Dear Tabs,
Hello from The Garden Isle. I trust you’re doing well and enjoying your time away from me at home with your pet sitter.
I hope you’re having fun, but please remember to keep the noise down when you invite your friends over for catnip cocktails. I really don’t need another nasty letter from the homeowner’s association.
Per your instructions regarding the new kitty modeling agency, I’ve been scouting for up-and-coming talent here on Kauai…
To be frank, the talent pool here is huge! — but not in the literal sense. I know you’d had your heart set on filling spots in our plus-size category, but the kitties here would probably be better suited to our petite kitty modeling division.
In fact, I’ve already interviewed three potentials models on the island — a tortie, a tabby and a tuxedo. All three of them are currently employed as entertainers here at the hotel and share a place next to the barbeque pit.
Employees of the hotel…
I was walking back to my room from the fitness center the other morning when the tabby stopped me to introduce himself.
At that very moment, a guest here at the hotel walked up to us holding a box of Friskies. The tabby’s eyes widened with anticipation. “Mrow,” he said.
The woman, a vet tech visiting from the mainland, said that she’d been feeding the hotel strays during her vacation over the past week, but that she was just about to fly home. She handed me the box of Friskies, looked deeply into my eyes, and said, “It’s up to you now.” A cat lady had passed her the box when she first arrived, and now it was up to me. I told her that I was a certified pet assistant/crazy cat lady, and I pledged to take my duties seriously.
So I’ve been feeding the kitties every morning right after I work out. The tortie girl is my favorite of the three. She’s always the friendliest and flashes her tum to show trust. She even lets me pet her cheeks! (Please don’t be jealous.)
Tortie girl
Tortie girl with Friskies
Tabby and tortie eating breakfast
Tuxedo and tortie girl
I’ve taken to bringing a handful of Friskies wrapped in a napkin around with me as I explore the island. Your in-house personal trainer/massage therapist, El Hub, thinks it’s “a very crazy cat lady thing to do,” and perhaps he’s right.
Oh, well. You can’t fight city hall. 🙂
Here are a few more potential kitty models I’ve interviewed on the island so far…
I’ll update ASAP if I spot any other potential kitty modeling talent.
Until then, take care of yourself. I’ll Skype you later. See you soon. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
In behalf of crazy cat ladies everywhere, thanks for feeding these beauties!
I second that. 🙂
When my class went to Ethiopia we gave the stray hotel cats our leftover scrambled eggs. The staff smiled at us and put down leftover eggs from the kitchen.
Ditto from another crazy cat lady in Florida! ^_^ ~~~
Tabs, if you need Suze cakes while your assistant is away, just give me a call.
I would definitely do the same thing!
This reminds me of when I went to Oahu and after my brother’s beautiful beach wedding we went to a nice restraunt by the ocean where a few stray cats seemed to live! Others might find it wrong but being a crazy cat lady myself I find it charming! Loved their company.
Awwww! I always look for the stray cats when I’m on vacation, too. 🙂
You manage to find cats everywhere 😀
Tabs reminds me so much of my cat orangey… they’re both chunky sweet and love modeling. Yrs ago, orangey wanted to be a plus model but I had to put my foot down because of his poor health.
Oh yay, so many kitties while you’re on holiday. Lucky you! Now I’ve got to make my way there one day… if just to see all the cats 🙂
Awww the cats you met are beautiful Karen!
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Aww, what cute kitties! I think it’s perfectly normal to take cat treats with you as you go sight seeing. You never know when there might be a hungy kitty! 🙂 I would want to cat-nap a couple of those cuties and take them home with me.
Looks like you have some good modeling options! The 3rd from the last pic reminds me of my Sophie. The Sopher Sue is a beauty, but a bit too lazy to enter the high pressure, competitive modeling game. 🙂
so cute 😀
Love that you are feeding the kitties. You must pass the torch onto the next person! 🙂 looks like you are having a great time!
Tabs looks more and more regal every week. Love, love, love those Hawaiian kitties. They are adorable!
Awww, how sweet of you to feed those gorgeous kitties! You’re a wonderful person, Karen. I really enjoy reading your blog, keep up the nice work! And Tabs is a super handsome cat, be sure to tell him that from me. 🙂
Aww, that little tortie looks just like my kitty, only much slimmer. LOL. Torties really are the sweetest, very social!
beautiful kitties! So much talent!
Love the tortie!
Did you know that cats with one cropped ear like that have been spayed or neutered and returned back to “free living?” They are there for natural population control! That’s so cool, I have actually yet to spot one before!
I did not know that! I’m happy there’s a local group looking after their medical needs/human population control. My city has Trap-Neuter-Release programs for feral cats. Didn’t know about the ear notch marker. Sweet.
My Sophie has the notched ear, but I got her from a Pet Rescue/Hospital in NYC. She was spayed there. She’s an old lady now, about 17,retired and living with me (still) in Florida. I also have her littermate, a male, but he has no ear notch. Neither of these cats was ever in the wild or stray. Wonder what their story really is!
Rachel, I spotted that ear, too! I’m very familiar with TNR as friends and I have done this for many years. Four have lived on my property for eight plus years now and are healthy and seem happy. They are still very shy with humans, but they stay right around here on their “territory”. We provide warm, safe and protected shelter for them, food and care, so I guess they see no reason to go elsewhere, which is fine with me. I love seeing those little clipped ears on cats anywhere! That tells me they’re at least spayed/neutered.
@Rachel – I stayed at a resort on Hawaii Island (Hapuna Prince) that was full of cats with notched ears. They also had feeding stations for them – it really made me much more likely to return there!
Oh that is just wonderful! That sounds like a paradise indeed!!
Such pretty torties! My fiancé’s sister had a sweet tortie named Emily. She always wanted love but oh, could her farts clear a room! She was a sweetie nonetheless.
What beautiful kittys!That Tortie looks really young.Thank you for feeding them. I would do the same thing!
It’s cat paradise… or should I say kitty model paradise. Tortie girl is indeed fierce and I love her strut! But all of them seem really talented 😀 (I love that kind of deep and melancholic look in the red kitty’s eyes :D).
Aww! That tuxedo cat looks just like my pet cat! So cute x