Julie Blichmann Photography & Digital Art

08/10/2025

Sorry for the delay in posting another spotlight!

Today's is on Pawsitively Jefferson County TNVR program volunteer, Deb McClelland's pup, Karma.

Yes... we have a dog amongst the Tipped Ear Gang of Jefferson County! She was "elected" (by me) to be the sheriff of this group!

A "fun" fact about Deb... she's allergic to cats! Of course, that doesn't stop her from volunteering her time to help the cats of Jefferson County!

From Deb:

"Our Dog Karma:

A friend saw a mama dog and three puppies dumped on a country road, not far from my house. By the time we got there, a family had stopped and managed to catch one puppy, which they happily kept! We only saw one other puppy back in the thicket and no mama. Even with the food we brought, she was evasive until it started getting dark, and she started getting scared. Only then would she let us help her.

The veterinarian said she was no more than 3 months old. She was full of ticks and had a scar on her nose, possibly from a bite.
I am not sure what happened to the other puppy or its mama. 😪

But for us, it was a
"Good Karma Day,"
❤️🐶🐾"

07/16/2025

This week's Pawsitively Tipped Ear Gang spotlight is on Pawsitively Jefferson County
Volunteer, Mary Hogan's pretty dilute tortie named "Tootsie."

Her story as told by Mary:

"Tootsie came wandering out of the wood at my In-laws' house. She was emaciated. She walked right up to me and demanded attention.

So, of course, I had to feed her. After she ate, she went back to the woods. After a few days of feeding her, she returned. But this time, we found she had brought her 3 kittens with her. The kittens were only about one week old! We found the kittens under a bush by the house. We moved the little family into the garage where we care for them.

One of our little nephews named her Toostie. As she has one light colored paw. We found homes for all kittens and thought we had found a home for her, but that home did not work out.

So she is now a member of our family. She is very friendly and likes to cuddle."

07/10/2025

Today's spotlight is on four of Pawsitively Jefferson County volunteers, Niki and Lizzie Henry cats.

Scroll through the images to see their originally provided reference images and their final illustrative art creations.

Their backstory, as told by Niki:

Savannah was my 2nd cat. I had gotten Halo (not pictured) after she was stepped on by a horse and felt she needed a friend after the next batch was born. She lived til she was 21!

Mikey showed up at our house while Lizzie and I were hunting for pinecones and acorns. All of a sudden, Lizzie said, "Mom, here's a cat," and Mikey was rubbing on her legs. She immediately named him! For a few months, I secretly fed Mikey and Mama, who showed up a month later. We fell in love with them both.

Unfortunately, his end was fast and short at only approximately 3 years old, and we still don't know what happened. We miss him!

Tig had been around during Mikey and Mama time but it wasn't until (Paws volunteer/Trapping Coordinator) Judy passed, that two weeks after her services, ( she hoped before that Mikey and Tig aka "Fluff Butt" would become friends, since Mama had passed unexpectedly) he became friendly with me. So he just kinda started letting us touch him. Now he's my biggest baby and the best snuggly boy.

Char, well, he confused me cause he looked like Tig. You would say "hi Tig", then realize when he would meow it wasn't Tig! He wouldn't come near. Until one day, Mikey, Tig, and Char were all in a circle on the porch - I thought "wow that's weird they don't like each other."

Then I noticed something brown . They were sitting around a copperhead! I quickly took care of it so no one would be hurt, and well, Char must have seen that I saved their lives because 10 mins later, he jumped in my lap! He's an "I don't care" cat. And life would be weird without his 15lbs self ( wasn't like that til he found us)

Now it's just Tig and Char, but they have it made. Inside and outside, wet cat food treat at 9pm and snuggles and toys!

07/09/2025

The next two in the spotlight are Frank and her daughter Stache.

Stache is actually the one that started the project of the Tipped Ear Gang. Her name sounded like an old west gunslinger!

The story of Frank and Stache McClary...

Their backstory, as told by their human, Ronda McClary.

I noticed a couple of stray cats in the alley and started throwing some scraps out for them. One night, there were 5 or 6 in a circle by the trash bin, so I named them. This was before I knew a lot about cats. I named her Frank, and then she showed up with kittens. Having called her Frank for so long, I just decided that was her name. I started feeding her and the kittens.

Stache was immediately friendly and liked to be held. Because her muzzle was orange on one side and black on the other, I named her Stache and her brother Cujo.

After I got them fixed, they were kitty fighting, and Stache ripped her stitches. So, off to the vet to get stapled. She had the cone around her waist in less than 3 hours. I had to keep her on the porch till she healed. That's when she decided she didn't like the nasty weather outside.

So any time it rained or snowed, she and Cujo slept in the garage. Frank wasn't having any of the inside stuff. Cujo eventually disappeared.

Stache was a mighty hunter. She ran a squirrel up the light pole, and when it finally ran on the electrical wire to a tree, Stache was right after it. Never did catch it, but it was a great show for about 45 minutes.

Stache loved climbing the neighbor's tree. She would get so high up that Jim would freak out. She even managed to steal an egg out of a nest. She had a great time eating it.

It was raining one October, and Stache was in the garage. When it stopped after a couple of days, I let her out, and she went sashaying across the neighbors yard and never came back.

07/05/2025

This is Itty Bitty

Itty Bitty's backstory starts on a local farm.

This past February, she was trapped and brought into our local TNVR monthly clinic (I am a volunteer for ). She was just over 2lbs (the minimum weight for our TNVR). Her ear was already "tipped", meaning she had already been spayed!

Dr. Dressler, the fabulous Vet from KSU, confirmed that she was spayed, but discovered she had a Nasopharyngeal polyp that needed removal. She also determined that Itty Bitty was actually about six months old, but the size of a three-month-old! Dr. Dressler advised that the little girl needed intervention, or she would be unlikely to survive being returned to the farm. So...guess who took her home? Yours truly!

In the following months, the little girl (now named Itty Bitty Kitty), endured an ear infection, UTI and Demodex mange, but has happily overcome all of them. She does seem to have a possible inner ear issue, as she has a head tilt. It certainly hasn't stopped her from thriving! My "foster fail", Sasha, is her best friend, and they routinely chase each other through the house!

One of her many endearing traits is her meow...she sounds a bit like a goat!

She is one of the "members" of the Pawsitively Tipped Ear Gang of Jefferson County project I have been working on.

07/04/2025

Due to lack of interest and participation, the Calender Contest has been cancelled. Thank you to those that shared the posts.

07/03/2025

This is Itty Bitty, the star of this week's post for the Calendar Contest.

Itty Bitty's backstory starts on a local farm.

This past February, she was trapped and brought into our monthly clinic. She was just over 2lbs (the minimum weight for our TNVR). Her ear was already "tipped", meaning she had already been spayed!

Dr. Dressler, the fabulous Vet from KSU, confirmed that she was spayed, but discovered she had a Nasopharyngeal polyp that needed removal. She also determined that Itty Bitty was actually about six months old, but the size of a three-month-old! Dr. Dressler advised that the little girl needed intervention, or she would be unlikely to survive being returned to the farm. So...guess who took her home? Yours truly!

In the following months, the little girl (now named Itty Bitty Kitty), endured an ear infection, UTI and Demodex mange, but has happily overcome all of them. She does seem to have a possible inner ear issue, as she has a head tilt. It certainly hasn't stopped her from thriving! My "foster fail", Sasha, is her best friend, and they routinely chase each other through the house!

One of her many endearing traits is her meow...she sounds a bit like a goat!

She will be featured with the other members of the Pawsitively Tipped Ear Gang of Jefferson County on the Calendar cover. Your pet (all pets welcome, not just cats!) can be featured (in the same style) in one of twelve months!

Help support Pawsitively Jefferson County's continuing work to help feral and community cats! Link to the contest, is in the comments

07/02/2025

Contest is open! A $25 eGift card from PetSmart is up for grabs!

Today's the day, and the start time is NOW!

Submit your favorite photo(s) of your pet(s) and have your friends and family vote!

Each week, there will be an eGift card for PetSmart given away to the one who earns the most NEWEST votes (previous winners are excluded). There will also be opportunities each week to earn extra votes towards the weekly prize (and they are counted for the final tabulation).

If you are only interested in supporting PJC, you can reserve a grid space in the calendar.

Help support Pawsitively Jefferson County's continuing efforts to spay, neuter, and vaccinate feral and community cats!

For more information, visit:

https://www.gogophotocontest.com/pawsitivelyjeffersoncounty

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