Lake Titicaca, Peru, South America

We toured the lake by boat. The first place we visited was the Islas Los Uros, also known as the Floating Islands. Truly amazing!! These small islands are completely man-made which are woven together with mud and reeds. They look like floating bails of hay. When you walk on them, they feel like walking on a huge sponge!  People are totally self-sufficient and spend their life on them.

The People of Peru




Our gracious host!  We spent the night at this family's home on an island.
This is their kitchen.

















We visited so many areas of Peru. 
The highlight of our journey was the grueling 4 day hike up to Machu Picchu!  We climbed over 2,800 stairs and I felt every one of them!


The cooks on our hike up to Machu Picchu





Our fearless leader who guided our journey on the
ancient Inca Trail to Machu Picchu



Summer Vacation



Peru, South America



I took a break from life this past summer. Actually, it was more like running away! For 28 days I traveled the country of Peru with my uncle and his wife. What an experience!

Too cute....a family of llamas

Cheap Amusement

It doesn't take much money to amuse us!

Get a big box, cut a couple openings, throw the box on the floor and you're done!!!

Now sit back and watch the show.

When we're done, we'll take our nap on top

of our beloved box :)

When I adopt out kittens, people will often ask me what type of toys they should buy. Actually, there are only a few on the market that will hold kittens attention. Beside store bought toys, I always tell them about boxes and paper bags. They'll play with those forever!

Convenient Euthanasia?

This is, or I should say, was, "Baby Huey". He has been euthanized for the convenience of his owners.

He was 10 years old and lived with the same owners his whole life. No life threatening illness, just diabetic. His owners bought a second home in Arizona and they didn't want to take him with them. They said he didn't travel well (What cat does?), and besides, ARE YOU READY FOR THIS, he makes big, stinky stools. Really.

My boss, the vet, calls this, "Convenience Euthanasia"......putting down a cat for the convenience of the owner. This happens more than one wants to believe. We get requests for this quite often and the majority of the times my boss flat out says, "NO".

But in this case, we had no choice. Baby Huey was extremely hostile to everyone except the women who owned him. We knew no shelter would take him. Both the vet and I brainstormed with the owner giving her a solution for everyone of her reasons. Couldn't persuade her.

At our clinic, we also house 30 some cats.....strays, cats hit by cars with no owner, friendly ferals, AND clients who ask for their pet to be euthanized for convenience. But, sadly, this time we couldn't keep him. We are totally full, out of funds, and not enough man power to work with this cat. Please note that this is the ONLY cat she has put down for the convenience of the owner. Basically, they left for Arizona and said they would send for him. We believed them until the phone call to put him down.

Rest in peace, Baby Huey

Blue, The Canadian Lynx

Blue came to our clinic with a broken leg. We patched him up with a pretty, purple cast. We had to put him in the clinic's bathroom as our cages are way too small for him. We only care for cats.

Blue lives in a local sanctuary that has native, North American wildlife. Blue is still a kitten, only 9 months old.

He's very friendly. He plays and purrs just like any ordinary house cat. Of course, that's not their normal behavior........Blue was raised by the owner of the sanctuary.

We were amazed at the size of his paws! Canadian lynx have large paws to help trek through deep snow.

Canadian lynx have short, stubby tails. And, their fur is incredibly soft. Unfortunately, these beautiful, mid-sized cats are trapped for their fur. After caring for Blue, I can't even imagine a fate such as this for him.

Surprising Cat Facts

I came across these interesting cat facts from a reliable source:

• Fact #1: The number one cause of death in cats is NOT BEING ADOPTED
• Fact #2: Cats are the number one species dying in shelters
• Fact #3: There is not enough room in shelters for cats
• Fact #4: Outdoor cats are the primary source of kittens in shelters
• Fact #5: Trap-Neuter-Spay is the most effective way to reduce shelter intake
• Fact #6: Deadly diseases are prevented by vaccinations
• Fact #7: Putting feral cats into a shelter = DEATH
• Fact #8: Prevention of feral cat overpopulation = spay/neuter