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In 1994, I bought a house for me and my two cats, Tarzana and Jane, the two most amazing sisters in the world, who were rescued from the streets of Brooklyn. The house was a dark, down right ugly foreclosure with a lot of potential in a cute neighborhood of Boca Raton, Florida. Fast-forward a few years through a marriage, divorce, and the raising of two great stepchildren.

Now it’s New Year’s Eve, 1999. Finally I learned what Prince had been singing about all of those years! I was working a flight home from Rome, (I’m a flight attendant.) I had to help a passenger fill out his customs and immigration forms because he didn’t speak English or Italian, only Spanish. I speak all three languages so I was able to assist him. I learned that he was a Columbian sculptor/decorator on his way to Ft. Lauderdale to visit relatives after having decorated a disco in Italy. He showed me pictures of his work, which took my breath away. It was very modern and imaginative and had a theme of the ocean and light.

I jokingly mentioned that I had a very ugly house and could use his artistic skills. Two weeks later the work began.

The artist, Cesar Rey, worked for five months straight, went back to Colombia for a year and then returned to work for six more months. I explained that I was having a territorial problem with my cats. I had recently begun volunteering at Feline Friends Cat Shelter and had done what I’d promised I wouldn’t do….I’d taken home two very sick, dying kittens. I later found out that they, Angelica and Purricane, were scamming me big time because they proceeded to get very healthy, very fast. Anyway, Tarzana and Jane were devastated. They were eleven years old and even after a long, proper introduction they just couldn’t adjust to the newcomers. They hated the kittens and were so upset, they even ended up hating each other. I had spent hundreds of dollars with a pet behaviorist and even tried tranquilizers to no avail. I told Cesar that I wanted to expand my territory upward since I couldn’t do it outward. I wanted perches with hiding places for the kitties. I never imagined the end result!

I ended up with free-form geometrical perches up my wall and tunnels that light up for the kitties to race through. Pillars between my kitchen and living room were wrapped with intricately braided and knotted sisal rope and now serve as huge scratching posts that can be scaled to reach catwalks near the ceiling. I have silhouettes of shells drilled into my walls that light up as well as waves, starfish and portholes.

To continue the pet friendly environment I replaced my old, brown carpet with washable white pine Pergo floors. My sofas were covered with perfectly fitting, custom–made denim slipcovers. What could be more pet friendly than jeans? I bought sturdy cat trees to accommodate nine kitties worth of claws. (Yes, I took in a few more and lost the original two girls who started it all.) Tarzana and Jane made it to the age of 17 and died within just a few months of each other. I have a pet door leading out to a large screened in patio where the litter boxes are kept.

I could have spent a lot of time yelling, “No!”, “Stop!”, or “Don’t!” but instead I set everyone up to win. My cats are part of my family so I decorated my house in a manner respectful of their needs but still pleasing to my eyes. Now, on Halloween, most of the trick or treaters are looking for tours of my house instead of candy!

Sometimes it takes a minute or two for the slide show below to begin. Once it does, just brush by the pics with your mouse to see who and what you are looking at. Enjoy!