Gratuitous Cute Animal Shots

OK, I admit it...there's no point to this post except that it contains pictures of my ridiculously cute cat, Indy (aka "Mr. Peebody" due to his occasional naughty spraying habit).

Here he is lounging in front of his favorite pillow, handmade especially for him (or so he thinks) by fellow cat lover, Lisa:

Tired of being stalked by paparazzi, Indy lets down his guard:

Excuse me...is that a bug on your nose?

Isabelle has forgotten her manners and is staring at the caterpillar on the lion's nose.

Pincushion Love!

These are 2 of my most favorite goofball things in my entire art room. I purchased the chipmunk pincushion several years ago (have you ever seen such a ridiculously jaunty expression on a chipmunk?) Then my crazy friend Maureen made me (or should I say made the chipmunk) the pink cat companion pincushion. It's pretty much impossible not to smile looking at the sheer silliness of them...

Unbelievable Cat News!

If I hadn't heard this story firsthand, I would not believe it. A coworker of mine had his beloved Siamese cat go missing 10 years ago. He was having some construction done on his house at that time, and his best guess is that the cat jumped into one of the contractor's trucks and ended up in an unfamiliar neighborhood and couldn't find his way home.

Of course, he was heartbroken. This cat had been one heck of a character...biting his wife on the nose to wake her to for breakfast, bringing in (live) bird after bird, turning the place into an aviary, etc. As the days went by without his return, life went on (with other cats and dogs) but with some sadness.

Then last week, my coworker got a call from a veterinarian who said a Siamese cat had been turned in, and its implanted microchip revealed him as the owner. He could not believe it. He raced to the vet and found his beloved cat bedraggled and with some minor health problems, but not too bad given he was now 16 years old.

It appears as though someone had taken the cat in for the bulk of that time, but somehow the cat recently ended up on its own again. A Good Samaritan rescued it and took it to the vet.

Needless to say, the reunion was a smash hit. He brought the cat in to work yesterday and I've never seen a cat so content to be cradled in its owner's arm. Being a Siamese, it was of course NOISY...but then it had a LONG story to tell. My boss was so taken with the cat's meow, he recorded it and is going to turn it into a ring tone for our cell phones!