Back this week with more adoption followup stories! Which is your favorite? Let us know below in the comments.
Brienne
We changed Brienne’s name to “Iskierka” which in Polish means “little spark” and boy, is she a spitfire!
During the day she zooms around the house playing tag and wrestling with her stuffed puppy; in the evening she wedges herself in the crack between her humans and the couch. She sleeps in bed with us every night. 🥰
We are also harness training her to go on little outdoor adventures! She hasn’t completely won over our older cat, Bruce, but persistence is one of her strongest qualities and sometimes he will wrestle or bathe her and let her cuddle.
You can follow their antics on our Instagram page @Catahans!
Brienne’s Family
Thunder & Lightning
They are growing quickly and we love them so much! Lightning especially likes our cat, Fatboy. They are very loved and my other two cats accepted them. Thunder’s favorite place to be is on everyone’s neck😊
We have a “catio.” I love this picture of Thunder on it.
Thunder & Lightning’s Family
Blossom
We are so incredibly in love with her! We’ve expanded her name to Peach Blossom and she is the sweetest, happiest most lovable kitty I’ve ever met and I feel so lucky to have found her!!
Every morning I’m greeted with a purring shoulder massage 😂😂😂 it’s so freakin adorable!!
Thank you again so much for checking in! I appreciate all the love and care you guys have for these sweet babies 😻😻😻”
Blossom’s Family
Sangria
Sangria is doing great! She adjusted very quickly and is still the same love bug we first met. Here are some pictures.
Sangria’s Family
Marley & Miley
They are doing very well! They are no longer Marley and Miley, but are Klaus and Bernadette (Bernie for short).
Here are some pics. They are wonderful kitties and we are so lucky to have found them.
They have made themselves quite comfortable haha and we love having them. Now if they could just learn to clean their own litter box, we’d be set 🙂 💕💕
Even as I write this, I’m mentally running a checklist on all of my friends who have cats and the text messages they send me about their cats.
My mom texts me pictures and updates of her cat Inky like she’s reporting live on location – where she is sleeping now, where she slept last night, what she is sitting on now (seriously, it’s hysterical).
I’m sooo equally guilty of this! Let me break down my own idiosyncrasies for you.
For the purpose of our current discussion, I’ll focus on Miss Letty, our almost 3 year old Tortoiseshell House Queen.
Prior to this, I could delve into decades of obsessive behavior over my Rugby and Guinness back when they were still alive – but that gets super “crazy cat lady” so I’ll save those stories for another day…
Letty weighs all of 8 pounds and is only slightly larger than a regulation size NFL football if it had legs. She’s super vocal – as most tortoiseshell gals are – and has a full range of beeps and squeaks that communicate her current desires, mood, and concerns. Full meows are reserved specifically for “DO NOT LIKE” situations (such as car rides to the vet).
Here’s a day in the life of my relationship with Letty.
She wakes me up in the morning by landing on my chest like she literally dropped out of the sky (spook jumps). I then stare at her and tell her how beautiful she is. She’s generally feisty AF in the morning and has zero receptivity of my praise and so we head downstairs for breakfast.
Will she eat? Maybe… depends on her mood so I end up following her around the house with her food bowl (she has two different food bowls) until she decides where she would like to eat. She eventually will lead me back up stairs where she will announce that she would like running water from the tub faucet, to which I immediately oblige.
Now it’s time for me to get to work, but, of course, as soon as I’m seated in my office she’s in my lap purring. If I’m trying to type on my keyboard she will quickly transition to either walking on said keyboard or seating herself between my face and my computer screen. If I’m on a skype call she will walk in front of the camera – because whoever I’m talking to must surely be made aware of her presence, right?
Eventually Andrew will come upstairs to get dressed for whatever he’s up to, so Miss Letty must then transition to jumping up onto his shoulders like a little spider monkey. Once she decides she’s in the mood for a nap, each of us is released to go about doing the things that are required to keep her kingdom in order.
In the evenings there are more requirements to provide her running faucet water on demand, lap space during dinner, and at lights-out she burrows herself under the covers and punches her tiny little paw pads into whatever portion of my body is most convenient to her and she stays like this ALL NIGHT. It’s my responsibility to wake up and move myself AROUND HER.
I recently purchased her a set of crystals. Yep… I bought my cat crystals (she loves them, for real). How many hours have I spent staring at her and talking to her? I’d seriously be terrified to count them.
So the point I’m trying to get at here is more than just telling you I’ve lost my marbles. Rather, how great is it that we can love another creature so much that we willingly sacrifice our wants/needs to make it happy? That we can have such a connection with a cat (or cats, or cats and dogs, or birds, whatever) that we brag about him/her like a child, confide our secrets to, and seek out first when we’ve had a not-so-great day.
We never anticipated adopting Letty. We had three cats at the time – more than enough as most people would say. But the day she appeared in our lives, she immediately locked eyes with me in such a way that told me she knew something that I didn’t. And such is exactly what we strive to make possible at Cat & Craft simply by holding space and encouraging connections.
Got your own crazy cat lady story to share? Send them on over, your stories are welcome here!
Coming back at ya with some fresh adoption success stories from fosters adopted from the Cat & Craft Cat Lounge.
Hopefully you’ll recognize a face or two from a previous visit!
MR. OLIVER TUNA TANK
He’s doing great and still losing weight! My girls love him, he’s a good boy, and he’s very sweet. Please let everyone know he’s well loved and taken care of.
Oliver’s Family
PRISCILLA
She’s doing fantastic! She pretty much got here and has not blinked twice at the craziness of all the animals in this house. We all love her! Here she is right now. 🙂💞
Priscilla’s Family
DUSTY AND ALEJANDRA
Dusty and Cookie (Alejandra) are doing great!
They are so precious and adorable. Initially, although very friendly, they did not like to be held. Now Cookie never leaves my lap and Dusty reaches up to me to be held.
I have so many pictures, I annoy my family with daily Snapchat’s of their shenanigans.
I swore I would never have those large cat towers in my house, but now I have two, LOL!
Dusty and Alejandra’s Family
BUBBLES
Bubbles is doing amazingly well. 🙂 We love her so much. She’s so affectionate and talkative and makes us laugh. She loves chasing her springs and other toys, and takes turns sleeping on the kids’ beds.
Bubbles’ Family
GAZPACHO
We named him Haru and he loves his big brother Kinji so much, lol! Haru is a big part of our lives, thank you so much for letting us adopt him! 😭♥️ We knew he was perfect for us the moment we saw him. Thanks again!
Gazpacho’s Family
ANYA
All is going well. Cashel absolutely loves Anya (Ocha- Japanese for Tea since we got her at the Cafe :))
She really is the perfect cat for Cashel and us and we’re loving having her. Thanks for checking in!
If you follow us on social media you saw we decided to join the viral meme fun this week called the #dollypartonchallenge (see below).
So in the spirit of fun memes – the best of which are cat-centric obviously – I’ve rounded up a few of our all time favorites below for your enjoyment!!
Back again with even more updates on how Cat & Craft foster cats are doing in their new homes.
We’re so grateful for the the support of our community and the adopters who have given these furriends a forever loving home.
SUNNY
We adopted Sunny at Sunny, at just over 11 pounds, has no trouble holding his own with our 17- and 18-pound Ragdolls. He has so much energy that he literally bounces off the walls sometimes! He loved the spring toy he played with at Cat & Craft so much, we got him a dozen more, and he can play for hours with them! He’ll even play fetch with us, taking turns bringing the spring back to one of us, then the other, and so on.
He loves to eat, will try anything once, and has tried to eat all kinds of human food, including Sriracha, lettuce, shredded wheat cereal, almond milk, fresh basil, root beer, you name it!
He’s a lap cat, and will even sleep on us at night. He makes little chirping sounds all day long, slightly different depending on what he’s doing. We know when he’s curious, hungry, excited, or has to use the litter box just based on how he chirps.
Sunny’s Family
BB
She is amazing and everything I wanted for my cat Max. He loves her and she is the perfect companion.
I love my panthers! She definitely runs the house and made herself right at home! Thank you! Have a happy new year! ❤
BB’s Family
Tom Collins
Bo Diddley, formerly the cat known as Tom Collins is doing great! He’s a great cat with tons of personality and affection 😊
Tom Collins’ Family
Thumbelina
Happy Holidays!! She is a wonderful addition to our family. She settled in quickly and we absolutely love her. She’s the sweetest! Thank you and LYFF for giving us the opportunity to adopt her.
Thumbelina’s Family
Vanna
She is doing great! Feel free to share our stories and photos from Instagram, their IG is @svenandrobbie. Her and Sven are like besties now!
She’s so spoiled! Thank you!
Vanna’s Family
Rey
She is doing great, she is settling in with our resident cat and they are starting to play together and are always close by. Please feel free to share these pics and let everyone know she is doing well. Still a cuddle bug, she loves sleeping with us on the bed.
She also loves being high up on the cat trees.
We are so happy to have her as part of our family!
Rey’s Family
Grasshopper & Guinness
Grasshopper and Guinness are doing very well and fit right in with the family.
I’ll try to get a photo opp with our Saint Bernard. Guinness has decided they’ll be friends whether the dog has interest or not, lol. They’re very sweet cats.
Grasshopper and Guinness’ Family
NOVA
We LOVE our Nova girl. She is full member of the family now 🙂
Nova’s Family
Deedee
Deedee is feelin’ right at home in her new furrever home with family after only a few days!
We’re always excited to share updates about how Cat & Craft foster cats are doing in their new forever homes. Hopefully you’ll recognize a few familiar faces in this group!
And as always, we appreciate your support of Cat & Craft. We wouldn’t be able to share these wonderful stories without you.
SNICKERS
We love Snickers! We named him Riley since our next door neighbor has a dog named Snickers. He is full of energy and is so much fun to have around, and our 14 yr-old cat Stormie has also taken him in as our own!
What we love about him since we met him at Cat & Craft is how affectionate and cuddly he is. Since we had lost our beloved cat Marble (Stormie’s sister) to an illness in September, Riley has really brightened our lives, and friends and family who come over adore him, too!
This is after I had told my husband we were not getting any more cats- when we visited the cat cafe, we just fell in love with Snickers (Riley)! And on the visit to the cat cafe, we were completing the adoption form! Now at 8 months old, Riley is part of our family as if he’s been with us since birth!
We are grateful to Cat & Craft and LYFF for bringing us together!
Riley’s Family
VOLCOM
Volcom is now Buddy and he’s doing amazing! 😍 He’s a VERY affectionate cat with us and loves spending his days being carried around the house like a baby 😂, giving kisses in the middle of the night and sunbathing on his cat tree. His most recent fascination has been the Christmas tree–he thinks it’s the coolest “cat tree” anyone has ever given him 😂 He’s the perfect fit for our little family.
There was basically no adjustment period for him, made himself real comfy, real fast 😂
Here is him and his dog sister hanging out on the bed 😇
He also has a pretty big day tomorrow. He’s meeting his grandma/grandpa for the first time and they have toys in tote 😂
Oh also, his tail was sparse in a few places due to stress (according to the Cat Cafe) but it’s coming back in really nice and full! 😃Thank you so much for checking in on him! Feel free to check in on him whenever! 🙂
Buddy’s family
ZORRO
He is a total dream boat. We renamed him “Bo,” initially short for Bilbo (the Hobbit, as our other cat is named Pippin). I like to call him Bo Diddley sometimes too. Either way, he’s very loved and does a LOT of loving in return.
I’ve yet to get a good picture of the two cats together, as they are still learning to trust each other. It’s only been a month and they’re pretty good. Soon they will act like the siblings that they look like!
Bo’s family
DIESEL, PRADA, & SOLANA
(Insert PradaSolanoDiesel photos 1,2,3)
Diesel, Prada and Solana are doing wonderfully! They are happy and well adjusted to their furever home. I absolutely love and adore them and I’m pretty certain the feelings are mutual💞 here’s just a few photos/videos for you to see how well they are doing. These little monkeys have brought so much happiness, warmth and love to me and my home and I am so grateful for them.
I am grateful for LYFF as well. Without them and Cat & Craft, my days would be a little less fulfilled.
Wishing you all the merriest of holidays and also a new year filled with much love, laughter and happiness!
Diesel, Prada, and Solana’s Family
SUMMER
Summer is doing very good! She’s a really good cat, she’s got cat tower she likes to hangout on. Here are some pics I’ve got so far of Summer.
I’m so happy to have Summer apart of family! Thanks for everything you guys do for these cats, couldn’t ask for a better cat.
Summer’s Family
RICKY
He is doing great. I adopted a 6 month old male named Zeus 2 weeks after adopting Ricky. They play together well and cuddle up with me at night. My son loves having them to play with too!
Ricky’s Family
STANLEY
Stanley is very happy and we love him to death! He is so much fun!
Happy New Year everyone, and what a great new year it is! If you follow along with us on social media you saw Oliver – The Tuna Tank himself – met his new dad and went HOME yesterday to begin enjoying his brand new life.
Here’s a quick recap of his journey from when LYFF Rescue stepped in to help him out, and brought him to us:
Oliver was surrendered to an area shelter severely overweight. This photo of him was taken at the shelter and he was just shy of 30 lbs! That’s too large to fit into a cage, so LYFF Rescue pulled him and brought him to Cat & Craft.
Once he arrived we settled him in and got him started on a strict vet recommended diet and exercise program. When cats are overweight it can be dangerous to their health if they lose weight too quickly, so it was a slow and steady approach throughout his time with us.
And yesterday was finally Oliver’s big day. A kind gentleman felt drawn to him and contacted LYFF Rescue. They sent him to us so that he could meet Oliver in person and it was obvious to all of us that Oliver had met his forever person. While he’s always been a friendly cat with us, this was the first time we saw him knead his bed in happiness while being petted, and he even started licking his new dad’s hand.
When you are around cats a lot you tend to learn the signs that they are truly content, and it was written all over Oliver’s face. So we sent him home with his favorite bed, his favorite pickle kicker toy, and his special food.
We are so excited for him and will be sure to share updates on his new life when we get them. Happy tails Oliver!!
As a collective we not only approach the end of the season of Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and others… we also approach the end of the year and the end of the decade.
We tend to associate negative thoughts and emotions with endings, often because there are many endings in life we do not choose, or cannot control.
Or a time simply comes to a close and we can get lost in nostalgia of the happiness that such a time carried – feeling sadness for what we once had and wishing it would return.
But each ending makes way for a new beginning – it’s the Circle of Life.
Native American and Peruvian cultures use a Medicine Wheel to illustrate this ever continuing cycle of life and the spiritual realms at work beneath the surface.
The four directions are each tied to a season of nature and a time in life. The North represents Winter, our elders, their wisdom and death… which gives way to the East and Spring, with it’s rising sun of a new day and new beginnings.
Death is not viewed as an endpoint only to be mourned, but the fertile ground where new creation can prepare to be born. Green tree leaves of summer turn bright colors in autumn, before they die and fall to decompose into the soil of winter. As tiny organisms return them to energy for all that grows with sunlight, new leaves burst forth from the tree again in the warmth of the spring sunlight.
Such is the circle of life.
In my world, this time is teaching me the lessons of change. I’m experiencing the transitions of death as we said goodbye to our beloved Guinness on Sunday December 22nd (that is the same day spiritual teacher Baba Ram Dass passed by the way, so I’ve had many imaginings of their two bright spirits sharing wisdom and laughter together wherever they may be).
Guinness was a witness to my life for almost my entire adulthood, spanning nearly two decades. The bond created over such a span of time imprinted itself on my heart and my soul, and it will remain with me for the rest of my days.
Grief can be hard and heavy, but as a good friend once told me “sadness is proof that love is real and true”. If you are also dealing with the grief of a lost pet there is a great article by Julie Axlerod here that may help you understand the process and be patient with yourself during this time.
And for those of you who have followed us along our Cat & Craft journey this year, you may remember sweet senior Autumn, whom we fostered at the cafe over the summer.
She too passed this week, peacefully surrounded by the love of LYFF Rescue volunteers and her foster family. I’m certain Guinness and Rugby, and all other lives we’ve collectively loved and lost were there to welcome her back into the limitless freedom, love and light of all that exists beyond what our eyes can currently see.
And as the circle of life continues, perhaps each has been called home to begin a new season of life and love.
Much love to you at the close of this year. And here’s to the new beginnings ahead.
The only thing that makes us happier than sending a foster kitty off to it’s new home, is getting the updates on how well they have acclimated to their new family and home environment.
So we share these with you guys to help you see how the good work you help us do continues long after any particular cat gets adopted… we’re talking lifetimes of love and happiness!
THURSDAY
Well this photo speaks for itself I think!
Thursday’s family
LOTSO
We’ve renamed him Oscar and we are loving him. He is incredibly energetic and mischievous- loves shredding toilet paper and chasing his new cat siblings. His favorite thing by far is chasing the laser pointer. We have to be careful because he will chase it until he’s panting.
He is also very loving and actually reaches up for hugs and snuggles (stands on his back legs and puts his front paws on our chest). He sleeps with us at night and purrs anytime we touch him.
I’ve had cats my entire life but never one that asked for hugs. It’s absolutely precious.
He also seems to like one of my bras – I can’t put it in my laundry basket because he’ll dig it out!
The adjustment seems to be easy for him and I think he’s really happy in his new home.
He’s definitely loved and we’re lucky to have him in our lives. 😊
Oscar’s family
HUMPHREY & ZITI
The kitties adjusted amazingly and have been doing great! They never fail to keep things interesting hahaha, thank you all for giving us the opportunity to adopt such amazing new friends!
Humphrey’s & Ziti’s family
LIAM & EVERLY
I adore these two and am so happy to have them. They are both happy and healthy. I think they have adjusted completely to their new home and to the new human servants. 😂😂. They are still young and love to romp (gallop) through the house and play.
Liam’s such a smart cat. If I had to choose one to be the favorite, it would be him. He’s definitely attached to me. He follows me around like a dog would. Also, Everly plays a little rough at times and Liam growls at her. 😂😂😂
My daughter took this second picture and said he looks like a snow seal. Such a cutie!
I just fell in love with him! He brings me joy everyday. I think I do the same for him. 🤞🤞
It was a wonderful decision to adopt them. Thank you so much for the work you do!
Liam’s & Everyly’s family
STRATUS
He’s doing great! He is fearless and never stops moving haha but we love him.We love him so much, very happy we were fortunate enough to meet him and take him home. Our other cat was so lonely after losing her brother so we are so excited that they get along! 😻
It’s been a while since I shared some happy updates on cats that have been adopted from us in recent months, so get ready to feel all warm and fuzzy when you see our old friends loving life in their forever homes.
Enjoy!
PEANUT & MUFASA
“Peanut and Mufasa are doing so well. They adjusted almost immediately and are just the happiest cats. Mufasa is very loving and talkative. He loves treats and cuddling. Peanut is a bit more independent, loves cheddar flavored cat nip treats, and curls up in a ball on one of our laps every every evening.“
~ Peanut & Mufasa’s family
TWIX
“Twix is living his best cat life!! He settled in quickly and him and our other cat Indigo are best buds. They never leave each other’s sides! We love him so much and we are so lucky to have him be a part of our furrever family. He makes our day every day! He’s growing into such a fun and adventurous cat! Pics to follow 😊
When we adopted him we heard that he was in a foster home and we were so shocked he wasn’t adopted sooner!
We truly think that he wasn’t adopted because we were meant to adopt him! As silly as that sounds, we think it was fate for him to come into our lives and we are just as lucky to have him as he is to have been adopted. We hope to give him the best care possible so he can live out his years happy and healthy and loved! 🥰
~ Twix’s family
ALASKA
“Thank you again for what you are doing for cats and their families. Alaska has brought so much smiles and joy to our home. She is so playful and funny during her active time, and so-so sweet and loving on her cuddle time.
We took Alaska on her 1st trip on our RV for 2 days and she did very well. Here are some pictures from Alaska’s album, it’s already more than 200 there just for the 1st 2 weeks with us. My husband and I absolutely in love with our little girl. Having a little competition who she loves more!”
~ Alaska’s family
PEABERRY
“Peaberry is doing really well. She’s sweet and cuddly. Loves to watch National Geographic. I’m so glad all these kitties are so well taken care of at the Cafe! Peaberry is precious.”
~ Peaberry’s family
CASPER
“He is doing great! He’s a lovely addition to our family and makes us laugh everyday.
He loves to cuddle and shower… yes shower!
He loves water & it’s so funny! He’s a strange little kitty, but we love him.”
~ Casper’s family
LEIA
“Leia’s new name is Junipurr. She is integrating into our clan and doing so well! We are over the moon in love with our new baby girl.
She is very spoiled. She talks a ton and looooooves to eat, Look at that belly!
Here’s a pic, we are now a 3 cat family! Just wait for our Christmas card this year, it’s gonna be amazing 😻😻😻”
~ Junipurr’s family
SLOANE
“Sloane is doing wonderful! We’re becoming pretty inseparable and becoming very great friends and companions. She’s been enjoying playing with the red lasers and wand toys the most. She’s been climbing on top of my big desk where I have a bed set up for her to lay down and watch and listen to birds and crickets outside 😍
I’m still so very happy and lucky I was able to meet her and fall in love with her! I’m very thankful for you guys and what you do ❤ she’s definitely spoiled and I wouldn’t have it any other way “
~ Sloane’s family
THURSDAY
“She’s doing good! It took her a little bit of time to adjust but she’s finally coming out and letting me pet her!”
~ Thursday’s family
SMOKEY
“She is doing great! She is a sweet kitty, a little odd but I love her!”
~ Smokey’s family
JACK & MARS
“We love them so much. My previous feline family members had always found & adopted me. I didn’t realize what a difference it would be adopting cats that had been fostered. They adjusted so easily. I’ll send some pics (we have a lot!)
We realized after our 18.5 yo passed away we didn’t have many pics of him as a kitten (probably due to the need for film), so we’re making up for it this time. So far my experience has been pure joy. I’m so happy we found each other when we did. 😁
