The True Joy of the Season

I have just spent the last half hour playing animated Jacquie Lawson Christmas cards for my cat, Kiya!

It started with Jacquie’s latest card, “A Christmas Story,” a lovely animated tale of a kitten’s gift to Santa Claus. I was playing it while Kiya was sitting in my lap. Suddenly she tensed, watching the end of the kitten’s tail twitch on screen. Kiya moved closer, tromping on the keyboard in the process, which is why the screen image seems a bit dim in the photo.

Since the card was at an end I replayed it to see how she would respond to the rest. She adored the movement of the image loading bar, and with her paw she chased the toys moving behind Santa. With every page turn she took in all the action, swatting at Santa’s clothes as he reached from behind a screen to prepare for his Christmas Eve journey, and when the card finished waited for more. So I replayed it for her, and again she enjoyed it immensely.

Since my eldest cat Shaman’s diagnosis of cancer a lot of my attention has been on him, taking time away from the rest of my animal family, so I felt moved to try another card on her and then another. She sat raptly through all of them, occasionally raising a paw to chase the images across the screen. I don’t think I realized until this moment how many birds and animals are in Jacquie’s cards—must be why I love them so much!

Besides “A Christmas Story” Kiya’s favorites were “The Olive Tree,” “A Winter Waltz,” and the unseasonable Halloween “Feline Fright” where two mice take revenge on a black cat. Kiya chased the black cat the whole time it played.

I’m really glad I took time from my day to share with Kiya; it was time well spent. The true joy of the season can be found in togetherness and playfulness with the ones you love.

To see more of Kiya, check her out on the front cover of our new book, Tails of a Healer. Kiya was born to be a diva, she really does think she is a tiger inside. I joke with her that she reminds me of Miss Piggy, it's all about moi!

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Rose De Dan©2007