Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 356

Getting My Green On

I know that St. Patrick’s Day is nearly a month off… and that’s why my human brought home a bunch of green props from the party store for me to try out. It usually takes a couple of tries to figure out what is going to work in these photo sessions, so it’s never too early to start! Like this shamrock choker, for example — that was definitely a No.

On the other hand, this big green bow was a Yes. It still needs some adjusting, though, because it is actually made for humans to wear.

It also looks good with this little hat. The hat (like my New Year’s Eve hat) was actually attached to a hair clip that my human had to carefully remove, and then she added elastic to so I could wear it.

There was a noise outside that sounded like a critter and I got totally distracted! My human wanted me to stay for more photos but I wanted to see what the noise was.

After that, the photo shoot was kind of ruined. That’s why my human does a practice session whenever possible, just in case I get bored or distracted before it’s over.

Lastly, my human showed me this leprechaun pen she bought with all the other stuff. She thought it might be a fun cat toy.

It punches, and its eyes light up. I had no interest in whapping back.

I left the toy with Binga, but I didn’t tell her what it does. Won’t she be surprised!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

New Supreme!

I call the Arcadia show my “commuting” show, since it’s just a short trip on the freeway to get there. These shows are often rather small, but that does not mean they are easy! The number of cats I was competing against as an Alter was so small (only between 17 and 22 long haired and short haired Alters combined), only about 5 to 7 cats could final in most rings (the usual is 10). And of the five to seven long haired altered cats competing this weekend (the number differed from ring to ring), three of them were Supreme Grand Alters like me, two of them are in the top four Alters in my region (I’m number 5, but I’m way below them in score), and the newest cat is a hot white Persian who just came out of kittens a couple of months ago and is headed for great things. And that was just the long haired cats — there were also the short haired alters, including a Scottish Fold who is also a top four cat! These cats were tough competition.

My half-brother Chilly didn’t have it much better, although there were enough cats competing with him for 10 final positions, so he had more chances to place.

Plus the judges enjoy having him in their rings. He’s fun! For this show, he was going through the same thing I did last season — he had enough points to become a Supreme Grand Champion, but to earn that title, you also need to be Best Cat in one final… and that is not easy to get, especially for a breed like us Somalis! The Best more often goes to Persians, Maine Coons, Bengals, etc. — the more common and well known breeds. For Somalis, it is a big deal to get Best in a final! Sometimes it takes months for a cat to get that coveted Best that makes them a Supreme. It doesn’t often happen in one season for our breed.

But guess what? He did it! And it was crazy because he had just come from another judging ring where he was second! It was very exciting for his breeder, and for me. My human wanted to get a photo of him with his New Supreme ribbon, but at first he wouldn’t cooperate.

Finally he realized what my human was trying to do and posed for her. That posing thing seems to run in the family.

In the end, Chilly got seven finals to accompany his New Supreme ribbon — he had an excellent show!

I only got two finals, but I was glad to have those considering my competition.

I’m already looking forward to my next cat show — it’s weekend after next in San Jose!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Cat Show Selfie

Here I am this weekend, at a cat show in Arcadia, just a few minutes from my house. I’ve been very busy so I’m just now getting around to doing this week’s selfie. I’d better hurry — I’m probably about to get called to a ring.

I think I have it set up the way I want it.

Uh-oh, the iPhone is falling over! I hope my human didn’t see that.

I just heard my number being called, so this one will have to do.

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My 2016 calendars are here!

Saturday Catinee: Playing Fetch!

Did you know I like to play fetch?

I do it all the time at home, but when I was in Palm Springs last weekend, my human finally caught me on video! I will do this for as long as my human keeps throwing it.

If you can’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Flashback Friday: My Big Sister

Although I never met her, I owe a lot to my big sister Samaraa because I might not be living with my human if it wasn’t for her. It was in January, 2013 that my human saw her at the San Diego Cat Show. She had caught site of her before, at a previous cat show, but my human had rented a vending table to sell Sparkle’s books and calendars and didn’t get a chance to watch her being judged. She went to San Diego that trip not to sell, but just to visit, and that is when she realized just how special Samaraa was.

Samaraa looked so grown up for a six-month old kitten, but what really struck my human was her calm and composure.

She was both beautiful and classy, and nothing in the huge, busy cat show bothered or upset her.

And it is a good thing she was so calm, because a breeder from Russia flew out to pick her up that very day! My breeder had gotten to know this Russian breeder for a very long time before she was convinced that she could give Samaraa a good home. But even so, she was still very attached to her and was very sad when Samaraa left for her new home. For her part, Samaraa handled the long flight with her usual poise and calm demeanor. She grew up into a beautiful cat and is the mother to some very beautiful kittens.

My human was so enchanted by Samaraa that she wanted a cat with that sort of poise. She’d always dreamed of having a therapy cat, and a cat who could accompany her places. A year and a half later, she met me… and I had the very same parents as Samaraa.

This is me when I was the same age as Samaraa… I bet you notice a resemblance! My big sister has a more fiery coat than I do, and she is a truly outstanding example of our breed. I’m good too, but not as good as her — if we competed in the same class, she would beat me, paws down! She doesn’t do cat shows very often anymore, but when my human was looking over this season’s standings, she saw that she had done one, and finaled. If my human hadn’t seen her, she would never have known she could have a Somali cat with such a good nature — Sparkle was definitely a stay-at-home girl. But not me! I’ll probably never go to Russia, but I sure go lots of other places!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Travel Day… Or Not

I want to know something: how come every time my human’s boyfriend pulls out the suitcase and goes somewhere, I almost never get to accompany him?

When my human packs a suitcase, it almost always means I get to come along. In fact, when we went to Portland, she used this very same suitcase.

Maybe if I look really cute, he will decide to take me with him. Then I’ll still get to have cantaloupe every day, right?

But what if he still says no? Maybe I shouldn’t even risk asking.

He’ll never know I stowed away!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

The Valentine FAIL Photo Session

When my human’s boyfriend gave her the traditional rose, card and box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day, my human wanted to take of photo of me with them. But it did not work out the way she wanted.

I was not being particularly cooperative.

Then you-know-who had to get nosey.

And tail-y.

She finally left, but not before ruining several shots.

My human finally got the shot she wanted… but by then, none of us cared about the photo shoot anymore.
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Neko Pawdz Tunnel System Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago, when I was in Portland, I had a surprise visit from the Neko Flies human! She and my human had been discussing a giveaway for my blog a few weeks earlier, and she just happened to have the new toys they were talking about in her car. So she left some with me to take home.

Just wait til you see what these are! Most of you know how awesome the Neko Flies toys are, and these are super cool! Together they are the Neko Pawdz Tunnel System, but I will introduce you to them one by one.

This is the “J” tunnel. It has openings on each end and one on top.

The “I” tunnel has openings on each end and one on each side too! It also crinkles. It is the only tunnel that crinkles, so you kitties that don’t like the crinkle noise can choose a different tunnel.

By the time my human unpacked the “U” tunnel, I couldn’t sit still anymore and had to start playing with it.

All these tunnels are fun on their own, but there is something very special about them…

They can all link together in over 20 different combinations! This is just one. You can see more at the Neko Flies site here.

The different openings can be joined together with these zippers. When you want to leave an end or a hole open, the zipper part can be folded away with velcro.

You know how most tunnels have to be tied up when they need to be put away? The Neko Pawdz tunnels use these nice fasteners instead, and when they are not in use, there is a little pocket to hide them away. That way, there’s no string for kitties to chew on!

These are way better than the other tunnels out there. They feature durable construction, and are ultra soft inside and out. The PVC/ mesh carry bag even has straps! These tunnels are extremely high quality.

Best of all, they are loads of fun!

You never know who is going to show up — or where!

My human tried setting up the tunnels a couple of different ways. We loved them all. You find out more, and buy one, two or all three, at the Neko Flies website, or on Amazon!

Or… how would you like to win a couple of these awesome tunnels?

The Neko Flies human is giving away an I and J tunnel to one of my lucky readers! Together they are a $120 value. You will be able to make all sorts of cool pathways with these, and have a super fun play center! To enter, just leave a comment and then say you did on the Rafflecopter widget — that will open up lots of other ways to enter. The giveaway is open until Tuesday, February 24, and is open to U.S. residents only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I got the Neko Pawdz Tunnels from the Neko Flies human for free, but the opinions expressed here are my own.
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Party Time in Palm Springs

My human and I did not get to stay in Palm Springs anywhere near long enough!

We only stayed one night at the hotel — I barely got any good nap time.

Or exploring time either! Although I’ve been in this hotel before, and this room was almost exactly like the last one, so there wasn’t that much to explore.

As I mentioned the other day, my half-brother Chilly got a grand party at this cat show. Check out the spread his breeder put together. Usually the grand party consists of a cake, and maybe some beverages and a couple other things, but she went all out for him.

As you may have noticed, it was all human food, so I made sure to bring Chilly something he could eat — some freeze dried chicken heart treats! I love these, and I know he does too.

He could totally tell what he got, even though the package was still sealed!

Chilly thinks the cat shows are a good place to make new pals — he kisses and head butts the judges every chance he gets. Sometimes the judges kiss him back.

It was a tough show, though! Chilly had to compete against almost as many cats as he did in Portland, and although I didn’t have as many altered cats to compete against, a number of them will be national winners this year! I napped between rings to stay fresh.

It seemed like every human who was at the show stopped by Chilly’s grand party — all that food disappeared very quickly! there was nothing left but empty boxes by the early afternoon.

At the end of the day, I finaled in three out of six rings, and I was lucky to get those! Right after my human took this photo, we packed up our things and went home. That was fast!
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My 2016 calendars are here!

Valentine Selfies

While I was doing the Valentine’s Day photo shoot you saw yesterday, I took some selfies. Do you want to see them? Of course you do — otherwise you wouldn’t be here!

Look at this crazy shot I got while setting the timer! Those lights above my head are from some hanging lamp fixture in the living room that my human hates and wants to replace. Anyhow, onto the selfies.

Uh-oh, this one’s no good. I cut off my ears!

I snapped this one too soon, before I could adopt a proper facial expression.

Here’s a closer one — it’s not perfect, but it’ll do for this week!

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My 2016 calendars are here!