Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 347

Playing Dress Up

During last weekend’s cat show, one of the vendors was selling cute ties and bowties for cats, and my human bought one of each, even though I’m a girl cat. Sometimes it is fun to wear things that are usually for the opposite sex.

She posed me really quickly in them while we were at the cat show, but she thought it might be nice for me to model them in a nicer setting, so a few days later, she set up a backdrop for me in the living room.

I like this look, don’t you?

I like this too — it’s dressy, but simple.

And for something a little more girly, my human found this cute little gingham dress last time she was at the pet store getting kitty litter.

She had me pose lying down so you could get a better look at it. Doesn’t my tail look fluffy? That’s because I was waving it around — look more closely and you can see it’s really blurry.

Oh yeah, I also to play hide and seek in the backdrop! That was fun too.
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

What If My Human Had Found Sparkle’s Kidney Disease Sooner? #askyourvet

My human has had two cats with kidney disease, and one was the founder of this blog, Sparkle. Anyone whose cat has suffered from this awful illness knows how heartbreaking it is. My human struggled to get Sparkle to eat, and tried everything, from medicine prescribed at the vet to holistic remedies she found online. Few remedies did much, and Sparkle only got sicker. My human’s first cat with kidney failure needed fluids and she had to take him to the veterinary clinic to have it done, even though she really couldn’t afford it at the time. With Sparkle, she learned how to do it on her own, but the truth is, she was not very good at it.

Kidney disease is a leading cause of death in cats, and that is a big problem because until recently, it has only shown up in tests at its later stages, when most of the damage has been done. That’s awful when you see the statistics: one in three cats will suffer from kidney disease, and more than half of cats over the age of 15 are afflicted! Since Binga and Boodie are both over 15, my human is very concerned about them, even though they are healthy right now.

One in three cats are likely to develop kidney disease in their lifetime
Image courtesy of IDEXX

What if you were able to detect kidney disease at an earlier stage? When my human heard about the IDEXX SDMA™ Kidney Screening Test, she got very excited. It’s a breakthrough new test for chronic kidney disease in cats that can detect it months, or even years earlier than previously. The sooner kidney disease is discovered, the more that can be done for a cat while kidney function is still intact.

Kidney disease is a silent killer — we kitties don’t often tell you when we’re not feeling right and we are masters of hiding symptoms of illnesses. A cat may not reveal the presence of kidney disease until their kidneys have lost most of their function and it’s far too late. The IDEXX SDMA Kidney Screening Test could be your first clue that something is wrong with your cat’s kidneys. Your cat can have a long and healthy life, even with kidney disease, if it is discovered soon enough.

Next time you speak with your vet, or bring your cat in for a visit, ask about the IDEXX SDMA Kidney Screening Test.

To learn more about IDEXX SDMA, and to keep updated, follow the Pet Health Network on Facebook.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pet Health Network®. The opinions and text are all mine.

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

You’ve Gotta Work for the Goods

You know how I always start off my cat show posts by posing nicely in my Sturdi enclosure? Well, I don’t always make it as easy as it looks! Like this past weekend. My human had to take all the photos in this blog post (plus a couple of others that were too repetitive) to get the one picture that opened up my show report.

If she doesn’t have to work for it, she won’t appreciate it!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

The Faces of Nip

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

To Show or Not to Show?

So, I had a cat show this weekend. It was local, in Arcadia, so I didn’t get to stay in an awesome hotel room.

But I did get bacon! The cat benched next to me was my Instagram pal Zombie, and his human had some extra and let me have a bite!

The vendors at the show had some awesome stuff this time. Check out this amazing cat tree! I’m still bummed my human didn’t get it.

She didn’t get these cute cat socks either. Which was silly of her. She pretty much only wears black socks — but she could have picked up a pair or two to add to a future giveaway package.

The show started out well with a couple of my favorite judges but it went downhill after that. Most of the cats in the Longhaired Alter Class were kind of grumpy and I was not having a good time.

By the end of the first day, I was unhappy enough that my human decided I did not have to go to the judging rings on the second day. Instead, she brought me in one of my fancy harnesses and let me hang out and visit with people instead.

I also got to wear one of my pretty dresses and do tricks! My benching area as at the end of a row and I had a little extra space to show off when I felt like it.

And when I was in my enclosure, I kicked back and asked for belly rubs. So it turned out to be a much better day!

And the show part wasn’t a total bust — I did manage to get three finals the first day!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

All-Wet Selfies

Because I had a cat show this weekend, I needed to get a bath. While it’s not exactly fun, I’m glad I’ve had so much practice because I will need to be bathed for my therapy cat visits. It won’t be as big a deal as my show baths, and if I’ve recently had a show bath I can just be cleaned with an unscented baby wipe, but at least I am used to the whole bath thing.

Anyway, enough about that. Being wet won’t stop me from doing a selfie for you today! Let me put the iPhone into selfie mode.

I think I’ve got the angle just right….

And there you have it!

And here I am, nearly all dry! I love feeling all clean and pretty.

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

Home Reno Caturday

My human heard a bunch of noise in the living room the other day and this is what she found. I was doing some home renovation on the Gingerbread House Scratcher that I got for Christmas.

Can you believe she was unhappy with my redesign? Just because she tries to keep it assembled the way it’s supposed to. How unoriginal.

We are going to have to agree to disagree on this layout.

I can’t take credit for the Valentine Cottage redesign. Boodie sleeps in it a lot and she sort of pushed the front out. But I like the way my ear can stick through the top now.

What can I say? It’s spring — it’s time to change things up a little!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

Hats Off to Me!

I am still getting over my shock at how amazing this month has been for me! Some of you know some of this already, but I bet not all of you know this… and I hope you don’t think I’m bragging. Okay, maybe I’m bragging a little bit. Here is the list.

I am 15th Best Cat in Premiership in CFA’s Southwest Region for the 2015-2016 season.
I am also 5th Best Somali Premier in CFA worldwide this season.
For TICA’s 2015-2016 season, I am the 5th Best Alter in the Southwest Region, and the 2nd Best Somali internationally.
My blog has been named a finalist for Best Cat Blog in the BlogPaws Nose-to-Nose awards.
My blog has also earned a Certificate of Excellence in the Cat Writers Association Contest in the category Best Blog: Other.

My head is still spinning! Oh, and I am also going to BlogPaws in June… and Cat World Domination Day is happening during the conference! I don’t know what I’m doing for that yet… but it may include live video on Facebook.

Since BlogPaws is happening in Phoenix this year, I thought I would pull out the cowboy hat again. And it looks just as awkward as it did last year.

Maybe it’s just the side I’m wearing it on.

What do you think?

Or maybe I can do what I did last year, and just wear it around my neck. I hope I don’t have to wear it too much. I’m still really looking forward to going!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

Prize Shopping

The winners of my Cinco de Mayo giveaway — Susie Y. and her kitty Annabelle — live in the U.S., so I didn’t have to worry about treat or catnip restrictions to fill out the prize package that includes the pretty Mexican-style cat tile. So my human and I went back to Rock Dog and Cat to get a couple more things to send off. Some of it will be a surprise, but some of it won’t because as you can see, I paw picked one of those awesome catnip Barn Yarn Animals I was drooling over the other day!

I suggested getting a big bunch of cat food, but my human said it wouldn’t fit in the box.

I sat patiently and waited while my human paid for everything. How do you like the store’s business card holder?

I admit, I was kind of hoping that my human would get me a little something too while we were at the store. But she didn’t get me anything!

The human behind the counter did give me a catnip sample, though. That was pretty cool!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!

Binga’s Fun Day Out

You know how I said the other day that bored kitties get into trouble? I guess that is why my human put the harness on Binga and took her outside for a while.

She was really happy to hang out outside. She totally took it in stride, even though it has been a while.

One of the first things she did was flop down and roll around in the dirt! I don’t know where she got that idea ‐ it’s not something I’ve ever done.

She also went over to the catnip garden and took some big whiffs. And this was after she was rolling in the dirt.

She also spent some time looking out into the backyard. Or maybe she was hallucinating by then.

She even wanted to go out front and check out the street. She was not scared of anything.

She came back on the retaining wall, the same wall I was walking on the other day.

Binga took full advantage of her time outside.

Including the part where she razzed me because I was stuck inside!
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See Summer’s 2016 calendars and other awesome merch at her Zazzle Shop!