This post is sponsored by Cat’s Pride but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Long before I was an actual human mom, I was an Instagram-&-Real-Life-Cat Mom. While my darling rescue cats don’t get nearly as many shout outs in my social media feed as they did prior to the arrival of Small Fry, I would absolutely still run back into the house during a fire to rescue them.
Growing up, we always had pets. We had a dog, two kittens, turtles, hermit crabs, hamsters, and a rabbit while living in our childhood home. My sister, Emily, and I once found a deceased hummingbird and buried it in one of Maddie’s baby-food jars in our backyard. We used scraps of wood to create headstones and had a small funeral for the bird as we each read off our favorite memories of the small bird. (I should also mention we dug the jar up months later, but I want this post to tug at your heartstrings & that’s a little morbid….)
When Jordan & I started dating, we went to visit his Aunt. They have a lot of animals on their property and, as fate would have it, they had a darling grey inbred (his brother was also his father) kitten. Peanut was his name & he was fluffy and playful, with bright green/blue eyes. I fell in love.
I was living with my grandma at the time while finishing my degree and she already had an indoor cat, as well as a couple of strays outside. Since bringing a kitten home with me was out of the question, I decided I’d try to convince Jordan he needed this precious creature. Peanut was perfect, all of his extra toes & all, so convincing him wasn’t hard. He had grown up with cats all of his life & was now living on his own in Northwest Arkansas. He needed Peanut; or so I told him!
Fast forward a couple of years and Stanley (formerly Peanut; now a namesake of Jordans grandfather) & Jordan were VERY happy together! I always said “a cat guy is hard to find” & boy was I right!
Jordan & Stanley have a relationship you’ve probably never experienced between a person & a cat. If you seen them together, you’d understand! While our wedding date inches closer & closer, I knew I would be moving to NWA to live with Jordan & Stanley. Stan liked me fine, but I needed my own kitten to love & be obsessed with me.
Two weekends after we got married & moved in together, we went to the local Humane Society in search of an orange kitten! As luck would have it, a litter of kittens had just been rescued and brought to the HS & one of them was a feisty little orange thing with lots of extra toes; or was meant to be!
Charlie & Stan took some time getting used to one another, but now they are the best brothers in the world. They play together, cuddle, and clean each other. Just like I had dreamed, Charlie became very attached to me & me to him. They are also very patient with Jordan & I; including the time we decided they were shedding too much & needed to have their bodies fully shaved………
… or when we force them to take pictures with us
They are such good pets for Warner & put up with nonstop hair pulling from the baby.
Today, I realized Stanley had snuck into Warner’s room before his nap and slept behind his rocker the entire time Warner was asleep. Charlie is still a mamas boy and has come to terms with my new humans baby so now he shares my lap with Warner & it makes my heart melt.
I know I have tons of other “cat people” friends & when I was asked to share about this opportunity from Cat’s Pride, I knew I couldn’t pass it up! For every green bottle of litter sold, Cat’s Pride will donate one pound of litter to animal welfare organizations within the United States! (Make sure you purchase one of the green bottles for the donation!)
We have never used this brand before, but I will plan to use it as long as the donations are going on (if we like it- if not, I will donate to our local rescue shelter and vet. We take our cats to a cat clinic and they rescued over 85 cats from the Texas hurricanes, so I’m sure they could use it)! It is also significantly cheaper than the litter we currently purchase so it’s worth a shot.
If you’re thinking about getting a pet, cats are actually VERY cool, despite what dog people may tell you. Charlie, my orange cat, loves to fetch. They also play in the backyard & catch pesky mice and bugs. Did you know they even make “city kitty” cat leashes? They are so easy to care for and they can be potty trained to use a toilet! Can your dog do that?!? You can leave them for days at a time if you’re a jetsetter. Let me know if you need more intriguing reasons; I am full of them!
Anyways, if you’re not a cat person, maybe you could buy some litter for your grandma that takes care of a bunch of cats! I bet she would love it, plus you can feel good knowing your purchase is going towards helping animals up for adoption. If you really hate cats, know that these shelters also spay & neuter to keep the feral cat population at bay.
Thanks for reading & I hope you’re as hyped to support this initiative as I am! Stan can’t wait to try out his new litter! Check out this link for more info, locations near you, & to nominate your favorite local shelter!
Cheers,
xoxo Sarah