Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 369

Rear View

When I came to live here and read Sparkle’s notes, there was something about a blog event called “Tocktober,” but apparently I was too young to participate last year. Which is kind of too bad because Derby, the cat who started it, passed away in December. Although cats blog about it all through October, traditionally, it was held on Derby’s birthday, October 20, so I have followed that in his memory.

Anyhow, the whole point of Tocktober is that we blogging cats show our rear ends. I’m not sure why Derby wanted to be mooned for his birthday, but I hope he is happy seeing all the kitties doing it in his honor! I decided to post one nice one, which is what you see above, and a couple of more naughty ones. So if you are a totally G-rated human or kitty, I guess you can stop reading now! The rest of you may continue.

This is why I had to wait until I grew up before I could participate! Last October I was barely 7 months old and still entered in cat shows as a Kitten! Now that I am an adult kitty, I can go a little bit wild.

Here’s a final one from this past weekend’s cat show. Happy birthday, Derby, wherever you are!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

Cat Show Yoga

Talk about your tough shows! The one I was at this weekend only had about 15 Alters (spayed or neutered breed cats) competing, and that meant there were only 5 slots in each final. The problem with that was there another Somali competing alongside me! His name is BJ and he is a blue Somali, and he was awesome — as an intact cat, he was a Regional and Breed Winner. Now that he is done making babies, he is back in the show ring as an Alter. It’s not like I’m any ordinary show cat either — I am also a Regional Winner, a Supreme Grand Alter and was in the top five Somali Alters of last season. But being a male, his build better fits the breed standard (which was written with the male cat in mind), so he had an edge over me. And with only five final places, the judges were usually not going to use more than one cat from each breed. Although it did happen a couple of times. But more on that in a minute.

First I want to tell you about these three kittens! The crazy blue Somali boy on the left and the pretty Aby girl on the right belong to my breeder. You’ve seen the boy before — he’s been benched next to me for a few shows, and he is my younger half brother. He is a bit of a troublemaker. When he wasn’t sticking his paws through the cage at one of the other cats, he was knocking down his number card or ribbons, or he was knocking over the board behind the cage. The Aby girl isn’t related to me, but her mother was benched next to me for a few months last season, when we were both competing as kittens. Now her daughter is competing as a kitten. The red Somali girl in the middle belongs to BJ’s breeder, but not for long because she is going to a new home in Chile! The father of her new owner came this weekend to take her home.

Here is a better photo of my half-brother. You can tell how handsome he is, and he is regal when he wants to be (which right now is not very often!).

The judges have a lot of fun with the kittens! Here’s my half-brother doing a little pole dancing.

And the little red girl.

And the Aby girl!

My human really likes this little Aby kitten a lot! But she will not be coming home with us — she is going into the breeding program. The whole reason her mother came out here from Russia was to have a beautiful kitten like her. Her mother was very nice, but this girl is even more beautiful, plus she has a lovely personality that comes from her father.

Anyhow, back to me! Like I said, I had a tough show, and my human didn’t get any photos of me or BJ in the ring. I hope she does next time we’re competing together — you can see how handsome he is. To keep my focus for the judges I practiced some cat show yoga while I was in my enclosure. Here I am prepping for Dead CatBug Pose.

Here is the full version. It did take a while to master this pose. In fact, this is the first time my human has seen me do it! It is one of the most relaxing cat show yoga poses.

And it must have worked because I got three finals and was Best Somali in several other rings! BJ got more (and we shared rings a couple of times), and he Granded as an Alter too, but we both did good!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

Front Yard Selfie

I got to go out a couple of times this week! In addition to hanging out on the back patio, I got to spend some time in the front yard after my human and I went shopping. So I thought this was as good a time as any to get my selfies done.

I just need to get the camera set up first.

Well, that one was just terrible! I have a sign growing out of my head. Plus I don’t know how she did this, but my human managed to get some of her hair in my shot.

I don’t like this angle either. It’s just busy. Maybe I can try something that’s a little more uniform. I think I know what to do…

That’s better! I hope you like it.

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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

Saturday Catinee: The Zombie CATpocalypse

Any Walking Dead fans out there? Actually, nobody here is a big zombie fan, but this clip of kitties battling zombies got all paws (and thumbs) up! So even if you aren’t usually a horror fan, you’ll enjoy this one!

(Warning: mild gore, but obviously fake. I’d rate it KG — Kitty Guidance suggested. May be a little too violent for very sensitive humans.)

If you can’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

It’s Outtake Time Again!

Yes it is, and I have quite a few for you! Like the photo above. I did get one decent photo out of the session, but most of them looked closer to this. Clearly this hat was not made for me.

You see lots of photos of me with my tongue out… but how about one where you can’t see my tongue at all?

This one’s for those of you who missed my tongue in the last shot.

Yes, there was a wardrobe malfunction. I must have rubbed it the wrong way.

My human really wanted to get a photo of Binga and me in that big box when it was still set upright. And you can see (or should I say not see) why she failed!

I hope you liked my outtakes!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

Our Feral Brothers and Sisters Are Counting on You!

Here I am, relaxing in my human’s bathroom after a day of hunting tasty sky raisins (known as flies to less imaginative humans). I’m lucky. I hunt for sport and the occasional living treat. I don’t need to do it to survive (a good thing, my human says — she does not think I’m very good at it!). My feral counterparts, however, need to hunt, to scrounge around in trashcans, and if they are very, very lucky, rely on a caring human who visits with food. In the notes Sparkle left me, she told me to be grateful for having a good home and a privileged background… and to always be willing to lend a paw to kitties who are less fortunate, especially feral cats.

I’m sure that all of my blog readers are supporters of feral cats in one way or another. Some of you may even have colonies that you support. When humans think about helping ferals, it’s the cats who always come first: practicing TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return), vaccinating the cats before taking them back to their colonies, and feeding and caring for them. That is really important, but there are other important things that need to be done that don’t involve the cats at all. And if these things aren’t done, it can make life for feral cats more difficult or, in some cases, impossible. So let me tell you about them.

Humans need to be educated about feral cats. A lot of them think ferals are dirty, diseased creatures who are responsible for decimating bird populations. The truth is that a managed colony of feral cats is just as healthy as most outdoor owned cats. They’ve been vaccinated along with being spayed and neutered, and the caretaker keeps a watchful eye on them for illness. Cats are not big carriers of rabies. In fact the last time there was a recorded cat-to-human rabies transmission was 1975. What about toxoplasmosis? Humans are more likely to get that from handling raw food — meat, fruits or vegetables — or by gardening then they are by coming into contact with feral cats.

What about all the birds feral cats are killing? That number pales in comparison to the birds that have perished because of humans encroaching on their habitat. Humans need to look at their part in harming bird species before they start blaming cats. And cats are more likely to hunt creatures close to the ground, such as mice, moles and rats — you know, the kind of pests that humans don’t like to have around. These ground-dwelling animals are actually much more easily caught — trust me, I know! I’ve been trying to catch flies all day, and those flying things make the hunt way more difficult.

But in addition to educating people who aren’t huge fans of cats, cat lovers also need to learn some things too. Did you know that the worst thing you can do when you see a stray cat is to feed her, and just keep on feeding her without trying to catch her and spay her? If she’s friendly, she may be someone’s pet who is lost, and she should be checked for a microchip and word sent out so her former humans can step up, if they are looking for her. If she is feral and wary of human contact, efforts must be made to trap her so she can have the full spa treatment (spay, vaccinations and a checkup while in recovery). Otherwise, she’ll start having kittens, perpetuating an unending cycle of feral cats. She could also become sick from diseases that the vaccinations would prevent. Caring for an outdoor cat is a responsibility and all the steps must be there for it to be beneficial.

What else needs to be done for feral cats? Humans who understand the value of TNR must teach their city councils and local leaders that this is the best, most humane way to deal with feral cats. These leaders need to learn that managed colonies are the opposite of harmful and that TNR programs in other cities have been great successes. To arm yourself with the most up-to-date knowledge, visit Alley Cat Allies — and start spreading the word!

I bet you thought ferals were a cat problem. Nope, it’s clearly a human problem, and that is where a lot of effort needs to go! Always remember that when you want to help kitties.

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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

I Give Mirror Kitty a Talking To!

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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

New Kitty Greeting Cards, Starring Me!

I have a couple of new greeting cards up in my Zazzle shop!

Here’s my Halloween card!

And here’s my Christmas card! You guys asked for this one, so here it is.

Here’s Sparkle’s Christmas card from a couple of years ago — can you believe the similarity?

And here’s my Christmas card from last year. Maybe I’ll do a cute one again this year 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!

Visiting the Back Patio

It’s been a while since I spent any time out on the back patio, and since it cooled off a little this afternoon, I thought I’d go out there. For weeks it’s been too hot.

I got to check in on my down-the-hill neighbors.

I also looked over my catnip garden. With the heat and the drought, it’s been hard keeping it going, but it has done okay.

Plus my human made me sit still for some portraits.

And some full body shots too.

Best of all, I got to look at birdies!

This was just one. There were bunches of them.

I had a really nice afternoon!
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!

Was Sparkle Right About Boxes?

Although I refer to Sparkle’s notes frequently, I have to confess that I do not always agree with what she said! For example, the notes say, “It is impossible to have a box that is too big.”

But I don’t think she ever met this box!

You could get lost in this thing!

It’s even too big for Binga.

So I think maybe Sparkle was wrong about this.

Oh, wait a minute… it looks totally different on its side.

Now it has way more potential!

Binga gives it her paw of approval too.

Sparkle was right after all! I should have known.
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My 2016 calendars are here! Find my regular calendar on Lulu.com — OR get my calendar of outtakes from Zazzle!