Oh Hey! I Didn't See You There.

Emily is rarely surprised. While deep in sleep the other day, she was startled to find someone LOOKING at her! Did she react in a panic? Jump up and run away. Yowl and cry? No. She handled it with her typical aplomb, gazing calmly back at the camera wearing a lightly quizzical expression. After the incident, I interviewed Emily about how she managed to quell her basic feline instincts and present such a dignified front. She gave me the exclusive details on her 5 step method.

1. Hearing/feeling something you did not expect.
This is how it always begins. Something you didn't think was going to happen is happening and OH MY GOD IT IS RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!!! This is the event that starts it all. If you do not immediately feel something touching you, then you can roll with it. If something is touching you, you can skip the next four steps and just go to straight freak out mode. Claws and all. If nothing is touching you then...

2. Investigate what is happening.
Great, nothing is touching you. Win one for you. Now whatever is happening that you did not expect is likely going on behind you. Now is the time for you to turn and use your eye-skills to ascertain what, precisely, is going on. If what is going on is a yelling person or something threatening looking, you can skip the next three steps and go to straight freak out mode. Claws and all. If it is not a yelling person or something threatening looking then...

3. Look at it a lot.
Hooray! No one is yelling at you and nothing is threatening you. This day just keeps getting better. (An essential part of this whole process is maintaining a positive attitude -- celebrate the mini-victories along the way and your calm demeanor will only be reinforced.) Since whatever surprised you is not a bad thing, you can now just look at it a lot until you figure out what it is. If you figure out what it is and that thing that it is is something bad -- you know the drill. You can skip the next two steps and just go totally bonkers at it. If it is not a bad thing then...

4. Keep looking at it a lot.
Sometimes not bad things are hard to figure out, especially if you just woke up. Is it a friend coming by for an unexpected visit? Any and all of these things are possible, but it will take a lot of looking to figure that out.  If it is a nefarious hidden bad thing masquerading as a good thing (this does sometimes happen) and it took this much looking to understand that, skip the next step and JUST GO NUTS!!!

5. Go back to what you were doing.
Yes, you have figured out that you are in no danger and that whatever startled you was just a mild interruption to your already scheduled plans. You can return to them content in the knowledge that you have kept your composure while assessing your surroundings. You are a hero! Reward yourself by doing whatever it was you were doing before you stopped doing that thing to look at the surprising event.

Thanks for that advice Emily! Now, to see her put this into action, check out the video below:

The Rescue Roger Story

It was a summer evening like any other. A group of friends walking back from getting ice cream talking about life, the universe and everything. As they get ready to cross the busy street in front of the ice cream parlor, something darts down the sidewalk. Fast, small, furry, it is hard to tell at first if it is a squirrel or an opossum. Then suddenly, realization dawns: it is a kitten. Scared and alone, he runs and runs back and forth closer and closer to the traffic.

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That is how Roger first came into our lives. Lucky for him, one of the people in that group of friends knew what she had to do. She reached out to him. He ran to her and the rest is history. After knocking on doors and asking everyone in the area if they knew where he came from, and receiving blank stares and "I don't knows," she knew she couldn't leave him on the street. Squirmy though he was, she was able to get him back home. He had on a dingy collar. It was hard to tell if it had always been as grey as it was now. The collar gave us hope -- maybe there was someone, somewhere out there who was looking for him. Posters were made, notices put out on social media. All greeted with ringing silence. He was frisky, in all honesty bordering on the annoying, but with the sweetest face and, when not in full-on over excited kitten mode, he was a cuddly baby boy who just wanted to snuggle close. Not wanting to put Emily at risk, he lived happily in the bathroom -- he was so tiny, this was more than enough space -- until he had been fully checked by a vet. After that there was just the challenge of introducing a hyperactive kitten to a 15 year old feline used to the cushy life of an only cat.

For a long time we resisted naming him. Then, when it became clear that no one was coming for him, the conversation about a fitting moniker began in ernest. Lists were made, silly suggestions came and went, and finally, after polling friends and relatives, he became Roger. He is hyperactive, ever growing, and learning new tricks every day. He has come a long way from the small, scared, hungry kitten about to dart into traffic. Roger's story has a happy ending, but, sadly, there are many more cats who do not find a home so easily.

More updates about Roger's and Emily's life will be here as always!

Make sure to visit the My Slow Mo Cat Store. Proceeds benefit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. Store: http://www.zazzle.com/myslowmocat 

Roger cleans his paws, tongue flapping:

Sweet Emily Sleeps

Emily has been hard at work. With the new Slow Mo Cat fundraising project in full swing and a busy schedule of being cute, having her picture taken, and playing with toys, she needs to find lots of time to rest. The addition of new kitty, Roger to her life has also made for more excitement than usual. Emily, champion of feline grace and attitude that she is, has still found plenty of time for her favored activities, chief among them, sleep.

As evidenced in the video below, even the presence of the camera cannot disturb her slumbers.

My Slow Mo Cat Store has new products every day so be sure to check it out and remember, half of all proceeds from now to the end of the year go to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center!

Slow Mo Cat Store: http://www.zazzle.com/myslowmocat

Emily in Repose: