My mom used to make this all the time; it’s a familiar comfort food from my childhood. (She never told me what a healthy food it was!) It’s so easy to make. Here’s all you need: 4 or five medium-sized … Read More

When Hans and I were out of town recently, the dogs’ schedules were disrupted because while we had house-sitting help, it wasn’t possible for the dogs to go in-and-out-and-in-and-out quite as often as they were used to doing. This meant … Read More

I’ve always been an animal lover, and along with that came a certain amount of do-gooder mentality. Before I accepted my animal communication abilities, I felt compelled to pick up every stray I saw and help them get back home. … Read More

Hans and I went to Canada recently. The first morning in Toronto, we had coffee in the Chelsea Hotel’s courtyard. The area was very urban, so imagine my surprise when a raccoon strolled across the courtyard like he owned the … Read More

I’ve been making my own Kombucha for years, and it’s usually better than any you can buy in a store. Plus, the store-bought Kombucha is expensive while mine’s close-to free. Kombucha scobys multiply, and I always keep a scoby hotel … Read More

It’s been raining a lot here. Gully-washers pour down for hours just about every day. The snakes that live in the swamp between our neighborhood and the railroad tracks get flooded out of their homes and move uphill, finding themselves … Read More

The other two birds who live on Natalie’s lanai are the pigeons she is raising. I asked what he thought of them. “They’re my friends. They want me to be with them. They love me.” A couple of doves come … Read More

Our daughter Natalie brought two orphaned baby pigeons home to her apartment. They hardly had any feathers at first, but after a lot of hand-feeding and a little TLC, they finally began to look like themselves. One’s all white, and … Read More

As an animal communicator, I get this question on a regular basis: Q:  My dog chews on things. It seems almost neurotic. She is showing me an image of her tearing up a T-shirt. Her primary emotions when she does … Read More

A few weeks ago, I met a new friend who’s an animal communicator, blogger, and vlogger (a new word I’ve had to learn). She contacted me to see if I’d like to be a guest on her blog/vlog, and when … Read More

Every summer evening when I was a kid, fireflies made our backyard sparkle like Christmas twinkle-lights against the black velvet darkness. As magical as faeries flitting through the humid night sky, the fireflies brought the stars above within reach, tying … Read More

Copyright © 2019 by Dana Cutts, Shannon Cuttswww.loveandfeathersandshells.com

A while back, I was contacted by a client who had brought a new cat into her home, and it wasn’t long before all of her cats started peeing everywhere. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s all it takes. One cat becomes the … Read More

Cats are notorious for peeing outside the litter box. It’s the number one reason I’m asked to talk with someone’s cats. To us humans, it seems like such a deliberately spiteful act. We give them a litter box, we keep … Read More

When I do a communication session for a client’s animal, it often happens that the questions I’m given assume something that isn’t so. When I was asked to communicate with an anxious dog who always horned in on any affection … Read More

Slinky is a “somebody do something” dog in Demopolis. She lived her life on a chain with minimum shelter. We got multiple calls on her over the years. Animal control got multiple reports about her as well. It was heartbreaking … Read More

Me: Where are you?  Lost Cat: I’m in a house with wood everywhere, and it smells like mice and sometimes I get to catch a mouse. I like catching mice. I get to go outside now, and sometimes it smells … Read More

This month’s recipe is brought to us by Lisa Miller, who is featured in the Author Spotlight. A slice of pecan pie sounds like the perfect nibble to help all writers craft their stories with the help of Lisa’s wonderful … Read More

I know that a lot of my newsletter readers are interested in the writing process, and many are writers too, so I’m delighted to introduce y’all to Lisa Miller, who teaches story structure in a way that makes plotting accessible, … Read More

In a pack of dogs that live with humans, the dog who’s been in the family the longest is often the alpha—the most beloved by both dogs and humans. After all, they’ve been there longer and have shared more experiences … Read More

Sardis came to us as a stray, but we later found out he was abandoned by his owner. Like most huskies, he is full of personality and loves to “talk”. We’ve not had any issues with him trying to escape. … Read More

I often get to do animal communication for people who are about to become parents and are wondering whether their beloved animal companion will accept the little human newcomer. My personal opinion is that most animal companions will love and … Read More

Recently, I was asked to communicate with two dogs, a brother and sister who had crossed the Rainbow Bridge within months of each other. Their human was devastated, and wanted to know (among other things) if they would send him … Read More

Bellona, also lovingly known as Mama B., has been with us since April of 2021. She is 4-5 years old, 58lbs (a little on the fluffy side), spayed, had age-appropriate vaccinations and is heartworm negative. She came to us from … Read More

Introducing a new dog or cat into the family can be a tricky process. It’s not a one-and-done sort of thing that’s accomplished the first time everyone meets. It’s more like a training period in which the new animal learns … Read More

Popcorn for bingeing your favorite shows on Netflix while the rainy-bad-cold weather can still justify it!  Since I’ve learned that I’m allergic to just about everything, I’ve had to cut out–among other things–dairy. I’m also allergic to soy, which a … Read More

I fell in love with Sharon Sala’s books way back when. The first book I read of hers was Sweet Baby, a romantic suspense with psychologically and emotionally complex characters that stuck in my head long after I finished reading. … Read More

The last time I was here, I was babysitting my granddogters for a few days. On one of our nightly walks, Juniper stuck her nose into a sand crab’s hole, then fell back with a dramatic yelp when the crab … Read More

Five weeks ago we pulled Dylan from Demopolis animal control. She was absolutely terrified of everything and the whole world was a scary place. Dylan went to a foster home about a month ago. She’s incredibly fortunate to have such … Read More