Craft:

Susie Ghahremani of boygirlparty is well-known for her beautiful art and illustrations in our crafty world. When she's not painting, drawing, crafting or tweeting, this crafty gal also loves her sweet fine feathered friends and her cuddly cat.

Names of Pets + Pet Type:
Peechee - Domestic Shorthair Cat, Orange
Tom - Society Finch
Dot - Society Finch
Peter - Society Finch
Xander - Blue Capped Waxbill

Favorite Activities:
Peechee: sleeping, eating, following me around and looking for the perfect sunbeam. Occasionally, sneaking outside to eat grass.
Tom: Eating wheatgrass.
Dot: Taking baths, smiling (which basically is just opening her beak, and looking around like she's surprised).
Peter: Singing in a very quiet voice, preening (grooming) other finches.
Xander: Singing call and response with anything that answers, and flying around at the speed of light.

Favorite Foods:
Peechee: Orijen pet food & Feline Greenies
Tom: Wheatgrass & Millet
Dot, Peter & Xander: Millet

What do your pets do when you are crafting?
Peechee: follows me around, sits wherever I'm sitting and dozes off, or occasionally tries to walk over my project so he can harness whatever attention I'm giving to what I'm working on.
Dot, Peter, Xander and Tom all sing & hop around & sound very finchy.

Best thing about you pets: Every day they give me a reason to be happy, the finches are so simple and so cheerful - always doing something tender and sweet like preening each other or singing softly. Peechee is a gentle, sweet cat who is very affectionate and keeps me company during my otherwise lonely / solitary days.

If your pets could talk: Peechee: "Take me with you"

Can you share a pet tip you've learned since having your pets? I learned the hard way, but tap water -- even filtered water as we have used in the past for our pets to drink (which our vet mistakingly told us was safe & fine) -- has protozoa (aka trich) which can cause a fatal infection in animals, particularly small ones like finches. We only give our pets bottled water ever since & believe they have lived longer, happier & healthier lives because of it.

Also, a little drop of apple cider vinegar in water can soothe a stressed digestive tract, help with bad pet breath and even prevent kidney stones! Not every day, but once in awhile - preventatively!