Tabs always got a kick out of the phrase “the dog days of summer,” to which he’d add, “why don’t we have a cat days of summer?”

Good question, but I’d always tell him not to think too deeply about it…

When I think of Tabs in his prime, I think of him as a summer cat. Lounging on the hot sand at a tropical beach somewhere was one of this favorite activities. Occasionally, he’d even get on a surfboard when he was in the mood, and he was actually an excellent cat surfer.

But I digress…

At the peak of summer, when it was at its hottest like it is now, Tabs would always find a way to look glamorous, while the rest of us would be sweaty and stinky and borderline gross. Didn’t matter. No matter how hot and humid it was, he’d always be chic and sleek and put together.

Like I said, he was a summer cat.

Around this time of year, Tabs would often host a friendly neighborhood get together and invite the local dogs. The marketing team would try to push to call it something nondenominational and subtle, but sometimes Tabs liked a hard sell. The fete was usually called “The Annual Dog Days of Summer Celebration,” which he thought of as an olive branch to his canine cousins.

Boy, it was quite a party too! Imagine hundreds of cats and dogs barking all night long. It was cray!

Rosie

Rosie’s been busy this summer so far. Lots of projects inspired by the sweltering heat, like, she’s working on a sprayable cat fur sunscreen and studying global warming and its effect on cats who sleep in windows.

In other news, she normally isn’t interested in the things I’m working on, but lately we’ve been talking about perhaps adding a canine member to the family, and she’s been unusually interested in my thoughts on it.

Rosie’s quite familiar with animals of the canine persuasion because, in her previous foster home, she lived with three dogs, and I’ve been told by her foster mom that by the time Rosie’s kittens were weaned and ready to go, she was showing all of the dogs in the house who was boss.

I’m guessing she thinks that if she were to get a dog companion, she’d be able to persuade him or her into becoming her assistant.

I can see that happening from a mile away. 😹

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen