Our Garden Kitty

We got Sophia Kitty when she was about 4 years old; we found her at Seattle Animal Shelter back in 2008. One thing we have always been sure of is in her previous life, she was at least partially an outdoor kitty. She has always seemed pretty content staying inside (she never tries to get outside and make a run for the door), but from the way she attacks her toys to the way she watches the birds outside our window, there is something in her that shows us she was outside at one point in her life.

Kyle and I have made the choice to keep her inside, not only to protect her from vehicles, but also so she doesn't get lost. Before Sophia came to Seattle Animal Shelter years ago, they found her outside alone. So, one of my biggest fears is that for whatever reason she goes outside and doesn't make her way back home.

I have always felt a little guilty keeping her inside, because I can tell by the way she sniffs fresh air in the window and the way she lays in the sun that she certainly would enjoy going outside every once in a while. So, it made me smile when we brought this bouquet of roses and mint from the garden into a vase on our kitchen table, and see Sophie enjoying them so much.

Maybe she can still be an indoor garden kitty, after all. I couldn't bring myself to shoo her off the table, seeing her enjoy the roses so much! Too sweet.

Sophie Kitty

Sophia, our kitty, deserves a little attention. She is a big part of our life here at Our Sound Home, so I thought it would be fun to do a round-up of some silly places she has been found around our home lately.

Unfortunately, most of these photos of her are pretty low in quality because I try and capture them on my iPhone before she dashes away, but they're still fun. Hopefully this is something fun to perk up your Thursday morning!

Playing chess with Kyle

Listening to Kyle play guitar

What's for dinner?

This was an old photo from our last apartment

Sneaking into the cupboard

Checking out Sara's sparky things in the jewelry box

Ooops, I'm not supposed to be up here!

In our window above the kitchen sink.

Saying hello during bath time

Proudly snuggling her large, awesome chicken

Most of the time, our Sophie can be found here, in her house

Thanks for indulging me in this kitty lover post! We'll be back to some house-related posts soon!

Sophie's Snazzy Dishes

Some of you have already met our kitty, Sophia. We like to keep things interesting, so we've snazzied up her kitty food and water dishes a few months ago.  Instead of being limited to the dishes from a pet store, we were inspired by the blog Young House Love and found our own dishes for little Sophia.

 First, I would recommend choosing a plate, or another rectangular dish to put your food and water bowls on. This allows any spills (by us, or Sophie) to get caught on the plate instead of going all over the floor. We got this one at World Market for just a few bucks in the sushi section:

Next, we picked out a smaller bowl for her food and a larger bowl for her water.  We got lucky and found these matching bowls at World Market as well:

Of course we need some additional bowls - just in case one of them is in the dishwasher or we want to change things up a bit. I found this one at an antique store, but you could very easily find something similar at Goodwill for just a couple buckaroos:

So there you  have it!  That's our little Sophia's designer dishes, for a small cost and lots of smiles. OK.... maybe Sophie doesn't care, and I'm the one smiling, but that's ok, too! Have you guys thought of any other creative ways to feed your kitties or pups? Do you have a self feeder to keep things easy, or something more special and fancy for your pet?

Kitsap Kitties

I am a cat person.  I love dogs too, but there is nothing like a snuggly little {or big!} kitty.  Kyle and I adopted our kitty, Sophia Darling, when were living in the Seattle area.  She was about 4 years old when we adopted her from the Seattle Animal Shelter in August of 2008.  We couldn't be happier with our kitty choice!  Sophia {we call her Sophie} is everything we wanted - snuggly, social, fluffy, and just such a loving girl to come home to at night. 

Our first night with Sophia, August 2008

Sophie is a musical kitty!

So, today I want to introduce you to a few local blogs and websites in case you're ready to adopt a kitty {or dog, for that matter}, perhaps as a Christmas gift for your family?  These are also some fun websites to look at because the photos are so fun {but don't say I didn't warn you about the temptation to adopt one of your own!}.  The first blog is really one of my favorites that I read daily - it has cute kitten eye candy for all you kitty lovers out there. It's called Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, and it's a wonderful woman who fosters orphaned kittens {usually litters of kittens, or multiple kittens from different litters} for the Tacoma Humane Society. For more information about the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, check out the facts section here.  She also has her own kitty, Charlene Butterbean, who is a beautiful fluffy gal.

Here are some of my favorite photos from her site, starting with their kitty Charlene {who I like to think of as Mamma Kitty} along with some of the beautiful photos of past foster itty bitty kitties:

  Charlene, with itty bitty kitties

Charlene  Butterbean 

 Charlene Butterbean

Itty Bitty Kitty! 

  

 Itty Bitty Kitties

This Itty Bitty Kitty reminds me of what Sophie may have looked like as a kitten. What a cutie! 

The next site I would like to introduce you to, is called Pitter Pats of Baby Cats.  The mission of this blog is to "match perfect little kittens with equally perfect adopters," and they also foster kitties for the Tacoma Humane Society.  They have a similar story as Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, also with some great photos and videos!

For those of us living in the Kitsap area, and you're looking for a pet, check out the Kitsap Humane Society website. For 2010, so far they have saved 3,616 lives.  Isn't that wonderful?  Check out the list of available pets here.

For those of you that don't live in Western Washington, I would recommend checking your local humane society for what animals are currently available.   I would also recommend Pet Finder, which allows you to search by zip code, animal type, age, size, etc.

In closing, I want to be sure and emphasize that although adopting Sophie has been a joy for us, it is not a decision that should be taken lightly.  They need a lot of your time, love, and quite frankly, they can be expensive depending on the animal or breed you choose.  Please let me know if you have any questions, and I would be happy to provide some information about our experience with Sophie and her adoption process!