Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 24

Making Lots of Kids Happy – That’s My Job!

I was so happy to have a therapy cat visit at the children’s hospital because we didn’t get to go last month. It’s an easy visit for me since everyone is so nice.

The first people I saw in the lobby were a pair of little blonde girls with their mom. I jumped up on the couch for them right away and they were so delighted to see me. I also saw a cute teenager who giggled when she saw me. She and her mother were amazed to see a kitty in the lobby.

I had a lot of fun in the exam rooms. My human even brought my bell so I could ring it for the patients. The first one I saw was an older girl who was so excited I was there. “She saw you in the lobby and was sad she didn’t get to visit earlier,” her mom told us. The next girl was wearing a head scarf and a little shy around me. She reluctantly put out her hand to pet me, and relaxed when she realized I was enjoying her company.

A lot of the kids today were dealing with fractured limbs, and getting casts put on or removed. One little girl I saw still had the remnants of her cast sitting on the exam table when I showed up. “She’s always wanted a kitty,” her mom told us. But she had never gotten to pet a cat before, so this was her first chance to visit with a kitty. She was a little shy at first, but warmed up to me right away. Her brother joined in petting me too.

I had several kids to visit in the surgery area upstairs. The first girl I saw immediately sat up and held her hands out to hold me. Her parents said that she was totally groggy just a moment before, but we never would have known the way she held and petted me. We also visited with a boy who lit up when he saw me.

We finished up in the reception area of rehab. A mom and dad showed up with their little girl, and the girl petted me while her dad asked my human all sorts of questions about the type of cat I was. A mom and her older teen daughter showed up, and my human recognized them from previous rehab visits. It was the girl who only had one leg. She had a new leg, so she was probably learning how to work with it. We visited for a while before going downstairs and signing out.

On the way to the parking garage, we shared an elevator with the blonde girls and their mom who we first saw when we showed up. So it was a nice end to the visit.

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Every Cat Has These Essential (But Rarely Considered) Needs

Cats, like babies, don’t come with an instruction manual. Usually you come home with a few necessities: a litter box and litter, food dishes (and food), a cat bed, scratcher, and some toys.

Coming home with the bare necessities for your cat isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Because a lot of what you will be getting them in the future depends on your cat’s specific needs. And you won’t know what those are until you get to know them better. It’s a lifetime process, and a rewarding one. But there are certain things to keep in mind along the way. Here are some things to consider that you may not think of right away.

Cats Need Room to Move

A cat growing up in the wild has a territory that could be as much as 750 acres. Even house cats who go outdoors may roam up to 150 acres. So your cat may feel confined inside a house or apartment — unless you take measures to give them room to be active. And this is doable even in a small apartment.

If you don’t have much square footage to offer (or even if you do), your cat will probably appreciate vertical space. Every cat should have at least one cat tree or tower, but there are other ways you could (and should) create vertical space. You could use shelves created just for cats. You could rearrange your furniture to give your cat the opportunity to spend time on top of a dresser or the refrigerator. If you find your cat spending time on a high surface, and it’s safe for them to be there, add a cat bed to let them know it’s their spot now.

Cats Need a Private Space

Even the most social cat needs privacy on occasion. And a cat who is shy needs a lot of it. Humans, on the other hand, want to know where their cat is every moment of the day. And it seems like every time a human finds a cat’s hiding place, it’s ruined for the cat.

But there is a happy medium that will satisfy both humans and cats. Let the cat have their private space. Once you find what it is, as long as it’s not dangerous for them, just leave it. Don’t make a big deal out of finding them there. In fact, don’t even make any deal out of it. Just let them be.

If you don’t want your cat to make certain places their private spot, such as under the bed, figure out a way to block it off. And when they gravitate to a different spot, don’t ever bother them while they’re there. Cats all need a certain amount of autonomy, and their private space is part of that.

Litter Box Placement Is for Cat, Not Human Convenience

Often people want to put their cat’s litter box somewhere that’s most convenient for them. Which isn’t always the best place for the cat. More often than not, the cat will tolerate it, unless it’s really too noisy, not private enough, or too out of the way. But why not make it better for the cat in the first place? That way you’ll have less of a chance of inappropriate elimination, and it may even improve your cat’s disposition. I mean, wouldn’t you be in a better mood if your facilities were more convenient and to your liking?

The key to good litter box placement is placing it in a quiet, low traffic area, away from food and water, and easy to access. An unobstructed corner is ideal. If you live in a small space without much privacy, you can add a pretty screen, both for your cat to feel safe, and so you don’t have to look at the litter box all the time. That’s a win-win!

Your Cat’s Needs Will Change at Different Life Stages

A kitten has different needs from a young adult cat, and a geriatric cat has their own set of needs. So your life with your cat will change over the years that they are living with you.

If you are bringing home a kitten, this will be the most time-consuming stage, at least until they are very old or if they become chronically ill. Hopefully if you have a kitten, the rescue, breeder, or shelter you got them from will fill you in on all the details. If not, there are a lot of sources online for you to research. And you will need all sorts of instructions on kitten-proofing your home, keeping them active and happy, and helping them grow up into awesome, (relatively) well-behaved grown up cats.

If you bring home a young adult cat, the care and feeding part is pretty standard…but they are often restless and active. Young adult cats especially will act out if they don’t get enough stimulation. You’ll have to learn their play preferences and lean into them. Setting up training sessions is fun for both you and your cat at this age. High fives, paw shakes, and jumping through a hoop are just a few of the things your cat will enjoy.

Older cats are quieter, but they still need physical and mental stimulation. So continue to do training and play sessions with them (or start, if you adopted them as an older cat). Make sure they have nice places to relax, look out the window, and watch the goings on outside. Make sure they have their own space in your living room and bedroom. Give them as much comfort as possible. Do regular exams with them — feel their bodies for lumps, check their teeth, and watch for signs of arthritis and other conditions that often happen with age.

Geriatric cats often need the most care, and you and your cat will probably have a close relationship with your veterinarian. If they are older and healthy, great! But if they are starting to suffer from a disease or condition, do follow your vet’s instructions. Do everything you can to keep your cat as comfortable as possible. If you’ve lived with your cat long enough that they’ve gotten to this stage, you’ve created a deep bond with them. And I don’t have to offer you a lot of advice…you already know what they need.

I hope this has helped, and perhaps given you some ideas. If I have, let me know in the comments.

The post Every Cat Has These Essential (But Rarely Considered) Needs appeared first on Summer’s Fabulous Cat Life.

My Latest Hoop Jumping Challenge

You haven’t seen me do any hoop jumping in a while! Sure, my human pulls out the hoop every so often and has me do some jumps, but I wanted to put in a whole session. So we decided to shoot a video and give me a variety of challenges.

So was I up to these challenges? What do you think?

You can see how it went in the video below, but I will show you ahead of time that one of the challenges involved me jumping through a hoop while wearing this dress! I hope you enjoy my practice session!

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Modeling My Pink Long-Sleeved Sweater

Remember last December, my human picked up a sweater for me during my disappointing Santa visit? I never did get around to modeling it! When she went to look for it today, she saw it still had the tag on it! So we thought it might be a good idea for me to model it before spring came.

As you can see, it’s a really good length. So many of my dresses and sweaters are a little short on me. This one’s practically a tunic.

One of the things my human liked about this sweater was that it has long sleeves. So many sweaters have no sleeves at all. Would you want bare arms in the winter? I didn’t think so.

It’s a nice sweater! I’m glad I finally got to wear it. Maybe I can put it into my regular cold weather rotation.

It was a pretty day outside, so my human also took some portraits of me. When the light outside is like this, I almost don’t even look like a real kitty!

Did you like my sweater? Let me know in the comments.

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My Date With the Peach Kitty on Video!

Were you wondering if there was a video of my Valentine’s Day date with the peach kitty? Because there is!

My human usually shoots video the whole time we’re out. To be honest, most of it doesn’t look that great because we’re too close, or he’s too far away, or a bunch of other reasons. But usually she gets enough for a video that’s a minute or so.

This one’s pretty cool because you can see him going in the enclosed patio. I hope you enjoy it!

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The Chaotic Video of Me and the Valentine Lobster

If you thought the photos of me and the Valentine lobster were ridiculous, just wait till you see the video!

My human has been behind the past couple of weeks getting videos edited, and this is another one that didn’t get done in time for the blog post. But when she finally put it together, she realized that, as chaotic as it was, it was too funny not to share.

I hope you agree with her! Check it out below and let me know in the comments!

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My Valentine Date With the Peach Kitty

I was wondering if the peach kitty was going to show up for a Valentine date, and he did!

I wore my Queen of Hearts hoodie for our date.

Of course he was happy to see me!

And of course we were both happy for Valentine treats!

When my human holds her hand out with a treat he usually comes right over.

For some reason, he kept sniffing my tail. That was kind of weird.

Since we were close to the doorway, my human tossed a treat into the enclosed patio to see if he’d go after it. And we both did!

Usually my human leaves him some treats in here after we’re done, but you can see that being in the enclosed patio makes him a little nervous. Still, we had a fun date!

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My Past Valentine’s Photo Sessions

Valentine’s Day always creates an excuse for my human to pull out her camera! So I’ve done a lot of Valentine’s photo sessions. If I included all of them here, this post would go on forever. But I’m just sharing one from each year. This first one is from 2015, and I was just under a year old. I even had a party that year.

This was from 2016. All my human had for a backdrop was a black blanket, and it was before I had my own studio.

I had a giveaway in 2017, and this photo session was from when I announced the winner.

Amazingly, I couldn’t find any photo sessions for 2018 or 2019, other than me posing with roses my human received. But in 2020, I did a photo session with this Valentine gift bag, and there were a lot of hilarious photos with various body parts of mine sticking out.

And the bag returned the very next year, with a different background and idea. We wound up a using a photo of me without the sunglasses on.

I did a couple different shoots with this dress and sign. The first year was 2021, and they were okay but not that great. So we tried again in 2022, and that’s where this photo came from.

In 2023, I did a cooking video for these pumpkin-catnip waffles. Unfortunately, they were not a hit, although making the video was very fun!

And I thought I’d finish with last year, when I tried wearing a Valentine’s dress for the peach kitty! He hated my dress! My human had to take it off so he would come near me. Eventually he got used to me wearing clothes, but my first time was a big fail!

So do you have a favorite year that you liked? Let me know in the comments!

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Hanging Out With My Assisted Living Pals

I enjoy my visits with my assisted living pals, and this one started even before I reached the great room. There was an elderly lady sitting in a wheelchair in the hallway, and when she saw me walking on my leash, she wanted to see me! So I spent a few minutes with her before heading off to see the rest of the residents.

The big room was full, and there were a lot of residents I hadn’t seen before, along with the regulars. The only problem is they were mostly asleep, even though there was a seniors workout on the TV. I immediately jumped up on the couch to visit one lady. Sometimes I do that, I just choose where I want to go and my human has to follow.

After visiting that lady, I also saw an elderly Spanish speaking woman in a wheelchair. The people in wheelchairs are hard to visit because their laps don’t offer a stable sitting surface for me. But I sat and let her hold and pet me for a little bit.

My friend who likes my high fives was on a sofa nearby, and next to her was a partly-blind lady in a wheelchair. This lady told my human how she used to have cats, and she was very happy to see me. She handed her phone to my human so she could take photos of me with her.

The TV workout came to an end, so my human took me over to see one of my regulars. She had been the only one who was doing any part of the workout, and it was just the arm movements. So she was happy to visit with me for a little while. The nonverbal woman who always pets me with heavy hands was also on the sofa, but she was deeply asleep. The last few visits I’ve had, she’s always been asleep. But this time, the staff was gathering up residents for a midmorning snack and she woke up. She reached out to pet me heavily, and I just laid down and let her. Then she looked groggily at my human with the slightest smile and fell asleep again.

It was kind of a sweet end to the visit.

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Matching Dresses With My Red Beret, on Video

Remember a few weeks ago when I was matching my red beret with a couple of dresses? My human also shot video! But it took a long time to put it together because she didn’t like the beginning and wound up reshooting it twice! But it’s finally done.

Since we didn’t have a video done in time for the original post, my human was only going to post it on YouTube. But once she was finished she thought it was too cute not to share here.

So now you get to see me in action, modeling these two dresses! Maybe you’ll change your mind about the one you liked the best.

So check out the video below and let me know what you think! Make sure to watch the end.

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