Pet Blogger Spotlight: Christina McNeair of Peace, Love and Whiskers

There are so many pet blogs I enjoy reading, and I often wonder about the people behind the blogs. Blog Paws was a great opportunity to meet fellow bloggers.

Christina McNeair was one of the bloggers I met at Blog Paws. I’m a fan of her blog Peace, Love and Whiskers, so I had to approach her when I saw her. She is so warm and friendly, and her love for animals is heartwarming.

I’m always interested in the how and why people get involved in whatever it is their passionate about. Christina was kind enough to answer my questions:

What inspired you to blog about pets?

I liked talking about my own pets and sharing pictures and with my very first interview with Oskar & Klaus I was privileged enough to ask them questions, share pictures and video. Little did I know how much I would enjoy sharing the stories of other people’s pets.

How do you deal with allergies to cats? I see you mention allergy pills, but do you do anything else special to deal with allergies?

I use lots of paper towels.. I do take allergy pills daily as I am also allergic to mold, mildew & goose down (so no feather pillows or fluffy thick winter coats for me). I do have a prescription nose spray, but I hate the taste of it as it goes down my throat so I would rather suffer.

Tell us about Buggy, Bubby, Miss Bitty and Boo. How did they come into your life and how did they get their names?

Bubby is the first, he pawed at my then boyfriend (no husband) when we were at the Humane Society in Tallahassee, he came home with us a week after Martin Luther King Jr day. Bubby’s original name was Jelly Belly because he had a gut on him, and he had a pink collar, there was a bit of confusion at the humane society as they had a bunch of black cats so we thought his name was Linkin or Blinkin, but thankfully they found the right records. He had spent most of his life in foster care and was there at the big cat room at the Humane Society.

Bubby
(photo courtesy of Christina McNeair)

Buggy was at Petsmart when we happened to come by looking for another cat as Bubby was getting lonely. He too was fostered by the same lady who had fostered Bubby. Buggy’s original name was Yankee do to him being born near the 4th of July. He came home with us about a week later. He was supposed to be named Andrew, but when he got out of the carrier after being shown the litter box, food and water he just flopped around and wanted nothing more than pets and cuddles. He purred and purred and he got the name Bug because he was such a love bug.

Buggy
(photo courtesy of Christina McNeair)

Miss Bitty was an accident – I say that in the most loving way possible- we had Bubby & Buggy for a year now, and we were honestly just looking at Petsmart and saw a scared little fluff ball of a kitten. She had just 9 weeks old, she had her shots and her spay surgery and after hearing about her rough start in life we adopted her without hesitation. Her original name was Jesse as she walked around like she owned her foster dad’s place. We wanted to call her Katie, but because she was so small we started calling her bit, then bit-bit, then bitty and all various forms of bit. She hid behind the washer and dryer for a few days petrified of the boys, but after a while she decided the place was hers. She used to play fetch with a pink sparkle mouse and loved to bring it to bed and want us to play with her. Her life was a very short one as she passed away Jan 8th of this year do to complications from her auto immune disease, she was only 3. She would have been 4 in April.

Miss. Bitty
(photo courtesy of Christina McNeair)

Boo (Boudreaux) was a foster of Miss Diane’s all the way up on Ohio. She volunteers at a shelter I support and I was trying to promote the little guy (then known as Linx) to get him a home.. little did I know the cute little marshmallow puff would be coming home to be with me. While I was trying to figure out the logistics a very nice lady Miss Randy stepped up and told us she would be flying from Akron to Orlando.. that was perfect, Miss Diane drove to Akron, I paid for Boo’s flight and my husband and I drove to Orlando. We met our little guy at the airport and oh my goodness he was the cutest little cotton puff ever! He purred and purred as we snuggled him and kissed him and told him all about his furry family awaiting on him. He stayed two nights in the master bathroom as I was afraid the older ones would pick on him, and he was just settled, playing hard and zipping through the house. Now he’s over a year old, 10lbs of muscle and zooming fury and still is full of energy. What is one trait of each that endears them to you? Buggy loves the cuddles and doesn’t like it when I’m upset or sad. Bubby does head bumps and loves to be brushed. Miss Bitty loved her nip cube and cat nip in general and was the beauty of the family. Boo is just Boo, he’s curious about everything and is very fast.

Boo
(photo courtesy of Christina McNeair)

With your experience, do you have any advice for anyone interested in fostering and/or adopting a cat?

I don’t have any experience with fostering, I’m too afraid to get attached and want to adopt. With adoptions, I would say let the cat pick you. Yes you may want to have the cat that is pretty or has beautiful eyes, but the cats know who they want to be with. Especially the older ones, Boo & Miss Bitty were too young to pick themselves so they got picked.

What would you like to accomplish with your blog?

I would like to raise awareness for pets that are labeled “unadoptable” because they have an illness, or are three or two legged, deaf, blind, one eyed, cauliflower eared, etc. I also would like to get more small pet interviews, they are very much outnumbered in the blogosphere, and I want to get their stories out there.

What is your proudest accomplishment in your blogging journey so far?

My proudest accomplishment? That’s a hard one.. I was thrilled when I hit 1700+ few June 2012 when trying to find homes for 3 white kittens. They all got homes and I was so very proud to be a part of that. I’ve had the honor of doing 4 phone interviews so far, I was so nervous but I’m getting better. Then there’s me facing my social anxiety of being around people I don’t know by going to not one but two different pet conferences. I met so many wonderful people that I am in awe of and I know I just gushed at meeting Eldad Hagar (he’s the one who rescued Fiona and has the group called Hope for Paws). Oh.. I am getting of track, back to the blog… sorry… I raised $175 dollars for the shelter I support Pet Guards Angels from August 27-29. I did a fundraiser where I asked for people to leave birthday wishes on my facebook, blog fan page, blog, twitter and for each wish I would donate $1 up to $100. I had two friends donated .25 cents per wish, my friend from Rust Craft who makes catnip shrimps donated a portion of her profits from August to the shelter and Kitty Collage also purchased some items off of Pet Guards Angels Amazon wishlist. I also purchased some cat nip toys for some of the cats at the shelter to enjoy on my behalf.I think that was my biggest accomplishment.

Any advice for anyone thinking about blogging?

Oh geez, where to begin? Don’t worry about numbers, write because you want to write, and you have something to say. Numbers and things will come later. Enjoy your craft. Never stop learning, reach out to other bloggers, read other blogs and comment. I have learned so much from not only other bloggers but from all kinds of pet people. Watch animal planet, seriously.. I love that channel.. I could watch Meerkat Manor for hours. Find your passion, it may not be pets, it may be crafting, it may be knitting, there is a world awaiting your creative talent all you have to do is start sharing. 🙂

Anything you would like to share?

Yes.. I am so so sorry for babbling on and on. 🙂 I hope no one fell asleep. Oh and in speaking of sleep, don’t ever be ashamed of taking cat naps. I got a lot of creative inspiration from it.

Christina’s beautiful Miss. Bitty passed away January 8. Christina’s love and devotion for Miss. Bitty is proof of how a happy “accident” can change lives. Bitty had a loving home and Christina, her husband and cats had the joy of knowing and loving Bitty during her short life. Thank you to Christina for adopting Bitty and giving her a happy life.