<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these cat sitters from the swift completion of their rounds. Welcome to Caturday.</span><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Courtesy of KXON (Austin, Texas) at:</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/local-cat-sitting-company-braved-winter-storm-to-check-on-clients-cats/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark">https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/local-cat-sitting-company-braved-winter-storm-to-check-on-clients-cats/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark</a></div><div dir="ltr"><br><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">——————————————-</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><h1 class="article-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Roboto Condensed", arial, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.1; font-size: 2.8125rem; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-box-ordinal-group: 3; order: 2;">Local cat-sitting company braved winter storm to check on clients’ cats</h1></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">AUSTIN (KXAN) — You’ve <i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">gato</span></i> be <i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">kitten</span></i> me. They did what, <i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">meow</span></i>?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Evelyn Shields and Vanessa Roy, co-owners of Austin Cat Sitters, both woke up Monday morning shocked like the rest of us with inches of snow on the ground all around Central Texas. Their mood was also dampened by something else.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“We woke to no power. We lost it at some point early, early on that Monday morning,” Shields said. “It was cold and it was dark.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But Shields had another job do as an American sign language interpreter at a local hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white;">“There’s no canceling that,” she said.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While at the hospital, Shields received many messages from her managers at Austin Cat Sitters that things were going sideways.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“One visit has happened, none of the other sitters can get out. They can’t get anywhere,” she said, recalling what her managers told her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Many of the animals’ owners were out of town when the winter storm hit last week and were unable to get back to town. On top of that, no other staffed cat sitters were able to venture out until later in the week to care for those pets.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields told her managers, “Okay, assign me all the visits,” and she started circling the city in a four-wheel-drive Jeep — a vehicle she and Vanessa bought last year in January. Their Prius did not start because of the cold.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields did most of the driving around while Roy walked to cats nearby. She braved snowy, sometimes steep roads to visit and check on their clients’ cats. The three photos below are from her drive on Tuesday:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cat tales<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields visited more than 30 cats on her own from Monday through Wednesday. She traveled as far north as Lakeline Mall and as far south as Slaughter Lane.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“We just went into focus mode of how do we get this taken care of,” she said. “We don’t miss visits.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields visited the cats Pumpkin and Spice in an apartment complex with no power. Luckily, they brought a flashlight to find the felines in the dark. This allowed them to also send photos back to their owner to confirm the purring pair’s well-being.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then there’s Ace, who lives in the Riverside area. He was in more dire need.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“I had become concerned when I noticed in his litter box there was a little blood in his urine,” Shields said. “So I immediately called mom — that’s what we do. Within the time I was on the phone with her, about five minutes, he used the box two more times, which is a severely concerning behavior and it was bloody. We made a decision that mom needed to find where to bring him in the midst of no power.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Roy and Shields transported him to one of two emergency vets open on Wednesday night and then back home with medication. Since then she has followed up with his owner and Ace is doing well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields also shot a video of her drive down a hill at an apartment complex to check on a cat whose owner was stranded in Colorado.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“I went up and down it on both Tuesday and Wednesday to visit Villy who had no power, heat, or water,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Conditions were so cold that Shields found Villy’s water bowl frozen over. She added visits as needed until his owner could get back.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Shields’ other cat sitters started helping with the load by Wednesday as conditions slowly got better later in the week.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Overall, she was simply happy to care for the cats around Austin.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“We’re always very happy to hear when our clients are happy. That’s a big thing for us. What we’re trying to do is take care of kitties in homes and make sure they’re okay,” Shields said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Hearing from the clients, their expression of relief, obviously gratitude is wonderful to hear, but their expression saying, ‘I didn’t worry. I was able to have a relaxing vacation cause I knew you had it. I didn’t have to have concerns about anything not getting done.'”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“It’s a lot of cat love for us. We are cat people and then just knowing that they’re getting what they need is what really makes us feel the best.”</span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">——————</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Photos . . .</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_01.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_01.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_02.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_02.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_03.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_03.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_04.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_04.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_05.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_05.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_06.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_06.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_07.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_022721_07.jpg</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">——————————————-</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><b>“Caturday”</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> by Linus Petit</span></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_by_Linus_Petit.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_by_Linus_Petit.mp3</a></div></div><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/">http://www.moscowcares.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>