Press Pawse: 24 Hours with Julie, Zeb & ZouZou

Greetings from Portland, Maine! I’m Julie, a content creator & strategist, cyclist, surfer, and, most importantly, caretaker to two extremely spoiled cats I am obsessed with. Zebediah and ZouZou are my babies, even though one of them is technically 98 in human years.

Zebbie is 17 years young and my husband, Chris, and I have been caring for him and loving him since he was a wee kitten. We found him and his late brother Zephyr, dumped on the side of a country road near my mother’s house just before Chris and I moved in together. I’d been a cat lady since birth, and I knew I wanted to adopt cats once we had our own place. Finding two sweet tabby brothers “alfresco” felt like fate. They swiftly settled in and their sweet, playful personalities blossomed. The boys moved with us from Maine to our first apartment in Boston, and then from Boston to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, and Philadelphia back to Maine.

They were there for our first jobs, our wedding, big moves, and our ups and downs - those two tabbies truly watched Chris and I grow up. While Zephyr was the delightful mischief maker, Zeb has always been a good boy in every way. He’s a sweet snuggler who loves a belly rub and a cuddle. Once a wild hunter, now you’ll usually find him cozied up in his heated bed enjoying a sunbeam. He loves his people and hates all dogs. He is a lovable but strict disciplinarian to ZouZou.

To our devastation, we lost Zephyr to cancer at the start of this year. After 17 years with two-cat energy, our apartment was suddenly so much quieter and we sensed an uptick in anxiety in Zeb. After a couple of months, we began discussing the idea of adopting another cat but hoped it would happen as naturally as when we found the boys on the side of the road. You know, let the cat distribution system take the wheel. Not long after, a friend posted about a mama cat with five kittens that her parents were fostering through a local animal shelter. We saw little ZouZou (then named Miso), and had a feeling–she was the one. A teeny tiny tabby with a big voice and beautiful markings. We had her picked out at two weeks old and after lots of visits, brought her home when she was ready in early June.

Where Zeb is a quiet old man, ZouZou is a whirlwind of energy. When she’s not playing in her Thunderdome (a ripple rug) and chasing her pink mouse toy, she’s keeping Zeb on his toes. Picture a cheetah taking down a wounded gazelle and you get the idea of what happens when they play, it’s both tragic and hilarious. And when she’s done playing, she’s a champion cuddler. ZouZou is a chaotic princess and we love her for it - and it’s been a joy to watch Zeb rediscover his more playful side, too.

While my days working in media always look a little different, the cats and I have a pretty solid routine. I’m lucky that I’m able to work a hybrid schedule so I can spend so much time with them. Here’s a little peek at what life looks like with ZouZou–aka Babygirl, Kittygirl, Zouz, ZZ, Tiny–and Zeb - aka Zebede, Zebbie, Stinker, Love Bug.

• 4:00 AM:

  I’m woken by the feeling of a small, soft, warm body flopping down on the pillow next to my face. ZouZou has arrived, and once she flips on her back and I give her tummy a scratch, the rumble of her purr kicks on. This girl loves a snuggle, especially at the crack of dawn and as close as possible to my face. As tired as I am, I don’t mind. I’m so happy she loves to cuddle so much. I try to doze back off while she wiggles around and crawls under the covers.

• 6:00 AM:

  After hitting snooze a few times, ZouZou decides she’s had enough of cuddling and begins attacking my hand. I try to redirect her with a kicker toy, but eventually I know I need to get up. Zeb waits on the floor near the bed, polite and patient as can be. The boy is a master of manners. But it’s breakfast time and Smalls awaits! They both love Smooth Bird and Ground Other Bird–although when it comes to Smalls, every flavor might be their favorite. As for me, I need coffee first. Chris is a chef, so he handles all the human meals while I handle cat care and feeding. I let him sleep while I feed the cats and have my morning dissociation time (I’m an extroverted introvert, so it’s vital for me to have lots of quiet time in the morning before the day begins).

• 6:15 AM:

  While I wait for water to boil for my coffee, I give Zeb his thyroid medication with a lickable treat. ZouZou meows demandingly from the sidelines–”Hey, where’s mine?”, she seems to say–so they both have an appetizer before the main course. I dish out their breakfasts–we love that Smalls is human grade so it’s not as stinky!–and spend the next 15 minutes running interference while I drink my coffee. ZouZou has zero concept of personal space and Zeb is too much of a softie to fight her off, so I try to make sure they stick to their respective dishes so everyone gets enough to eat (and not too much). This can be hard to do because they both love Smalls.

• 6:30 - 7:30 AM:

  After he’s done with his breakfast, Zeb usually jumps onto our dining table to groom his face. We long ago gave up on the concept of a dining room table. The table now serves as a cat staging area, my work-from-home space, and a mail collection spot. It is what it is. While Zeb collects himself, ZouZou begins her laps. She has a regimented fitness routine of morning chaos laps in which she zooms around the house, tackles Zeb, dives in and out of the ripple rug and her play tunnels, and tackles Zeb some more. While this goes on, I try to tempt Zeb with a stick-and-string toy and then go outside to water my plants and finish my coffee. I’m growing fresh catnip this summer, so I bring Zeb a few leaves to chomp on. ZouZou appreciates a catnip toy but judging by her reaction when she smells the leaves, I think she’s too young to appreciate the fresh stuff.

• 7:30 - 9:00 AM:

  After cleaning the litter boxes (ZouZou usually oversees this chore to ensure it’s done to her standards) and more playing, it’s time for me to get ready for work. While I wash my face, do my hair and makeup, and get dressed, Zeb retires to his heated bed in the window while ZouZou resumes her antics. As soon as she hears me open the closet door to pick out my clothes for the day, she appears out of nowhere to dive into the closet, trample over my shoes, and disappear into the fabric of my long dresses. She takes after her mother in the way she appreciates a killer vintage dress! If I’m filming a piece of content for my account, I’ll usually include her. I have so few photos of the boys when they were kittens in 2004, so I’ve been taking lots of photos and videos of ZouZou to document her kitten-ness. She’s growing so fast!

• 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM:

  While I run my own social media accounts as a hobby, I professionally work as a content strategist for a local agency. I typically hop on my first meeting of the day around 9 AM. This is also when the cats take the first of their many hours-long naps. What a life! They both curl up in their cozy beds while I take calls close by. I usually end up snapping lots of photos of them throughout the day–they’re just so cute and I’m a little jealous (…ok, a lot jealous) of their lifestyle. All the sleeping and snuggling and acrobatics you could ask for! They’ll wake up now and then throughout the day, Zeb for a pat and to see if there’s any Smalls left in the kitchen to snack on and ZouZou to run around and traipse in front of me while I’m on calls. I always text Chris a few photos of them, too. He appreciates a kitty update as much as I do.

• 5:00 PM:

  The cats continue to do their thing while I head to the gym, go out for a spin on my bike, or drive to the beach. They give me the sniff-over once I return home and I always wonder what kind of information they’re gleaning. I think they like the smell of the ocean the best but they’re big fans of whatever my bike smells like after a ride, too (grass and dirt?). I think it’s good stimulation for them and I always open a window for them to smell the fresh air when the weather allows.

• 6:30 PM:

  Chris gets home from work and starts on our dinner while I feed the cats. Tonight they are dining on Smalls Smooth Bird. The cute names of the Smalls cat food always make me laugh but more importantly, I love that it’s fresh and uses real ingredients I can pronounce. Chris and I care about what goes into our bodies, so why shouldn’t we be as concerned about what we feed our cats? They gobble up their dinner and I once again play mealtime referee. I don’t mind though, it makes me happy to care for them and to see them enjoying what they’re eating, even if I do have to redirect ZouZou away from Zeb’s dish several times.

• 7:00 PM:

  After the cats eat and we have our own dinner, Chris and I usually sit down to watch a show or a movie before washing up and heading to bed. If we’re lucky, one of the cats–usually ZouZou–will cuddle on the couch with us while Zeb dozes in his bed. ZouZou will typically hop up on the couch and flop as close to my body as possible, then flip over and show me her tummy (“belly rubs accepted!”). Before we head to bed, we give Zeb his second dose of medication and ZouZou always comes running because she knows she gets some of the lickable treat, too. Despite his thyroid issues, Zeb has only recently begun to show his age. It’s so hard to see him getting older and know our time with him is limited, which makes all the snuggles and scratches that much more precious.

• 9:00 PM:

  Unlike our cats, Chris and I are not night owls. After washing up, we head to bed. I usually read for a bit while ZouZou attacks my feet under the covers before deciding it’s time for –you guessed it–more snuggling. We try to lure Zeb on the bed too, but he usually runs off to the living room after his little sister jumps on him. ZouZou snuggles for a while before dashing off to see what Zeb is up to. He’s still working on getting totally comfortable with her and all she wants is to be around him. He’s done well so far and I’m hoping that, come Fall, they’ll be best pals.

• 10:00 PM:

  I shut the light off for the night and before long, feel little feet land on the bed and hear the tell-tale sign of a kitten in our midst: extremely loud purring. ZouZou has come to cuddle while Zeb lounges on the bench beneath the bedroom window. I doze off knowing I’ll be woken around 4 AM for the routine to start all over again. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.