Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘Cat lounge’

Henna Cattoos

Posted by terrepruitt on April 23, 2018

You may know from reading my blog that my husband and I adopted two cats from a place called The Dancing Cat. It is a “cat lounge”. It is not a cat CAFE because they don’t sell food, or coffee, or tea, but it is like one, in that you can visit with cats. You can bring your own food and drink and pay a small fee to visit with the cats for an hour.  Also, unlike some cat cafes ALL of the cats are up for adoption.  The Dancing Cat also hosts events like Mewsic Nights, Learning How To Paint Your Cat or take pictures of your cat. They also have a Henna Cattoo Night. There is a local artist, Shannon Balco, who comes in and does henna tattoos.

They have been doing it for a while but I was always away when they did it, but this last time I was home. Yipeee! Shannon has a book of pictures of tattoos she can do. Not all of them are cats.  She is even so talented as to do one that someone showed her a picture of. The one that looks like Yin and Yang cats! She did that right there after just seeing it. Cool, huh?

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitHenna is drawn on like a thick paste. The recommendation is for you to leave it on AT LEAST 30 minutes then you can scratch it off (not wash it off). The longer you leave it on the better.  When I first got a henna tattoo I was told to leave it on AT LEAST 4 hours and no longer than 12 hours.

The pictures are pictures of the “Cattoos” she did when I was there.  The last two show my tattoo.  The first one is after I scraped all the dried paste off. Since it is on the back of my hand and very thin delicate lines a large portion of it had just flaked off. I was concerned with it flaking off and me not noticing and then one of my cats eating a henna flake. So I just scratched it all off. It had probably been about five or so hours. I did not wait 24 hours without water because it is on my hands. In the past I had the henna put on my feet. I could easily not wet my feet for 24 hours, but not my hands. I was at a cat place. I had to wash my hands when I came home. I HAVE cats, I am constantly washing my hands. It didn’t seem to affect it adversely.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitThe very last shot is the next day. Henna darkens at first then it starts to fade. The length of time the tattoo lasts depends on where it is and what it sustains. If it is on your hands and you wash your hands often, it will probably come off sooner. If it is on your leg and doesn’t come into contact with water that much it might last longer. It does help to put oil on it. When I first got a henna tattoo that artist recommended just tiger balm. The second time I put oil on it. I think the oil helps.

I can’t wait for The Dancing Cat to do this again. I am going to go again. I am going to ask her if she will do my foot instead of my hand. Since I dance Nia I like to have my feet decorated.

What do you think? Have you gotten a henna tattoo?

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit
Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Happy Home Anniversary

Posted by terrepruitt on July 4, 2016

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitMost of you probably know that we have cats.  Right?  I mean, I have posted a least once a month about them.  They are so sweet.  Cats really are.  Cats, just like so many people, get a bad rep from the few that are not nice.  But most cats are very sweet.  They might not respond like dogs and come when you call them, but they are very affectionate.  My last post about the cats (Our Tube Has A Tail) had videos, the one (Happy Cat Guardians) before that a bunch of photos.  This brings me to the point of this post, it has been a year since we brought the cats home.  Last year on Friday, July 3, 2015 we decided to adopt them.  We brought them home on the Fourth of July.

Some of you may know the story . . . we had a cat that died in 2014.  She was phenomenal in the sense that she was a very easy cat.  She didn’t get into things, she had impeccable litter box manners . . . she was so many things the opposite of the reputation of cats.  So when my hubby and I started thinking about getting a kitten, I was so torn.  I mean, I totally wanted a kitten.  The little mews of a kitten are enough to make anyone want one.  And the antics . . . so fun.  But I didn’t want to end up with one of “those” cats.  The ones that give cats a bad reputation.  It didn’t really occur to me to get an older cat.  But once it did I thought, “How do you pick one?”  So I had been looking on websites and “deciding” by looks, which is one of the worst ways, to me, to decide on an animal.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitTurns out my husband’s boss had a friend who opened a cat “cafe” or cat lounge where you can go visit with cats.  I love that idea and decide to volunteer there.  In that same time frame they happened to get a cat that LOOKED so cute that both my hubby and I wanted her.  But after a few visits, I kinda set my sights on another cat.  I just needed to let my husband meet both the cat we originally saw and wanted, and this other one.  I was confident that the moment he met Esmeralda and she exposed her belly for gettin’ he would be convinced she was for us.  The issue was that she was considered part of a bonded pair and that means they want to adopt them out together.  I really didn’t want two cats.  One is enough.  Two is too much.  Plus I hadn’t even seen this other one.  She was holed up in one of the cat spaces and wouldn’t come out.

But when another cat moved into her spot and forced her out and we finally got to see her, we decided we could deal with two cats.  If you are not opposed to adopting a black cat and you ever have to choose between a black on and a not black one . . . please really consider taking the black one.  Because of certain beliefs, black cats are hard to adopt out.  There are some superstitions around black cats so they don’t get adopted as much.

So, it has been a year.  And it was rough in the beginning — no one’s fault.  We had to keep them quarantined and medicate them for the first 30 days and we felt so bad.  Many of you know giving your pet medication is not easy and it is really sad when you bring a new pet home and have to put them through that.  We knew that it would be over one day and the cats would be fine, but it is tough when you are going through it.

But here we are . . . a year later.  And pretty much every day one of us (me to my hubby or he to me) says how much we love having our girls.  They are such great cats.  Very loving.  Very sweet.  Very entertaining.

Happy Fourth of July to you all.  And Happy Home Anniversary to our girls.

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Posted in Cats, Teagan and Nessa | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Memorial Day and Cats

Posted by terrepruitt on May 30, 2016

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States.  I hope that you are able to take time to enjoy your day, celebrating the freedom that has come and continues to come at the cost of so many.  Perhaps you even took a moment to reflect and give thanks for the people and sacrifices they have made.  I have seen so many things posted on Facebook and I get teary-eyed with each one that I look at.  In 2012 I posted Three Day Weekends and Memorial Day’s National Moment Of Remembrance which has a bit of information about Memorial Day.  It is past 3:00 pm, but if you didn’t do it then, perhaps you can pause now.  Since I wrote that post with information about the day, I just thought I would mention the day and send my thanks out, but then post about something else.

If you are interested in cats or you read my blog you may have seen that my hubby and I adopted cats in July of 2015.  Not quite a year ago.  It all started after it had been a year that our cat had died.  My husband was patiently waiting for me to be “ready” to get another cat.  I had always wanted a kitten so I had it in my head that is what we needed to get.  But, then the idea of a young cat dawned on me.  There are always cats that need adopting.  About that same time my husband’s boss mentioned that her friend opened a “cat cafe” in San Jose.

I decided to go check it out.  It was opened by two women, who ran it with the help of volunteers.  So in addition to booking an hour of visiting, I was inspired to volunteer.  As I mentioned in a few post this place was only going to be open for 4 weeks.  I am not even sure how they ended up staying open for 6 months.  Perhaps it was the begging and pleading of all of us that had visited it and loved it.  Ann and Mary, to two women previously mentioned, realized that the community wanted and needed such a place.  But really, since they had only planned on being open about a month, they went ahead with closing it down.  I believe they were going to take some time to figure out what to do next.

Well, they are still looking for a bigger place, but for now they are open again in the previous location, which is in the Julian-St. James area of San Jose.  The first day open was Saturday, May 28, 2016.  I had nothing planned this weekend so I volunteered both Saturday and Sunday.  They are not normally open on Mondays but they are open Memorial Day this year.

To start, they have ten cats.  They range from small to large.  Aside from the two who are taking their time adjusting to the new space (they are hiding under the couch) they are all very pet-able.  Pretty much very friendly.  Some of them seem to get along with other cats and some of them seem like they would be best as the only cat in the household, but that is what is so great about a place like this when looking to adopt.

This type of space helps you get a glimpse into what the individual cat’s true nature will be.  Yes, there is always a chance that it might emerge entirely different when you get the cat home, but in general you can see who is bossy and who is timid.  Who will let you approach them and who will play with the toys.  We love our two cats.  I think I saw pretty much their true personalities there.  If you are not looking to adopt this is still a great place.  You can just go and hang out with cats.It is a nice place to be with cats.

This time around the cats are being obtained from The Silicon Valley Pet Project which is a group of volunteers that save at-risk pets by placing them in foster homes or The Dancing Cat.  In addition to saving the pets through rehabilitation and finding them homes, the project also works to educate the community in order to reduce the number of animals that end up in an “at-risk” situation.

If you like cats and you like to help out organizations that are helping the community, then make your reservations and go visit The Dancing Cat.  You’ll be able to sit and visit with cats.  And more-than-likely other people who like cats.  I am hoping that this will be a huge success and a permanent fixture in San Jose.

I am thankful for the people who make the world a better place.

 

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Posted in Cats | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

More About The Dancing Cat In San Jose

Posted by terrepruitt on October 8, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia TechniqueLast Friday after teaching my Nia Class I volunteered at The Dancing Cat in San Jose.  I hadn’t been back since we got our cats.  I tend to want to be home with my own kitties.  The plan for The Dancing Cat is to be open only until November 15, 2015.  They are open Thursdays through Sundays.  Presently they have ten cats that are ready for adoption.  The Dancing Cats has had 30 cats adopted from the lounge.  Two of them were ours.  It is really fun to go sit and be able to play with the cats.  I really love the idea of meeting a cat in a relaxed atmosphere before deciding to adopt.  I think it is really helpful if you have a cat or cats already and are thinking of getting another one.  Being able to see how a cat acts around other cats is a good thing.  Of course, all cats act different around different cats, but I think having all the cats together gives you a better idea of how they might get along with cats you already own.

 

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If you want to lounge with some cats in San Jose get it done before November 15th.  Keep in mind it is not a high-pressure-adopt-a-cat kind of environment.  I’ve had people I tell about the place say they don’t want a cat.  Well, that is fine.  No one is on commission there.  Ha, ha.  It is very relaxed.  The owner(s) are there to answer your questions, but they don’t hover.  They don’t even normally bring up “adoption,” they know you know the cats are available.  They let you play with the cats.  When I am there I like to talk to the guests about their cats.  Because, as I mentioned before when posting about this place, a lot of the people who come to visit have cats of their own.  I like to hear about people’s pets.  And often I am lucky enough to get to see a picture.  The last time I was there I even got to see a video of a guest’s cat.Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique

 

 

 

 

 

I am just putting the word out again.  They are open and have cats up for adoption.  This group of cats is very social, none of them hiding in the back.  They were all out in the main area lounging or playing.  Be sure to visit www.TheDancingCat.Org for more information and to make reservations.  They do allow for walk-ins if they have the space so if you decide you want to go at the last minute don’t think you can’t because you didn’t make reservations give them a call.  Go check out the cats.  If you don’t want to adopt perhaps you know someone who does.  Spread the word.  The lounge will only be open for a bit more.

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The Tuxedo Cat, is Clyde.  He is so sweet and playful.  I just loved looking at him.  He has a light pink nose.  He looks as if his coloring was put on just right.  He is so handsome.

I picked up the marmalade, Jasper, because someone was coming in while he was standing by the door.  He is just a big ol’ softy.  So sweet.  His tail has a ring patterns around it.  He seems really mellow.  Shame on me for not getting a picture of his magnificent tail.

Sarge is so regal.  One might be surprised at how sweet and playful he is because he is just a royal presence.

Florance is such a sweetie.  She is just lounging on the couch.

I didn’t take pictures of all the cats, so do go to the website to check them out.  I hope this type of lounge is something we will see more of.  Perhaps we will be lucky – after November – to see a new incarnation of The Dancing Cat.

 

 

 

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Sarge

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Sarge

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Sarge

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Florance

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