It's Caturday!

Well, it's been another exciting week here, my friends! Monday was the 4th of July, and Charlie and Priscilla Celebrated Their Independence, Tuesday I found out I was Nominated for a Prestigious Pettie Award in the category of Best Social Integration Blog, Wednesday brought the premiere of The Catsparella Podcast, featuring not one but TWO exclusive interviews, and lots of witty banter (hehe), Thursday we checked out a Black Cat Swimsuit (for people) and met Princess Sugar Pie, Therapy Cat Extraordinaire, and we wrapped it all up on Friday with Seymour's Birthday Wish AND news that Maru's book is being released in the U.S. next month!

Whew...but wait, there's more!

Then there was also Kristiina Wilson, who's trying to place her criminally adorable foster kittens into loving homes in the NYC area. Check out the full post here, and email her at kw@obscure.org, if you or someone you know can help!

The other big happening of the week was my visit to Tabby's Place Cat Sanctuary in Ringoes, NJ. I got to meet with Development Director Angela Townsend, and also spent some time hanging out with lots of cool cats, like FIV+ cutie Twix, and an orange kitty named Natalie, who decided my back was the purrfect place to sit!

You can read all about my experience at the sanctuary here, and please remember to vote today and every day through July 29th at http://www.dogtime.com/petties for Catsparella to win in the category of Best Social Integration Blog, so I can donate the $1,000 prize money to the very deserving cats of Tabby's Place!

Kima, Mica, and Bandit

Now, this week's edition of Caturday is extra special because the submitter, the amazing Cristian, had a hand in creating the hugely popular "Black Cats Are Good Luck!" video from the San Francisco SPCA, that I posted a few weeks back. We definitely want to give him props for that, and say thank you for helping to spread the word about black shelter kitties!

I also want to point out the additional distinction of this post featuring the first Caturday video submission ever! And to that I say, "Hooray!" and "bout time!"

Aja and Kima

On that note, I'll toss it over to Cristian, and let him tell you the story of how he and his boyfriend came to meet each of their four beautiful cats: Kima, Mica, Bandit, and Aja.

Cristian writes:

Kima

Kima is our oldest, about 9 years old or so. She was a rescue from the St. Louis SPCA. She's my boyfriend's cat. She's an evil little monster, but we love her.

She was found in an alley pregnant with kittens. The day they were going to put her to sleep, my boyfriend saw her in her little cage. She reached out of the cage with her paw, and it was love at first sight.

I can't imagine this world without her. She's evil, but she's also a sweetheart. When I've had rough times, as well as my boyfriend, and we're crying...she immediately runs over and starts licking us. It's her way of saying "it's going to be ok." She's our evil little angel.



Mica

Me and my boyfriend had been together for about 6 months or so when we decided to adopt a second cat, it would be our first cat together. I'd always wanted an orange cat and I saw Mica at the SFSPCA, in one of the last hallways.

She was with several other cats, playing with them. When we went in to visit her, we noticed she had just had surgery (she's been spayed). We thought maybe it wasn't the right time to adopt her, and said we'd come back in a couple of weeks again. If she was still there, maybe it was meant to be?

We came back two weeks later, and she was still there. She had healed some more and I knew she was meant to be with us. About a year after we adopted her, one of the vet people from the SFSPCA recognized her from my FB wall. She told me she'd also been a rescue, rescued pregnant with kittens in the streets. Not only had she nursed her own kittens, but the kittens from another mother who'd rejected her babies. She's my special little girl...timid and scared, but a total sweetheart. She's a big licker. :)



Bandit

Oh, the perils of being a volunteer, ha ha. I had spotted Bandit on the shelter side of the hospital. I had been visiting the cats who were isolated because of a possible URI, or something of the sort.

He was by himself and he had these big beautiful black eyes...his pupils were dilated beyond belief. He immediately caught my eye because of his dilated eyes, and I went inside. I started crying, I don't know why. It's tough being a volunteer sometimes, you want to take them all home. But we already had two, and I didn't want to over commit, especially since I didn't have a job at the time.

So I was with him for awhile, said goodbye, and cried walking home. My boyfriend said, let's adopt him, but I said, no, no, we have no money to properly take care of him. About a month later, I went in to volunteer again, and he was on the adoption floor. Things had gotten a little more economically stable for us, and I knew when I saw him again, he was meant to be with us.

He stared at me with his big eyes...and I held him, and he was ours. He's a little monster sometimes, ha ha, 'cause he gets a little rough, but he's a sweetheart at his core. And when he stares at me with his dilated eyes..I melt.



Aja

I know she's not in the video, but she's our special little girl. We didn't mean to adopt a 4th cat. My boyfriend had come in to visit me after I'd gotten done with volunteering. We were walking around, just visiting the cats for a little bit.

Aja was in a room with her brother. While we were visiting her, one of the volunteers came in and picked up her brother, letting us know he'd just been adopted. We sat there and it broke our hearts that she was going to be by herself. She was such a sweet little girl, and we didn't want her to go to just anyone. And so we caved in and adopted her.

Aja gets a big surprise while playing fetch!

She's as special as the rest of our cats. Unlike them, she hadn't been in rough situations for awhile (like Kima or Mica), or at a shelter living situation for long where they could remember (like Bandit). Aja was barely 8 weeks old when we adopted her, and all she's known since she was a little baby has been love. And she is the least timid of our cats. She always gets on her back and shows us her belly and looks up at us when she wants love and attention.



Cristian and Aja

Writing this, I'm reminded of the kindness, warmth, and love my cats bring me every day. My life hasn't been easy (heck, who's has?). I went through a lot as a kid, and as an adult, both on a physical, emotional, and psychological level---and to be honest, I turned into such a jerk by a certain point.

But the kindness and love of my cats...they have helped me heal more than I could have ever imagined. And it was my boyfriend who turned me into a total cat mush, ha ha. It was him who helped open my heart, and it was our cats who helped me heal, and continue to help me heal. All they want is love...that's all. And that's all they give back.

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Tears! Thank you so much to Cristian for sharing these wonderful stories about his cats with us this week, as well as for speaking so candidly about the profound impact they've had on his life.

I'm moved beyond words at the dedication he shows not only to his own kitties, but to the plight of shelter cats as well, and raise him up as a shining example that "Cat Guys" are NOT just a trend; They're real, and they're here to stay!

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Want to see your cat(s) on Catsparella? I'm always taking submissions for my weekly Caturday post! Email your best kitty pics to catsparella@gmail.com, and include your cat's name and anything else you'd like to share! I can't wait to hear from you!