Nibbles-n-Bits: Paws and Effect!

Welcome to the second installment of Nibbles-n-Bits, Catladyland's bite-sized interview feature.  Today's guest is JaneA Kelly, self-proclaimed Webmaster and Chief Cat Slave at Paws and Effect, a blog that offers advice by cats, for cats and their people.  Weekly (sometimes more frequently), Siouxsie, Thomas, and Dahlia answer readers' questions about everything from FIV to helping your cat tolerate trips to the vet.  These "most esteemed and knowledgeable kitties" really know their stuff!  In addition to the wealth of practical advice the kitties dole out, Dahlia has recently been sharing her  life story with us.  It's been fun to read about life from a cat's perspective!

Now let's turn our attention back to JaneA, the woman behind the cats (we humans do always walk ten paces behind our felines anyway, right?).

Catladyland: Why did you start blogging?

JaneA:  I've had a personal blog since the late 1990s, but I got started with cat blogging about eight years ago. In March of 2003, I was laid off from a job as a website designer and content developer, and I needed something to do with my time other than the depressing task of looking for jobs in a terrible economy. 

My cats, Sinéad and Siouxsie, were sitting with me one morning as I was writing in my personal blog, when the light shone through the clouds and I realized I could combine my love for and knowledge about cats with the skills I'd developed in my previous job. And that's how Paws and Effect was born!

JaneA and Dahlia

Catladyland: If a magic lamp appeared and a genie popped out and granted you three wishes, what would you choose?

JaneA: Well, I've fallen in love with Seattle, so my first wish would be for meaningful work that would allow me to make a good living there and be close to my best friends.

Second, I'd wish for PurrEver Ranch (www.gotcats.org) to have a permanent, safe home. PurrEver Ranch is a rescue and sanctuary, "a hospice for senior kittizens and home for wayward pussycats" located in Tennessee, operated by a wonderful woman named Rita Wood.

Finally--and here's my extra-smarmy, Miss-America-Pageant answer--I'd wish for people to become more open-hearted. I think if we were able to open our hearts not just to other human beings but to animals and every living thing, the world would be a much better place.

JaneA with Siouxsie at an SPCA fair

Catladyland:  Fill in the blank: Never underestimate _____________________.
 

JaneA: Never underestimate the power of a cat to change your life.

 

JaneA and Thomas

Thanks to JaneA for participating in Nibbles-n-Bits!  And thanks to Siouxsie, Thomas, and Dahlia for your useful advice -- I learn something every time I read one of your posts.  Keep up the great work!

Oh, Phoebe... you better stick with what you know best:  stealing sweaters, pens, and popsicles.