Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 336

Resisting the Pièce De Résistance

You may recall that a few months ago, I posed in this Mardi Gras/ Carnival headdress, and won a prize at a cat show! Well, that wasn’t the full getup, and my human wanted me to pose in it again, maybe for the calendar. So I put on the neckwear and the hat while my human tried to figure out what to do with the pièce de résistance, which is sitting at my feet.

It’s a flirty little mask. It, and the headdress, actually belong to a doll owned by my breeder, and we are supposed to get them back to her at some point! That’s why my human wanted to get this done.

I didn’t really like the mask. I mean, who wants to hide my face? That’s where all the good expressions come from!

I guess peeking out underneath the mask is cheating.

At least I didn’t try to chew the mask. But it was an idea that we gave up on pretty quickly.

Okay, I’m done now.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Resisting the Pièce De Résistance appeared first on SparkleCat.

Is This Really the End?

All weekend I’ve been hearing the same things over and over again: “This is the end of Summer.” “Summer’s over.” “It’s time to say goodbye to Summer.” Wait, have I done something wrong?

I thought everybody liked me and now they all want me to go away! I’m not even two and a half years old yet — how can I be “over” already? What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life? My career can’t be done yet!

What? They’re not talking about me? Everybody’s actually referring to summer, the season, and not Summer, the kitty? And most people consider Labor Day to be the official end to summer (even though technically, the first day of fall is September 22)?

I guess that’s true enough. It has been getting cooler at night, and even during the day. And my catnip garden is starting to get leggy and old looking. Summer, the season, seems to be coming to an end.

So it was all a misunderstanding, right? I still have a career and everyone still wants to see me? Nobody wants me to go away?

Well, that is a relief!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Is This Really the End? appeared first on SparkleCat.

Hollywood Princess Selfies

So my human didn’t buy me any toys when we went to the pet store the other day. But she did bring home something for me on Friday, when she returned from the second day of the film festival.

This cat-sized Hollywood Princess mug came from a gift store on Hollywood Boulevard. So I thought I would take some selfies with it.

It turned out to be more complicated than I thought! First, my human had to set the mug on something so it was closer to my face. Then I had to get the angle just right and set the timer. As you can see, I needed to make some adjustments after the first try.

I tried striking a glam pose with the mug because I thought it was appropriate, but it didn’t quite work.

Okay, I think this one will do.

I really do like my new gift mug!

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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Hollywood Princess Selfies appeared first on SparkleCat.

A Quick Stop at the Pet Shop

Before my human went running off to her vintage film festival, we stopped at the pet shop to pick up some cat food. It was just the local store, and I always get to explore on my leash.

It took a couple of moments before I remembered my favorite part of the store.

The catnip toy section!

It’s so amazing, seeing so many fresh catnip toys all in one place! I mean, I can see almost as many catnip toys altogether at home, but they aren’t fresh.

I could just bury my face in these toys for hours, if I was allowed.

So I don’t understand why my human said I had enough toys and didn’t buy me any! I mean, really, could you turn down this face?
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post A Quick Stop at the Pet Shop appeared first on SparkleCat.

Where’s My Fun Weekend?

My human is excited because she has a fun weekend planned!

There’s only one problem with this — it does not include me! I don’t understand why not. She says she is going to be spending a lot of time running over to Hollywood to watch old films, but I don’t see why I can’t come along. She thinks I’d be bored sitting in a movie theater for hours. Okay, maybe she is right.

Since my human is going back and forth between home and Hollywood most of the long weekend, my blog posts may be a little shorter than normal… but they’ll still be here!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Where’s My Fun Weekend? appeared first on SparkleCat.

The Awesomest Wand Toys Ever – and Giveaway!

You may have noticed over the past year that a couple of times my breeder gifted me with some really amazing wand toys. They are from Ceylon’s Wanderland and occasionally sold at cat shows. If you see that there’s a table set up for them at the show, you pretty much want to snatch up a couple right away because they are really in demand!

A lot of care went into making these toys. And glitter. And feathers. And Swarovski and fine Austrian crystals.

The toys come with several different kinds of teasers. The feathers, of course, and tinsel tops, and butterflies, like this one.

These are handmade toys, and no two are exactly alike. So they require cunning and stealth to attack them!

My breeder had this particular toy personalized just for me!

You can visit Ceylon’s Wanderland on Etsy.

There is also a European sales representative, and one for Australia!

I think these are the prettiest, classiest cat toys around, so when the Ceylon’s Wanderland human offered to do a giveaway for my blog readers, I was really excited! I thought she was just going to offer a toy or two from her Etsy store… but look what she put together, just for you!

There are seven teaser wand toys and a pretty comb! Four kinds of feather toys, two tinsel toys and a butterfly. One of the tinsel toys is a Muchness Wand with a red dot and LED light on the end.

You can see some of the detail and crystals on this toy.

And this one.

Look really closely on the wand part of this toy…

Yep, the lucky winner will get this toy personalized!

The Ceylon’s Wanderland human has generously put together this deluxe giveaway just for my blog readers — and it’s an international giveaway, so all of you can enter! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Link to the Etsy store is an affiliate link, so I get a small commission if you follow the link and make a purchase. The toys I received in the photos were gifts from a third party and not associated with this giveaway.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post The Awesomest Wand Toys Ever – and Giveaway! appeared first on SparkleCat.

Sorry, Kitties – Regular Veterinary Visits Are a Must for You! #AskYourVet

Here I am at the vet clinic, getting my rabies vaccination and annual health check for my therapy cat duties. In a way, I am lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) — I’m required to get a checkup every year to stay on the active roster of therapy pets for the organization I belong to. My human tends to be a bit neglectful about regular veterinary visits for young cats like me. And she shouldn’t be — young cats can become ill too, and just like cats of any age, we often don’t show what is going on with us. Cats (like some humans) don’t want to talk about our illnesses, and only tests can tell you how healthy we currently are.

Take kidney disease, for example. It develops over time, and unless you are keeping up with regular veterinary visits, you may not know anything is going on with your cat until it’s in its advanced stages. Yes, it’s more common in older cats — more than half over the age of 15 have kidney disease. But overall, one in three cats will develop kidney disease, and it can strike even before a kitty hits the “senior” level of seven or eight years old. That’s scary.

It’s important to know when your cat’s kidneys are starting to function less effectively. That way, you can take early measures to help the kidneys work as well as possible. I am a big believer in screening kidneys yearly starting from an early age.

Photo courtesy of IDEXX

That’s why I’m so glad to tell you about the breakthrough IDEXX SDMA™ kidney screening test. Kidney disease is a slow killer, and the sooner it can be detected, the better. The IDEXX SDMA test can detect kidney disease months or even years earlier than older tests, while kidney function is still strong. This gives you and your kitty more time to do things to slow down the deterioration of her kidneys.

Here is Smokey, my human’s dad’s cat (yes, she is still looking for a home). As you can see, she dislikes vet visits way more than I do. But they’re important for her because she’s a senior. Although she is happy and playful and has a good appetite, she showed slightly elevated kidney values at her most recent checkup, so my human and our vet are keeping an eye on them.

Veterinary visits can be as simple as a quick checkup. I did well at mine — as you can see, I am even flea-free! Or they can involve more comprehensive tests and exams. At your cat’s next checkup, ask your vet about the IDEXX SDMA test. Kidneys aren’t forever, so make sure your cats’ get the best care possible.

Look, I’m not that fond of going to the vet either… but if it means having a longer, healthier life, I’ll take it.

Find out more about kidney disease in cats

Follow the Pet Health Network on Facebook

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of IDEXX. The opinions and text are all mine.

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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Sorry, Kitties – Regular Veterinary Visits Are a Must for You! #AskYourVet appeared first on SparkleCat.

Binga in Dresses

Mere seconds after yesterday’s last photo, this happened.

She was hoping for treats, of course… so my human thought that maybe she should earn them.

Trust me, it took way longer to get this halfway decent photo of Binga wearing a hoodie than it did to get several good ones of me.

Undaunted, my human proceeded to put Binga in dresses. I don’t think she paid much attention about what might actually look good on her.

My human had to take about 80 photos to get a couple of good ones of Binga wearing a dress. She may know how to walk on a leash, but she is not too smart about posing in outfits.

I figured maybe it was time to show her how it’s done.

See how easy it is? You just wear the dress and sit there. You don’t wander around and keep demanding treats before the photographer gets the shot.

I think Binga would be wise to pay more attention to how I pose for photos.

It looks like my advice has fallen on deaf ears.

I had better get extra pay for this photo shoot.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Binga in Dresses appeared first on SparkleCat.

Cat Show Kitten Capers

The cat show I was at this weekend was in Glendale, which is just a short drive from where we live. They have shows at this same hall maybe three times a year, and my human and I always go. I don’t have to actually be in the show. In fact, I have more fun meeting the public and showing off how cute I am.

I did a lot of this — it always gets the humans!

Meanwhile, there were four Somali kittens in competition! Two of them were my half-brothers Sizzle and Rizer, plus another girl kitten from my breeder, and another girl who just came out here from back east to live with another breeder I know. That breeder is the one with my pal BJ, who I’ve sometimes competed against.

Even if you didn’t know that the blue cards were for boys and pink were for girls, I bet you could tell which ones Sizzle and Rizer are!

This is Vanna — she is number 74 in the above photos. A kitten has to be four months old to compete in a cat show, and she was four months and one day on the show day. This was her first show. She is very special. She’s my half-sister, from my father (Sizzle and Rizer are half-brothers from my mother)… and she is also Sparkle’s niece on her mother’s side! So there is a little bit of both of us in her. Her mother is retiring from breeding, and she will eventually replace her. But for now, she gets to be a show kitten!

This is all very new to her, but she actually did quite well! She was a little nervous, but she didn’t try to run or hide, and as you can tell from the group shots, she was even a little curious about what was going on around her. The judges were also patient with her. The judges don’t know the names of the kittens or cats they judge (to help keep things objective), but they are told how old they are, so they knew she was a newbie.

The kitten with BJ’s breeder is Kimmy, and she is a little older than Vanna. She’s cute too. This judge even had her standing on her hind legs.

Sizzle did really, really well! He was almost like a different kitten — not at all shy, and happy and self-confident. And he even looks more grown up. He went to his new home a week ago and his human will be showing him at a lot of the same shows I’ll be at. He and his human are working really well together as a team already. She breeds and shows pointers, and Sizzle is her first cat. She is really enjoying him a lot! He and Rizer were Best Somali Kitten three times each (they traded off the title from ring to ring), and they each got a final too. So it was a very good day for my half-brothers.

At the show, my breeder brought me this awesome skull hoodie! Wasn’t that nice of her? My human forgot her scissors so we had to wait until we got home before she could cut it out of the packaging. I think it looks really nice on!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Cat Show Kitten Capers appeared first on SparkleCat.

Show Dress Selfie

I went to a cat show yesterday, but I wasn’t really in the mood to spend my time in the judging rings, so my human put a dress on me and let me mingle with the public. I thought it would be cool to take some selfies while I had it on.

This one’s okay, but I think I can do better. Let me change the angle a little bit.

Sorry about that. I almost dropped the camera.

You know what? I like the other one I took better. So pretend you didn’t see this one.

My half-brothers Sizzle and Rizer were at the show, along with a younger half-sister! I will tell you all about how they did tomorrow.

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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Show Dress Selfie appeared first on SparkleCat.