Soooo … I previously wrote a blog about how to keep a dog journal. (Bear with me. I promise this is about cats.)
I’ve been a pretty committed dog mom. My own two rescued beagles changed my life in various ways. I support rescue; I’ve fostered; I buy cruelty-free products. I’ve also had a couple of dog-oriented businesses over the years. One was the Super Duper Pooper Scooper yard maintenance gig. The other was making limited-ingredient dog food and treats, which I sold at our local farmers’ market. While I was the owner-operator, CEO, and all-around dogsbody at Aggie’s Doggie Diner (see what I did there?), I frequently heard from cat parents. “Where are all the cat products?” They asked. “Dogs get all kinds of special, fun things, but there’s nothing out there for cats.”
I felt badly that cats were being left out but my area of expertise is dogs. I didn’t know enough about cats to create a business that catered to them. I assumed other people would step up to the litter box.
Now, this was a few years back. I figured things had changed. I thought that cats are now being lavished with special toys and treats and Halloween costumes and visits from Santa Paws. Just. Like. Dogs. (My dogs anyway.)
Well, I was saddened when I went looking for blogs or articles about keeping a cat journal and came up with zip.
Really? NO ONE out there keeps a personal journal about their precious kitty cat?
Heart = broken.
Here’s the thing: I admit that I don’t know enough about feline nutrition to start a cat food business. Nor do I think there’s a particularly strong market for a business concept such as the Super Duper Litterbox Scooper. BUT! I know all about writing journals and I know enough about kitties to figure out the concept of a cat journal on the fly.
So, here we go! Read on for tips and inspo on how to use a writing journal or Bujo to track all the important and cutesy things about your best kitty friend.
If you're dedicating an entire notebook to your kitty, why not pick one with a cat themed cover? SohoSpark has a beautiful vegan leather Cats Journal. But if you want something a little more personalized, you can always create your own. Embellish a plain journal cover with a quote about cats, a photo of your cat, or a Cricut vinyl decal. Don't have a Cricut? No worries--many sellers on Etsy offer custom vinyl decals for very reasonable prices.
It’s totally cute when your kitty indulges in too much catnip or plays with her turbo cat toy for hours on end. Still, after noting this in your cat journal a few dozen times, you may start to feel like there’s nothing really new to say. This is where journaling prompts provide inspiration. As a bonus, prompts often trigger deeper thought than random notes about daily activities. As you spend time reflecting on your kitty and her personality, your appreciation for her will grow.
Now, like I said, there aren’t a lot of pieces out there about keeping a cat journal. So, go ahead and borrow ideas from the doggos. We all know cats are dog overlords anyway.
There used to be a blog called Dog and Dojo. One of the pieces there had a terrific list of journaling prompts for our canine friends. Sadly, that blog has been taken down. However, I made a note of some of the prompts and many can be applied to Tiger too.
Let’s face it. As much as you would love to create a beautiful kitty memory book, you probably didn’t even start a baby book for your second two-legged child. Amirite? There are just not enough hours in the day for everything we would like to do.
If you already keep aBullet Journal® (aka Bujo), why not incorporate some trackers for your kitty in there? You may find the records helpful for various reasons, and you will still be recording some precious memories.
You could track things like:
I originally wrote this piece in celebration of National Cat Day, which happens annually on October 29. In recognition of the day, if you’re not already keeping a journal for your cat, why not start one? And if you are already keeping one (or tracking kitty activities in your regular Bujo) please let me know. I’d love to know that there are kitty cats out there with their own special journals.
Photo by Tucker Good on Unsplash
You already know this: being kind to others makes you happy. And, actually, it's a proven fact that kindness makes you feel happy and feeling happy makes you kinder.
Tracking kindness is a terrific way to keep kindness on our radar and incorporate more of it into our lives. Just as a gratitude makes us more attuned to the things that we’re grateful for, a kindness journal or tracker makes us more aware of those moments of grace. And, especially if we have a goal of recording one (or more) acts of kindness daily, we’ll be more apt to take action.
C'mon. Do it. Who would turn down happiness?