Stained Glass Mudpie #CaturdayArt

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art blog hop!

The Pet Blogger Bloopers Round-Up – June

Today we're joining the The Pet Blogger Bloopers Round-Up, hosted by The Lazy Pit Bull. It's the place to be on the second Friday of each month to see your favorite bloggers' blooper photos. This is a blog hop dedicated to showcasing the results of those photo sessions that have gone off the rails!

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Everything about this picture is just wrong. It's blurry, the lighting is horrible, but one look at it and I just crack up.

You look like you saw a ghost, Mudpie!

Legend of the Tortoiseshell Cat

Meows from Mudpie! 

Today is Meezer Colors Day, a day for all kitties to flaunt their colors with pride. 

Tortoiseshell cats are known as gatas carey in Spanish, and they have a very special legend about how we got our unique colors. Last year Truffles shared the legend on Meezer Colors Day, and it's so beautiful that we wanted to present it again...but this year I asked Mommy to help me create a graphic with pictures of myself and Truffles to accompany the words.

Many thanks to Yadiri's Crafty Adventures for the loose translation of the Spanish version.

Word of the Day: Snoopervising

Meows from Mudpie!

Last week Mommy decided to clean out our kitchen cupboards. Apparently she had a premonition that over the weekend the sink would clog up and we'd need to call a plumber, requiring her to tidy up anyways.

We'll spare you the traumatic "before" pictures and just share the aftermath. Of course as soon as Mommy was done I had to critique her work and it passed my inspection because there was room for me to crawl inside! (Which is very rare indeed in *any* of our cupboards or closets...but that's all I'll say about that.)

When the Cost of a Veterinary Emergency Means a Decision Between Life & Death

Twice in my life (so far) I've ended up at the emergency vet facing an astronomical bill. The first time was the Saturday morning I brought Tara in for a recurring UTI only to receive her diabetes diagnosis. They kept her for the weekend to stabilize her and start her on insulin. The cost was close to $1500. (A year later she also needed a cardiologist and oncologist, and by that point I completely lost track of her veterinary expenses. I've kept all the bills and really should calculate it someday.)

Then just last summer was Truffles' blood clot. Two short hours and $1,000 later she was gone.

Photo Credit: depositphotos/© photo-deti

There are many reasons why emergency vet care is so expensive. Continuity of care means these offices are open 24/7, therefore it must be fully staffed by vets and technicians able to perform advanced procedures around the clock. Emergency vets see the most serious illnesses which require state-of-the-art medical equipment and specialists who know how to use it. I know my regular vet wouldn't have had access to the oxygen cage that Truffles needed, and I was so grateful that it was available to her at the ER even though I knew it was going to cost me an arm and a leg. The care she received that night was second to none. 

Thankfully both times I was able to agree to the estimate knowing I would be able to pay for my cat's care, and even if I couldn't my parents would be more than willing to help. Sadly though, that piece of paper containing the estimated cost means the choice between life and death for many pet parents.

Four Paws Lifeline is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose goal is to provide financial assistance to those pet owners who are not able to afford critical care or emergency veterinary care for their furry loved ones. They feel that an animal's life should not have to depend on their owner's ability to pay and are working towards a future where decisions about companion animal medical care need never be made on the basis of cost.

Founded by Karen and David Brothers, Four Paws Lifeline relies solely on the support and contributions of individuals who love animals to create a pool of financial assistance. Contributions go directly to the treating veterinarians. Applicants need only fill out a form stating their need.

Four Paws and 31 Tales is a collection of pet stories donated by members of Twitter’s Anipal community to benefit Four Paws Lifeline. All proceeds from sales will benefit this wonderful organization.

Only $10 for a pawsome book and the knowledge that your money will be helping a cat or dog in need! I've already purchased my copy and would encourage you to add it to your library as well. I can't wait to read it!

Have you ever had trouble paying a steep vet bill? What did you do?

Blog Tour: Big Hair & Buttermilk Pie: A Rose Cottage Cafe Mystery by Lori Stacy

From the publisher: Mandy Hemphill is living her dream, running the successful Rose Cottage Cafe in Orchardville, Texas, from the ground floor of a converted, old—and possibly haunted—downtown home. She even had plans to grow her business with a new outdoor patio…if only the mayor wouldn’t have turned her down.

So when the beloved mayor is found murdered, Mandy finds herself among the suspects. And now business at the cafe is dropping faster than a fallen soufflé. How can she prove her innocence and save the Rose Cottage Cafe?

Thankfully Ben, the new owner of The Orchardville Gazette, doesn’t believe she’s guilty. As the two of them set out to find the real killer, they uncover one small-town lie after the next. But the closer they get to learning the truth about who killed the mayor, the more in danger they find themselves.

Fans of strong and sassy women in their Southern fiction will find much to enjoy in this first book in the Rose Cottage Cafe mystery series.

Cafe owner Mandy Hemphill owns the Rose Cottage Cafe in Orchardville, Texas and has plans to expand her business by adding a patio. There's only one little problem...the mayor turns down her proposal, which makes her the prime suspect when her turns up dead. When business starts to suffer Mandy knows she has no choice but to find the real killer before losing everything she's worked so hard to build. Luckily she has hunky Ben Hathaway, co-tenant and new owner of The Orchardville Gazette on her side and willing to help her solve the crime.

I enjoyed this little mystery very much and especially loved the descriptions of the Victorian house where the Rose Cottage Cafe which comes complete with it's very own ghost, Wilcox, who I hope to learn more about in subsequent books. Recipes for buttermilk pie and peach-pecan muffins can be found at the end, and believe me, once you finish reading the mouth-watering descriptions of the baked goods served at the Rose Cottage Cafe you'll be more than ready to start doing a little baking yourself!

Purchase Link: Amazon

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Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful #SundaySelfie

We're joining our friends at The Cat on My Head for the Sunday Selfies blog hop!