Step by step, The Art of Raising a Kitten is an insightful, integrated primer on kitten care by Sally E. Bahner. And Sofiya, Mollie, Tekla, and Celica Blue. And many other much-loved feline family members gracing Sally’s life through the years, including Ashley, the first of her gorgeous Russian blue cats.

Domestic short hair or special breed, no matter: for Sally, each kitten and cat that’s come into her life has provided its own master class, helping to make her an expert on cat care and behavior.

“I consider myself equal-opportunity. We’ve had hand-me-downs, strays, shelter kitties, all of the above, along with Russian blues. I think we’ve had an equal number of both, at this point,” says Sally, a Branford resident.

Now, the award-winning member of Cat Writer’s Association, long-serving pet media publication contributor, and local journalist has crossed her “last frontier”—authoring a book on, what else? Kittens.

“The book is a primer on kittens,” Sally explains. “Whether you want to foster, or whether you’ve rescued a litter, or you just want to go about learning about kittens from day one. It takes you through week by week, month by month.”

The compact book also discusses general cat care, nutrition, health care, and health issues from a holistic approach. Sally thanks pet media expert and content manager Mallory Crusta of Cliverse Media for approaching her with the idea for the book, published on International Cat Day, Aug. 8, 2022.

Sally’s also grateful to have had the work reviewed by friend and retired holistic veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve of Colorado.

“We’ve been friends forever. She ‘vetted’ the medical part of the book,” says Sally.

Sally’s interest in holistic cat care isn’t new.

“That’s been my bent all along. Going back 20 years, at least, I was editor of a publication called the Whole Cat Journal. And that definitely had a holistic bent, and got me on my holistic bent, in terms of cat care.”

That cat-centric publication was ahead of its time, Sally notes.

“Even now, I think people look at cats as being secondary to dogs, it seems. I notice a lot of studies on diseases concentrate on dogs, and, ‘Oh, by the way, cats.’ That’s sort of why I made it my mission to concentrate on cats.”

The Art of Raising a Kitten begins with what to expect of an expectant cat. From there, Sally details the critical early months of kitten care. She points the reader to developmental milestones and gives tips on aspects including socialization, nutrition, and determining how a kitten’s lifestyle (for example, indoor living vs. outdoor) can guide health care decisions such as vaccinations. Sally also shares wonderful photos of her kittens and others to help illustrate stages of development.

Opening Her Heart and Home

Through the years, Sally’s opened her heart and home to numerous feline family members and as many as four to six cats at once. At present, there’s just Sofiya, a Russian blue imported from the Netherlands. Sofiya had shared Sally’s home with the late Mollie, a rescue, and Tekla, a Russian blue from the noted Katenzeberg Cattery of Cheney, Washington.

“Tekla has an interesting history in that she was the last of the Katzenberg cats from Ingeborg Urcia. Ingeborg literally wrote the book on Russian blues,” says Sally.

Happily for Sally and her husband, Paul, another Russian blue from Sofiya’s breeder, is due to arrive March 11 to join the family. Years ago, Paul surprised Sally with her first Russian blue, Ashley. Over many years, the couple has spent some long and triumphant hours traveling to bring home additional members of the breed.

The Writing Connection

Sally’s blog, exclusivelycats.wordpress.com, is “dedicated to cherishing everything feline.” Her voice comes through as an advocate for providing a nurturing, loving, inclusive home for feline family members.

In an interesting writing connection, with the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sally put up a blog post entitled “The Russian (Blue) Connection to Ukraine.” In it, she shared how the Russian blue community on Facebook has connected her with friends from Finland, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia, South Africa, “...and yes, Russia.”

In 2015, Sally began a friendship with a Russian breeder who sent her Celica Blue from Kaliningrad, Russia. Their friendship deepened as they stayed in touch online, including during the tribulations of eventually losing Celica Blue to lymphoma.

“We were very, very close,” says Sally. “And when the war broke out, she was, and is, for Putin, 100%. And what’s sad is that she is a journalist, by trade, [but] her media perspective has been what has been allowed to be viewed in Russia.”

Another Russian blue connection for Sally is a breeder in Ukraine.

“I’m still in touch with Elena Leus, who lives in Kharkiv. She has remained in Ukraine and Kharkiv during the whole war. So far, she and her family and her cats have remained safe. I check in with her every couple of weeks.”

Locally, Sally’s a member of The Women’s Political Salon. In 2022, the Branford group arranged two “Stand with Ukraine” public awareness gatherings on the steps of the Blackstone Library. On March 6 (after press time for this story), the salon invited Ukrainian journalist and Branford resident Iryna Solomko Bonenberger to the Blackstone to lead a conversation with two former Ukrainian female Russian prisoners.

Author’s Talks in North Branford and Branford

In the coming weeks, Sally will be visiting local libraries, where she’ll discuss The Art of Raising a Kitten. On Wednesday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m., she’ll give a talk at North Branford’s Atwater Library (registration required, call 203-315-6020 or visit nbranfordlibraries.org).

On Saturday, April 1, from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Blackstone Library auditorium, Sally’s talk will include a very special guest: Sofiya. Registration is required, visit events at blackstonelibrary.com to sign up.

Sally feels early kitten socialization is critical to having happy, confident felines like four-year-old Sofiya.

“The key for raising a kitten, and one of the things I’ve really learned from my own cats, is the importance of socialization,” she says.

One of Sally’s favorite observations is from cat behaviorist and author Dr. Dennis Turner, who has found cats respond, in kind, to the amount of attention they’re given.

“I think they really thrive when you do give them the attention,” says Sally.

“The Art of Raising a Kitten” is available on Amazon.