February 23 + 24 in Oxnard California. …
Browsing Tag
The Kris Kelly Foundation
20% of our online sales will benefit The Kris Kelly Foundation for the entire month of October.
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Enamel Topaz and Black Pet Paw Heart Necklace by The Magic Zoo |
Cynthia: The Magic Zoo
Marcy (interrupting): Hey! What’s with all the Amazon links? And an Amazon store on our header bar? So you’re money grubbing now?
Cynthia: What? No!!
Marcy: Looks like you’ve hopped on the gravy train.
Cynthia: Marcy! Stop it. That’s not what this is about. Blogging isn’t entirely free and if I can cover those costs as well as raise money for animal rescue through the occasional affiliate link and a permanent Amazon store, then isn’t that just wonderful?
Marcy: How much have you made so far?
Cynthia (proudly): $30.85
Marcy (snickering): Okay, Daddy Warbucks, at that rate you’ll change the world.
Cynthia: In animal rescue, every dollar matters. Seriously. You can buy pet food, contribute towards a vet bill, pay for gas for transportation, and much more. So even our little $30.85 is extremely valuable. Plus, for the Amazon store, I am only showcasing adorable cat things that are Made In The USA.
Marcy: Will we have heavy handed sales tactics? Infomercials? Blinking ads that yell?
Cynthia: No. Of course not. We’ll continue to do what we are doing now. If we think our readers might like something, we’ll let them know. We won’t promote anything we wouldn’t want ourselves. And we’ll do it sporadically. It will still be the same blog. So what do you say?
Marcy: Hmmm… How many cans of Friskies will $30.85 buy?
Cynthia: Seventy-seven.
Marcy: Gasp!
Marcy is speechless and wide-eyed.
Cynthia: Ah ha. So now you think this is a great idea.
Marcy: Gasp! We’re rich!
Cynthia: Seventy-seven cans of Friskies will feed a feral cat colony of four for almost three weeks. A TNR’d (spayed/neutered) cat colony, of course!
*Please note: This post contains an affiliate link and I will make a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.
**A percentage of any money I make from Marcy Very Much will go to 501c3 cat rescue groups such as The Kris Kelly Foundation and Stray Cat Alliance. I will be transparent about this as it develops.
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| Juliet and Cappy |
Marcy: What’s that?
Cynthia: That’s my friend’s little girl, Juliet, looking completely adorable in her Cat In The Hat costume with her best bud, rescue kitty Cappy.
Marcy: It doesn’t sound like Seuss. It sounds like Shakespeare.
Cynthia: Actually, this is a kind of Horatio Alger rags to riches story. Cappy was an older kitten living with his colony on the mean streets of Los Angeles back in 2008.
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| Cappy and his semi-feral siblings |
Cynthia: I worked with The Kris Kelly Foundation to TNR (trap/neuter/release) the colony. We found homes for five of the littlest kittens but the teenage kittens (the ones pictured) were really too feral to find homes for. Except Cappy. Kind of.
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| Cappy and his brother living on the streets in Los Angeles |
Cynthia: He was very scared but curious.
Marcy: Curiosity killed the cat ya know.
Cynthia: In this case, curiosity saved Cappy. He would linger a little longer after he ate to see what I was up to. Eventually, he started brushing up against my legs. And that was when I knew I had to at least try to find him a home.
Marcy: Who wants a semi feral cat? No one.
Cynthia: That’s what I thought. No one. I put out a plea on Facebook anyway, and lo an behold, my friend Heather asked to meet him. She fell in love, took him home, and spent a tremendous amount of time taming him. She also spent a lot of money on vet bills since Cappy had health problems I wasn’t even aware of…
Marcy (admiringly): I bet he was bad. Feral cats are so bad. Just like the Cat In The Hat. He’s such a bad kitty.
Cynthia: Yes. It was quite challenging. Taming a semi-feral cat is not for the faint of heart. But Heather and her husband, David, are extraordinary people. And now look at him!
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| Cappy at home |
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| Cappy performing Neighborhood Watch duties |
Cynthia: Instead of living on the streets, he is living in house with people who love him and take wonderful care of him. Plus, he has a new friend – Juliet – a cat lover and future cat advocate. I mean, did you take a close look at her sneakers?!!
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| Juliet and Cappy |
Marcy: That Cat in the Hat is so bad. He’s transforming little kids into bad kitties. He’s my hero. He’s so bad.
*It is very easy to get depressed and feel hopeless as an animal rescuer. The problem is so immense. Someone compared it once to trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. So when a cat I have rescued has such a happy ending as Cappy and his Juliet, it makes me so incredibly happy.
Cynthia: This is what I wore last Wednesday to celebrate National Feral Cat Day. Cat ears and an Anthropologie Corey Lynn Calter skirt.
Marcy: Wait. You celebrated? I thought you were supposed to cry. I mean, that’s what you usually do.
Cynthia (ignoring her): It occurred to me that I frequently wear Anthropologie clothes when I am out doing cat rescue. So I thought I’d share.
Marcy (alarmed): Oh no! Are you going to post another hundred photos of yourself?
Cynthia: Umm…let’s see…1..2…3…4… Nope. Only four. You know, Marcy, many of our readers are Anthropologie lovers and they may appreciate this.
Marcy: Fine. It’s Anthropologie in action.
Cynthia: Here I am wearing Anthropologie’s Charleston Henley Blouse when I was accepting a grant on behalf of The Kris Kelly Foundation from the Pacific Palisades Women’s Club. This photo is from The Palisades Post.
Cynthia: Here I am wearing an Anthropologie Deletta tee when I was helping out a family in Cerritos.
Those are kitties in the car. I had humanely trapped them the night before and in this picture they had just been spayed/neutered by FixNation. After recuperating for another night, I released them to their original location – the family’s backyard. And that is where they happily live today. The process is called TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) and it is the most effective and humane way to reduce the feral cat population.
Cynthia: Here I am wearing Anthropologie’s Elkanah Jacket. That kitty and 8 others were living behind a motel in Los Angeles. We humanely trapped all nine. Five kittens we adopted to great homes and four adults had to be returned since they were semi-feral. They have an excellent person feeding them and are doing great.
Cynthia: And here I am at the opening of PetSmart in Los Angeles wearing the Abbreviated Blazer and the Loosened Shelby top. The Kris Kelly Foundation shows their adoptable cats and dogs here. PetSmart Charities donates space in their stores, as well as money for spay/neuter programs to 501c3 rescue groups.
Cynthia: The blonde in the white shirt is the beautiful Kris from The Kris Kelly Foundation. I learned how to do TNR through her rescue.
Marcy: Oh I love her!
Cynthia: Me too!
Marcy: You know, Cindy, just because you wear Anthropologie doesn’t mean that you haven’t already fallen into the abyss of Crazy Cat Ladydom. You’ve been bonkers for a while now.
Cynthia: I know, but I love you sooo much!
Cynthia spontaneously scoops up Marcy and gives her some smooches.
Marcy: Oh geez. Here we go again.
