Samhain: Remembering the Cats We’ve Loved When the Veil Is Thin: Remembering the Cats We’ve Loved and Lost at Samhain/ Halloween Halloween has its share of spooky traditions, but there is another, older meaning to this time of year. In the pagan calendar, Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It is a time to honor our ancestors, reflect on the cycle of life and death, and remember those who have crossed over. There is a longstanding belief in pagan and shamanic traditions that the veil between the worlds grows thin around Samhain, making this a particularly meaningful time to remember and even connect with those who are no longer physically with us. And that includes our animals. Anyone who has loved a cat knows they leave their mark in ways that are difficult to explain. They become part of the fabric of our lives, our daily rituals, our homes and our hearts. Their absence may change the shape of our days, but it doesn’t erase what we shared. For me, this time of year brings memories of my original four: Merlin, Domino, Gris Gris and Odin, along with the many other cats who have shared my life. Each was different. Each left something behind. I don’t think of remembering them as dwelling on loss. I think of it as honoring a love that still belongs to me. A candle, a photograph, a favorite memory or simply speaking their names can be a small act of remembrance. You don’t need a formal ritual. Just a moment of quiet gratitude for the life you shared. So this Samhain, as the nights grow longer and the natural world settles into its quieter season, perhaps take a moment for the cats who came before. They may no longer curl up beside us, but they are never entirely absent from the stories we carry. May their memories continue to be a blessing, and may the love we shared live forever in our hearts and souls. Blessed Samhain and Halloween 🐈‍⬛🎃 Layla, Lumi, Otto and our beloved Angel cats You may also enjoy Spooky Season/ Halloween Dangers for Cats Source https://catwisdom101.com/samhain-remembering-cats-weve-love/ #samhain #cats #loved #halloween #may #catssource #season #veil #grisgris #blessedsamhain #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Cat Halloween Costumes: Cats Did Not Ask for This Americans plan to spend $0.92 billion on pet costumes this year. Mind blown 🤯That’s nearly a billion dollars, and I’d bet my last can of tuna that most cats had no say in it. Pumpkins, hot dogs and ghosts are among the popular picks. Dogs get the dinosaurs. Cats get whatever they can’t claw their way out of. I’ve been doing this for sixteen years, so I know how this goes. I’m not against a costume. I’m against a hostage situation. This is Lumi’s first Halloween with us, and I honestly have no idea how she’ll take it. I have a witch hat and cape I’m dying to try, plus a lion’s mane that has not gone well in the past. With those gold eyes, I might risk it anyway. I’ll post a follow-up with photos if she lets me. No promises. Our late great cat Domino had the right idea. If you want to try one, the ones that tend to work are the barely-there kind: a little pumpkin cap, a pair of bat wings on a light harness, a witch hat. Skip the full-body suits. And black cats? They’ve got it made. As the founder of black cat awareness month, these cats are close to my heart, and honestly they don’t need help. A black cat is already the whole costume. If you must, little devil ears or bat wings. That’s it. They look perfect as they as voids. A few quick safety things, since I’d be a bad cat rescue founder if I skipped them. Make sure your cat feels okay and can get out of the costume fast if they want to. Keep fabric away from candles and any jack-o’-lantern with a real flame. And never leave a costumed cat running around without a human nearby. Here’s the one thing to take home: keep it minimal, keep it short, and let your cat decide. If they freeze, flatten their ears, or lash their tail, take it off and give them a treat. You get your photo in five seconds and they forgive you by dinner. For my longer take on costume safety, see Odin, One-Eyed Cat’s Halloween Costume Guide Now, if you’ll excuse, I have a witch hat to try on a willing cat. Maybe not. Some tips from Lumi. Something around the neck. A bandana, a little bow tie, or a ruffled collar. Cats tolerate this best because it sits where a collar already would. A deep purple or green looks great against gold or green eyes. The witch hat. Pick one with a soft elastic strap that’s snug but not tight, and skip any stiff brim. The cape can wait until okay with the hat. The princess crown. Cats usually hate these because they sit right on top of the ears. A tiny crown on a soft headband is easier than a rigid one. Leave it for last, and don’t be surprised if it’s a no. How to try each one: put it near her first and let her sniff it. Then place it on for just a few seconds while she’s relaxed, ideally right after a meal or play. Snap the photo, remove it, and give her a treat. If her ears go flat, her tail starts lashing, or she freezes, take it off right away and try a different piece another day. Best advice? Try AI Or the old-fashioned Photoshop. Are you planning to dress up your cat for Halloween? If so, what’s the plan? Source https://catwisdom101.com/cat-halloween-costumes/ #cat #costume #try #keep #lumi #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Gone Fishing With Cats Gone Fishing With Cats Otto and Lumi We’re having a very relaxing summer with Otto and Lumi going constantly in and out of the cat door onto the garden. All day. It’s Lumi’s first summer here and after spending a year in a shelter she’s making the most of it. I’ve never seen a happier cat or a more spoiled princess. Otto has grown quite fond of her and she of him when she deems him worthy of her attention. I’ve been feeling very lazy lounging in the garden too. The last thing I wanted to do is a blog post instead I just wanted to go fishing. I made a silly ai video of Cats fishing on YouTube shorts video Ever wonder where the expression gone fishing came from? Long before it became a cheerful out-of-office message, it meant exactly what it said: someone had headed off to spend a quiet day by the water. Over time, “gone fishing” came to mean something even more valuable. It became a reminder to step away from work, unplug, slow down, and simply enjoy life for a while. Cats understand this instinctively. Whether they’re watching ripples in a pond, batting at a toy fish, or lounging in a sunny spot, cats know that rest isn’t laziness. It’s wisdom. They follow their curiosity, savor the moment, and disappear when it’s time to recharge. So if you’re planning a little summer escape, even if it’s only an afternoon in your own backyard, consider yourself officially gone fishing. I’ve gathered a few favorite feline fishing moments to celebrate the season. And if you’d like even more whiskered anglers, be sure to check out my earlier post featuring cats who prove that fishing is as much about the adventure as the catch. We will be back at some point in August but until then, enjoy a peaceful summer filled with quiet moments, playful discoveries, and plenty of cat naps. Maybe sushi. Please make sure your cats are getting enough water Cat’s Summer Hydration Source https://catwisdom101.com/gone-fishing-with-cats/

Best September Cat Holidays Old & New Happy September & Happy Cat Month. There are always lots of cat related holidays every month, we are sharing the best cat holidays in September. September marks a shift from summer to autumn especially after Labor Day, not that our cats know much about labor😹 Happy Cat Month takes place every September to focus on improving feline health, crushing myths about cats being aloof, and boosting enrichment to ensure companion cats live long, joyful lives. The annual event was originally created and sponsored by the CATalyst Council—a non-profit organization dedicated to animal welfare and veterinary medicine to advocate for the proper care and social needs of felines. Here is how you can celebrate and keep your feline friend thriving this month: Prioritize Wellness: Schedule routine veterinary checkups, dental exams, and preventative healthcare. Elevate Their Environment: Add vertical spaces like cat trees, wall perches, or window hammocks to satisfy their natural climbing instincts. Boost Enrichment: Keep them active with interactive feather wands, food puzzles, and dedicated daily bonding time. 🐾 Let’s celebrate our feline friends! Drop a photo of your happy cat in the comments below and tell us your favorite way to spoil them! #HappyCatMonth #CatCareTips #HealthyCats #FelineEnrichment #CatLovers 🐾 Spotting the Silent Sufferer: Animal Pain Awareness Month Happy September, Cat Wisdom 101 family! As we celebrate our 16th year of diving deep into the feline mind, I wanted to shine a light on a relatively new but vital pet holiday: Animal Pain Awareness Month. We all know our cats are fiercely independent, but did you know they are also evolutionary experts at hiding physical pain? In the wild, showing weakness makes you a target, so our pampered living room tigers still instinctively mask their discomfort until it becomes unbearable. Dental pain is surprisingly common, but pain of any kind from arthritis in older cats to digestive issues is a pet parent’sworst nightmare. Because they won’t cry out or whimper like a dog might, it’s up to us to read between the whiskers. This September, let’s learn how to spot the subtle, silent clues that your cat might be hurting: The “Grumpy” Shift: Sudden aggression, hissing when touched in a specific spot, or withdrawing to hide under the bed when they used to be your shadow. Hesitating at the Launchpad: If your cat suddenly pauses, measures up a jump, or refuses to leap onto their favorite high counter or windowsill, their joints might be aching. Grooming Extremes: A scruffy, unkempt coat or mats on their lower back usually means it hurts too much to bend and groom. Conversely, bald spots from obsessively licking one specific joint can signal localized pain. The “Pain Face”: Keep an eye out for a squinty, vacant stare, ears that are slightly flattened or rotated outward, and hunched posture. Litter Box “Misses”: If a previously perfect cat starts urinating right next to the box, it’s rarely spite—stepping over a high plastic lip or squatting can be incredibly painful for an arthritic kitty. The Wisdom Takeaway: Getting older isn’t a disease, but pain is. If you notice any of these shifts, skip the internet guesswork and schedule a chat with your vet to talk about safe feline pain management options. Prevent Feline Pain: Pet Dental Month Also this month National Pet Insurance Month. National Preparedness Month. Pet Sitter Education Month. New World Animal Remembrance Month is an all-inclusive global movement to honor the profound impact animals have on our lives. Sponsored and championed by major welfare groups like the ASPCA and the Humane Society, this 30-day observance moves beyond personal grief to give a collective voice to companion pets, service animals, and wildlife lost to tragedy or neglect. It’s a beautiful month dedicated to transforming the heavy heartache of loss into powerful, community-driven advocacy for the living. Sept. 1: Ginger Cat Appreciation Day. We kick off the month with probably the most popular colored cat, orange, red, ginger or flame point, these beauties are loved for their easy-going personalities. their beautiful orange coats and famously affectionate personalities. I’ve always had a soft spot for them, having once shared my life with a rare female ginger cat, Billie Beans and, more recently, briefly with the wonderful elderly Radish, whom I still miss terribly even after 11 years. Famous ginger cats include Garfield, Morris from the 9 Lives adverts, Jonesy from Alien, Puss in Boots, and Orangey, the talented cat who played “Cat” in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and appeared in several other productions. In Britain, “ginger” has long been used to describe reddish-orange hair and coloring; cat registries may call it red, orange, or flame. Flame-point cats are a specific color-point variety, such as a Siamese or Siamese mix, with reddish-orange markings on the face, ears, legs, and tail. September 5 🤍 The Snowy Beauties: National White Cat Day While we love all felines, September 5th gives us a reason to celebrate the rarest coat color in the feline world: National White Cat Day! Pure white cats make up only about 5% of the global cat population, and while they are often associated with good luck and high adoption rates, they come with a few fascinating genetic quirks that every cat parent should know. The Deafness Link: It’s not a myth! The dominant white gene (W) can affect the development of the inner ear. In fact, white cats with blue eyes have a very high genetic likelihood of being born deaf. If they are “odd-eyed” (one blue eye, one green/gold), the deafness is often only on the side with the blue eye! Sunscreen is a Must: Because they lack pigment in their skin, white cats are incredibly susceptible to sunburn. They love windowsills, but UV rays put them at a high risk for squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer), especially on their delicate ear tips and noses. White vs. Albino: They look similar, but true white cats simply have a gene that masks their natural color. Albino cats have a distinct genetic mutation causing a total lack of pigment, giving them pale, translucent pinkish-blue eyes instead of vibrant blue, green, or gold. September 9 🎩 Double the Dapper: Tuxie Appreciation Day If you thought we only celebrated our sharply dressed felines in November, think again! It turns out tuxedo cats are so fabulous they get three holidays a year, and September 9th marks Tuxie Appreciation Day. While it’s a newer, more informal internet holiday compared to the official day in November, I’ll take any excuse to show off my own two resident tuxedo managers, Lumi and Otto. Otto celebrated 16th birthday summer belated birthday card. He looks and acts like 16 months not years! Bicolor kitties often get overlooked in shelters, so today is all about celebrating the unique, dog-like loyalty, cleverness and big personalities wrapped up in those fancy formal coats. Sept. 13: National Pet Memorial Day. Second Sunday in September. Like many cat parents I’ve experienced a number of CAT deaths and there’s always some that are easier and some that are harder to mourn. But I firmly believe that whatever is remembered lives. This year, I’m feeling especially nostalgic for Cats that I lost a long time ago versus Odin who left us last year. I have some thoughts about all this and might write more this month. Sept. 13-19: Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week. I always have and have never regretted it,so if you can, do. Sept. 19: National Meow Like a Pirate Day. A perennial favorite from the early days of CAT blogging. September 19 National Cat DNA Day 🧬 Science or Marketing? Now, let’s be real for a second—this is a relatively new holiday created back in 2020 by the at-home testing company Basepaws, largely as a clever way to spotlight their own DNA kits. But brand promotion aside, the date itself has a brilliant bit of feline trivia baked right in: 9/19 was chosen to represent a cat’s 9 lives and their 19 pairs of chromosomes! Even if you aren’t looking to swab your cat’s cheeks for a breed report, it’s a fun, nerdy excuse to marvel at the complex genetic blueprints that make our cats so wonderfully unique. We have supported this cause for a long time. September 24: ®Remember Me Thursday This is an international social media awareness day that brings attention to the millions of adoptable pets waiting in shelters and remembers those pets who never got a second chance. Share your rescue pet using #RememberMeThursday. September 29 🐾 Double the Luck: Beckoning Cat Day If you’ve been hanging around Cat Wisdom 101 for a while, you know we always celebrate Japan’s official Cat Day in February. Neko no Hi. The date is based on the sound of nyan, nyan, nyan “meow, meow, meow”and is a general celebration of cats. But did you know our favorite feline good-luck charms get their very own spotlight in September? Far from a corporate marketing gimmick, this day was actually established back in 1995 by The Association for Maneki Neko Japan. They chose the date 9/29 because it forms a clever linguistic pun—the numbers sound like “Kuru Fuku,” which means “Come, good fortune!” in Japanese. It’s the perfect, feel-good way to end our September calendar. Keep an eye out for those waving paws at your favorite local shops today, and may they bring plenty of luck, health, and love to your home! Peace, Love & Purrrrrrrrs, Layla, Lumi and Otto Source https://catwisdom101.com/best-cat-holidays-in-september/

Louis Wain’s Politically Incorrect Cats of Many Lands Louis Wain’s Cats of Many Lands is a purrfectly adorable illustrated book if not politically correct. Long before cats became internet celebrities, Louis Wain turned them into actors, athletes, tourists, partygoers and global representatives. Source https://catwisdom101.com/cats-of-many-lands/

Throwback Caturday: A Siamese Wedding Way back in the early days of Cat Wisdom 101, all us cat bloggers knew each other. Every Saturday, which I called Cat Saturday before the rest of the internet made it Caturday, we’d blog hop from house to house like neighbors dropping by with a casserole. We didn’t care about numbers or algorithms. We cared about who was up to what, and whose cat had done something outlandish. Some posts were serious. Some were pure first-person silliness, written from the cat’s point of view with spelling that would make an English teacher weep. Nobody minded. That was the charm. I was reminiscing recently about my Siamese soulmate, Merlin with Barb, a blogger friend, and her Siamese, Nellie. Somewhere in the blog-hopping, Merlin and Nellie became a couple. Then came a proposal, and a wedding announcement, right there on Barb’s blog. She no longer blogs there but the memories remain. What’s remarkable is how fresh and funny that old post still is. I’m sharing it here in full, exactly as Nellie wrote it in 2016, because good cat love deserves a second reading. Ten years later, it still makes me smile. Sunday, 15 May 2016 Introducing The Wildes Dear Furrends, As yous knows, Mes proposed to Merlin Wilde on February 29th this year. Wes both furry old cats and wes furry happy to has discovered our true loves (besides Layla and Barb) before wes passed. It is with much gladness in my heart that wes did it!!! Merlin and mes had a furry quiet pawfasting under the trees in his yard. Only his siblings, my Maid of Honor (Katie Isabella) and our peoples were there. It was all that mes had dreamed of (and more!) After many kisses, purrs and head butts to all, we went to spend some Merlin and Nellie time on a hot warm beach, where wes could both lay in the hot sand in the sun and bake our bones. The Meowgrittas was wonderful as was the fish dinners. That evening was the first time wes had shared a bed. Wes layed there all warm and cosy and watched the stars twinkling in the sky and talked about forever afters, dosing in and out. The next morning, Merlin surprised mes with a FABULISHIOUS 18th birthday cake! Mes has never had such a tasty crab cake with creamed cheese icing! Merlin is so thoughtful! Dear Furrends, Thanks yous for loving us so furry much. Wes knows yous wishes we had a big wedding with all the pomp and circumstance, but truth be told, wes wanted our special day to be exactly this way…under the trees with family. This wonderful celebration of our life will carry with us into the here after. Oh Yes!!! Merlin will be doing free 3 card readings on his blog today to celebrate! Kisses Penelope Wilde PS. To celebrates, Mes and Mommy is making this special post for Mes and Merlin’s special day ,a Comment-a-thon for RAPS.* We will tally up ay midnight tonight. ### If you want to be reminded what blogging felt like before the numbers game, leave a comment this Caturday. Someone will be thrilled. Maybe even the Angel cats. Merlin had a regular column of feline wit & wisdom for 5 years called Mondays With Merlin. He often would share insights about tarot Mondays With Merlin and a Twist of Enchanted Tarot and deep thoughts like Lessons on being seen by a Blind Cat Before we launched Cat Wisdom 101 in 2011, Merlin and his sister Coco blogged at Cat Saturday for 5 years. Those blog posts were the genesis of Cat Wisdom 101. Sadly they are no longer online but I found some on the Wayback Machine and are so purrfect, I may share some here. Stay tuned. And just after I posted this I realized oh my goodness I forgot about one of our favorite old holidays, which is today, September 18 or Meow like a pirate day. I have so many silly ones from the archive I’ll share one Meow like a pirate day post here. Source https://catwisdom101.com/siamese-cat-wedding/

Happy Now? What Happy Cat Month Actually Means to Cats The expression, “happy now?” Nobody who says it is actually asking. It’s what you say when someone got exactly what they wanted and you’re pretty sure they’re still going to find something to complain about. Otto, at the age of 14, two years ago and is one of the happiest cats I’ve ever known. Which is, weirdly, the perfect way to think about Happy Cat Month Because if you asked most cats what happiness requires, they would not say “toys.” They would not say “a heated bed shaped like a croissant.” They’d say something closer to: leave the door open and stop fussing and asking endless questions. Here’s what I mean. Every September, the internet fills up with checklists for feline happiness. Good food. A cozy place to sleep. Playtime that isn’t so relentless it turns into a home invasion. Enrichment, whatever that means this week. All true. All baseline. None of it is actually the thing. The thing is choice. My cats have a cat door and GPS collars. Not because I’ve handed them the keys to the neighborhood, they go maybe a couple hundred feet, tops, and it’s safe here. But they use that door constantly. Literally a hundred times a day, in and out, in and out, for no reason I can identify beyond the fact that they can. They’ve got beds in every room, scratching posts, sunny windowsills, the works, and they still choose the cat door. Repeatedly. Almost defiantly. And in all weather, all seasons. (I do have a caveat.) If you do have a cat door, make sure the locks work. Lumi figured out how to open them so at night we would always barricade the cat door. She is so clever she has managed to open the door no matter what we tried. I’ve never seen such a Houdini. The most recent heavy barricade worked until this week when we had a video evidence on camera that she had escaped at 4:30 in the morning and stayed out for two hours. After that, we placed a very heavy kettle bell in front of the door that there was no way she could move it and so far so good. That’s not restlessness. That’s agency, and it turns out the research backs this up better than I expected when I went looking. A 2026 study out of Denmark on companion cat welfare found that unrestricted outdoor access actually reduces welfare problems specifically in multi-cat households, which happens to be most of us. A separate 2026 paper in Applied Animal Behaviour Science found the same thing, outdoor access improved welfare most noticeably when there was more than one cat under the roof. If you’ve got a two-or-more-cat situation and you’ve ever wondered whether the constant door traffic was doing anything, apparently it is. I’ll give the other side its due, because I know it’s coming. An Adelaide study this past August found that most owners who transitioned a cat from outdoor to indoor-only living said it went more smoothly than they expected, and that the benefits outweighed the adjustment period. Fair. I believe it, especially in a dense city where “outside” means six lanes of traffic and no green space at all. That’s a real and different calculation than mine. But the research isn’t really an argument about indoor versus outdoor. It’s an argument about control versus containment. A GPS collar and a cat door aren’t freedom without limits, they’re freedom with a floor under it. My cats aren’t roaming, they’re choosing, safely, on a loop they’ve mapped better than I have. So this Happy Cat Month, skip the checklist for a minute. Don’t ask whether your cat has enough toys. Ask whether your cat has any say in their own day. A door they can open. A window they picked, not one you assigned. Something that’s theirs to decide, even if what they decide is to walk outside, sniff the air for four seconds, and walk right back in. Full moon’s tomorrow too, for what it’s worth. If your cat’s extra chatty and weird at 2am, that’s a whole separate post. Happy now? Good. That’s the point. Source https://catwisdom101.com/happy-cat-month/

Black Cat Awareness Month: 10 Years Later Yup, still black after all these years. And a few new shareable graphics. I started Black Cat Awareness Month at my kitchen table around the same time, I launched that Wisdom 101 in 2011. Officially though the event launched in 2016, but who’s counting? I wanted to give overlooked black cats a month of their own, and I had no idea what I was starting. Now every October my feeds fill with house panthers. There are black cat groups, pages, and hashtags I’ve never heard of, and I love it. A holiday that outgrows its founder is a holiday that works. The picture is slowly improving. Black cats are still the color most likely to end up in shelters, and they often wait longer to be adopted, but that bias is easing. Every photo, share, and adoption chips away at a superstition that’s centuries old. So help me celebrate this year. Share your black cat’s photo and name in the comments, or tag me on Instagram, and I’ll feature a few through October. If you want the full story of how it began, [start here].All about Black Cat Awareness Month Happy Black Cat Awareness Month, dear lovers of house panthers. Layla and Otto who thinks he’s a black cat with white socks and bikini. Lumi who thinks she is a black cat with a splash of abstract white paint. And most of all, love from my dearest #otrb Black Cat Clyde. P.S. If you see the event shared without a name attached or credit, now you know where it started. Pass it on. And while we’re at it if you haven’t already seen our now classic book that changed black cat awareness, hint hint 😹 Black Cats Tell All: True Tales and Inspiring Images Source https://catwisdom101.com/black-cat-awareness-month-10-years-later/