Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog

Photo Bomber!

So my human took me outside to pose for some photos.

But when I started getting distracted, my human knew it wasn’t a bird. Or a plane.

Of course, it was him!

My human got the great idea of doing photos of us together. She did get some good shots before.

It started off promising.

But it quickly went downhill from there. He spent the rest of the time we were there wandering around and being a photo bomber.

Like I’d be posing nicely…and then he’d show up to ruin the shot.

Eventually my human gave up. Wouldn’t you?

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Cat Witch Hat Mix and Match

Just for fun, my human pulled out my witch hats, or most of them.

She also rounded up a bunch of Halloween dresses! So we played mix and match with them.

First up, I wore my “Wicked Cute” dress…

And matched it with my orange witch hat!

I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ve worn this “Witches Be Crazy” dress before! My human got it one year and proceeded to forget she had it.

I think it goes really well with my tiny black and gold witch hat.

I may have only worn this dress once, twice at the most. It doesn’t hang right, and the skull hands making a heart on the back is kind of cheesy. In fact, I didn’t even turn around to model the back for you to see.

I thought this cat witch hat improved it quite a bit!

Finally, we didn’t like this witch hat with any of the dresses, so I wore it with the cape again.

Did you like these combos? Do you think I should have worn a different witch hat and Halloween dress combo? Let me know in the comments!

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The Peach Kitty Co-Stars in My September Video Compilation

My September video compilation is up! It’s a little shorter than normal, since we did a couple of sponsored videos this month, which aren’t included. But I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that half of the videos in this compilation feature the peach kitty!

You also get to see the shopping day when I got him one of his toys.

Plus there are highlights from my cat show weekend in Ontario, California!

So I think you’ll really enjoy these! As always, the compilation is broken up into chapters so you can click around to any you missed. Enjoy!

And there’s a bonus! My human compiled some of my worst and funniest Halloween costumes too, and you can see those below. It’s also a short compilation.

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Outtakes With Big Attitude

You might notice that a lot of this week’s outtakes have way more attitude than usual!

Except this one. You didn’t see this one.

You can tell I’m very protective of my Halloween cat family.

I don’t remember what I was looking at…but it was definitely something!

I have no words to describe this attitude! Maybe you can help.

And that’s the end of this week’s outtakes! Let me know your favorites in the comments below.

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Living Our Lives and Doing Good

Since it’s October — Halloween month — I get to wear costumes on my therapy cat visits! Since we were visiting the big hospital this week, I wore my scrubs. If you remember when I first got them, they are made by a company called Figs. Unless you work in health care, this may not mean anything to you, but literally every single nurse I saw on this visit was SO excited to see me in them!

The first patient I saw was in the Cancer Center. The little room where the infusions are have curtains surrounding the chairs with the patients. So my human and I didn’t see the patient who said yes to me until the nurse pulled the curtains back. My human was very surprised to see a young man, in his 30s at most. But he was an enthusiastic cat person and patient. I was happy to settle down with him and I gave him lots of purrs and happy paws.

Next we went up to Pediatrics. Lately it’s been pretty quiet there, and this time they only had a couple of infants. My human and I were about to leave when a group of about a half dozen students from the Cal State LA School of Nursing walked in. They were thrilled to see me! They petted me and took a whole lot of photos.

Next we stopped by Rehab. We didn’t have a lot of time there before we had to run off to Behavioral Medicine. So I only got to spend real quality time with one patient, but she was a good one! It was an older woman whose son was visiting. She looked over at me and said, “See, I knew it! This morning I had a dream that I saw a kitten.” She was a nice, interesting woman.

Finally, we arrived at Behavioral Medicine at 2 PM exactly. They said that we’d probably only have one patient to see, but two patients came out. One man, and one woman, both of them cat people. So I relaxed in a chair and visited with them, and they chatted a lot with my human about the cats in their lives (the guy was even designing a tattoo of his three cats, past and present).

It was such a fun discussion that we ran overtime. Fortunately my human didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything later so we could stay. It’s important for us to make the Behavioral Medicine people happy because they are really not going through a good time if they are there.

My human worries a lot on the visits to the big hospital because she doesn’t want to run into any ICE people and risk being hassled. But she also figures that the best thing us everyday people and kitties can do in times like these is live our lives and do good. So that’s what we do.

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Wait! Cats AREN’T Curious? Here’s the Truth

You know that term, “curiosity killed the cat?” Maybe we kitties have taken it to heart, because a recent study from the University of Sussex, UK shows that we may be less curious than originally assumed!

Cats Show Less Curiosity Than Dogs and Children

Dogs, children, and most other creatures are fascinated by the element of surprise. Think of toddlers playing peek-a-boo, or a dog getting excited over the whereabouts of a toy. This kind of stimulus just doesn’t appeal to cats, as these researchers discovered.

How the Study Was Done

The researchers used 18 cats from 14 different households. Each one was given a toy to play with. Then someone put the toy in one of two boxes. The boxes were hidden away, and sometimes the toy was switched into a different box. Sometimes it wasn’t.

When the boxes were brought back to the cats, they were more likely to play with the toy if it was in the original box than in the different box. On top of that, they were more engaged if the person with the box was someone familiar to them instead of a stranger.

So the unknown was decidedly less appealing to the cats in the study.

But wait — there’s a reason for that! And if you’re an experienced cat owner, I bet you know it already.

Cats Prefer Routine and Safety

Cats find pleasure in knowing what’s coming next. We like having order in our life. It makes us feel safe. And when we know what to expect, we can relax, play, and have fun. When faced with something surprising, it throws us off.

So no, your cat would probably not like a game of peek-a-boo!

What This Means for You and Your Cat

Whether it’s playtime or everyday life, your cat will be happier if you give them predictable routines. Schedule play sessions instead of coming up with them randomly. Use their favorite toys. Follow the same steps every time you feed them, and at bedtime. Be their rock.

You know what happens when you do all this? It gives your cat the freedom to explore, find new ways to amuse themselves, and maybe even get in a little bit of trouble.

The truth is cat’s aren’t uncurious. They just need security and a bit of predictability to be their authentic selves. More so than most other animals. And I bet some of you humans can relate.

If you’d like to see more about the study, you’ll find the research published in the journal PLOS One. For an easier read, there’s an overview on the University of Sussex website.

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My Halloween Family

It’s October! So I thought I would show you my Halloween family. They haven’t been around for a couple of years so maybe you miss them. Of course you remember Dr. Bones. He made it through Covid, but as you can tell, it took a toll on him.

Then there’s this guy. My breeder gave him to my human. He usually only comes out when we need some musical entertainment.

He’s also the only one that doesn’t fall over when I touch him.

And yeah, here is La Suegra. I was kind of hoping nobody told her to show up. And maybe nobody did, and she just invited herself. That would be just like her.

And let’s not forget the kitties!

So which of my Halloween family are your faves? Maybe I will feature them more later.

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Kitty Couples Photos

My human took me outside for a while, and the peach kitty showed up.

Like, literally, he emerged over the hill out of nowhere and plopped down on the pavement. Can you tell how (not) impressed I was?

Anyhow, he finally got up and we wound up posing for a few impromptu kitty couples photos, which you can see below. I think you’ll like them! No secret messages because they are each a story on their own.

Did you like them? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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It’s Time for Some Box Play! (Video)

My human had a couple of really good sized boxes sitting around. She was about to put them into recycling…but fortunately she remembered that I hadn’t played with them yet!

So it was time for some fun!

Of course she shot video. In fact, she mostly just turned on the camera and let it run while I jumped around. You can see the best moments below.

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Silly Sunday Outtakes

From human error to silent kitty commentary to wardrobe malfunctions, this week’s batch of silly outtakes has a little bit of everything!

I look like I’m ready to take a bite out of the pet cam!

I had a great therapy cat visit! So I don’t know why I look so sour here.

This could have been a good action shot…but it wasn’t.

The one problem with that witch cape is that the neck was a little big for me, so it kept slipping around. Usually you couldn’t tell. Well, except this time.

I look like I’m acting in an extremely low budget Halloween horror film!

In addition to the problem with the cape, we also had some hat malfunctions.

And that’s it’s for this week’s outtakes! If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments.

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