The Highlander Cat Ear Wax Candle Factory

Highlander and Highland Lynx cats and kittens ears require special attention to cleaning. Generally the younger and smaller that the cat is, the ear canals are smaller, smallest in kittens, and the ear wax builds up. Ear wax builds up more in those adorable curled ears than it does in regular or straight ears, and the build up turns brown. When the wax builds up, it can trap dirt and be a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, and infections can ensue without proper cleaning and sanitary maintenance. 

I have found that the younger kittens 3 months to a year, may require once a week cleaning. A Veterinarian first showed me how to clean my Highlander Kitten's ears. She squirted a healthy dose of the ear cleaner directly into my kittens ear. She massaged the liquid into her ears with cotton balls for 60 seconds, and then cleaned the outer ear only with cotton balls and cotton swabs. My kitten already had a bacterial ear infection from the built up ear wax harboring cooties. I had to give her prescription antibiotic ear drops several times a day for 2 weeks and then we had another Vet appointment for rechecking. (Cha-ching!) I personally choose Not to Squirt Liquid into a Cat's ears though! 

So when you buy a kitten from me, he/she will come with clean ears, and I will be happy to share with you information on the product we use and how I clean kitty ears. If you come to pick your kitten up in person in Virginia Beach, I will also try to give you a bottle of Pet Silver Ear Wash if you are flying back home, you will have to check with your airlines' rules on transportation with liquids.We are currently recommending Pet Silver Ear Wash 

We use Pet Silver Ear Wash because of ingredients that it does not have - no steroids, no alcohol. It contains MicroSilver, MicroSilver Antibacterial Property: MicroSilver, by its charge influx, decreases bacterial adhesion and destabilizes the biofilm by its positively charged ionic action.  

After we got the ear infection cleared up, we had to clean my girl's ears several times a week, about every third day. It is certainly not her favorite activity. She is more sensitive to having one ear cleaned over the other. Even though we don't put a cotton swab in her ear canal, it is the ear with the smaller canal of the 2. She has always been more sensitive with that ear, even now. After she was about 6 months, we were able to cut back ear cleaning to once a week. And now we are going to try cutting back to every other week. It all depends on the individual cat as to how often his/her ears need cleaning. 

I recommend starting with cleaning your new kittens ears from the get go, only as often as needed. Make it as pleasant an experience as possible. Talk soothingly. You need to go through things in your mind first. Know what you are doing. It's really not hard. But if you are nervous about anything you do with your cat, cats are super sensitive and attune to their owner's behaviour. So relax. Be confident. You will be fine. (Same thing goes for if you have to "pill" your pet.)

Maybe offer a favorite treat before and after. Get everything ready first. You want to be in very good lighting, so you can see down into those curling ears folds. I wear reading glasses, so I have them on top of my head at the ready. Line up your cotton balls, cotton swabs, ear cleaner - shake it up before you start. I have a big towel and a small towel or cloth ready. Trash can for the used materials. 

My Girl is Miss Touch Me Not in general. So I wrap her up in a soft bath towel, so she is not going anywhere during her Spa Treatment. I am not being mean; I just don't want her to try to run off while I am holding a cotton swab on the outside of her ear, and have her bump it into her ear. I have also found that covering her eyes with another soft cloth, she is calmer. She just does not even want to see the cotton swabs, cotton balls, nor ear cleaner. It doesn't hurt her. She doesn't flinch. I think she just remembers having an ear infection, and that did hurt her ears. 

• Wrap up your kitty.
• I sit and hold mine,  wrapped in her towel, laid across my lap with everything in front of me. I turn her so she is laying on her side with one side of her head, one ear is up. 
• I also lay some of the cotton swabs on the towel she is wrapped in. 
• I cover her eyes.
• I part the fluff of the outer ear so I can see inside the folds and the entrance to the canal.
• I gently use a cotton swab to clean ear wax from the most exterior folds of the ears.  
• If I can see brown wax further in the ear than the cotton swab is advisable, I squirt the Pet Silver Ear Wash onto a cotton ball and massage the cleaner into the ear for about 60 seconds or as long as the kitten/cat will permit holding the cotton ball over the ear and massaging the back of the ear at the base of the ear.
• I wipe the cotton ball around the interior side of the outer ear. 
• I then gently scoop up the ear wax from the folds of the outer ear. Sometimes you have to apply more solution if the wax needs softening. You don't want to hurt your kittens ears, inside or outside. No need for force. 
• After I have gotten all the visible wax with as many cotton swabs and cotton balls as needed, for us now that is one wet cotton ball and one or two cotton swabs, per ear, every other week. See - not so bad. 
• I dry her ear with another clean, dry cotton ball. 
• After I clean each ear, I rub and fluff it and her head hair with the towel and she likes that. 
• I pet her reassuringly and flip her over to do the other side ear. Repeat steps starting with part the fluff of the outer ear. 

She doesn't hate me afterward. It is just not her favorite thing. She will get up when we are through and groom her head, and then she will let me give her some treats. 

Why "The Highlander Cat Ear Wax Candle Factory?" Well, I had a kitten whose ears produced enough wax I joked that I could start an ear wax candle factory. I would use both ends of 20 or more cotton swabs to clean just the outside part of one ear twice a week. That was more than 40 swab ends of ear wax per ear! That's a lot! But that was unusual. After bi-weekly cleaning for a month, his ear wax production began to decrease. He was growing fast and his ear canals of course keeping up with the rest of his big self. The larger the canal, the more that air can get in and moisture is not trapped in wax and debris for build up and infection. (Side note - because of the small ears and small ear canals, you will want to keep moisture including water out of your kitten's ears. So take care in bathing.) 

If you see redness, or infected-looking yellow or green pus discharge, take your cat to your Veterinarian. A build up of Highlander ear wax will look brown and yucky, that is normal. Eventually your cat will have less and less ear wax. If your cat is rubbing her ears, you should have your Veterinarian check her ears. Rubbing can be a sign of infection or ear mites. Ear mites may look a bit like coffee grounds. You may see redness or pink in the outer ears and also bleeding. Ear mites are contagious from one cat to another. Your Veterinarian will swab samples from your cat's ears to check for mites, bacterial or fungal infections to find the best course of action for the restoration of your cat's health and prevention of future illness. This ear cleaning blog is specifically for cleaning of Highlander ear wax. Cleaning will not rid your cat of ear mites, or infection. Cleaning is just part of maintaining your cat's good health, comfort, happiness and well-being. 

Thanks for reading and being a cat lover. 💖

You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

My best friend Muffy

This was in June the first day after school let out for the Summer after First Grade. My wonderful Mom surprised me with a trip to pick out a kitten from a lady's garage. I picked out the little orange kitty, and named him Muffin after my favorite kitten in a book I read daily since I was a toddler. All I ever wanted was a kitten, soft, furry, love. That's me in the Rx cat eye glasses. I had Muffy til I was 10+, then one day he didn't come home. I was sure he had been kidnapped and was off in  Hollywood as the 1st Morris the Cat, same time frame. 💖 you always Muffy. 

This is the only pic I have of him as a grown cat. Maybe even the last year that I had him. I know that other pics I have taken with the same camera were also from when I was 10, summer then fall. I really can't even remember what time of year he went missing, because I probably went outside and called for him every day for years, "Here Muffy! Here Muff, Muff, Muff! Here Muffy!" It was with glee that he used to come running to me, rub up against my legs, tail high in the air and waving back and forth. I know I always had the biggest smile on my face and my heart burst with joy!

😢Yes, I am crying out loud right now too. The little girl inside's heart is breaking all over again seeing him. Seeing him not just in this picture but from all the times I sat on steps near here with him by my side, the only being I felt understood me. I was never good at communicating. I was so alone. He even ran away from home with me - hahaha - just to the side yard and woods still on our property. I ate a banana I had carried in my tied up red bandanna on a stick and called it a successful day. You know who your friends are when they listen to your problems and run away with you, even for an hour. 

I wish that dot wasn't on his face. I wish I had been a better cat guardian. I can only do better now. Love you for ever Muff Muff. 

This story started as an email to a friend of mine. She used to like to pretend she was mean and didn't have friends. She has cats too. Her beloved Idgit of 19 years passed away 2 years ago a few days ago. She also adopted him when he was just a little orange guy who needed love and for someone to take care of him. He gave a lifetime of love to her and her family, human and furry. We got to be friends over cats. I have been telling her my first kitten was also a red, and I am about to get another. I needed to find these old pics and share them with her. And so I ended up writing a sweet little tale of my first love Muffy. I thought I would share it with others. 

And if anyone knows about that book with the kitten called Muffin, I would love to hear about it in the comments. I'm pretty sure it was of the brand - Little Golden Books and I can recall an illustration with a Mother with the kitten on the vacuum or carpet sweeper. We all know how our cats are so interested in watching if not helping us do our housework. Or maybe that was in Sally, Dick and Jane? 

Thanks for reading and being a cat lover. 💖

You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

Cat Chat and Cat Hacks - How do you walk your cat on a leash?

Lucy leash walking at the Park, January 25, 2017

One of the questions most asked to me by other cat guardians is, "How do you walk your cat on a leash?" Cat owners ask me this on Instagram, Facebook and in person when they see Lucy and me together. They want to know how to get their cats to walk on a leash with them. 

I tell them that I put Lucy on a leash pretty much when I first got her. I put a little collar on her and the leash so that she would not get away if anything startled her. The first full day I had her, we had to go to the service station to replace a flat tire. I couldn't leave her home alone yet, though hours later I did to go to work, had to get the tire replaced so I could go to work. We were an inseparable pair from day one. The 2nd day I had her, I had to take her to the vet for her incoming new kitten well check up. So she was on the leash again. 

Lucy's first leash walking adventure on the Beach, Virginia Beach VA, 

September 2016

She trusted me from the get go. She knew that I would not let anything happen to her. I think she imprinted on me as her new Mama cat or as another bigger, friendly cat of some familial relationship, as she left her Mother and litter-mates and came to live with me at 12 weeks. She follows me around the house, anticipating my moves. Cats understand and easily remember predictive behaviour. 

So I figure most cats treat their humans in similar fashion. They expect us to love and protect them. They like our company and follow us around, except when they need their personal space. So I advise interested cat owners to put a collar, harness and leash on their furry little friends. Be confident, stroking that specific cat in that cat's favorite way, talking happily and confidently. Then stand up and let the cat lead you around the house awhile where she wants to go. If she is not going anywhere, then you walk around a little bit and do normal stuff that the cat would normally accompany you on. 

I usually start out car trips where she is going to ride in her booster seat instead of airplane carrier, with letting her walk around on the leash in the car a bit, getting familiar, making it her space, then putting her in her car seat, and sitting in the car a little while longer in the driveway, while she gets comfy in the car seat in her own time. I then start the car, let her get used to the noise and vibration. Even if you have a very quiet car to human ears, a cat's level of hearing is so much more delicate, they may need a moment of adjustment to the sounds. I then turn on the ventilation and let her get used to the sounds and changes in air flow. And lastly we turn on the radio. We listen to a lot of audio books, but I find that some not too dramatic classical music or jazz is soothing background music for my feline friends. Surely all of you have seen your kitties come look at the television when intriguing theme music is playing.

"C'mon Mom, Let's Go!"
Lucy trying out her new car seat, February 12, 2017

My point is, don't overload your cat's senses, picking her up out of the house, her comfort zone, throwing her in the car and turning on everything full blast, and racing off to the Vet. Your cat may not want to get into the car to go to the Vet or anywhere, just because you want to get there in a hurry. If you can make your cat's first time leash walking or car riding as less stressful and even enjoyable as possible, and have the patience to repeat calming steps until a pattern or habit is established, everyone will be happier. Kindness matters, and it helps to think like your cat. 

Back to leash walking, from my diversion of car seats. Cat psychology is like dealing with some humans; you have to let them think they are having their way, when really you have been giving them the alternative of two of your choices. You do the same thing with leash walking in general. Let your cat lead you around awhile as long as she is not sniffing things she should not, stepping where she should not. Steer her away from possible hazards and pick her up to protect her as necessary. Let her lead you around a bit, and then you walk in the direction you need her to go in. When you have a trusting relationship, your cat will go where you want to go for the most part, but she is still going to want to explore and so plan for that. If there is something that you know scares your cat - dogs, traffic, jets, loud music, too many people, then walk your cat somewhere that she will not encounter what scares her or be prepared to pick her up, make her feel protected and safe. 

Let your cat get acclimated to the feel of the leash and harness. I also put on a collar, because where we live, you must have her tags on you or the pet if off your property. Sometimes I carry the City Tags with me, but not put them on. If she were off leash, the tags would be on the collar, not just in my possession. I also put on the collar, so in case she slipped out of the harness, she would be identifiable as a pet by wearing a collar and easier to catch. Her coat camouflages in all environments, so we wear bright collars and harnesses. You have to weigh the options of break away collars versus buckle collars for your specific pet and conditions. The correct fit of a harness will be safer for your cat's health, no pressure on the neck, windpipe, spine, abdomen or organs. 

If your cat gets away whether on a leash or from your home, nothing is better than than having your cat micro-chipped and registered with up-to-date information. It doesn't cost much, for the return of your cat, priceless. I had Lucy micro-chipped at a Vet Clinic. There was a one time fee for micro-chipping with a (coupon) code to register her with PetLink, at no charge for a lifetime registration. Micro-chipping information can also be transferred if the pet changes owners, so if you do that, make sure the pet's information gets changed with change of ownership. Shop around your town for a Vet or Vet Clinic whose micro-chip offering also includes free or affordable lifetime registration. Some micro-chip registrations have annual fees. The different Vet Clinic we used to register Neptune with was with a different micro-chip registration company, that required an annual fee. I was able to register the other brand chip with PetLink for a reasonable, one time fee of $19.99. So I paid a little more for that micro-chipping, but worth it. 

Leash walking can be fun for both the owner and cat. Enjoy your adventures together and be sure to send us pics or videos. 

Click here to view a video of Neptune on his first leash walk. 

Sunday Afternoon in the Park with Lucy  the World Famous Highlander Kitten Cat. 

A walk in the Park with Lucy, the World Famous Highlander Kitten Cat.
At the end of this video, she is running. That is the regular camera speed. I am running with her and holding her leash as she runs and jumps up the tree. 

Cat Hacks - Tunnel of Tuna Cake, an Homage to Tunnel of Fudge Cake, created by Ella Rita Helfrich, and my lifelong friend JB, who always brought Tunnel of Fudge Cake and lots of love and smiles.

If you have never had the real Tunnel of Fudge Cake, sorry, you never will. One of the key ingredients is simply no longer made. If you have never heard of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, I can't believe it. What are they teaching in school these days?! A friend of mine just asked me what it was. Tunnel of Fudge Cake was a rich, moist chocolate Bundt cake, and running in a circle through the middle was a secret Tunnel of Fudge, baked into the cake, not piped in afterward. 

The following information is from the obituary of the creator of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, Ella Rita Helfrich. She came in second in the 1966 Pilsbury Bake Off for the recipe she created for the Tunnel of Fudge Cake using the new Nordic Ware Bundt pans. After the contest, Pilsbury was flooded with more than 200,000 requests for her recipe. The first place winner was forgotten. 

(From Wikipedia) The epic desire for the new Bundt pans to bake the exciting new Tunnel of Fudge cake boosted the sales of Nordic Ware's Bundt Pan. To date more than 60 million Bundt pans have been sold by Nordic Ware across North America. 

One woman's creativity took America by storm. She won money at the Pilsbury Bake Off, which may have been her goal to help her family. And she was able to implement her intellect and creativity. Unintentionally she became as iconic of the Sixties as the Space Program. Her ingenuity influenced purchasing, manufacturing and an American Life-Style Choice. So you, you creative individuals, you can do it. You've heard "fake it til you make it"? How about Bake it til You Make it?! You can do it. 

So, I was a kid in those exciting years of Space Travel, Viet Nam, Protests, Cultural Changes and yet our Moms and their friends were cooking three meals a day and putting dessert on the table nightly and at special events. My Mom might have made the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, she had a Bundt Pan. But I especially remember her bff, JB, bringing Tunnel of Fudge Cake to some occasions. I don't know what was the occasion, except the TOFC was present and accounted for. Hmmm actually, I guess my Mom did make TOFC. I can remember nibbling at it, never getting enough. Maybe it was JB's specialty, my Mom had so many great dishes and desserts, talking about them is like listing how many ways you can make Bubba Gump Shrimp. I go down memory lane with my taste buds. My Mom had me cooking, before I could read. I was at the kitchen counter, peeling and chopping, and stirring on the stove at 3. I still love to cook. I still like to joke with JB and her daughters, the BG's about TOFC. 

For this blog I asked JB why was it she liked to make the Tunnel of Fudge Cake so much. She answered, "The Tunnel of Fudge Cake lead straight to my heart, made with lots of love. I hope that your Tunnel of Tuna Cake will lead straight to Lucy's heart also." Awwwww... 

Mention of Tunnel of Fudge Cake also made an appearance on a Will and Grace episode. 

Since I have no one at home to cook for, I like to be creative for my kitten. It's her First Birthday. I would have a Kitten Party, but most of my cat friends' cats don't get out much. 

So, in honor of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, I made her the Tunnel of Tuna Birthday Cake. How awesome is that! Here is the recipe, pics and instructions. As I say in most of my recipes, you can use any brand or style of food that you prefer for your cat's health. When it comes to the rare birthday cake that my kitten is getting, it may not be fancy raw food, but it's probably a lot better for her than when I have high fat, sugary frosting on my own birthday cakes. She will get a little bit of cake for several days, not enough to ruin her kidneys or morals for life. Just a little something special to celebrate my sweet, lil girl's First Birthday. She'd probably rather hunt down a bug or a mouse. But this is fun for both of us. 

Happy Birthday Lucy! Thank you to all of you for joining in online. 

How I made Lucy's Tunnel of Tuna Birthday Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons or 2 Ounces – Rachel Ray Nutrish Tuna Purrfection

• 4 Tablespoons or 2 Ounces – Rachel Ray Nutrish Paw Lickin’ Chicken & Liver Recipe

• 2 Tablespoons or 1 Ounces - Bubble Bee Very Low Sodium Solid White Albacore Tuna Packed in Water

• 3 drops - Vegetable Oil, whatever does not cause a health problem for your particular cat. 

Tools needed: 

• "Miniature Bundt Cake Pan" or mold, I used a Wilton Easy-Flex 4 Cavity Mini Fluted Tube Pan.

• Spatula, Small Rubber Spatula and/or Small Offset

• Fork, mallet, fingers or something to mash and blend food to a pate consistency. I used a wood bar muddler.

• A few small spoons, like tableware tea spoons

• Small Plate for the cake, to turn cake out onto and for presentation 

• Small bowls to smooth the cat food and Tuna Fish consistencies

Optional:

Birthday Candles

Canned Pumpkin Puree in a pastry bag for writing decoration, or other edible writing substance. 

You need a miniature Bundt Pan, or you can MacGyver one. I purchased the Wilton Easy-Flex 4 Cavity Mini Fluted Tube Pan from Walmart online for $8 and some change. I only needed single pan, but got tired of shopping. This will work just fine.  

You are also going to need a small flexible rubber spatula and I like to use a small offset spatula for decorating. 

When I want to write on a cake, I like to craft a makeshift pastry bag for writing from a sandwich sized, zip lock plastic bag, with a tiny hole cut in the corner to squeeze out the writing substance, a contrasting color blended cat food, or pumpkin puree. If you have pastry tips, you can also insert them into the pastry bag, if you want to get really decorative. For this particular cake today, I ended up not writing anything on it. I was running out of time before work to get too fancy, and I made a simple border using some of the extra Tuna Tunnel filling.  














You need small (mixing) bowls for each flavor/color or texture of cat food or canned tuna ingredient you are going to use. Choose flavors that your cat will like regardless. I go for contrasting color. It may or may not be of interest to our feline friends, but I like the visuals. It makes a difference in the textures you are using on how well the "cake" holds together. You want to use or transform your food into a Pâté textured cat food as it will hold the shape the best. You can take a food in sauce or liquid and drain and save the liquid for your kitten to eat another time, or blend in with the other meat to make a Pâté consistency. 

I have done that here with Rachel Ray's Nutrish Paw Lickin' Chicken and Liver Recipe, Tuna Purrfection, and Bumble Bee Very Low Sodium Solid White Albacore in Water. I like the Bumble Bee Tuna for rare, special treats as the only ingredient is Tuna in Water, no salt, nothing added. Too much seafood upsets Lucy's tummy, and the Vet recommended against serving all Tuna in general to the cats, because if they ever developed a health issue where appetite was decreased and the cat won't eat, canned people type Tuna fish and the water from the can are about the best enticement you will find for a cat that won't eat. So she doesn't get to eat fancy Tuna too often, ergo calling it a special treat. I think a Birthday is pretty special! 

With this particular Wilton mold, each cavity holds 4 ounces. If you have a mini Bundt type pan that you want to use for your cake, but don't know how many ounces it holds and you don't have a measuring cup or one marked in ounce, 2 Tablespoons equals 1 fluid ounce. I did use a measuring spoon to measure out how much cat food I was scooping out for this recipe and the miniature Bundt pan. (If you just want to eyeball it, guesstimate, go ahead. If I wasn't trying to write down a recipe for others to go by, I would not measure.

You can apply a thin layer of oil that is appropriate for your kitten's health conditions to the inner surface of the mold. Spray, use a pastry brush or apply the oil with your finger tips. I used my finger tips. 

You need 4 ounces of your cat food, blended to a Pâté consistency. 

Lucy loves to work on Projects, especially when she can supervise

I used one container of the Rachel Ray's Nutrish Paw Lickin' Chicken and Liver Recipe and the Tuna Purrfection each, straining off the creamy liquid. I used a small strainer and smushed the catfood through with the back of a plastic spoon, collecting the delectable juices in a small glass mixing bowl. I saved some of the liquid to mix with the Tuna for the Tunnel. 

 

     

I muddled and blended together the Chicken & Liver and the Tuna Cat Foods in a small glass mixing bowl. Next, fill the mold half way. 

Freeze it til firm.  I froze mine til firm, about 1 hour, probably a little less time. It doesn't need to be rock hard, just firm enough for supporting the Tuna Tunnel layer.

While you are waiting for first layer of your cake to set, cover and place the rest of the "cake batter" aka the blended cat food in the fridge. You can make another pastry bag from another zip lock sandwich bag or you can use a spoon or fingers to apply the Tunnel of Tuna Filling. You can blend your Tuna Filling. 

I used 1 ounces or 2 Tablespoons of Bumble Bee Very Low Sodium White
Albacore packed in Water. I pressed the water from the Tuna meat, and left in the opened can. I used my muddler to smush, smooth and blend the tuna to a Pate texture. I blended in some of the liquid strained from the canned cat food. 


(If you use a Pate style cat food, you won't have to do much blending, just smooth the cat food to a workable texture.) 

Now that you have your blended Tuna for the Tunnel of Tuna, retrieve your mold from the freezer. Your cat food should be firm to the touch by now. I made a small cylinder shape with the Tuna Tunnel Filling and laid it on top of the first layer of cat food in the center of one side of the "donut" shape of the tube pan. 



Just keep going around and around until you complete a circle of Tuna filling. You will pop the pan back in the freezer again until it is firm to the touch. I think I had mine in the freezer less than a half an hour. I was busy putting things away, cleaning up after myself and playing with the Birthday Girl. If you have some tuna filling left over, save that for a garnish/decoration for the cake. 

Is it ready yet Mom? Hurry Up! I'm not getting any younger!

 

When the Tuna filling layer is firm to the touch, take your mold out of the freezer and you will spread on top of that layer the rest of the cat food cake batter. And pop the mold back into the freezer for a final time, until the last layer of cat food is firm to the touch. 

My mold generally looks frosty and you can easily peel the sides of the mold away from your frozen cat food cake. 

Loosen the edges of the mold. Lay a small plate upside down, or the serving side against the exposed side of the cake still in the mold. Press one hand down on top of the back side of the plate and flip the whole mold over with your other hand. The cake will flip out on to the little presentation plate. You can use this method with most of your human desserts as well. 

Now you have successfully made your first Tunnel of Tuna Cake! 

You can garnish or decorate it with some of the extra Tuna Tunnel Filling. Or in any other way you see fit for you and your feline babies. Sometimes I write on Lucy's cake with pureed pumpkin, see how to do that in an earlier blog. 

Here are a couple of pics to see the Tunnel of Tuna running through the cake. It was probably too bright in the kitchen for there to be enough contrast in the pics. You can see the Tuna ring to the right hand side of the sliced out portion. If you want to cut your cake so that you can see the Tunnel or rings in a mostly whole cake or in slices on a plate, I suggest you hard freeze the cake and then cut it with a warmed, sharp, thin knife. The birthday girl was wanting some cake before I went to work that day, and was less interested in my perfect photos than in a snack and a nap. 

Your cat is probably going to be more interested in the yummy tastes of the cake, than whether or not it won the Meow Bake Off of 2017.

Lot's of love makes everything taste better, and life - oh so much sweeter. 

Happy One Year Birthday Lucy! Love you Always!
Lucy is smartly wary of fire. Good Girl!

You can follow Lucy on Instagram at and YouTube . 

Lucy was bred at the Love Branch Cattery in Toney, Alabama. You can also visit the LoveBranchCattery on Facebook. 

Cat Chat - It was like she had seen a Ghost, and maybe she had...

June 17, So for part of my job, twice nightly I drive a half mile down the road and check a "warehouse," which houses production, sterilization, offices, and warehousing. I enter from the loading dock side, walk through the building in a circular pattern so as not to duplicate my work, checking on people and things. I left my main building at 8:12 pm. As soon as I put my left foot on the ground to get out of my car, a few minutes later, I had a knowing moment.

All my life, I have had these paranormal experiences I can best explain as "Knowings." Sometimes I just know something. Someone has handed me something, or said something to me, or I have seen an individual, or I have just been close enough to a situation without even seeing the situation, but I have this immediate, sudden, unplanned knowledge. There are other examples, and specific examples. 

So as soon as I put my left foot on the ground, I had a Knowing. "I was going to tell my sister that I was not going on the trip, because I responded to a fatality at work the night before." This night being the night before referenced in my Knowing. 

Okay, around June 1st, I decided to take off work on Saturday, June 18. I had a lot to do to get my kitten, Lucy, ready to stay by herself for one night. I didn't want to take her to a kennel. I didn't want a sitter to check on her if I was only going to be gone 24 hours, not much longer than when I work a double shift which she is used to every now and then; if she saw someone else come into our house instead of me, should would worry about me, and/or feel abandoned.

So I just had to install a window air conditioner unit and burglar bars, since the house is single story and pushing in window AC units is a common way for burglars to break in. I wasn't as concerned about the loss of an AC Unit, as I was that Lucy could get hurt if she got out. Or someone might steal or hurt her. So I did the installation and security measures. I also worked, did the weekly mowing, landscaping and household chores. Got the car ready, and presents for family members with birthdays upcoming. Got everything done on all my lists, despite an injury and working with one arm in pain 24/7.

My biggest fears are dying in a traffic accident, driving on bridges and public speaking.

So after that momentous Knowing and wondering slightly, hmmm, I wonder who I am going to find in the building unconscious, who is going to have that fatal moment? I swiped my card, and entered the building, no longer thinking about all that nonsense. I just started through my rounds. I turned out the lights in an office section and came out one of their doors on the other side of the building, where a long, narrow, employee parking lot is separated from a 2 lane road by a small berm, 12 feet wide, with some small pines, about 20 feet tall and other landscaping. I could see 2 marked Police cars and 1 Fire Engine on the road. I wasn't sure what they were responding to. As I could see many other Responders arriving in Police, Fire and Rescue vehicles responding, I knew I should investigate what they were responding to. We are in an industrial area and I thought it prudent to determine if there was going to be anything that would affect our staff or buildings.

Then I saw a white van had crashed. I needed to get close enough to determine that it was not one of our company or contractor work vans. I saw the front end of an older model, white Dodge panel van, crashed into one of the pines with so much force it had pretty much split the front end of the van in two. Paramedics were working on the (presumed) driver lain on our landscaping, giving (him) chest compressions. I thought it looked like he wasn't going to make it. I couldn't see the body of the driver. I could see how the Responders who were working on him were working; they were doing their jobs, but I felt what I was looking at was that they had seen this before, that his injuries were too massive for him to be resuscitated. I could have taken pics to send to the news "as it happens," but that's not right. I informed the bosses what was going on beside our building and we would need to look out for media Friday night.

So I finish up at that building, go back to my other building, struggling with "Is this a sign that I should not go on the road tomorrow?" I was going to have go home, get home around 1 am, take care of my cat. Fall asleep quick, get back up at 5 am, and leave at 6 am. I could leave later, but then I have less time there and also increase the chance of driving in summer thunder storms - ugh. I thought about it a lot, was I using that accident fatality an excuse for me not to go on a trip that I really didn't want to go on? Probably. But what about the Knowing. The accident had not happened before I left to go to the Warehouse. I later found out that the crash had occurred and been called in to 9-1-1 at 8:15 pm. I drive exactly 1/2 a mile from the main building to the warehouse, with two stops signs in between. Plus getting in and out of the car, it is usually between a two and three minutes trip for me. It was occurring on the other side of the building as I pulled up to the loading side. It is likely that the spirit of the individual who crashed, was letting go at the time my foot touched the ground.

At some point during the rest of my work evening, I came to grips with the trip that I was nervous about taking. I said to myself, well, you have been to crime scenes, murder scenes and you didn't feel that you were going to be murdered by the same mechanism of Death of those crimes. That guy's car accident didn't have anything to do with you. You were just lucky that since you were both on the road in the same area at the same time, that he didn't crash into you. It's sad for him and his family, but had he not hit the tree and kept on the trajectory he was on, he would have crashed into the building and more people could have been hurt, again, also you.

So I decided to go on the trip. I stopped and got gas at WaWa on the way home. I got home about 12:40 am. Brought my stuff in. Checked on my kitten. She hadn't eaten as much as I would prefer she would while I was gone, but she was stretching, so she may have slept the whole time. She hadn't pooped yet, but likely she would soon, her routine. She waits for me to get home. Awwww... She's just so excited to see me. hahaha

She was playful, in great spirits. I gave her her sweet, oat grass to munch on for a quick minute. Then I feed her some lightly warmed wet food, with a little added water for hydration. We played some fetch and catch, and then fussball for awhile. I changed into a t-shirt and shorts while we played. I had a cocktail and my herbal, melatonin tablet so I could get to that rest more quickly. She went to her box to stoically pee, first step in her routine of elimination. Then a few minutes later she ran a few laps around the house and then went to more focused poop in the box. I wiped her feet and checked her bottom, since we both enjoy her hopping on my bed and pillows. Since I was leaving town shortly, and even though I had changed the whole box just days ago, instead of scooping, I dumped the whole box and replaced it with another on already set up. When I got up again in a few hours I had planned to put out a second clean box, she likes to be clean and tidy. I took the used one to dump directly to the outside trash and left the box in the backyard to be hosed out.

Usually I am rapt with detail, but around this time, the order of things is a little confusing even for me. I know that I would have waited to take a shower until after she pooped and until after I had taken it outside. I usually do that instead of scoop the poop in my nice clean pj's. So I was kneeling beside my bath tub. This could have been before or after my shower. I have a little tub (bus pan) that I keep in the tub for Lucy to play with some rubber balls or pieces of ice with in shallow water. She has been doing this since I have had her at 12 weeks. If I don't leave water for her to play with, she will go in her room, and pick up her water cooler and throw it on the floor so that she has water to play in. The little tub stays in the big tub, and I take it out each time I take a shower.

Lucy likes to stay in the bathroom and watch the water in the shower while I am in there, smacking the droplets accumulating and running down the curtain in rivulets. Then she hops in the shower when I am through to smack the water on the curtain some more, or to play with her toys or ice. She also smacks me on the behind when I am getting ready to get into the shower. I presume she thinks this is hilarious, or either she wants me to hurry up so she can get in or so I don't waste water. It hilarious, but I digress. 

So I was down by the tub, either getting her toys out, or putting them back. And suddenly Lucy was going berserk, running in and out of the bathroom. Okay, it must have been I was getting ready for the shower. I had just come back inside from taking the other litter box outside. I would have been trying to keep on my time table to go to sleep a little earlier than normal. I had hoped to be asleep by 2 am, to get 3 hours of sleep. So I was down by the tub getting her toys and I was going to drain her little tub out, and she was running around like crazy. Now Lucy is really athletic and energetic. Play is her life. But she was out of control. A Vet and I had talked about how kittens can hurt themselves running too hard and running into solid objects. I was concerned at first that she might hurt herself. She was more than excited like she is when she is playing or when she sees some wild animal outside.

I said "Lucy, Lucy, calm down." By this time she was in the tub, and I was trying to get a reassuring hold on her shoulders with my left hand, closest to her. She was looking in my general direction, but it was like she was focusing around me, in front of me, between us, over my head and behind me, and imagine this - with a look of absolute terror on her face.

When she was little, she had a high fever and I thought she was (calmly) hallucinating, aurally and visually as she seemed to be looking at something I could not see in the air, focusing on that. My thoughts raced with light speed through diagnostics of what in the heck was going on with her. I thought she was hallucinating. I thought "Lucy, what did you get in to?!" Then I rationalized, she went from zero to sixty in seconds. (1) There is nothing that she could have gotten into in my house that would poison her with those effects. (2) Whatever was happening was too sudden to have affected a change that quickly. I didn't think she had a fever again, and this was different than before, she wasn't running around like a Beserker before, but something was very wrong.

I was worried about her running again and hurting herself, if she hadn't already. I was gently as possible trying to keep her in the (empty) tub. She started attacking at me. She wasn't attacking me, but something in my vicinity. She didn't hiss. She didn't growl. She's generally a very quiet cat. It's like she was saying, "aaaaa aaaa...," like me when I cried in front of her recently, but she was very scared of something. She was absolutely terrified. She's not terrified of me. She absolutely loves me, and I her. I know this sounds crazy, but in my mind's eye, replaying her terror, I can't even say, I was seeing my same cat. In my memory, she was a more black and white cat, black with white paws, some white on the face. There's something about that I will tell others later, but not the nay-sayers. No, I'm not crazy, and I was not hallucinating or dreaming. 

I think the time frame of her frantic behavior was a minute, maybe a little longer. Wasn't timing it. If any of you have ever had to deal with a family member, friend, patient, stranger who is having a meltdown, flipping out from drugs or from a terrible tragedy, it was like that. Of if you cast a kitten to be the screaming victim in some scary movie. Seriously, it was the look of terror.

After she quit flipping out, she was breathing hard, and her heart was beating hard. I got her to lay down in the tub with her front legs in front of her, her back leg to to each side, the lion pose. She was pissed off, she would toss a look over her shoulder at me, but her look said she was really mad at me. She was making eye contact with me. She is rarely mad at me. She was being a Queen, not a little kitten anymore. I kept telling her, "It's okay, Lucy. It's okay, Sweetie. I love you Baby. Calm down. Calm your breathing down." She was calming down. I kept my hands near her, but not on her, not yet. I just kept talking to her calmly. I was trying to figure out what the heck had just happened. If I hadn't seen this, I wouldn't believe it. I thought about the symptoms. Trying to figure the time line, the events leading up to the experience. I was talking to her and calming her down. "Calm your breathing down Lucy." She was calming down some. She was letting me rub under her chin, her favorite spot. She let me gently probe her body and head; I was search for any tender spots looking for any bug bite or injury she might have caused to herself, but found nothing. I was still going through things, thinking it through while monitoring her de-escalation, contemplating calling my neighbor to drive us to the Emergency Vet.

Going through the things I didn't think it could be. The symptoms. Having the conversation in my head that I would tell the Vet if we went: She ate & drank, we played, she peed and pooped, and then it was if she saw a ghost.

Oh.

So, now it all made sense. It may or may not have been the same spirit of the driver who died in the crash. I have this relationship with Spirits. They do come to see and help me from time to time. I don't have anybody else in my life to count on all the time, so the Spirits show up to help me, guide me, give me some message, but I have to do the work to interpret and figure out. Sometimes the Spirits are also in the form of living humans, we call them Friends, Angels, maybe they are Angels. We're all Spirits, whether on this side or the other side, in a body or Mr. No Body, my childhood Spirit Friend. But some Spirit did not want me to go on that little trip. I was supposed to get that message with "Knowing." And then I talked myself into disregarding a message from Beyond. So I think that the Spirits knew that I needed another message and they knew that if I thought something was wrong with Lucy, that I could not leave her alone and go out of town. 

From the time I decided to go out of town, I told Lucy I was going to go, and for how long, and that she would be okay. I'm pretty sure she understood that I was going somewhere without her. She's a smart girl and probably realized my suitcase meant I was going somewhere. She was not eating as much as I would like her to eat. She's not starving to death, but she wasn't eating her favorite food from her Snacky Mouse. So I was a little concerned.  

I don't know how long we sat in and beside the tub. If you have dealt with someone who has a meltdown, it was like that; it will leave you both exhausted. So much energy was spent; her being frantic, mine responding and trying to be an external calming force. I know that eventually I could hear Two and a Half Men on TV in the front room. It comes on at 2:00 and 2:30 am. I don't know if it was the first or second of the 1/2 hour episodes, but I think the second. 

I know I decided I could try to go to sleep at 3:35 am. I looked at the clock when I turned out the light to go to sleep. The alarm was set for 5:00 am for me to leave at 6:00 am. 

I remember seeing the talk show Harry on briefly and it comes on at 3:00 am. I think I got her out of the tub and wrapped her in a big towel gently, probably giving her a sponge bath with a wash cloth and cool water. She is quite amenable to that. I would have towel dried her off, and then she would have helped licking and smoothing her fur, because I don't do it as good as she does. I would have taken her to her water fountain to get her to drink a little. I likely gave her a treat or got her to eat some of her food or both. I felt that she was back to normal with her breathing, heart rate and disposition for me to take a quick shower. Then we went to bed. 

Well, right before I went to bed, since it was almost time to get up, I was thinking about this 2nd Paranormal Message received in such a brief span of time. I'd say the message was urgent in that case. I was thinking my Mom would be disappointed, but my Mom would not want me to drive with no sleep and if I was worried about Lucy. My Mom understands it is expensive for me to take off work; I have no benes or PTO, and the City keeps taking more and more money like I have an endless source. I think when I was headed to bed I was consigned not go on my little trip. It shouldn't be such a big deal, but it was. So big, the Spirits had to come a calling, twice!

So, we went to bed. I woke at 5:00 am when the alarm sounded. I shut it off, went back to sleep. I don't believe I reset the alarm for 7:00 am, but I got up then and decided, no, I'm not going to go. I texted my sister not to expect me. I texted my boss and asked him if I could work Sat night since I was not going out of town. 

While I slept, Lucy brought me 4 toys from her toy tent, and even put one of our Foosball golf balls in my slipper. I had put the cash for my trip in my shoe by the door so that I wold not forget it in the am. She was watching. She had eaten all of her Snacky Mouse food and was excited that I got up to play with her at 7:00 am. She was back to normal. I was tired. We played, and went back to sleep before I went to work in the afternoon. I was tired for days. I think that the intense metaphysical presence of the Spirits affected my energy level at some other than the normal physical level. Like I wasn't back to normal. I guess I was still connected to the Paranormal until Tuesday night. I think I connected with the Spirit the moment my foot touched the ground. Like you might get the current, get shocked if you touch a surface a live wire is touching, the energy flows. 

I have seen "Ghosts" a few times. I believe they let you see them. One Spirit communicates with me through lights, because now she can that she's on the other side. I did NOT see the Spirits that night, I just got messages. It was Lucy that the presence was shown and it terrified her. She was probably so mad at me later, because she figured I had brought them in or they attached themselves to me when I was outside throwing out the litter. But they were probably already around me, and when I threw out the litter and replaced the box and was getting ready to take a shower so early, the Spirits knew I really planned to go on the trip, and they made themselves known to scare Lucy on purpose. Mean Ghosts! Scare a little kitty like that! Hmmmph! 

I say them, but I don't know which Spirits or how many were involved, or even why I was to stay. 

Tuesday night is my Monday. I was back at work at the building where that happened on Friday night. At about 8:30 pm, I went out the same office door side of the Warehouse building and there was a glorious sunset. And there was a rainbow. I could only see one side of the rainbow, but the arch ended at the spot where the man had crashed his van and given up his life on Friday night. I was not the only employee who saw that. Another gal was out there, saw it and remarked on it. I think it's a sign that he's all right with things now. I didn't take a picture then. It's painted in my indelible memory. I hope that his family is finding some comfort in his Peace. 

I know some of you won't believe this story. That's okay. The Paranormal doesn't happen to people who are not going to understand it. I just thought it was a crazy story that just happened to me, so it's kind of fresh on my mind right now. And I could explain a little of my Paranormal experience to you. 

Sunset 06.20.2017