Be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other.

Hello, world! Shelly here! Time for another edition of Take Care, a weekly-ish bit of tips and updates to help you be yourself, love yourself, and take care of each other (and yourself!) I’m Shelly of Geek Out of Water.

This one is just for fun, so give your furry, feathered, and scaled friends a hug for me and let's talk about my cats!

I get almost as many comments about my cats as I do about makeup and skin care!! I might be exaggerating a little, but the cats definitely have their own little fan club. Here are their stories!

I'd be remiss not to mention Merlin, who made frequent appearances on my YouTube channel in the early days. He was a ragdoll mutt and was probably the coolest, smartest cat I've ever known - a big white long haired fluffy furball that would talk your ears off and loved everyone he ever met. I got him at 5 weeks old from a work friend whose mom's barn cat had kittens. He passed away December 29, 2020 at the age of 18 (a terrible way to cap off a terrible year) and I still miss him terribly.

The most infamous of my cats today is Ziva. She will be 11 years old this May! She grew to fame back when I lived in the apartment. She would perch behind me, over my shoulder on camera, seemingly staring into the camera - but really, she was just sitting on my Alex drawers warming herself under the background light that was just off-screen. I think she likes the warmth of the lights, and while I don't use a background light anymore, she still likes to jump on the back of my chair and on my vanity where she can feel the lights in front of me.

When I first moved to Virginia in 2011, I had 3 cats - Maverick, Goose, and Merlin. Merlin was the youngest, and a few years after I moved here, Maverick and Goose (who were brothers) passed away within a year of each other. I'd had Merlin since he was tiny and he had never been an only-cat, so he was pretty lonely without the other two. So I was going to get an adult cat to be friends with Mer.

I went to a local no-kill shelter called Cats Cradle. I am basically a cat whisperer. Cats love me. Most animals do (and I do them!) So I go into the cat room, and not a single adult cat would let me pet them. One hissed at me!! The guy working there did not believe that I was a cat whisperer, but did allow me to go sit with the kittens and see if I fared better there. NONE of the kittens even woke up to come play! I was dumbfounded. I was sitting on the floor of the kitten room ready to give up when Ziva came up to me, crawled up my chest, and rested on my shoulder. I wasn't planning to get a kitten, but it seemed like she chose me - serendipity! So I adopted her.

Her original name was "Olive." I was too sad about losing Maverick and Goose so I couldn't bring myself to continue the Top Gun naming scheme, so my plan was to get a girl and a guy cat and name them Ziva and DiNozzo from NCIS. So that's how Ziva got her name.... side story: a friend of mine that lived in the same building was my cat sitter, and when she came over to meet Ziva, what did Ziva do? Crawled up on her the exact same way she crawled up on me. Ziva didn't choose me. She chooses any human being with a pulse!!! lol she literally loves everybody.

I was then keeping my eyes open for a special needs cat that needed rescuing. I had followed the stories of several special needs cats and felt like, I had the financial means to take care of them, so I wanted to get a cat that other people might pass over. Homer the Blind Wondercat, Lil Bub.... so many good kitties out there. I was following Justin Fire Survivor on Facebook. They rescued injured cats from the shelter kill lists and did fundraising to rehab them, then adopted them out. One day a cat came up that looked perfect and I put in an application. They called me back and based on what I wrote, they asked if I'd be willing to consider 2 cats. They had 2 they'd just rescued together, both under a year old and both with severe leg injuries. They weren't sure they'd both make it, but if I was willing to take them both, they'd do their best and keep their care on the same timetable. Of course you know what I said.

Daffy and Polly were born in 2014 and were brought to shelters in New York in the summer of 2015. Based on their injuries, they think Daffy had been caught in a car engine in the winter, and her left hind leg healed with multiple fractures and she couldn't walk on it. [trigger warning - I won't get graphic but skip the rest of this paragraph if you are sensitive to animal abuse]. In Polly's case, a bystander saw children throw Polly off the roof of a 6-story apartment building. The bystander took her to the shelter where it was determined that her left hind leg had multiple fractures and she had internal injuries.

Justin's rescue got them both off the shelter kill list and got them scheduled for veterinary care. In Daffy's case, her leg had to go. In Polly's case, they were able to repair it with pins and rods. It's amazing how quickly animals adapt. There's no "poor me" or pity party like we as humans can do sometimes. They're just like, this is my reality now, so let me see how I can make this work!

Within a few weeks of their surgeries, I was able to pick them both up - Daffy a couple weeks sooner than Polly. Daffy isn't in videos often because as a tripod, she can't jump up on things that aren't soft furniture. She has to be able to grip into something with her claws to be able to climb up since she can't really jump. But she can get to the top of a cat tree faster than any of the other cats! Her 3 legged-ness doesn't stop her at all. But there's nothing soft around my vanity so she can't get high enough to get on camera :) Daffy is not only a tripod, but she is also polydactyl, and she's an orange female which is more rare than an orange male. I always say that she's got such a big personality that it would be a shame if the world wasn't able to get to know her. I'm so glad I rescued her!

Polly was a tabby cat and because of her injuries, her back leg stuck out like Thumper the Rabbit. She did not have a voice for the first 3 years I had her. The vet said she might never speak due to the injuries to her voice box. But - in that third year - she started to meow!! She eventually got her full voice back. She was not very chatty but she did ask for me to scratch her back every day. I lost my sweet girl Polly on Valentine's Day this year. It all happened very fast; she had an inoperable malignant tumor in her mouth and throat. She was only 9 years old and it still breaks my heart.

And then, there's Charlie the Kitten. She's not a kitten anymore but we still call her a baby! In May 2022, I was selling soaps at a farmers market and someone dropped off a box of free kittens. It was a super hot day out and they had no food or water and they were just left behind. Kids were running around with them and the kittens were panting and not looking great as the day wore on.

I had a little buddy, the 6 year old daughter of one of the other vendors, who shared my concern. Whenever she could get the kittens away from the boys, she would bring them over by me and we would sit there quietly and let the kittens calm down. We gave them water and shade. I was heartbroken for these kittens, but I felt like there was nothing I could do. I had 3 cats at home already, and I was leaving the next morning for a work conference in Las Vegas, and leaving for 8 weeks in Ireland a week after that.

2 of the kittens were taken home by customers. 1 of the kittens was LOST by the children (which just destroys me), and 2 were left at the end of the day - the 1 that I had been holding and the 1 that my little buddy was holding. I choked back tears as I took down my display knowing the future didn't look great for those kittens. I kept telling myself, "You can't save them all.... you can't save them all...."

Then, my little buddy's mom came up to me as I finished loading up my Jeep. She said, "I know you're leaving tomorrow, but if you PROMISE that you will come get one of these kittens when you get home, I will take them both home with me." I just about burst into tears! I said YES, I will come get her as soon as I get back! My little buddy packed up the kittens and they went home with her for the week.

I spent the ride home trying to figure out how to tell my mom (who lives with me) that I had just agreed to take a kitten less than 2 weeks before I was leaving to go to Ireland for 2 months (meaning, my mom would do most of the raising of the kitten!) My mom is NOT an animal person.... she is a saint for how well she takes care of my cats, but she would never have pets if it weren't for me.

I got home and I said, "Mom - I did something and you're going to be mad at me."

She replied, "You are a grown woman! You can do what you want..."

I said, "This is going to affect you."

Her eyes went squinty. "What did you do?"

Insert devastating kitten story here.

She said, "When you go pick up the kitten, can't you find another home for it?"

I said, "Well, I could, but I won't......."

I repeat - my mom is a saint.

I went to Vegas and came back. The other kitten found a happy home and the kitten soon-to-be-named Charlie came home with me. I got to hang out with her for a week before I left for Ireland, and my mom took care of all of the cats for the 2 months I was gone.

The movie Top Gun: Maverick had come out right around the time I got Charlie, and in that movie, they did not include Kelly McGillis's character (the civilian engineer in the film with call sign Charlie). It was said that she looked too much "her age" (aka, too old) to be cast in the second film - and as you might guess, that full on pissed me off! So I resurrected the Top Gun naming scheme and named the kitten Charlie after Kelly McGillis's character in the original Top Gun movie. (The movie is a favorite of my brother's and mine). I then saw Top Gun: Maverick in Ireland, and it all came full circle.

Charlie will be 2 year old this summer!

So, that's the story of my cats. I love animals so much. I can't imagine life without them. My grandma used to say that any animal that got to live in my house was a lucky one. She was pretty much spot on :)

Cats are awesome!!! =D

Here's their Facebook page. I don't update it like I used to, but there are lots of pictures there :) 

https://www.facebook.com/daffyandfriends 

I'd love to hear your cat stories! Reply to this email and share your furry friends with me!

Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goow

Shop my designs & handmade skin care: https://shopgoow.com

Thanks and remember: be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other,

💜 Shelly

Who's Shelly?

I’m a beauty enthusiast, entrepreneur, and professor of media arts and design. I send out emails about once a week on beauty, self-care, and lifestyle with a geeky twist - plus, of course, updates on any tools I’m building for the love of beauty (like my Roll-A-Look eyeshadow color generator and upcoming foundation tools). 

What's this email about?

If you love makeup and skin care and self-care too, this newsletter is made for you! Besides life and work updates, I’ll share science-based tips and easy techniques to help you look and feel your best. Stick around for the fun. 

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This is a collaborative space, too. Feel free to hit reply if: 

- You care about a topic you’d like to see covered here. 

- You found a useful resource or a must-have product that would help others and want to share it.

- You just want to say hi!