Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 345

Cute Little Sun Dresses… and a Visitor!

My human was shopping for some lightweight red tights (which aren’t exactly the easiest thing to find in 80 degree weather), but instead she came home with these two cute little sun dresses for me. They came from Ross and they were like five dollars each. I know, because I saw the price tags before she cut them off. Anyhow, I thought I would model them today. Ignore the backdrop — it’s new and my human hasn’t washed it yet, to give it better wrinkles, or as she calls it, “texture.”

Aren’t the spring colors on this one nice and bright? It will look breezy and fun at BlogPaws in a couple of weeks.

Here’s another angle, so you can see the flower with the rhinestone in the middle!

I think this dress is more of an afternoon cocktail party dress — informal, but still pretty. Plus it’s cool because it will be hot in Phoenix!

Here is a better view of the dress. Can you see the smocking on the back? I thought that was a sweet detail.

While I was off doing something else, there was a visitor on the set! And it wasn’t Binga.

She didn’t know she was being watched!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

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My Human Voted and All I Got Was This Silly Voting Sticker

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

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My First Therapy Cat Visits

I know you all have been waiting to hear how my very first therapy cat visits went, and I can finally tell you! I can say right away, it was a little bit exhausting. My human and I went on both Friday and Sunday (we are supposed to do three visits a month and in June, we have to work around both a cat show and BlogPaws). When we got back on Sunday, my human was too tired to even pick up the phone and I napped a lot of the afternoon! But we took it easy and were back to normal the next day!

The very first day involved a lot of preparation. For the first few visits, my human and I get a coach, and the one on Friday brought me an official vest. It turned out that their extra small fit me perfectly. My human had to get a badge for the hospital and I did too! We both had to pose for photos for our badges. I posed really nicely for mine. I have to complain, though — my human’s badge has an electronic stripe to get us in and out of buildings… but mine doesn’t! Somehow I don’t think that is fair.

This is the place we are approved to visit right now. My human parked and took this photo before we went into the parking lot on Sunday.

Once we got our badges and learned where to sign in that first day, the coaches took me and the other therapy pet — a Great Dane! — around to different parts of the hospital to visit. The Great Dane seemed nice enough. Her human said that she is actually afraid of cats. I guess she is ruled by the cat she lives with. We went on a bunch of different floors and visited with lots of staff, including the human who poked my human for her TB skin testing. For some reason a lot of them were fascinated by me! You’d think they’d never seen a cat in a hospital before. We only got to visit with a couple of patients. I can’t show you photos of me with the patients because of privacy rules, of course, but I can tell you they were really excited to see me! The lady couldn’t speak hardly any English, but she smiled lots, and the man loved petting me. I ate treats out of his hand and he was amazed at how rough my tongue was. Can you believe he had never been licked by a kitty before? (In case you are wondering, the patients get their hands cleaned with wipes before and after the visit.)

I was a little bit nervous the first time, and wasn’t sure what was expected of me, but I was more sure of myself on Sunday. My human tested me periodically throughout the visits by having me do tricks for treats. As long I would do the tricks, or if I was distracted, at least eat the treat, she knew I was okay. In fact, during my second visit, one of the hospital’s staff members did high fives with me, and my human took photos using the lady’s own camera phone. Most of the patients on the floors we visited Sunday were sleeping, but I got to visit with some of the patients’ families and do tricks and take photos with them. On this trip, there were two dogs visiting with us, a Corgi and a black Labrador. They seemed nice too. I never get too near the other therapy pets because we are all instructed to stay 6 feet away from each other. But the dogs really did not bother me at all. Sometimes I walked on my leash just like they did, or if I was in an elevator or not going where I was supposed to go, my human would carry me or put me in my sling.

When we finished up, we stopped back at the lobby for a few minutes and I decided I wanted some belly rubs for a job well done! And some treats too. I think I will like being a therapy cat lots.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

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Catching My Breath… And Getting Interrupted

I really want to tell you about my very first therapy cat visits — they were Friday and Sunday — but my human and I are exhausted after a long weekend! So I’ll tell you how they went tomorrow, but for now I’ll show you what happened during yesterday’s photo shoot.

I bet you could have guessed what was coming.

The mark of a true professional is to forge ahead in the face of adversity.

Ahem, I said mark of a true professional is to forge ahead in the face of adversity.

I’m surprised that photo session got done at all.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

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Therapy Cat Harness Selfies

Check it out — I got my new therapy cat harness! Doesn’t it look awesome on me?

I even got a badge for the hospital I will be visiting while my human and I are in training for my visits. I can’t wait to tell you all about them! But for now, I’m going to do some selfies. I’ll put the iPhone on a tripod and timer to make it easier.

Oops! I accidentally pushed the button while setting it up.

Okay, I think this is a good angle. I just need to look up for the next one.

Um, yeah — I just need to look up and towards the camera!

This was a lot better! I hope you like it!

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

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Caturday Flashback With Binga

My human was hunting through some old photos and discovered that back in June, 2012, Binga was very busy! So I thought why not devote a Caturday to check out what she was doing that month? Here you go.

Just like every other month, she spent time getting in the way of photo shoots.

Here she is, all excited about getting hairball remedy. She thought it was a treat. Years later, my human figured out that if she fed Binga a mostly raw diet, it cleared up about 90% of her throwing up fur episodes. So she doesn’t get the hairball remedy anymore.

I don’t know what happened to this metal container, or where it came from, but apparently Binga used to sleep in it a lot. I’m also pretty amazed at how uncluttered the dining room table is. I bet that didn’t last for very long.

I wasn’t kidding when I said Binga spent a lot of time in this thing. My human has a bunch of photos of her in it.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

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Fashion Flair Friday

Do you remember the photos of me posing with my ribbons and at the airport a few days ago? I was wearing a scarf but you didn’t get a really good look at it in the pictures, so I thought I would model it for you today. It is really pretty, and it has a sweet pink flower on it. It’s kitty fashion flair without being annoying or constraining to wear. Hey, that rhymes!

It fastens on with some velcro and you can wear it over a collar or a harness. It’s soft, and I don’t know about other cats, but I didn’t even try to chew on the flower.

Here is a closer shot so you can see the scarf even better.

My human also took some outside photos of me with the scarf on. I think the humans who made the scarf should pay me to model for them, don’t you?

And just for fun, here is a photo of me giving a high five.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post Fashion Flair Friday appeared first on SparkleCat.

Fierce Hunter Kitty! You Don’t Believe Me?

What, you don’t believe I’m a fierce hunter kitty? Every day, I spend some time looking out the French double doors to the patio, in search of prey! Are you wondering what I saw above?

We have several of these guys living around the house and they are always playing together and scampering around the back patio and on the roof of our house. I don’t know why this one is taking sips out of the spa. It’s got to taste icky.

I always stalk these guys… and they always get away! Mainly because I can’t reach them through the glass. I know for sure I could catch one if I was outside. The only problem is that when I actually am outside, they are nowhere to be found.

People think that because I am a pampered pedigreed cat that I probably have less of a hunting instinct than your average stray tabby, but that is not necessarily true! Sparkle was actually a better hunter than either Boodie or Binga, and caught moths, bugs, and a couple of times, lizards. I’m the only one who stalks the rats that live around our house. Boodie is interested but she mostly hunts toys. Actually Binga is the only one out of the three of us that shows no interest in hunting — and she’s the cat that came from the streets.

We cats have the physiological makeup to stalk and ambush prey. It’s ingrained in the way our brains function. Our digestive systems are built to handle raw prey. It’s an important part of us that can’t be denied! If your cat doesn’t get any hunting satisfaction, she might act out by scratching up stuff or getting into things. Or she may become dull and bored and sleep all day and eat too much, like humans do when they are unfulfilled.

Here are some quick tips to enrich your cat’s hunting instinct — and she does not even have to kill anything!

Use an interactive toy, like a wand toy or Neko Fly to play with your cat right before serving him dinner! It will almost feel like he caught his own meal.
Figure out what your cat’s hunting style is — does she enjoy stalking things along the ground? Does she fly through the air after a toy? Does she stalk cat toys, then walk around proudly with them in her mouth? Make sure you get your cat toys that match her own personal hunting style.
Make sure your cat has a nice window view of critters, if you can. Give him a comfortable perch to watch them. Invite them to your cat’s window with feeders.
Never scold your cat if she actually catches something. It’s her instinct and she can’t control that. If she is presenting you with a dead critter, it’s a gift! Her feelings might be hurt if you don’t eat it, so if you don’t intend to consume the prey, then dispose of it when your cat is not looking.
Lastly, if you find a variety of cat toys left on your pillow, be flattered! That means your cat is trying to provide for you. Either that, or she thinks you are a rotten hunter and is trying to help out. Either way, it is a display of affection.

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

The post Fierce Hunter Kitty! You Don’t Believe Me? appeared first on SparkleCat.

About the Library Cats Baker and Taylor – and a Giveaway!

As you know, I have a soft spot in my heart for working cats (since I am one myself), and especially for library cats. So did Sparkle. Back in 2008, my human went to Book Expo America, the largest annual book trade fair in the U.S., and she came home with this bag with two mysterious cats on it.

Sparkle immediately made herself at home. At the time, neither she nor my human knew who these cats were, or why they were representing the huge book distributor Baker and Taylor. Eventually my human found out that they were library cats that lived at the Minden branch of the Douglas County Library in Nevada during the 1980s and 1990s, and they were named after the company. But for years, that’s really all she knew. She kind of wished somebody would do a book on these two Scottish Fold cats, and how they came to be involved with Baker and Taylor. And then…

Somebody did write a book! More specifically, Jan Louch, the librarian responsible (along with fellow librarian Yvonne Saddler) for bringing the cats into the Minden library, naming them after the company, and caring for them throughout their lives.

Baker and Taylor poster from the 1980s
Courtesy Baker and Taylor, LLC

The True Tails of Baker and Taylor is the story of Baker and Taylor, the cats, and the magic they brought not only to their own library, but to libraries and cat lovers throughout the world. It is also the story of a library in a small, rural western town, where cats mostly lived in barns and few people had ever seen any fancy breed cats. While nowadays, library cats are more likely to be rescues, back in the 1980s, Jan and Yvonne happened on the perfect breed for the job. Scottish Folds are sweet, docile cats. They have easy going natures and enjoy human company. The library hadn’t been looking for cat employees — Jan and Yvonne, both cat lovers, just decided one day that the library should have a pair, and they set out to make that happen. When Baker and Taylor (the company) discovered that the two librarians had Baker, but hadn’t saved up enough for a Taylor (they were paying for the cats out of their own pocket), they offered to pay for the second cat. They also put the cats on posters and merchandise, which were instant hits among librarians everywhere. Not only did the Minden library’s popularity increase among the town’s residents, it became a popular place for tourists, who wanted to see Baker and Taylor in person… in catson? I can never figure out the right way to say that.

While most of the book is fun and heartwarming, it’s not without its tears… we kitties don’t live forever. One of the nice, but bittersweet surprises was that there were several interviews with library cats in the book, and the very first one was with our old pal, Tober, the Thornton, Indiana library cat who passed away last November.

I think that if you love cats and books (and libraries!), you will love The True Stories of Baker and Taylor… and I have a copy to give away! It’s a U.S. only giveaway, but if you live somewhere else in the world, you are welcome to enter and have the book sent to a friend who lives in the U.S. You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below — good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: The Amazon link to The True Stories of Baker and Taylor is an Associates link, and I will get a small commission if the book is purchased through it.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The post About the Library Cats Baker and Taylor – and a Giveaway! appeared first on SparkleCat.

Cat Show Facts: Getting Judgy

If you’ve ever been to a cat show and watched the cats being judged, you are probably wondering what the judges are doing when they examine us kitties. And if you have never been to a cat show, you may be wondering what is going on, period. My human took a lot of photos of me in the ring during my Phoenix show, so I thought I’d explain some things. As you can see above, the judge has hold of my tail while she is looking me over. That way she has some control over me so I don’t just walk off the table. I actually did that once, some months ago. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to do that!

Often when the judge brings me out on the table for the first time, she (or he) pets me all down my back as she looks me over. As you can see, I am standing proud and confident — but what you might not know is, while it looks good to the audience and judge for the cat to be confident, if a cat is scared but otherwise is a good example of her breed, not being confident doesn’t necessarily work against her. Case in point: this past weekend, there was a Siamese cat in my class, and this was only her second show and she was so scared, she was curled up in a ball half the time. It took a lot of effort to stretch her out (which judges need to do with Siamese cats), but every judge was kind and patient with her. She was beautiful and physically a great example of her breed, so she made lots of finals, and by the second day, when she began to realize nothing bad was going to happen to her, she started to move to the front of her assigned cage in the judging ring and show some interest about what was going on. On the other hand, if a cat is mean and swipes at the judge or tries to bite her, that does work against the cat. That’s not the type of temperament you want in a show hall.

A lot of times you will see the judge waving a toy around in front of the cat, and the cat playing with the toy. While it’s fun and it makes for an entertaining show for the audience, the toy actually serves a purpose — it helps the judge notice things about the cat. Take this judge for example — she is actually looking at my head and ear set while I am looking at the toy. She is just using it to get my attention… which is a good thing because I never play while I’m on the judging table! I just pose and look at the audience like I’m on a catwalk. It’s okay if a cat doesn’t play, although some breeds, like mine, are expected to. The judges tend to think I’m a bit silly for just standing there, and I have to admit, there are even Persians who are more playful than I am. But what can I say? I just like people to look at me.

I have heard that I have a very good head for a Somali cat, and here the judge is talking about the wedge shape my breed is supposed to have. We pedigreed cats often get our faces squished and heads moved around like this by our breeders as kittens so we are used to having it done in the rings. The Household Pet cats are lucky — they don’t have a breed standard to match, so there is a lot they don’t have to be prepared to do other than be good in public and around other cats.

Here, the same judge is probably talking about my ear set, which I also hear is pretty good. We Somali cats have ears that are fairly wide set… at least, that is the breed standard. Other cats, like the Maine Coon, should have more upright ears. My breed has larger ears; a Persian’s ears should be small. All that is looked at in the judging ring.

Here is a judge looking at the ticking on my fur. Somali cats are what is known as “ticked tabbies,” with agouti patterned fur. That means each strand of fur has several distinct bands of color, which all blend together as a whole and sometimes glitter in the sunlight. Judges want to see good ticking on Somalis, and on Abyssinian cats too.

This judge is talking about my neck and chest fur. The creamy colored fur on my neck comes right up to my chin, and my chin is the only part of me with white fur. This is a good thing! You don’t want any white coming down into my neck or chest. What they call “high color” is important in a Somali cat.

My human insisted I include this photo, where the judge is holding my tail up and talking about the great condition of my fur and tail. A lot of this is up to grooming. My human works very hard to make sure my coat is in the best condition possible, and she works extra hard to keep my tail fluffed out. This all is is hard because she is a heat seeking creature and we live on the West Coast — these are not the optimal conditions for my having a plush coat. When the judge said nice things about my quality in this area, it made her really happy because she felt her work paid off.

When we cats wind up in a final, we return to the ring, and sometimes we just sit in the cage while the judge talks about us, and he or she only takes out the Best cat, but sometimes the judge takes each cat out of the cage to talk about the qualities that made her choose each one for the final. When the judge finishes talking about the cat, she will hold her up and say something like, “This is my Best Devon Rex and my 5th Best Cat!” or whatever breed the cat happens to be. If you are a cat in the judging ring, you need to be ready for when the judge does this — or you wind up looking a little awkward! In this particular ring I was 6th Best Cat.

I hope you learned something interesting from my post today!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

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