In my life "before Ginger,"  I never really cared for cats.

When I first met my future wife, she informed me that she had a cat—Ginger—that she had rescued several years earlier from a local animal shelter. When we started dating I rationalized that as long as the cat stayed at her home it would be fine.

When it comes to food, I think cats believe two things: 1) That you have forgotten to feed them today; 2) That you will most certainly forget to feed them again tomorrow.

“We really don't have time to train a puppy,” my husband Bob was saying into his phone. “Really? She's already housebroken?”

Next thing I knew, we had a puppy. A sweet, 6-month-old female Beagle with silky, floppy ears and one of those heart-melting brown-eyed gazes. Bob's friend had gotten her from a friend, who'd bought her for his dad, who couldn't keep her, and now he was trying to find her a good home. How could we say no?

Like many New Yorkers, I was stuck at home during the huge snowstorm that hit the city just after Christmas. The streets were a mess, my car was buried, the subways weren't running, and all the shops in my neighborhood (aside from the grocery store) were closed. I had no choice but to hunker down in my tiny, stuffy apartment with my cats.  

Cats are bold, curious, often fearless adventurers—part of the reason we love ’em. Unfortunately, that also means it’s easy for them to find trouble.

In the spirit of the holiday, we wanted to spread some Christmas cheer from some very special pets.

Watch this adorable video!

Happy Holidays!

Last year, our cat Harley “adopted” a scraggly little feral kitten that he found outside. Since then, the kitten, named Penny, has grown up, and her fur has grown out, and now she's a beautiful, bushy miniature lioness who likes to lounge on the porch railing and bask in the sun.

In summer.

Now it's winter, and it's snowy and cold, and I want this cat to come in the house and get warm, not just perch on the porch railing for hours, staring in the window at us like we're some kind of reality TV show for cats.

Every year for Christmas my mother-in-law gets my cat, Lucy, a cat-nip cigar. Lucy of course loves it, but with the holiday season upon us, I started wondering: What are some of the more off-beat gifts for cats and cat-lovers? Here are just a few that caught my eye.

Santa Hats for Cats
This is just too cute! Perfect for holiday portraits with you and your kitty and opening presents together Christmas morning.

If you’ve been reading our blog, you know that my 7-year-old female cat, Mimi, lost her litter-mate and brother Lubya last July. Mimi wasn’t herself for about two months, but she’s settled down; she’s less skittish, more friendly and talkative.

But I feel badly about leaving her alone for 10 to 11 hours a day while I’m a work. Still, when I think about looking  for a companion for her, I worry about how she might react to a new member of the household.

If there's one thing we love about cats, it's how they always give 110 percent to whatever they're doing right that second...even sleeping. (Well, especially sleeping!)

Check out how these kitties (from an inspiring email being passed around the web) have raised snoozing to the level of an art form: