It's Caturday!

Welcome back for another edition of Caturday, where we catch up on the week's latest cat news, and get to meet some of your amazing kitties!

This week: "Dancing with the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba debuted her new cat rescue series, The New Yorker took us behind the scenes of a feline photo shoot, Hello Kitty landed at Ladurée, Maggie shared memories from Petunia's first birthday party, we discovered les chats de Audrey Jeanne, Street Cat Bob invaded the BBC, ModCloth cornered the market on adorable kitty themed tea sets, Martha Stewart inspired some DIY cat adoption announcement cards, we went inside the cat actor's studio with Vito Vincent, Fresh Step introduced organic bacon scented cat litter, and around the world in 80 cats landed in Spain, where I discovered some of the most beautiful feline photography yet!

Also, don't forget to stop by to enter for your chance to win a $100 American Express Gift Card from our friends at Apartment Guide! A hundred bucks could buy a whole lot of cat food (and cupcake mix) so you're probably gonna want to get in on this one...just sayin'!

Spencer and Benny

This week's featured felines come to us from Karolee, who is very excited to share her furry family with us this week! She tells me that she's never seen two cats as close as Spencer and Benny - who not only curl up and nap together (seriously how cute is the pic of them cuddling?!) - but also play together non-stop!

In addition to being little love-bugs, the precious pair have also provided her with an amazing emotional support system. When Karolee unexpectedly lost her husband and two pets within a very short period of time, the two kitties stepped up to help brighten her life through the darkness of her grief.

Karolee writes:

A few years ago, my sweet husband passed away. He was only 58 years old, and had a massive heart attack. We were married for 39 years (no kids) and had been dating since we were 16. A year later my darling Lhasa Apso, Niko, passed away at 16. Three weeks after that, my most precious and beloved Himalayan, Sammy, who was only 9 years old unexpectedly had a tummy obstruction and also passed. Sammy was my very special darling angel. It was a terribly sad time in my life. My darling SPENCER was just bereft without his good friend Sammy and would wander the house searching for him. Oh, it was just heartbreaking. So I got him dear little BENNY who did not hesitate to brighten BOTH of our sad lives. SO we are a family of THREE, and the two of them are EVERYTHING to their momma! They are MY DARLING BOYS!

Spencer

My stunning Spencer is just so beautiful and regal. He is a bit more reserved (shall we say..) than BENNY. He walks around the house as though he OWNS everything in his path. He adores being covered with blankets when he sleeps. At night when we are all in bed, he won't go to sleep until he feels the warmth of my hand on his (15 lbs!) body. Actually that puts us BOTH to sleep! Even if BENNY is curled around him, he still needs his momma's hand on him in the night time.

He also just LOVES being brushed! All I have to do is hold up the brush and call his name, and he comes a-runnin'. He will sit and be brushed FOREVER. If it were up to him, THAT'S how his momma should spend her days! He is my big boy.

Benny

BENNY, on the other hand, is quite the character! His favorite thing to do is take my socks or his mousies and DROP them into his GIGANTIC water bowl. WHY? I have NO CLUE! Pretending he's doing a laundry? Thinks his mice need a bath? I have NO IDEA! BENNY also will jump from the floor up to my shoulders and plops down and starts purring. He ADORES being up high. Once he went from my shoulders to the top of my grandfather clock! How did I ever get him down? It wasn't easy! Believe me!

I mentioned the GIGANTIC WATER BOWL. I had to get a BIG DOGGIE-SIZED water bowl because he likes to MOVE his water bowls, and I'm sure that you can imagine the total MESS this makes! He is constantly dragging blankets or cat beds from UPSTAIRS to DOWNSTAIRS and vice versa!!! He is only 7 lbs and I have no idea how he can lift these things in that little mouth! He constantly has me in stitches, but he is so precious, he is definitely my wild one!

Special thanks to Karolee for sharing her emotional story with us this week! It's always devastating to suffer one loss, but to have several fall so close together is just unimaginable. Kudos to Karolee for her inspirational strength, and thank you to Spencer and Benny for providing comfort to their momma during a time when she needed them the most!

p.s. Looking for even more Catsparella? Check out my weekly columns over on Catster!

This week:

7 Cat Paw-Inspired Products That Rival the Real Thing

Cat Chic: Hello Kitty Gets Intimate with Hanky Panky

Get Lucky in the Aloha Maneki Neko Shirt by Vans

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Want to see your cat(s) on Catsparella? I'm always taking submissions for my weekly Caturday post! Just 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!