Ha Ha back at last

Once again I have been a very bad blogger. Here is a belated Halloween photo from OldHouse Studio to make up for it. Enjoy! www.photosbyoldhouse.com

Also, if you are in the Lancaster, PA area come join us at PJs Pet Shop in Manheim for a Holiday Pet Photo Shoot!

Simon and Oliver

Simon and Oliver are a study in Kitty contrasts. Simon is an older, more reserved cat. Comfortable with chilling the day away as befit a cat of his age and noble bulk.

 While Oliver is a kitten full of the craziness that makes any kitten a ninja on sugar.

What I love about these two is that even though they are so different they make perfect cat siblings for each other. They also do a very good job of keeping things very interesting for their human's household.

 

The Catty Shack Ranch

Anyone who knows me can attest to my love of the furry feline and animal rescue. That also includes the big cats of the world.While on a recent road trip I discovered the Catty Shack Ranch. A big cat wildlife rescue that shelters and cares for lions, tigers, leopards and many other exotic wildlife.

Entrance to the Catty Shack

I was fortunate enough to be able to go on a tour of the facility and see these wonderful animals up close. Well, as up close as what was safe for both me and the wildlife they care for at the Catty Shack Ranch.

Cougar

Foxes

 Many of these animals come from people who had them as pets in their homes, private zoos that closed down or from a facility that was no longer able to take care of them.

Tiger

 

 

Tiger

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Catty Shack Ranch please visit http://www.cattyshack.org

Congratulations Danny

 One of my favorite cats at the Humane Society of Lebanon County has just been adopted! Why is this so special? Because Danny is FIV positive. What is FIV?

According to the ASPCA-
"Cats who are infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) may not show symptoms until years after the initial infection occurred. Although the virus is slow-acting, a cat’s immune system is severely weakened once the disease takes hold. This makes the cat susceptible to various secondary infections. Infected cats who receive supportive medical care and are kept in a stress-free, indoor environment can live relatively comfortable lives for months to years before the disease reaches its chronic stages.
Many people confuse FIV with feline leukemia virus (FeLV). Although these diseases are in the same retrovirus family and cause many similar secondary conditions FeLV and FIV are different diseases........

How Is FIV Transmitted?
FIV is mainly passed from cat to cat through deep bite wounds, the kind that usually occur outdoors during aggressive fights and territorial disputes—the perfect reason to keep your cat inside.

Another, less common mode of transmission is from an FIV-infected mother cat to her kitten. FIV does not seem to be commonly spread through sharing food bowls and litter boxes, social grooming, sneezing and other casual modes of contact."

If you are considering adopting a cat please consider a FIV+ feline. These cats can potentially live long happy lives if they find the right forever home!

Sinatra

While volunteering at the Humane Society of Lebanon I had the pleasure of photographing Sinatra. He was quite a charmer! But, he had a hard time turning off the love so I could take a photograph of him!

Interested in adopting Sinatra? Find him here http://lebanonhumane.org/adopt/available-animals/

Cats and Birthday Hats

While working on developing new birthday cards for my Etsy shop, I got some pretty funny outtakes when my furry cat model decided he had enough of  his birthday hat.

OldHouse Studio is on Etsy

It has been a long hiatus, but I'm back to selling handmade pet greeting cards on Etsy.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/110807098/cute-handmade-dog-greeting-card?ref=shop_home_active_4

A goal of mine is to help raise money to benefit local animal rescues and one way I want to do this is to have a successful business selling pet imagery. To start I am selling greeting cards on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/OldHouseStudio .

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/81805876/cute-handmade-cat-halloween-card?ref=listing-shop-header-4

In the future I hope to expand to more products and also be able to sell shelter specific products where all the money made benefits their animals.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/82223762/cute-handmade-mad-scientist-cat?ref=listing-shop-header-0

Click Here for my Etsy Shop - https://www.etsy.com/shop/OldHouseStudio

Shelter Cats hate Shag

The first photo shoot with the new background was a success! Even though some of the elements had a different effect then I was picturing. I had purchased a very plush and comfy shag rug to use for the flooring of this photo shoot. My thought was that the cats would love the feel of the rug and it would encourage them to stay right where I wanted them. I even tested the rug on my cats at home and they loved it. But....Cats are cats.

 Cherri (black cat) and Danny (tiger cat) were the most cooperative. I just had to lure them onto the rug with some toys and they eventually relaxed enough for me to get these pics.

 These two on the other hand refused to take more than one step onto the rug. I had to trick the kitten onto the background by placing a small chair for him to perch on. The other kitty just looked at my setup with a smug cat eye and laughed.

Overall I walked away with some cute pics. Don't you agree?

Cats and Backdrops

I volunteer at the Humane Society of Lebanon County by taking photographs of the cats they have available for adoption. The challenge with getting good, cute images of their cats (compared to with their dogs) is that I can't take the cats outside on a leash to more beautiful surroundings.  

Well, I could but I don't think most the cats would like it.

So I take photographs of the cats lounging in their cages, or trying to escape past me into the adoption room. :)

The Humane Society has recently done a fabulous job renovating their cat facility. You can really see how much the volunteers and employees love caring for the animals under their charge. The new cat adoption room is bright and cheerful. A breath of fresh air compared to the dark and depressing rooms you may find in other animal shelters. I could take the cat's images in there. But, I wanted to do something special.

Many times photographs on a website are the first thing potential adopters see. I want those photos to be so fun and cute that people rush down to the shelter to adopt, volunteer or simply donate items to help. With this goal in mind I put my creative hat on and went to work creating simple but fabulous mini studios that would be easy to bring into a shelter and would let the animal's personality shine through. 

My very own cats Checkers and Digby were the first to model on my new mini studio.

For my next post I will write about my adventure in trying out this studio setup for the first time in shelter!

Interested in booking a session for your furry friend? Please email me at oldhousephoto@gmail.com

For more information about the Humane Society of Lebanon County http://www.lebanonhumane.org/

Hello Blog-verse!
I have been a very horrible blogger person as I haven't done anything with this page in a while. If anyone out there is still checking on this stay tuned! I will be making in a goal to post at least once a week! For today enjoy this dog ice pop recipe I saw on Etsy.

https://blog.etsy.com/en/2014/how-tuesday-ice-pops-for-your-pup/







Photo By Heather Baird