Happy Holidays!

Whether your goal is to enjoy or survive — I hope you making it through!  I think it’s a complicated season for most people - for lots of reasons, tons of reasons actually.  For me, the change in routine is enough to throw me off.  Although the month of December isn’t as crazy as it used to be for me, I’m still ready for my studio schedule by January 2.  And usually, January is a very productive month because I’m ready to buckle down.   

This morning I spent some time at the studio with my cats, feeding and having quiet time with them.  George was especially in need of some time together.  I’ll be ready to settle back into my uncomfortable green chair in a couple of days.

And by the way, the dog draped in lights is Benny.  He’s my foster dog and we played around this morning taking photos — he was very cooperative! 

Wild Kingdom

She looks sweet, doesn’t she.  Not!  This is Carmela, the devil queen.  She is the reason I have studio cats - she started the trend.  Carm was called “Mama Cat”, the mother of seven baby devil kittens :).  She and her kids were so bad that their foster mom took them to the vet for their spay/neuter appointment and never came back to get them!  Abandoned at the vet, Mama Cat and her kids were marooned for two weeks.  A volunteer brought the kittens to our Saturday adoption day and they were cage crazy — losing their tiny kitten minds.  It broke my heart.  I agreed to foster them and a few days later, picked up “Mama Cat” too.  

THAT was when the fun began.  Mama was renamed Carmela and began stalking every animal in our household.  She was born to be an assassin.  Of course, she had a screw loose from a bad childhood experience….whatever!  Carmela then tried her luck outdoors but she fought everything that moved outside too and was soon a mass of wounds and abscesses.  Time for Plan Three.

So, Carmela moved to the studio and has been happy ever since.  She’s safe, content, and recently oversaw the addition of a screened porch for afternoon tanning!  I signed her adoption papers and she’s now a permanent resident.  You may wonder how she gets along with the other cats.  Well, it was a slow rehab process and I’m very proud of our success.  I fostered a small kitten, placing her in a crate on a table, safe from Carm’s terrorism.  That kitten never came near Carm’s teeth or claws before moving on to a home.  The second foster kitten met Carm only with my close supervision.  Over months, I desensitized Carmela to other cats and eventually she was able to share her home with teenage kittens and even some carefully selected adults.  

Carmela is still a VERY moody lady — the result of fear, uncertainty, and lack of socialization as a kitten.  She’ll never change, I’m afraid, but she’s happy in her Yellow House on Oakwood.  And if Carm’s happy, everybody is happy!