My 3 Cats + Helping Purina Help Cats in Need

Roxy, age 16

If you’ve been reading Design Crush for any length of time, you probably know that along with having a love for art and design I’m a huge advocate for animals. My five pets are my family and they all have a six week old kitten to thank for it.

At the start of my sophomore year of college I was struggling to find my place and fighting off depression. Attending a school with a huge Greek system that I didn’t want to be part of meant lots of evenings spent in my first apartment with nothing to do besides study or watch TV. (It was just as exciting as it sounds.) About six weeks in my Mom’s neighbors brought two tiny kittens back from their family’s farm in Arkansas, two because one was the runt and they wanted to have a backup plan should the he not make it. He – Ghost – thrived, and they asked my Mom if I might be interested in adopting the other orange and white kitten. I didn’t have pets growing up (aside from fish, a turtle, hermit crabs, and an albino frog) and hadn’t spent much time around cats, but I jumped at the chance to have a companion.

That kitten is about to turn 17 years old next month, and has lived in four different states and countless apartments and houses by my side. Her sass and stereotypical cat-ittude never fail to make me smile and laugh.

Peanut, age 16

A little over a year later we added a second kitten to our family because I never wanted Roxy to be lonely when I wasn’t home. Peanut came along by way of Roxy’s vet, he’d been abandoned in a parking lot inside a covered litter box that had been taped shut. A few weeks of rehab at the vet’s office later and I brought him home, both of us crying the entire car ride. After a cursory walk around his new house, Peanut jumped into an armchair and promptly fell asleep. We both knew he was home. He’s by far my most mischievous furball as well as the only boy in our clan, but he’s also my teddybear.

Rainey, age 3

Some people talk about unexpected pregnancies bringing an extra kid into their lives, I got an unexpected cat instead. After the 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma I fostered two litters – eight kittens in all. One litter of five was all but immediately adopted by friends and family, while the other initially tested FIV positive (as is possible from umbilical blood) and were taking longer to find their homes. A few months later they retested negative and the two boys in the group of three went to their forever homes. Rainey was the last (wo)man standing and acted like she’d just won Survivor or The Hunger Games, and in a way she had. I adopted her after making sure she got along well enough with everyone else and am so happy I did. Rainey is easily the most affectionate of my three cats, climbing onto my lap to cuddle every evening like clockwork.

Because my cats are like family I want to feed them just as well. This year Purina Cat Chow is focused on delivering great nutrition to cats in the care of animal welfare organizations with its Nutrition to Build Better Lives program, ensuring they’re healthy and ready for their forever homes. During the month of July for every bag of Purina Cat Chow you purchase a meal will be donated to a cat in need (up to 5 million meals!) through Rescue Bank. Rescue Bank is a non-profit organization that operates on a national food bank model to collect and distribute high-quality pet food and supplies to pre-qualified animal welfare organizations throughout the U.S. These organizations are then able to use the savings from their food budgets for critical veterinary care to increase the adoption of healthy pets. Please support shelter cats by buying a bag of Purina Cat Chow now through July 31. Roxy, Peanut, Rainey, and I all thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Visit some of my fellow bloggers to see how they appreciate their cats: Someday I’ll Learn, Sweep Tight, Dream Green DIY, Hoosier Homemade, Be Brave Keep Going, Melissa Dell, Thrill of the Chases, The Funny Mom Blog, Making it all Work, My Crafty Life, Adventures of 8, Saavy Saving Couple, Home Making Hacks, Eat Move Make, Idle Hands Awake, Shrimp Salad Circus, Design Crush, Sweet Nicks, Chaotically Creative, Smockity Frocks, Polka Dotted Blue Jay and Ellis and Page

This post sponsored by Purina Cat Chow. Since 2013, Purina Cat Chow has supported animal shelters across the country and has donated more than $845,000 in food, supplies, and renovations to advance the rescue, nutrition, and adoption of cats in shelters. While I received compensation, all words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Design Crush creating fresh content!