10 OF THE BEST WAYS TO PAMPER YOUR CAT

Some cats have paw pads that are puffy gorilla licorice black and others are bubble gum pink. And some paws are massive and built to bring birds out of the sky. There are stripes and chevron patterns gracing legs and feet as well as the odd spot here and there. Their faces are fantastic. There are erasure noses and black noses and a pink nose! There are perky tall ears with ocilli and round domestic ears, and ears tipped with tuffs.There are sweet demarkation lines running from the outer corner of eyes to the sides of their heads and multiple stripes between some ears. Some have black dots on the sides of their noses, not unlike beauty marks that just punctuate their individuality and cuteness.

These felines are living sculptures. They are a non-related tribe of domestic and exotic cats, both of rescue origin and one from a breeder. These kitties love one another like the same blood travels through their veins. Sometimes, I think the same blood runs through my veins. How can I be so lucky to have these dazzling creatures grace my life? There are kitties everywhere I look, since I live in a compact, yet luxurious space.

When I look at my tribe, I see deep sapphire eyes, long slender tails and short ringed tails, spotted and ticked, marbled and tabbied, sleek and beautiful pelts. I see Egyptian lined eyes, almond shaped eyes, jungle ancestors and domestic roots - all intermingled in a melange of exquisite compositions of stealth and grace. These creatures are magnificence in quiet and in action.

Ok, so here were are with our new kitty brother holed up in quarantine which happens to be what the mom fashioned out of our "head" (boat bathroom) and we're all curious and excited about getting to meet him. He's tiny and sweet, I hear her say, and timid.

All the while we're waiting, the mom is busily trying to figure out what our little Savannah's name is going to be. We knew she wanted an African name because Savannah's are part African Serval.

And then, finally after weeks of trying on different names, my mom's friend, and avid sports fan, came up with the perfect name (named after Kelenna Azubuike of the Golden State Warriors).

And so Linda, became Buki's (short for Azubuike's) Godmother, on the spot!

The curious thing about Happyland was that it was a great place to relax, snooze in the sun and socialize with neighbors (who love stopping by and chatting it up). We could watch the seagulls and boats come in and out of the harbor and hear the geese above. There was as much or as little activity as you wanted and it was always great fun. Some of my favorite times were when all of us kitties would fly up through the hatch and race around Happyland till we were so tired, we'd fall asleep in the breeze. And when we were really lucky, Mom would climb up through the hatch and lay in the sun with us all, that was really cool.