Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 363
December 16, 2015
Present Wrapping
My gift package went off to my Secret Paws kitty pals yesterday! Don’t worry, I supervised the wrapping process so that everything went well. I even wore a Christmas dress for the occasion.
I checked the bag to make sure that no other kitty (she knows who she is) had “borrowed” any of the presents!
I even supervised the wrapping of the human gift, although I am not sure what it’s going to be used for. My human is sure the Secret Paws human will, though.
I double checked everything as it went into the shipping box. Did you notice I used one of the awesome, big Chewy.com boxes? I’m sure my Secret Paws pals will like that too!
I’m done… I hope they like it all!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!
December 15, 2015
Secret Paws Shopping – Finally!
I was a kitty on a mission! Can you tell? I finally got to do my shopping for my Secret Paws gifts last night! I was supposed to get this done last week, but my human was sick. Then we had the cat show this weekend. We were going to shop on the way home from the cat show on Sunday, but we were both exhausted.
Actually, my human had already bought a couple of things — when she was at one of those big store places, she saw something she thought my Secret Paws pals would enjoy. And she made a special trip to a store to get a little something for their human. She knew that their human does something she is very passionate about, so she wanted to get her something small but useful that was related to that. But I did all the main treat and toy shopping during this trip!
I tried out a few toys to see if they were good. In case you are wondering, none of the things you see in any of these photos were what I bought on this trip!
Don’t worry — I got myself a little something too.
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 14, 2015
Blue Christmas Cat Show
I go to a lot of TICA cat shows in Arcadia because they are very near where we live, and the one in December is a Christmas show! All the kitties who entered and their humans got a cellophane bag of little gifts, and my breeder also gave my human several gifts too. I always give her a calendar of me, and my human just ordered this year’s for her. She is sending her the Lulu.com version because it has my birthday marked… as if she would forget!
In addition to our receiving gifts, the cat show also had a cookie exchange and lots of people brought treats! My human asked her boyfriend to make cookies, since he makes the best cookies ever (if you are a human)! These are his oatmeal-raisin-craisin-coconut cookies. He also made some five-ingredient Nutella cookies. No catnip cookies for the cats, though. That was kind of cheap.
Competing alongside me in the Altered cats was a cool blue Somali named BJ. You may have heard me mention him before — a couple of years ago, when he was an intact cat, he was the Best Somali in CFA, along with being a Regional Winner and Grand Champion. He retired from showing to father kittens, but now he is back as an Alter. It took him several months to get back into the show routine, but now he is doing well! So he was very tough to compete against. He did not win over me every time, though! In some rings I got the Best Somali ribbon. I like to think I kept him on his toes… although I get the feeling he barely acknowledged my existence.
But BJ wasn’t the only blue Somali there — so was my half brother, Tajhara Chill Factor. This was his first TICA show as an Adult cat, and he competed against the other intact cats… and did really, really well! One show, and he is already a Double Grand Champion! He is stunning and has a very affectionate temperament.
He is also kind of a goofball. I will confess, he probably inherited that from our mother, because that is one of several personality quirks we have in common — but they are quirks that just make us all that more endearing!
In between rings, I spent time working on my charm. Next year, when I will be at some shows as a “Pet Me” cat, I will be visiting with the public, and that is different from interacting with judges. Even when you are sleeping, you need to present yourself at your best. How do you like my toe curl? That gives people something to admire when I am recharging.
In the end, it was a pretty mediocre show for me — I only wound up with two finals. BJ got three, but he deserved them — he is an excellent cat. And I was also happy because a Turkish Van my human and I are friends with got three finals too! It has been hard for this kitty, since his breed develops slowly and they aren’t seen a lot by the judges. Sometimes they get overlooked, but not this time! So in the long run, I didn’t really care about the finals — I had a fun time and so did my human!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 13, 2015
Best of My Instagram Posts
I haven’t shared my Instagram posts with you lately, so here are a few!
A photo posted by Summer Samba (@summerstravels) on Dec 12, 2015 at 2:09pm PST
This one’s from yesterday! In case you didn’t know, I am doing a cat show this weekend.
A video posted by Summer Samba (@summerstravels) on Dec 5, 2015 at 10:12am PST
This video was too short to bother posting on YouTube… but perfect for Instagram. It shows how fierce I can be!
A photo posted by Summer Samba (@summerstravels) on Nov 22, 2015 at 11:05am PST
This photo, on the other hand, shows my more feminine side… in my rhinestone skull pink tulle dress!
A photo posted by Summer Samba (@summerstravels) on Nov 21, 2015 at 10:39am PST
Yes, sometimes I share one of my pals on my Instagram. Here is a photo of Boodie in a sunbeam.
A photo posted by Summer Samba (@summerstravels) on Oct 14, 2015 at 4:25pm PDT
And sometimes I just have a casual shot that never makes it to my blog, like this one! And yes, sometimes I get too excited and make typos.
Are you on Instagram? If you are, you can follow me @summerstravels!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 12, 2015
Boxy Caturday
Look what came in the mail — and it was addressed to all of us! But it looks like some kitty thinks it only belongs to her.
I think I should check it out first! Sparkle’s notes said that since this is my blog, I get first dibs on everything!
Wow! These are awesome! No wonder Binga was trying to claim them. There’s no note in here, and the return address is Amazon, but I bet they are from my Secret Paw! I hope whoever it is reveals themselves soon!
I’ll show what was in the box… later!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 11, 2015
How Whisker Greens #PetGrass Fared Here – and Who Liked It Best!
When I left off nearly three weeks ago, we were trying out some new cat grass! As you no doubt remember, my human is an infamous plant killer and we were wondering how these containers of certified organic wheat grass would do under her deadly care.
Let’s find out, right after the disclaimer:
This post is sponsored by Pet Grass and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping create awareness about the launch of Whisker Greens but sparklecat.com only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Pet Grass is not responsible for the content of this article.
As you can see, after a couple of weeks, the first container of Whisker Greens™ from Pet Grass® has been well-loved by us kitties… but not totally killed by my human! Binga swears that there’s still more good greens to be had in the old one, but I think it’s about time for a fresh container, don’t you?
I do want to mention that when this photo was taken, the grass had been here for over two and a half weeks. The Whisker Greens humans claim that a pack of three should last a kitty family for about two weeks, but in our experience, the three containers of pet grass lasted over a month! With a plant-killing human and grass-eating kitties and everything.
And I bet you can tell from this photo who our prime pet grass eater is: Boodie! Although Binga loves it almost as much. In fact, you can tell in the video below that when they get fresh grass, they both jockey for the best position!
If you can’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube!
Surprisingly, considering that I like veggies and will even eat cantaloupe, I chewed on it the least. But I really did like having it around the house.
This container is the last of the three, over a month after we initially got our shipment. My human brought it out of the refrigerator just this week and it is still going strong! So all us kitties, and our human, are totally happy with this product!
If you want to give Whisker Greens a try, you can purchase a three-pack for $24.99. Whisker Greens also has a Pet Grass subscription service for $22.49 per delivery — you decide how often you’d like to get it: weekly, every two weeks, every three weeks or monthly. As I mentioned, the pack of three containers lasted us over a month. You can get a 10% discount on a one-time purchase with the code sparkle10 at checkout.
Whisker Greens Facebook
Whisker Greens Twitter
Whisker Greens Instagram
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 10, 2015
The Tongues Have It
My human has been fighting a cold, so I thought I would let her off easy today and just post some recent outtakes of myself, but with a twist — I have my tongue out in all of them! Yes, I posted outtakes not that long ago, but I know you like them, right?
I must have been anticipating my modeling payment in this photo!
Maybe I was trying to learn how to whistle here!
I was probably thinking about chicken while wearing this oversized rooster outfit!
I hope you enjoyed today’s photos — I think my human is already starting to feel better so we should be back on our usual schedule in a day or two!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 9, 2015
Give Your Kitty a Magical – and Safe – Holiday with Tips from Me and PetMD
This post is sponsored by petMD and ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™, and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about The petMD Cat Care Center, but I only share information on sparklecat.com that I feel is relevant to my readers. ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™ and petMD are not responsible for the content of this article.
The holidays are here, and I hope you have lots of good things planned with your loved ones — including your cats! While many cats may not be fond of guests coming and going, or maybe some of their favorite furniture getting moved around, there are lots of fun activities that they will enjoy! Here are some ways you can give your cats a safe and happy time, courtesy of me and PetMD.
Let your cat help supervise your present wrapping! We kitties love wrapping paper, and we would be really disappointed to be left out of what many humans consider to be a chore! If your cat tends to micromanage the wrapping process, you can always let her have her own box, wrapping paper and tissue paper to keep her occupied.
Decorate your tree with lots of cat toys! The best part of using cat toys as ornaments is that not only are they colorful, they are safe for your cat if she wants to knock them off the branch! Also, it is a good idea to use a fake tree because real pine needles can make us sick, as can the water at the base of a live tree. Also never, ever use tinsel or any sharp decorations that might harm us.
Avoid dressing up your home with things that might be dangerous for cats. Lit candles can set a tail on fire, potpourri is toxic, and real mistletoe is poisonous. Here is an article from PetMD that lists more holiday dangers to watch out for.
When you are preparing holiday dinners, always make sure there are good treats for your cat too! When my human was growing up, it was a holiday tradition to cook the turkey giblets, liver and heart separately and cut some of it up for the cats (the rest went in the stuffing). Just make sure that anything you give your cats doesn’t contain anything really bad for them, such as onions, garlic, alcohol or chocolate. It is okay to give them something that might be just a teensy bit bad, like a taste of whipped cream (but just a taste). My human has been known to whip up some heavy cream from scratch, without sugar, just for us kitties. It’s the holidays, so it is okay to indulge a little! But be careful not to give your cat too much rich food, or too many treats they aren’t used to because it might give them a stomach upset!
Give your cats the right kinds of gifts! Meaning no outfits. I am okay with wearing outfits, but even I would think that was a bad gift. I would much rather have a new cat toy, or a cool scratching post or cat tree. Cat treats are always welcome too! If you want some cat gift suggestions, here are some from PetMD.
Also give your cat (and yourself) the gift of time. During the holidays, you may think you have less time to spend with your cat, but on the contrary, you should be hanging out with your kitty more. Quality feline time lowers stress and blood pressure, so it would do you good to schedule in playtime with your cat, and give her a nice rub down session and some skritches too. It will help you forget about all the holiday craziness, the short tempers and the crowds, at least for a little while.
I hope you and your kitties are having an awesome holiday season! If you have any more holiday suggestions for kitties, I would love to hear them!
The Pet MD Cat Care Center is sponsored by ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™ Lightweight Cat Litter. This litter is dust-free and 50% lighter than regular cat litter, while still powerfully destroying odor. If you want to give it a try, click here for a $2 off coupon.
Find a store that carries ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™
Follow ARM & HAMMER™ on Facebook.
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
December 8, 2015
Just in Time: New Kitty Holiday Cards!
When I found out that Zazzle is having a huge 75% off sale on cards, I decided that I didn’t want to wait til next year and had my human post these cards for sale now! First up is me in my Santa’s Little Helper outfit.
And I also added the Reindeer sweater photo from today’s blog post!
The discount code to get your 75% off is GETYOURCARDS and it is only good until midnight on Thursday, December 10! So hurry!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
Reindeer Games
As if last week’s outfits weren’t enough for the holidays, my human also brought home this reindeer sweater for me to wear!
It actually wasn’t that bad of an outfit, but getting the Rudolph hoodie just right was kind of hard!
Sometimes instead of treats, my human plays with me to get my energy up, and wearing this reindeer sweater did not hamper me one bit! In fact, I had lots of fun!
I actually enjoyed wearing this, but I doubt any of my pals would want to put it on! So tell your humans not to try this at home!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle! 
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