In Canada this largely comes down to a question of intent. If you set up your website with the intention of making money from donations, the income is taxable. If you set up your website because you wanted to tell the world how fantastic your cat is, it's not taxable income. The same rule -- "are you doing this with the intention of making money" -- applies in deciding if expenses are tax-deductable.
Of course, I am not a tax lawyer, and the laws in the USA are probably different from the laws in Canada -- but I'd still guess that you'll probably have to pay tax.
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In Canada this largely comes down to a question of intent. If you set up your website with the intention of making money from donations, the income is taxable. If you set up your website because you wanted to tell the world how fantastic your cat is, it's not taxable income. The same rule -- "are you doing this with the intention of making money" -- applies in deciding if expenses are tax-deductable.
Of course, I am not a tax lawyer, and the laws in the USA are probably different from the laws in Canada -- but I'd still guess that you'll probably have to pay tax.