Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 351

Selfies With Hat

The other day, when I was outside taking photos, I thought it might be fun to take some selfies with that pretty straw hat… so I did!

I don’t know why — maybe because it was overcast — but all the selfie photos came out hazy and soft focus. I couldn’t figure out how to fix it… but then I decided I didn’t want to because it gave the photos a dreamy effect! I wasn’t so sure about this background, though. I thought it might be a little busy, and I wanted to try the hat on the other side of my head.

I thought the tall bushes might make a good backdrop… but then I cut off part of the hat and my ear! So I needed a redo.

I also put the hat back on the other ear. I hope you like it!

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My 2016 calendars are here!

Battling Caturday

Can you tell that Binga is a teensy bit upset? Okay, more than just a little!

I thought I’d touch her face to make sure she wasn’t running a fever…

Um, yeah, she didn’t believe me either.

That last touch may have been one too many…

I bet you are wondering what caused this tussle! It was actually something pretty amazing… and it involves a giveaway I will have next week. Hold tight for a few days and you’ll find out what sparked this brawl.
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Modeling on Location

It is actually raining the next couple of days, but we had some lovely spring weather for a while! My human got me some nice outfits for the season, so we decided to do some modeling outside, on location. You know, like you see humans doing in catalogs. So I did some poses in the front yard.

I hear you have to strike the right attitude when you are modeling, and you can’t smile in every shot.

I wanted to show off the back of this dress, with the pretty bow. You can’t really see it much in the photos, but there is some netting under the material, sort of like a petticoat, to make it stand out the way it does.

I really liked this dress because it has my favorite colors. I was trying to create an attitude here, like I was sort of eavesdropping on some birdies. Actually I was eavesdropping on some birdies.

The same day my human bought these dresses, she also found this cute little straw hat and she could not resist getting it for me.

I had to try it on several different ways before I found one that looked good and that also felt comfortable with my ears.

The last time I had this T-shirt on, it was for a photo shoot inside, so I thought I’d wear it here. It’s a perfect casual, outdoorsy outfit, don’t you think?

Just when we were finishing up the photo shoot, the mail human showed up with a package! Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

I hope you enjoyed my modeling!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Cat Poop (Article) Causes Anger Issues in Humans

I must confess, my human has a temper, and it is not pretty. Just recently, when she exploded in a fit of rage, it made me worry. Then I heard something really disturbing: I might be the cause of her bad temperament! And I thought I was here to help her be happy. How awful!

It was all laid out in an article on WebMD called “Could Cat Poop Germ Trigger Rage Disorder?” It was about some study in which these researchers found that humans with intermittent explosive disorder (IED) had a higher percentage of toxoplasmosis infection than humans who were considered “sane.” And supposedly we kitties — and our poop — are big time carriers of toxoplasmosis. So I was beginning to think that I made my human angry, when I didn’t even do anything! But before I got too upset, I found out the truth: the article itself is full of poop!

Here are some reasons why:

Humans can get toxoplasmosis from gardening or eating undercooked meat, not always from living with cats. The study didn’t look specifically at humans who had cats, just at the issue of toxoplasmosis.
Up to 75% of humans worldwide have been infected with t. gondii, the parasite behind toxoplasmosis. In the United States, it may be as high as 20%. Only about 4% of humans have IED.
People can avoid being exposed to any t. gondii shed by us cats by not touching our poop and washing thoroughly after cleaning the litter box. Anyone familiar with my human knows she washes her hands the moment she touches anything remotely dirty, and she wears rubber gloves to clean our litter boxes because she’s so grossed out by it all. (I find this a little bit insulting.)
This study was just that, a study. It wasn’t a clinical trial, and it only looked at correlation, not conclusions. And in fact, another, different study noted that “there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations or neurocognitive impairment.”
In fact, one of the authors of the study mentioned in the WebMD article admitted that cats are good for human wellbeing and reduce stress. “You probably would lose more than you would gain,” by not having a cat in your life, he confessed.
Even the title is bogus. Toxoplasmosis is not a germ, as I mentioned before, it’s a parasite. Big difference and bad journalism.

So it turned out that my human blew up because the article made her mad, not me! Maybe there should be a study about inaccurate articles that put cats in a negative light, and their effect on human anger.
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Outtake Time Again!

It’s actually been a couple of weeks since my last batch of outtakes, and the bloopers have been adding up! Here I am as a disgruntled Easter bunny. My human must have been slow about doling out the treats.

My human is always happy when she gets a photo with all three of us in the frame. Well, except when the result is as random as this one was.

Another shot my human always wants to get is me on my hind legs (since I do it fairly frequently). But they mostly turn out like this one.

Binga kept walking past, so finally I just held onto her tail! That’s what she gets for photobombing.

I have no idea what was going on here. Binga. That’s the only explanation I have.

This photo of me may have been taken right after that shot of Binga.

I hope you enjoyed my outtakes today!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Vintage, Kitty Style

I got a show bath on Sunday — not for a cat show, but for a very special photo session! Of course, once my human was done with the shampoo, blow dry and groom, I had to touch up my ruff a little. She was not pleased, for some reason.

The studio wasn’t too far from where we live, and it is different from any other photo studio my human or I have ever been to! That’s because all the photo equipment was from more than 100 years ago! In fact, the film is developed using a wet plate collodion process from the 1850s. The studio is called Tin Machina, and you can see some of the photographer’s work here.

When we first got the studio, my human put me on my leash and let me explore so I could get comfortable. There were two options, to use the inside studio with lights, or use the outside setup with natural lighting. My human really wanted to use the outside setup because it was more true to the photography style, but it was too distracting for me so we had to go inside.

I waited while the photographer human set things up for me.

This was the set up he used for me. It was very simple. That way nothing would distract from my presence in the photos.

The depth of field on the photos is pretty narrow, so my human had to coax me into position so the photographer could focus… and then keep on coaxing me so I didn’t decide to move a lot or jump off the little table. She brought lots of toys to get my attention.

Of course I didn’t always want to look at the camera! But I was good most of the time, until the end when I got tired of posing and just wanted to get off the table. But the photographer human was impressed with how nicely behaved I mostly was!

It takes the photos a few days to finish the processes they have to go through, but when they are done, I promise I will share them with you! My human and I already got to see them developing and they are very cool.
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Should Cats Be Police Officers?

Recently a very smart 5-year-old girl named Eliza Adamson-Hopper asked her local police department why there were police dogs but no police cats. I’m sure a lot of people wonder this, and I’m surprised it has never been brought up before. After all, cats have held lots of jobs — some have worked at libraries and bookstores; others are musicians like Nora the Piano Cat. There are therapy cats, and cat actors. So why not police cats? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Police Cat Pros

With our amazing sense of smell, we could sniff out contraband easily!
We are often active at night, and that is the same time most of the bad guys are at work doing dastardly deeds!
We are very good at stalking — we will patiently and quietly wait until just the right moment to catch our prey. I’m sure we could do the same for perps.
We are agile and great at sprinting — we would be great at chasing down and jumping on crooks trying to get away.

Police Cat Cons

We sleep an awful lot… it would probably be hard for us to complete a full shift.
We’re bad at both following orders and giving them. Have you ever heard a cat say, “Put up your hands?” No, we just expect humans to do our bidding… and criminals don’t work that way.
We might want to keep the contraband to ourselves… and honestly, we don’t see anything wrong with keeping it. It’s going to waste just sitting there, right?
We don’t like donuts. In fact, cats probably shouldn’t eat donuts at all. So there goes the camaraderie with our human police partners.
Oh yeah, and most cats wouldn’t want to wear the uniform.

So what do you think? Would you like to see a kitty protecting and serving your community? Or do you think the dangers and the dirty work should stay with the dogs?
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Rat Hunting Selfie

Guess what? The rats are back! and they are hanging out in a little crawl space under the cabinet by my litter box. I have been keeping an eye on them.

They disappeared after the humans hired a trapper to get them, but I guess he did not capture them all! I even caught one for a moment — my human’s boyfriend saw me carrying it by its tail, but then it got away. My human said I did it wrong: “You are supposed to get it by the scruff of its neck and give it a killing bite!” Hey, my mother never taught me these things.* I’m just doing the best I can.

And what, I’m supposed to do a selfie now? I suppose I should get it over with.

Sorry about this one. I could have sworn the rat was coming out. By the way, my human says the shower glass isn’t dirty, it’s wet from her shower. Just so you know.

I know the focus still isn’t very good, and I’m not looking at the camera, but can I go now? I’ve got rats to hunt!

* Mother cats teach their kittens how to hunt. If the family is raised inside with humans and the mother doesn’t do this, often the kittens grow up with less than stellar hunting skills.

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My 2016 calendars are here!

Return to Normal

As you can see, I got my blog back.

It took a little effort, though. I don’t think Binga realized it was just for April Fools Day.

Okay, maybe it took a lot of effort.

But in the end, I won. Honest!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Summer’s Been Fired!

That’s right — that pipsqueak has been sent packing. This is my blog now!

First on my agenda is deleting every blog post that I am not in! Because who wants to see those anyway?

Every blog post will have me and nothing but me, because I know that is what people want anyway. Amiright? So here is the schedule:

Monday: A nice portrait of me.

Tuesday: Since it is Tortie Tuesday, I will use this day to impart wisdom and advice.

Wednesday: Cool photos of me in action. I will include the other cats in these photos if I am whapping them.

Thursday: This is when you leave comments saying how thankful you are for my daily presence in your life.

Friday: Flashbacks of highlights from my life.

Saturday: In which my human creates brilliant art from images of me. I expect her to spend most of the week getting these masterpieces together.

Sunday: Selfies of me!

If you do not like this, you will have to deal with my wrath!

April Fool!

Had you fooled, didn’t I?

At least I think it was a joke!
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My 2016 calendars are here!