my protector

i think in every life, there's an animal companion who is sent from god to protect each other, and as soon as they meet, they fall in love and know they're meant to be together.  For me, that animal is Betty.  The Anglin family adopted her from a raver girl who found her under her grandma's porch with a little of kit kits and took her in and tripped on acid with her under the sheets.  Unfortunately her rave carreer got in the way of her cat ownership, but luckily she found a wonderful home for little "Christobel".  I was 17 when we got her, and we just immediately bonded and had a great connection.  I was into Bettie Paige then and re-named her Betty, and the love-affair began.

10 years later, we're as in love than ever.  I had a really hard time moving out of my parents house, because I meant I'd have to leave her.  I felt it was for the best that Betty live where she was happy, well treated, got a lot of love and attention, and she was used to.  She can also play outside at my folks place unlike if she lived with me in my second floor Parkdale neighbourhood.  I miss her every day though.

It's always been hard for me to capture Betty's beauty.  Nothing can convey how gorgeous she is.

Even if I'm gone for many months, when I reunite with Betty, she'll lay down before me and look up directly into my eyes!!! She's definitely one of the smartest cats I've ever met. The intelligence shines through her face.

Betty waits patiently to be let outside.  Great markings!

the face of a model. Nice whiskers!  She loves to hide beneath the porch steps and spy across the street at Fella!

Even though Betty is the ripe old age of 13, she's really really healthy.  This photo demonstrates that she's a lil chubby, but compared to Brenda, she's positively svelte. 

She's extremely loving to humans.

But extremely hateful and violent to other cats. Poor Brenda is declawed (by her former owners - not us!), and she's always getting her ass whooped by Bett Bett.

She loves me.

She crosses her back feet!  Could anything be cuter??

Did you know that the higher a cats tail is, the happier they are?  If it's wagging, they are irritated. If the tail is down, they are scared.  If they wash their face, they are embarrassed. They will often get embarrassed if they don't successfully complete a leap.  It's so cute.  Look how high Betty's tail is here!  She is a happy cat.  She looks like a tea pot and her tail is the handle. 

She loves to show off her beauty.

Cats of Parkdale, Mary Street Edition - Part One.

Although I reside in Parkdale now and fo lyfe, I was raised in a lil hamlet called Waterloo on a lil tree-lined street called Mary.  There I lived with many cats since the age of four: over the years Puss, Cookie, Shirley, Mini, Betty and Brenda filled 203 Mary Street with love and cat hair.

There have also been great neighbouring cats.  One of the more recent additions to Mary Street is Fella, and he lives with my favorite family not just on Mary Street but in the world, who live across the street at 202 Mary. 

I think Fella is the handsomest cat I've ever seen. He gets along great with our cat Brenda and is an arch-nemesis of my cat Betty.

Just look at that face and try to resist.

He loves to sit at the dining room table.  Great vintage chairs thrift shopped by Jacqui Smyth, my soul sister.

He is of the tribe of tiger.

He is extremely loving.

He likes to lick my hand with his rough tongue.

See what I'm sayin?

He's also a great hunter and kicked the ass of a catnip toy my Mom made for him.

Look at his great smile!!!!

After this nice visit, Jacqui sent me home with these beautiful vintage salt and pepper shakers.  Thanks J!!

Friday the 13th Kitchener Waterloo Edition.

With my hectic lifestyle as princess and CEO of Parkdale, and Kalim's packed schedule of doing God's work saving lives at St Joe's, it's been hard to find the time to stroll around tha neighbourhood checking out cats.  This leaves me with no other option than to give catsofparkdale readers an exclusive, behind the scenes, insider sneak peek at the home life of catsofparkdale photographer Kalim Baker.

Kalim and I both originate from Waterloo county, and boy does that county value pet care above all else!  Kalim headed back to K-W last weekend to visit his folks, who have adopted a million pets since Kam flew the coop.  Recently, they added Oliver, a kitten no bigger than a can of coke that they found in a parking lot in Hamilton and couldn't resist.  The other pets, Thomas, Ricco and Ezzer just love him!  Big dog Ricco has been carrying him around in his fearsome jaws as tenderly as an immaculately concieved mother!

Here's Oliver!

Thomas and Oliver share from the same bowl (of milk?).  Too bad most cats are lactose intolerant and even though they love milk it's not very good for them.  Vicious cat myths exposed!! I feel like a jerk.

Tommy's drunk as f@&! and Oliver's cute. 

Ricco and Oliver posing for the "All Mammals Get Along" charity calendar 2010.

They love each other.  Out of control cuteness.