Circle of Love

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Pamela Knudsen

I woke up in the middle of the night with heavy tightness in my chest. I took in a deep inhale and realized it wasn’t asthma, just a sad heart.

Life has been quite a struggle lately—unfulfilled work-related opportunities, all those close calls but not sealing the deal (the biggest disappointment was not landing curriculum authorship for a cat behavior certification program of which I was in the running); yet, the most disappointing is the recent end of my relationship with Gary. We broke-up a year ago after a 2.5 year run and had been on-and-off ever since, making attempts at reconciliation. Even during the “off” times we were in touch. Our connection was always strong; so was the hope. I mean, doesn’t “break-up” mean that something is simply broken and therefore, just needs to be fixed?

Apparently no amount of glue can fix our cracked hearts.

I took a couple more deep inhales and stretched out my legs to find that something was in the way of a complete stretch. It was Bobcat. So I rolled over to the other side of the bed, but was stopped short by Topper, snuggling the pillow on my right. I tried curling up with the pillow to my left, but grasped a handful of fluff—Lexington.

I slowly sat up and turned on the bedside table lamp, which cast an amber glow across the room, softly illuminating my Circle of Love: my three cats encasing me, embracing me with their love, undoubtedly knowing that I’d just lost my love for good and they were comforting me with theirs.

I finally fell back to sleep and awoke a second time with the sunrise, and with Topper still next to me. I released more sadness of recent events with a quiet cry. Topper rolled over to face me. He put is paw on my cheek and stared into my damp eyes. Then he licked my tears, which was so moving, I cried harder, then felt an overwhelming sense of joy at this sweet gesture by my feline companion; this near wild creature with such a tender side, which made me smile, then invoked laughter.

With that, Topper jumped off the bed. His job was done and it was time for breakfast.

And even though I’m fighting tears, I still have hope that I will meet my “Sam”…

Keep Your Cool…Cats

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Pamela Knudsen

The Southern California heat wave has turned Laguna Beach into Palm Springs with an ocean. Since when does the temperature gauge hit 111 degrees 2.5 miles from the beach?

Since record breaking heat today. This afternoon I dashed off to Blue Bell to help keep the kitties cool by bringing extra ice, ice packs and a carton of lemonade for Rima our cat caregiver and any other volunteer brave enough to step out into the inferno. The cottage, which serves as the retirement sanctuary for the Blue Bell Foundation for Cats was built in the ‘40s and has no air conditioning like probably most of the homes in Laguna Beach.

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20160618_144510 The residents of Blue Bell were all sacked-out when I arrived, clearly conserving their energy. Another volunteer and I rubbed the kitties with ice cubes and put ice packs in their bedding.

Back here at the ranch, my furry family has also been extra lethargic, even with my air conditioning running (lucky me, my condo has air conditioning—not so for all of the residents in my community).

What should cat parents do to cope with the summer heat? Hydrate, hydrate and hydrate. And that means for both kitty and you. A concern that I’ve heard from cat parents is that their cat doesn’t visit the water bowl as much as he/she should. Solution: keep water bowls with fresh water throughout your home in random areas, not just by the food bowls. Try unusual water receptacles such as a drinking glass or water drinking fountain. Notice that Topper prefers a glass over the kitty water bowl!

And feed kitty wet food on a regular basis meaning morning and night. Wet food contains water; therefore, helps to keep your feline fur-baby hydrated. And paw-leeez…go grain free. Remember, cats are meat-eating creatures just like their African wildcat ancestors—their digestive system has not changed!

It’s a sizzling summer solstice and while I’d love to get out and do a jig in honor of Mother Nature, I think I’ll stay inside where the air conditioner is cranked and enjoy a giant glass of ice water along with the kitties.