All About Amber, the unexpected cat

Well, I’ve just realised that although she is my number one co-author and she’s been mentioned a number of times on my blog, I have never really written about my dear little Amber’s story here. I guess it’s because I wrote about Sidney once, having started the blog after she died. Birding and blogging was something that helped me get through losing her. One of the first times I finally left the house after she died was to go for a birding walk and I remember how watching chickadees hop around in the trees and mallards at the lake brought me some tiny morsels of happiness again. I felt my spirit lift just a little bit.

my beautiful Amber cat

Saying goodbye to the kitten who stole my heart

Just about a month ago, I said goodbye to my little foster kitty, Zip. She was my first one and she absolutely stole my heart. It was bittersweet saying goodbye between losing this little girlie I had come to know and love but happiness knowing she was going home to a wonderful family.

In fact, I am so grateful and overjoyed that she found a family who will look after her with love and care, and give her everything she needs. Because of her special needs, I worried she would never find a good home. Well, I was wrong, because obviously they could see how sweet and lovely she is!

She’s positively angelic.

First foster kitten and I’m in love

Mutts Comics by Patrick McDonnell, Oct 31, 2016 (http://www.mutts.com/strips-archive)

Last week, I took home my first ever foster kitten. She was  a little bit sick for a while and stuck at the kitty hospital for some time, so coming to my house was the first time she got to run around in a while. She is a beautiful girl and a real lovebug!

Zipper preparing to pounce…!

Back home in BC and observing some familiar backyard birds

Even though I love travelling and its often energizing and inspiring to me, I also love returning home. Besides those comforts of home, its good to be back near the ocean again, to be around familiar birds again and, of course, to see little Amber again.

Amber in a favored spot, likely watching the birds, too.

Though not technically in my backyard, before I left, I had been watching the osprey closely. They were appearing to have begun settling in and were spending more time at the nest despite some unwelcome visitors, including a third osprey and bald eagles.

Why your pet should have ID – especially your indoor cat!

Have you ever seen a cat wandering around a neighborhood and wondered if it might be lost? Have you ever seen a dog wandering a neighborhood and known it was lost?

How is anyone supposed to know whether a wandering cat is lost or not? This is exactly why more lost dogs than lost cats are found and returned home. Here are some facts about lost dogs and cats:

• In a study comparing the frequency of lost dogs and cats, 93% of lost dogs were found while only 75% of lost cats were found (Source)
• In a study on lost cats, 53% of lost cats were found. Of the cats found, only 19% had any form of identification and 40% were indoor-only cats. (Source)
• In a comparable study on lost dogs, 71% of lost dogs were found and 48% of lost dogs had some form of identification (Source)

That is quite a difference between lost dogs and cats and staggeringly low numbers of cats with identification.

On getting gifts from a cat & river otter spied in the sea

I have been cat sitting for a neighbour recently and she is a bit of a roamer and goes outside. While I would personally never let my own cat outdoors unsupervised, I have to respect the parental choices. This week, we passed a milestone of sorts.

I know now she is getting very fond of us as she brought us home a gift the other day…a spotted towhee. So I feel a little guilty looking at this photo of one I managed to snag the other day, but I do love cats, too, so I can’t be hard on them for doing what I know is only natural instinct. While I love and understand her sentiment, I am not too keen to receive another gift anytime soon.

Spotted Towhee