Brutus, Caesar and Diesel

It's a horrible feeling thinking something is going to happen to your beloved pet. Trust me...I just went through a scare with my cat, Teton. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I was pretty sure he was heading down the road to Rainbow Bridge. Thankfully, with the help of the AMAZING staff at Independence Veterinary Clinic, Teton was better and back to his old self by Monday. Wow. It was a really long and tear-filled weekend. That same relief is, I'm sure, what Brutus' mom felt after he got the all-clear from his liver shunt surgery. You see, Brutus was born with a congenital birth defect which allows some blood coming from his stomach to bypass the liver. Those nasty toxins go straight into his bloodstream which is a recipe for disaster. This condition is very rare in cats and it manifested itself as blindness after Brutus was neutered (the blindness thankfully went away).

Brutus had surgery on August 26th. It was very risky with not a ton of success in cats. We, of course, immediately scheduled a session should the unthinkable occur. Brutus also had his Abyssinian brother, Caesar, join in.

Thankfully, after much observation and many tests, Brutus has gotten the all-clear and the liver shunt has been corrected. I couldn't be more happy for this seriously sweet and wonderful family. What a huge sigh of relief we all felt. With the good news, they even added on a third kitten after our original session! The little guy is named Diesel and we decided to have a fun little session with him in the studio!

I hope you enjoy some of the images from these kitty sessions. Virtual hugs to this entire family!!!!

Because these guys are hard to tell apart, I'll start off with the main focus of the shoot...Brutus! I'm head over heals about these kitties on this animal print goodness!!!

This curious guy is Caesar. He definitely did his best to steal the spotlight. He kinda did. ;)Love between mom and Brutus...On to the crazy boy Diesel!!! I mean, he's an adorable kitten let loose in a studio full of toys. This is awesomeness!His jig...The absolute favorite pastime of Diesel's is to attack the cowhide rug. So of course we had to include that! OMG!Thanks again to this fab kitty family. I'm so glad everyone is happy and healthy! I hope you enjoy your wall art and album for years and years!!!! :)

Kitty time at the HSI

I love cats. In fact, I've owned more cats than dogs in my lifetime. Fortunately, my jobs lets me spend time with both! However, cat photography seems to be a bit less popular and the majority of my time is spent in photo shoots with dogs. That being said, I was thrilled to find out that the Humane Society of Iredell had plenty of cats that could go for a good photo shoot. I was happy to oblige. Humane Society of Iredell has a great facility up in Mooresville, NC. The building is clean and is staffed with awesome volunteers that have the animals' best interests in mind. The cats have multi-level cages and have a private room where they can socialize with one another and visit with potential owners. If you ever get the opportunity, check out the facility and spend some time with the wonderful kitties! PS - they have dogs available too! They are all placed in foster homes but can easily have a visit arranged.

I'll start out with an adorable little kitten named Hope. She is just a little 12-week-old bundle of energy! She absolutely was cracking me up as she zoomed from corner to corner in the room. She would flatten her tail along the top of her back and looked like a chipmunk as she ran to and fro. Total cuteness...

Her favorite game must be tug-o-war! Check out these outtakes of her pulling with all of her might. Her chipmunk stance is on the lower right.

This beautiful kitty is Gloria. She is just 11 months old and has the biggest eyes I have seen on a cat in a long time. She loves to cuddle and if you're not careful, those eyes will lure you in to give her treats...

Skye is the next kitty I got to photograph. She is a fluffy 3-4 year-old Persian blend with lovely silver/smoke fur. She will need a peaceful home where she will be free to do her own thing.

If I didn't know better, I would say that this next kitty is Gloria's twin. She shares the same stunning eyes, beautiful markings, and hard-to-ignore personality. This lovely girl is appropriately named Princess... The last girl I visited with was Laverne. This grey kitty is only 8 months old and loves playtime, being held, and lots of kisses and toys. She is a lover...

On a technical note, I used my new 50mm f/1.4 lens for these pics. I would have been out of luck if I didn't have it in my arsenal! This room was very dark with only one fluorescent fixture providing the light. I had my lens wide open and fortunately managed to avoid using any flash. Because the room was so dark, I wasn't able to stop action at all and I still have to practice with the very shallow depth of field. However, this lens rocks and I can see myself using it for all types of situations - low light or in the middle of the day!