Walk Through The Web Wednesday 2/10

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siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
I hope all has been fine in your neck of the woods this past week. Things have been fairly quiet around here, except for the very exciting announcement which I will reveal in a moment. I’ve been working hard on our blog and responding to all your wonderful comments (we love it when you meow at us!)

This blogging thing is exhausting!

When I’ve had enough, I do like to wander into the living room and enjoy the view from the big windows. You never know what kind of critter you might spy down there!

And now for the exciting news….drumroll please….my human nephew, Burke Fahling has recently signed with the Charleston Battery so if any of my readers live near Charleston, SC and like soccer, go cheer him on and tell him Alberto sent you!

Okay, enough shameless family self-promotion and on with the news!

TrapKing’s “From Feral to Fancy” TNR Fundraising Cat Photo Contest

Woo Hoo! Get your best photos out kitties! A CFA Virtual Cat Competition event is going on and is open to every cat, everywhere, and will turn 11 lucky kitties into mini-celebrities!

TrapKing’s From Feral to Fancy TNR Fundraising Cat Photo Contest offers cats all over the world the chance to enter their picture and compete for over 100 prizes.

Proceeds from the event will go to TrapKing’s nonprofit, TrapKing Humane Cat Solutions, which will use the money to educate and teach cat rescuers the basics of TNR.

This event is part of CFA’s Companion Cat World Program, that purrfectly reflects the organization’s mission to enhance all cats’ lives with love, care and celebration. CFA is partnering with Sterling “TrapKing” Davis because of his exemplary work in bringing diversity to the animal world.

To thank all the spayed/neutered rescue/pet cats for their support, Sterling has a special GIFT! FREE CCW Membership and a special edition “TrapKing Klowder” ID card!

Kitty contestants can choose from 11 categories, including the Main Event, Me & My Cat Lady/Cat Daddy, Beautiful Eyes, Gotcha Day, Cats in Costume, Outdoor/Adventure, Purrfectly Impurrfect Cats, and Cats Looking for Fur-ever Homes. The judging lineup includes well-known cat influencers Nathan the Cat Lady, Sunglass Cat, Adventure Cats, “Catification” designer Kate Benjamin, and Pet Behavior Expert Arden Moore, plus many more.

Photo entries accepted now through February 21, 2021 11:59 PST

Voting on your favorite cats is $1 each and can be done now through February 21, 2021 11:59 PST

Winners Will Be Announced February 26 – 28, 2021

New Hampshire Lawmakers Say They’ve Been Told to Keep Their Pets Out of Virtual Meetings

As if a zoom meeting with lawmakers isn’t boring enough, now New Hampshire wants to do them without felines???

Okay furiends, I rarely get purrlitical in this news feature but this got my whiskers in a twist! New Hampshire lawmakers have reportedly been told to keep their pets away from Zoom calls and remote hearings while working from home, according to the Associated Press.

Are you kidding me?? Sure barkies may be a bit more malleable but we felines do what we want. And, what we want is to walk all over your desk.

Whoever these feline haters are that are making the rules need to be voted out! So please, all my feline readers in New Hampshire, get your humans to make some noise and let their elected officials know that these anti-feline policies can get them unelected!

‘Meditating’ Sphynx Cat Comforts Children Affected by Trauma: She Offers a ‘Calming Presence’

A Pittsburgh crisis center has found the purrfect team member to help their clients cope with trauma. Her name is Thea and she’s a 4-year old Sphynx who is a member of the Paws for Empowerment team.  She is the only feline on the team, which is dedicated to bringing animal-assisted therapy to survivors of domestic violence.

Thea is not new to the therapy biz, before COVID, she had been working in counseling sessions with children aged 2-19.

Today, Thea meets virtually with kids who cannot come into the center and helps clients cope with the challenges of COVID through mindfulness strategies like meditation. Sydney Stephenson, Thea’s handler and a CCN youth counselor, told Today that she and Thea typically work with children who have experienced various types of trauma.

Does Your Cat Need a Sweater When It’s Really Cold?

I don’t know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods but we just received an extension on our wind chill advisory for two more days. Meowza, am I glad I’m an indoor kitty!  Does this mean that local felines need to bundle up for the next few days?

Dr. Lorraine A. Corriveau, DVM, a small animal primary care clinician at Purdue University Veterinary Hospital, says “Cats that have fur could get overheated from wearing a sweater—as their fur is a ‘natural coat’ for them.” For hairless cats like Sphynx, this is a different story and sweaters may be required.

Even we house kitties like to find a heating vent, sun puddle or blankets during cold weather. Outdoor kitties need appropriate shelters to prevent frostbite,, sore and irritated feet from the salt ad grit used to melt ice but this is a shelter and not a sweater (and I purrsonally don’t know any humans who would like to try to wrestle a feral cat into a sweater!)

And aside from the fact that a sweater could overheat us, it also interferes with our natural grooming activity and for those of us who are not hairless, making us wear a sweater could stress us out.

Sometimes you humans put us in onesies or sweaters to keep us from licking wounds or surgery sites (and may be more pleasant than the cone of shame).

And in case The Human isn’t clear about my stand on this I would just say, “Don’t even think about it!”

Why Are Cats on TikTok Getting Really Into Mid-2000s Ambient Music?

Someone told Jimmy Lavalle that a song he wrote over 18 years ago has recently become popular with cats and the proof is on TikTok, he was shocked. The song in question was written in Reykjavik, Iceland and now cats have discovered it.

In December someone sent Lavalle a link to a video of a cat vibing to the opening of “Windows”, the first song on the album In A Safe Place. Lavalle thought it was funny but after multiple people sent him links to the video he became interested in the phenomenon of cats and mewsic.

 And now, this musical phenomenon has morphed into the “See if Your Cat Will Come Cuddle With You Challenge”.  The videos vary with some cats running to the source of the sound and others who indicate they couldn’t care less.

My readers know that we felines do have preferences in mewsic and we did videos when we received our first album of Music for Cats from David Teie.

If you find the subject of mewsic and cats interesting, there is more information in the Rolling Stones article.  

Hermione Chats!

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Hello there furiends,
This week we have a female kitty opining and Alberto and I say “hubba hubba” she’s quite the cutie!

Hermione lives with a former Cat Chat purrticipant, Stripey as well as her brofur Harry and her humans Debbie De Louise (author and librarian) and Debbie’s husband Anthony and their daughter Holly. You can often find Hermione making an appearance on Debbie’s Facebook page.

Hermione says she’s a dilute calico. The Tribe had never heard of this so we did some reading and thought you might be interested in the information too, so here’s a link. We also learned that this is a coat pattern, not a breed. Since Alberto, Lily and I all came from our local shelter, we’ve included a link to Golden Paw Society Rescue Inc., the shelter Hermione came from. If you live in this area of New York, head on over there and adopt a kitty (or two).

I hope you enjoy the “feminine” side of cat chat this week and without further ado, I present Miss Hermione.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 2/3

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siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello Furiends,
How are things in your neck of the woods? We’re doing fine here, although I have to say I didn’t appreciate Lily photobombing me the other day.

“Lily, your ruining my shot!”

I finally got Lily away from my photo and got a purrfect shot of my amazing whiskers.

“Majestic if I do say so myself!”

Meanwhile, Oliver was having a bit of an existential crisis which, thankfully, he was able to resolve.

  • Yes Human, I am in the sink
  • But, why am I in the sink?

We’re happy that Oliver has resolved his crisis and hope your week will be crisis free.

Cat loving arborists work to save trapped cats in trees

Good grief, my feline furiends, you’ve got to stop getting yourselves stuck in trees. I wrote about this last week and now, I have two stories this week! But this kitty has to say how thankful I am that there are folks that will do this.

These two arborists navigate their way to the top of a tree canopy to rescue stranded cats whenever they get a call. Brothers-in-law, Shaun Sears and Tom Otto have formed a non-profit called Canopy Cat Rescue in the state of Washington.

They risk their lives to save kitties and do it on a donation only basis. Since they started in 2009, they’ve rescued more than 2,000 felines. Meowza! They were even on a 10-part reality series on Animal Planet in 2015 called Treetop Rescue.

These guys know how to care for kitties. When they reach the frightened feline, they give him a gentle rub on the head before they put them inside the string bag to bring them down the tree.

These humans have had some challenging rescues but nothing stops them, because, as they note on their website, “As cat people ourselves, we know how horrible it feels when a cat is missing and then cries for help are heard up in the trees. “

Paws Up award by FelineOpines.net for humans who do amazing things for cats

Canopy Cat Rescue’s dedication to treed kitties knows no bounds and they will take a rescue call any time, day or night in any kind of weather. You can click here and watch one of their rescue videos.

In 2020 these heroic humans rescued 665 cats! Paws up to you!

Outdoor recreation business also rescues cats

Theses humans are not a non-profit but they offer their tree climbing skills to Georgia felines who’ve found themselves trapped in trees. Are you sensing a pattern in this week’s news articles?

This is another family rescue affair with Naomi Rice and her husband Jody taking time away from their business, Wild Rice Adventures to rescue cats. As experts in rope assisted tree climbing they have helped many needy felines.

Their knowledge of rope-assisted tree climbing and relevant equipment made them the purrfect people to respond to felines in need. It all started four years ago when they helped get a cat out of a 60 foot tree because the fire department would not help. Their desire to help the community has resulted in many more kitty rescues.

Their fee is $50.00. They assess the situation looking to rescue the cat without harming the tree. If the cat’s owner is in good physical shape, they may have the owner do the climb as cats often respond the best to the owner.  They rig the rope and get the owner “geared up” help them get to the top of the tree and then bring them down with their cat.

These good folks have returned many felines to safety. You can learn about their feline clients with videos like this one on their Facebook page.

It looks like, my furiends, that if you’re going to get yourself stuck up in a tree you’d better be in Georgia or Western Washington! But better yet, STAY OUT OF THE TREES KITTIES!

Joe Willie Project supports older, special-need and semi-feral cats

The Joe Willie Project supports senior kitties, those with special needs or ones are semi-feral. (Courtesy of Marin Humane)

Now you don’t have to rescue cats out of trees to be a hero. Mark M. Glickman’s life was changed and inspired by a cat he rescued that was named Joe Willie. The feline had significant medical issues and was older when he was adopted by Glickman over 25 years ago.  Because of the love and furiendship Glickman shared with his feline Joe Willie, he began to think about special needs cat who would benefit from a higher level of care in shelters.  Glickman created the Joe Willie Project to honor his furry furiend and began working with Marin Humane to help special needs kitties. The program supports medical, behavioral and placement help to promote adoption of senior kitties with special needs or those that are semi feral.  

Since it’s inception, the Joe Willie Project has funded more than 160 medical procedures, paid adoption fees of more than 100 senior cats and provided behavior assistance for more than 1000 cats.

The fund has paid for state of the arts kitty condos specially designed to reduce anxiety. Studies have shown that cats that are overly st5ressed tend to contract upper respiratory infections.  The Project has placed almost 700  semi-feral cats (cats not happy as house cats but not independent enough to live on their own as true ferals) in safe, caring environments by working with Marin Humane partner Marin Friends of Ferals. These cats are placed with adopters who provide basic food, shelter and veterinary care for them in barns, warehouses or other semi-protected areas.

This kitty says kudos to these humans who are thinking outside the box and helping felines with special needs.

Faithful Friends and Delaware Humane Association distributes free cat shelters state wide

Faithful Friends Animal Society and the Delaware Humane Association are partnering to distribute free cat shelters throughout Delaware.  

Every year supporters of Faithful Friends build cat shelters to keep colony cats warm throughout the cold season.

The organization set a goal to raise $5,000 for supplies and build a minimum of 200 cat houses. So far, supporters have raised $4,630, and 142 cat houses have been created. A local Eagle Scout Troop 29 participated in the building.  

Many kitties will be safe and warm this winter thanks to these good folks!

Meet the Syrian who saved cats from regime shelling

The House of Cats Ernesto sanctuary cares for cats who were hurt or abandoned due to the war in northern Syria.

Mohammad Youssef, the veterinarian at the sanctuary, said “We are working on sheltering stray animals such as cats and dogs, and we are contacting local councils in the area to help the team carry out awareness campaigns among civilians on the need to care for animals as a humanitarian duty.

The sanctuary was first established in 2014 in eastern Aleppo, but when that area became a war zone, the veterinarian took all the cats that were at his house in Aleppo’s western countryside and fled to Idlib where he worked with other volunteers to establish the House of Cats Ernesto.

The sanctuary is officially recognized and licensed and was built in Idlib in early 2019. The organization is funded by donations from animal lovers around the world.  The group is looking to open new sanctuaries so that all the animals in northern Syria are protected and cared for.

How wonderful it is that these humans in these war torn areas are willing to care for kitties and other animals affected by war.

Ginchen Chats!

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Yes, it’s our favorite time of the week where our feline furiends opine about whatever they want. This week we’re introducing you to a wise old gentleman named Ginchan. He is a handsome man cat who will be turning 19 soon and he has a lot to say about super senior felines.

Ginchan lives with his human Mollie Hunt (a lady who writes fantastic Cat Lady mysteries as well as feline focused Sci-Fi! Ginchan is an author as well and you can follow his news and mewsings on his Facebook page.

Old Cats Rule!

Walk Through The Web Wednesday

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siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello Furiends,
I hope your week is going well. Things are humming along in our neck of the woods. As a follow up to last week’s report about the budding relationship between Lily and I: things are still progressing and now we will even sit next to each other when we’re waiting for breakfast.

So Lily, what do you think she’s serving this morning?

The Human did some reorganizing in her home office/craft room. Needless to say, the desk could not be used until I finished snoopervising the finished product.

Hmm, enough room for me to walk around, I guess this will pass.

And then The Human had the silly idea that I would be denied access to the downstairs for a while. Needless to say that attempt failed miserably.

Sending all my furiends wishes for a great week and remember…always jump high!

Street Cats of the world

cat in old San Juan

I’ve reported about street cats all over the world being looked after by good humans in their area. Last week it was the used washing machines for kitties in Portugal. This site highlights what people are doing for feral cats all over the world.

Today, you can find a mixture of cats in the streets of the city, relatives of the cats brought to San Juan, Puerto Rico by early Spanish settlers to control the rat population. There are ferals along with cats with collars enjoying the beauty and warmth of the city. The cats of Old San Juan are called the “cobblestone cats”.  There are organizations that care for the feral felines such as “Save a Gato Cat Sanctuary” that will care for and even prepare kitties to go to their furever homes.

Be sure and check out this site to see what good people around the world are doing for felines! 

The tree man saves cats

Now that fire and police are not rescuing cats in many communities., tree care experts are taking over the job. Danato Green, ‘The Tree Man” is filling this gap in Alabama.  Everyone needs to make a living so he does charge for his service. Prices depend on the distance he has to drive to the site and the distance he has to climb up the tree. This kitty says that’s money well spent! Be sure and check out the video of Danato at work.

Two clinic cats have the run of a vet’s office and a prime spot on Facebook

This story ticks all the boxes. It highlights working cats and a human that walks her talk. Amanda Dykstra, owner of the Gentle Doctor of East Tennessee veterinary clinic and a vet that treats mostly rescue animals from shelters adopted two rescue cats herself.

She looked hard to find two felines who would connect with each other. Her cats, Tiny Cat and Simba were the purrfect fit.  She says, “These cats have such crazy personalities and they’re so incredibly different but yet they’re best friends. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

Tiny Cat was an orphaned pound kitty and has turned into a bit of a diva. Simba’s laid back personality is the purrfect compliment to Tiny Cat and, he’s a bit of a goofball who goes crazy for watermelon.

Dr. Dykstra says that you too can find the purrfect shelter cat (or cats) for your family if you are deliberate about looking and know what you want.  You can follow the adventures of these two on the clinic’s Facebook page.

Instagram account juxtaposes brutalist structures with … cats!

This feline knows nothing about architecture, purrticularily brutalist architecture but evidently UB architecture master’s students Emily Battaglia, Madelaine Ong and Michaela Senay in collaboration with the studio’s professors, Gregory Delaney and Brett Doster do. They created an Instagram account — described as “Your daily dose of cats and concrete”  which has a larger purpose: to raise awareness of brutalism, the often misunderstood and under-loved period of mid-to-late-20th century architecture, while promoting adoptable cats. I have to say, this is one of the most creative cat adoption promotion ideas I’ve ever heard. Check out their Instagram page, Cats of Brutalism.

Hobo Hotel for cats receives building as a donation

The Hobo Hotel for cats has been living rent free in their building. Now they own the building thanks to James Boyd “Jim” Bel  a local philanthropist and business owner from a prominent pioneer family. He turned over the ownership of 650 E. School St. to Hobo Hotel for Cats.

The Hobo Hotel has been rescuing felines since 1998. It was organized exclusively for the purpose of prevention of cruelty to animals through the operation of a no-kill shelter for cats and kittens,. This shelter has many duties, the rescue of abandoned cats and kittens, the adoption of cats and kittens, the development of foster homes until adoption is possible, education about pet care, promotion of spaying and neutering and the encouragement of relationships with pets.  

Bel, the benefactor, is partial to cats and has owned as many as 13 outside kitties and five inside kitties and is constantly feeding strays in his community.

Since it’s inception, Hobo Hotel has spayed and neutered 6,000 cats.

Meowza, I hope there are generous cat lovers like this guy in other communities!

Stripey Chats!

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Stripey’s human, Debbie is a member of the Cat Writers’ Association, a great group of people who write about, take photos of, and do other creative stuff featuring felines.

Debbie has an author’s blog, Ruff Drafts and a blog written by the cat character, Sneaky, the library cat from her cozy mystery series. Check out Stripey’s guest blog about how he and Debbie deal with his hyperthyroidism. Stripey is also featured in the new book Pet Posts: The Cat Chats

And now, let’s welcome Stripey!

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 1/20

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siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
I hope you have been enjoying yourself this week. This week, Lily and I made some progress in our relationship. Oliver and I are trying not to chase her off the bed and all around the house. While Lily and were waiting for breakfast to be served, we discussed the state of our relationship.

So Lily, what do you think we try to be better furiends? I know you miss your cuddle buddy Tucker.
So Al, were you serious about that furiendship thing or are you going to chase me off the bed?
Wow, who would have believed it, a cuddle!!

The Human hasn’t caught us in another cuddle but she’s hopeful. Lily and Oliver are still mulling the situation over.

Well, that cuddle was nice. Maybe it will happen again.
I’m not ready to make any promises. Lily and Alberto can sing kumbaya all they want.

Well, here’s hoping Oliver will get on board the furiendship train. And here are our feline news items for the week.

Gee, I wonder if I’m an outgoing Oliver

What kind of personality does your cat have?

Professor Peter Neville has worked alongside specialists at eco-cat litter company Natusan to identify five unique personality types that can help cat caretakers tailor their approach to their pet.

Working with date from 3,700 cat parents, experts have found five common personalities in cats and labeled them Nervous Nala, Outgoing Oliver, Bossy Bella, Spontaneous Simba and Agreeable Alfie.  

They found that even in the same household, and from the same litter, we felines can be very different in our behaviors and preferences.

The professor says that, “Like humans, the more we appreciate what makes them tick, the more we can fine tune our interactions, and create environments that encourage them to thrive by accommodating their social and emotional needs.

Outgoing Olivers are usually more vocal and extroverted

Nervous Nalas have delicate dispositions and are often more highly strung than other cats. They can be shy around other cats.

Bossy Bellas are very assertive and often the top cats in multi cat households.

Spontaneous Simbas are the most impulsive and have a lot of energy (the kind of felines that love midnight zoomies).

Agreeable Alfies are the epitome of a cool cat. They are calm and sociable often as a result of proper socialization as kittens.

I don’t know what you think about all this my furiends. As for me, I’m not so sure all felines fit into one category.

Cats can drift too!

Our Human has relatives who like different forms of car racing and introduced her into the car sport of “drifting” which is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, loses traction but still maintains control of the vehicle. Imagine my surprise when I found out that cats can drift too.

Gee, I wonder, am I considered a second class citizen?

Are felines sometimes treated as second class? Some cat owners say yes

Pet Product News recently noted that dog owners do seem to get all the attention, especially when it comes to marketing and production for pet food, pet products and pet services according to a new survey.

In Packaged Facts’ Survey of Pet Owners, cat owners were asked whether they perceive that cats are “sometimes treated as second class” compared to dogs by various types of players in the pet industry. Across the board to varying degrees, the answer was “yes,” including for general merchandise stores that sell pet products (with 51 percent of cat owners agreeing strongly or somewhat that cats sometimes get second-class treatment), companies that make pet food/treats (45 percent), companies that make non-food products (45 percent), pet specialty stores (44 percent) and veterinarians (41 percent).

The good news my feline furiends, is that this does seem to be changing.  Last year, many of the new products introduced at Global Pet Expo 2020 were cat-focused, including New Product Showcase winners Moody Pet’s Fling-Ama-String and Four Paws’ Kitty Kat Circus, and during 2020 Petco unleashed a slew of promotional emails with feline-focused headlines including ‘You had me at Meow,’ ‘Kitty 101’ and ‘Kitty’s first shopping list .

These marketing folks are finally getting the idea that cats rock and cat parents like to lavish us with all sorts of goodies.

8 Hypoallergenic Cats for People with Allergies


This feline was dismayed to learn that more people are allergic to cats than any other animal. About one in five people in the world have allergy symptons such as sneezing, itchy eyes, coughing, wheezing and even the hives if exposed to cats. What a bummer!

But don’t lose hope my allergic feline loving furiends! Studies have found that it is’t t he amount of fur a cat has and that some of the most “hypoallergenic “ cats have very full, long coats.

Allergic reactions to felines come from reactions to a protein called Fel d 1, which is a protein that is present in our skin, saliva, and urine. When we lick our fur, this Fel d 1 dries into tiny particles that are carried through the air and then land on the hair, clothing, furniture and other stuff belonging to humans. These particles can hang around for months!  

So, the bad news is that there are no felines that are 100% hypoallergenic but some of us produce much less of Fel d 1.

Scientists say that normally,  female cats produce less of the protein than male cats, and neutered males produce less than those who haven’t been fixed. And now, you don’t have to adopt a hairless cat to stay away from allergens (although there is nothing wrong with my hairless feline furiends). You can also look into the breeds shown below. I would love to see everyone who hasn’t given a cat a furever home because of allergies be able to be a kitty parent!


Moscow’s renegade cat activists bending the law to save felines from the frozen winter

A Russian man named Ramil is a volunteer who works to help free cats trapped in basements of Soviet-era buildings, places that are often the only shelter stray cats can find. He is the hero of many Russians and of felines as well!

Russians are cat lovers, a 2016 poll indicated that 57% of Russian households had at least one cat.

The stray cat problem is only recently being addressed in Russia. Those poor kitties need shelter badly as temperatures normally stay below zero most of the winter. Boy am I glad I’m a pampered indoor kitty!

Moscow’s parliament passed a decree this fall that all apartment buildings provide access to basement vents for “small pets”.  Ramil and his cat loving furiends are expanding their cat saving work to the suburbs (areas which are not under the same decree).

The Russians don’t take to animal cruelty. One political hopeful was photographed allegedly kicking a cat and his political career ended immediately. Businesses in Russia catering to cats and their humans are thriving, even cat cafes.

We say two paws up for the cat loving Russians who are working to help the street kitties of Moscow and other areas.

It’s Our First Cat Chat!

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Hello Furiends,

We’ve been opining for years and now it’s your turn. We are so excited to provide a platform for felines to hiss, purr or pontificate about anything that gets your whiskers in a twist.

We are pleased to welcome Marvelous (Marv to his friends) as feline speaker in our first Cat Chat. You can learn more about Marv and his family at his blog

https://cats-astrophic-events.blogspot.com/?m=1

If you’ve got something to meow about just send us your headshot and tell us what’s on your mind. We’ll do the rest. Email us at FelineOpines@gmail.com

And now…..put your paws together for Marv!