
“I and Love and You”
A lot has happened since our our adoption story and the photos of Theo and Beau napping went viral. It’s hard to fathom the scope of the reach of these photos, but based on the lovely messages I continue to receive, there are a lot of sympathetic hearts out there.
Our rescue journey began nearly three years ago, when we adopted our kitten Charlie from the Humane Society in Manhattan. She came home to us teeny, terrified, and likely overwhelmed by her new strange home along with two year old Zoe and three year old Jack. We didn’t know what to expect from her or even what to feed her (she has always been super picky), so we nurtured her based on what she seemed to respond positively to.
Life with Theo started out completely differently. He was, and still is, completely attached to all of us. He’s in our laps whenever he can manage it, is eager and excited about almost everything, and is completely, lovingly connected to our youngest son, Beau. The adoption scenario was quite easy once we met all of the criteria, though I was admittedly a little surprised by the conditions of the Santa Cruz SPCA. The single story, ranch style house that serves as a shelter for at least 60 cats and dogs at a time is hardly what I expected from a community animal shelter. The staff is incredibly loving, diligent and dedicated to finding homes for their adoptees, which made our experience truly stellar.
Finding the right food for them has been challenging, as Charlie has shown a strong distaste for all pate cat food, and refuses to eat anything too fancy. She likes her routine and expects it to be the same every single day-I’ve learned not to mess with it. Theo is not terribly particular about his meals but I knew from the beginning that I wanted to give them good food. Quality in meats and produce for my family isn’t something I skimp on-we budget things down in other areas-and I realized that I feel strongly that our fur babies eat well, too. That means I was looking for a socially and environmentally responsible company as well as a quality product. This is something that I’m going to be buying and supporting for a (hopefully) very long time, so developing trust and a relationship with the right brand is crucial.
Enter Roo Ciambriello, my dear friend whom traveled with me to Guatemala with World Vision. She is an incredibly smart, funny, kind and loving soul that just happens to write the copy for “I and Love and You”, the pet products company. I immediately loved everything about the brand and the food-I’ve all but eaten it myself. How can you resist a brand that’s tagline is “Dogs love chews like moms love clean houses. Like teenagers love angst-y vampire movies. Like Prince loves velvet.”
Well, my Charlie and Theo love the food, the treats, and the supplements. Charlie even scarfed the pate, which blew me right out of the water.
I feel good giving them awesome food. They are also apart of our family and we all need them to be healthy for a very long time.
I’ve been committed to supporting the Santa Cruz SPCA from the beginning of our journey with Theo, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce my first partnership in raising awareness and support for them through Momma’s Gone City and I and Love and You.
Today, “I and Love and You” donated 2,000 meals of Nude Food to the shelter for their constantly growing pup population.
That’s a lot of happy bellies for a long time.
Not only do I love this brand, their philosophy and the products, but it is really, really neat that they reached out to me immediately to help the Santa Cruz SPCA.
My family and I are big fans, and not just because their brand name happens to be one of our favorite Avett Brothers songs.
To donate to the Santa Cruz SPCA, please go here.
I received some product for purpose of this post. All opinions are my own.
I like very much tour blog!
Why, there are not my comments here?
Thank you!
Cristiana
Oh, chills! So wonderful!!!
Steph
I am so happy you’ve put the word out there for pet adoption. It’s so needed! I love me some Roo, she is the best! Also, that picture of Beau and Theo at the end is PRECIOUS. Happy Holidays!
I share your value of of finding “a socially and environmentally responsible company” that produces best food to our furry family members. Thank you for introducing “I and Love and you” pet food, and it sounds wonderful.
As for supporting Santa Cruz SPCA, I would like to suggest that you use 12 most liked pictures of Beau and Theo on Instagram, and make calendars for sale online. Who can resist these two cuties?!
Happy Holidays!
Hi Jessica. I LOVE following your story!
The “I and Love and You” logo link is not working – it takes me to a Flickr: Private page. What a wonderful company with such a generous heart. My 3 cats and 1 dog wish they sold their product up here in Canada.
Merry Christmas to your beautiful family.
I can’t stop staring at the picture of that cat!
I would totally buy a calendar! These two are the cutest. Thanks for sharing them with us!
I have absolutely loved watching your family grow. The addition of Theo has been lovely. You should check out The Avett Brothers, I And Love And You x
I FOUND, I AND LOVE AND YOU, QUITE BY ACCIDENT. I (WE) ARE TOTALLY DEVOTED. MY FOUR CATS HAD VOMITING PROBLEMS- PAID HUNDREDS IN VET BILLS….UNTIL I STARTED ON THE WET CANNED FOOD.
NO MORE SQUISHING MY TOES IN CAT PUKE NOW, HAPPY KITTIES AND HAPPY HUMAN MOM. I FINALLY BOUGHT NEW CARPET!
I NOW HAND OUT SAMPLES TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR THEIR OWN KITTIES.
GREAT FOOD-GREAT PEOPLE.
If we had pets, I’d buy food from this company! 🙂
I admire you for combining your love of your family, including your adorable adopted pets, AND your passion for helping orphaned animals! Yeah, Jessica, I will follow your blog!
I agree about the value of a quality diet for people and pets. I have a rescued cat with a lot of health issues. He recently lost his appetite so I purchased several cans of ‘I and Love and You’ from my neighborhood pet supply store Personal Beast here in PDX. He loves it and is quite demanding of his meals now!
I adore your blog and Beau & Theo’s story. Thank you for promoting pet adoption and raising awareness regarding shelter animals.
I second the comment about the calendar. I would buy one! Can you make some in time for 2014???
This is super cool. I love that you’re using the press you’ve received from these photos to support the SC SPCA. Very cool!
My fur baby dog has a sensitive tummy and pukes up his super high quality expensive food. I decided to try raw food and so far ‘I and Love and You’ has done the trick. Using the dehydrated raw food and the ‘My Tummy Hurts’ probiotics and he’s doing good.
I love your story! Your blog is great!