds of feathers and so on.
Check out these cute Christmas theme Valerian pillows? They are straight from a German family business – Aumueller. These pillows are made with great care using the best ingredients. Herbal remedies such as valerian root in German pharmacies quality and well-controlled German Spelt. The intense aroma of valerian attracts cats and magically animate them to play. Valerian is more efficient than catnip and will work on cats who don’t react on catnip.
The good old laser pointers ensure your cat to have hours of fun. Do make sure to end your session by landing the laser pointer to a toy of which your cat can pounce on so that your cat can have the satisfaction of a successful hunting session. Don’t just end the session with turning the laser off. It could cause frustration to your cat and eventually behavioural issues.
The AMAZING Maow Calendar! Yes, it’s my work. I do that every year to feature the amazing cats I know around me. I invite entries from my Facebook followers and have been producing these lovely calendars for a couple of years now. People love these calendars because they are all real cats, no stock photos and it comes with a little background stories from their humans.
2. Cat book
Books always make thoughtful gifts. If you have a cat lover in your life, book is nearly always a safe item to buy. I plan to do book review on this blog in the future. In the meantime, check out the Purrfect Library for my recommendation to get some inspiration.
These beautiful, stylish and soft cat scarf are very suitable for all seasons. These scarf are not the average little fabric around the neck kind of scarf. With generous size of 160cm x 70cm, it will be big enough to cover your shoulders really well. Keep this in your bag and use it on your commute. Subtle cat print, very office friendly for cat ladies. Very easy to be stored in the handbag.
So that’s it for this year’s Catsmas shopping guide, I hope you enjoyed. I might plug in here a little bit to share some Catsmas cat sitting frustration. I don’t see you before the New Year.
Cat Shirts for Cat Punks. For the love of our feline friends. A celebration of cats, art, punk, music, and community. All products are sweatshop free and made in the United States. 15% of every garment sold goes to Alley Cat Advocates.
I recently discovered artist Alex Hubbell and her calendar project and thought I would share with you guys!
Alex has been painting her barn cat Petunia almost every day over the past year. Using the work, she’s made a cat calendar for 2018. Check out these amazing work of art!
Now she’s at it again, but for the 2019 calendar, she is going to paint other people’s cats. Does your cat have a story to share? Join this project on Kickstarter and get your cat to be featured on the calendar 2019!
Twelve cats will be chosen from all submissions, and Alex will create an original artwork based on the winning kitties for each month in 2019.
If calendars are not your thing but you like Alex’ work, the good news is she also accepts commission work!
Something like this…
Incredible, right?
Each commission comes with a Skype or Phone consultation to discuss details, mounting and framing, and free packing and shipping.
Sounds like it will make an unforgettable gift for a cat lover in your life, right? Reminder: Catsmas is coming soon!
I never knew it’s possible to use watercolour to capture the gracefulness of cats…
Want to know more about the project? Let’s hear from Alex herself!
If you are interested to support this beautiful project, check out the Kickstarter link below:
