Shelter Cat Adopts Human

Hi Animal fans!

When I was a child, our family had a dog....a cute, fun, frisky Boston Terrier, and cats just weren't in our vocabulary unless there was some reference to "hissing" and "scratching" and a neighbor whose house smelled kinda funky.

But, as time went on, I had a roommate from college that had a cat who "hissed and scratched", but had an immense personality that was very entertaining. Being an artist, I did paintings and drawings of him.
By the time I got my own apt., I had been adopted by a black and white stray who skittered into my motel room while some friends and I visited Disney World. No one claimed her so I took her back home on the plane in a little cardboard box. In fact, she got a reservation before I did.
Many years of fun, laughter, chasing, retrieving, and ankle bites followed. After she passed on to that big kitty couch in the sky, I painted a large canvas of her getting ready to tear up my avocado plant. She was a real character.

So, some more time went by and I went to an animal shelter in Boston to pick out a new friend. Being a graphic designer, I used to design their magazine, so I knew it was a good place. I came home with a very large (and heavy) orange tabby cat. He was an older boy who had been left by a previous owner and who knows how much time he would have left at the shelter? He knew a sucker when he saw one....... I was hooked. He was a big, mellow man as orange tabbies are, apparently. He had some tears and notches in his ears, so I named him "Nacho" (spelled like the food, since we were both good eaters.) Ha!
We had a rocky start as I had to wrestle him to the floor to administer various pills. He was healthy, but needed a pill of some sort which I don't recall at the moment. Anyway, it was a struggle at first..... we ignored each other as I took him back to the vet to procure a different medication that didn't require hard pills, wrestling moves and frothing of the mouth (for both of us.) A liquid medication seemed to do the trick, but he still was not convinced that I was his new person. One day he bonked his head on the glass coffee table and I picked him up to soothe him and we quickly grew to love each other. He was like mashed potatoes and gravy for my heart. We knew we were a match when we discovered our mutual love of green olives. I still miss him. Adopting from a shelter is the way to go if you like pets that need you desperately and are packed with personality. So, instead of doing a painting to commemorate his time on earth, I did a little collage illustration of him as a "beach cat" flopped on a towel in the sand....... it brought big smiles. So, I decided to do another one, and another until I had 16 different poses of him in various sports & activities. I reproduced them as framed prints and magnets.
However, with the amazing technology of Print On Demand sites, I have a series of my cat on my online store at CafePress. There's no way I could have obtained all the merchandise that this company has to offer such as T-shirts, sweat shirts, mugs, clocks, baby
bibs, mouse pads, tiles, boxes, etc. It's a dream come true for an artist like me to offer so many outlets for my creations. I also have some wild animal collage designs as well in my shop. There's even a "Tool Belt Cat" for the handy guy or gal in your family.

So, after you adopt your new friend, draw them on any paper available- they are an unlimited source of inspiration and relaxation.
Thanks for taking the time to "paws" & read this. MEOW!! Visit my store when you have a chance and thank you!! www.cafepress.com/SharonAlama

Here's something I just stumbled upon.... the state cat of Massachusetts is the tabby.... and some other states have a cat too.... who knew?? Anyway, the following link is just fun to check out all the state symbols.... in case you're ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" .....fascinating, I know ;)

Here's the link-
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Massachusetts/cat_tabby.html

And here is the portrait I did of my "Nacho" - the handsome man who inspired my whimsical cat art. It's done with acrylic paint on canvas... I also do pet portraits, so that might be another topic for a lens down the road. Meow, -S