Those of you who’ve been following my blog or a while know that I’m a cat fanatic. It’s been almost five years since I lost my last cat, Onyx, to cancer. I never thought I would last five years between felines given my OCD (obsessive cat disorder), but if I’d gotten another cat sooner (or later) I wouldn’t have met Raven.
Say hello to my latest companion.
She’s four months old and is a rescue from Castaway Critters. I’ve been prepping my house for her for weeks. Rather, I should say I’ve been prepping for “a cat.” I’m a planner, so I had completed an application to CC ahead of time, supplied references and a vet check, all so that I could get a cat the first week of October, after a brief visit to the beach. All neat and tidy, planned out perfectly—NOT!
I was approved ahead of time and started looking at the Castaway Critters website early. Big mistake. My willpower was shot by that point and I was in uber cat mode.
I knew I wanted another black cat. Why? Because they’re often left in shelters due to old superstitions, something I addressed in my novella FOOD FOR POE. I saw Raven online, went to meet her prior to my beach trip, and was immediately smitten. Once they put her in my arms, she started purring, and buried her nose in my elbow, I was a goner.
Hubby and I brought her home before our trip, but I made sure she had everything she needed while we were away.
I’m pleased to say she’s settled in just fine, passed her vet check with flying colors and has pretty much taken control of the house. Yeah, she rules my world.
Check out these photos of her lounging on my desk, and playing on her climbing tree. She has boatloads of energy, but she will curl up for an hour or three on my desk when I’m composing. Otherwise, it’s racing through the house in the morning and demanding play time at night.


She also has a fun pink “cube” that my cousin picked up for her. She absolutely loves the thing and uses it as play-time central. It’s springy, so she can crush it in all kinds of shapes (see second photo), zip in and out, and roll around like a tumbleweed (which she does frequently). Whoever invented this thing deserves his own private island–which I’m sure he has from profits.It’s quickly become her favorite toy, next to her Jackson Galaxy feather wand (not pictured) and her pink feather ball (that’s what she’s clutching in the cube).


Raven loves to be held, loves to snuggle (especially at night) and has boundless amounts of energy. When I took her to the vet, rather than hide timidly in her carrier she immediately hopped out, explored the whole room, then promptly plopped down and started grooming herself like she hadn’t a care in the world. She was found in a town not far from where I live called Steelton. Around here we say people are “Steelton tough” and I think she inherited some of that toughness despite the sweet exterior.
Given it’s October, and she looks like a Halloween cat, I thought would be the perfect time to introduce her. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of Raven on my blog now and again. Now I just have to explain the Mothman to her 🙂