City The Kitty

City the Kitty is a beautiful manx cat, who has wonderful multi-toed feet!  He and his human are fiercely opposed to de-clawing cats, and they put out a calendar and book to help raise funds toward the goal of ending this abhorrent practice.  How could I say no?  The photo book is adorable; City is photogenic, and he's adorable!  The calendar is cute; I just have to figure out where to hang it at the office.

City the Kitty was featured on an episode of Animal Planet's "My Cat From Hell"; here's a YouTube video.  Look at those big paws! Polydactyl cats (sometimes called Hemingway, mitten or thumb cats) have extra toes, but they cannot yet open their own cat food cans.

City the Kitty and The Paw Project are working hard to raise awareness to fight against the all-too common procedure of surgically removing cats' toes to the first knuckle on their front feet, or sometimes on all four, because people are either talked into it, or they've always done it in the past. That mindset has to END, and the veterinarian's who perform the surgery need change their thought process.  De-clawed cats have a higher return rate to shelters, due to emotional and physical problems that stem from the procedure.  The cats are often in pain, or bite due to the loss of their normal defense mechanism: their claws!  De-claw does NOT keep a cat in it's home, which is common mantra given by professionals as to why they continue to do it.  Public awareness needs to rise, and luckily, legislatures in both New Jersey and New York states are considering making it ILLEGAL!

Please consider supporting City the Kitty and The Paw Project; they are on the front lines, trying to keep toes on our cat friends!  I paid $14.99 plus shipping for the pawtographed book and wall calendar.

Minibar's Mom!

Jackson Galaxy, the self-proclaimed Cat Daddy, has a television show that airs on Animal Planet: see info here.  I have been a faithful viewer since the program began in 2011.  The premise: people have a cat whose behavior is making their human family crazy.  One early episode ("Wildcat! originally aired May 21, 2011) has always stuck out in my mind; that of kitten Minibar, who was too feral and unsocial for her owners, Carre and Brian.

Jackson in glasses, Carre and Brian.

Jackson Galaxy helped the couple find ways to encourage Minibar to come out from under the furniture, with play and better access to litter boxes.  By episode end, Carre and Minibar had truly bonded together, even after a chase through a studio full of wood, shelving and tools!

Imagine my surprise, while watching a brand new show this weekend (you see how I waste my time?) on the DYI Network, entitled "Sight Unseen".  A California couple of Carre' Calloway and Wes Borland purchase an old mansion in Detroit, Michigan without actually visiting it first, and the episodes follow them as they renovate a once luxurious home.  More info can be found here.

The mansion

Wes and Carre'

Imagine my surprise when I recognised Minibar's mom!  Yep, the Carre from 2011 and Carre' from 2016 are the same person!  And it turns out, Wes Borland is pretty famous for his guitar music with the band Limp Bizkit, and Carre' is Queen Kwong, an indie rock band.

The Hubby was fairly impressed that I had remembered her face after all this time, and research on the internet then gave me the answers, (and all of these photos!)  Cats were mentioned in an episode of "Sight Unseen" but no cats were actually on camera, darn it.  

So, how cool is this?  Well, I don't know how cool it is, but I do know that this couple is severely pro-animal, they like cats, and they like Detroit. Makes them A-OK in my book, since I've lived in Metro-Detroit for my whole life, I'm vegan, and you KNOW that I lurv my kitties!