Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 391

She Did It AGAIN

* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

Feline Facial Expressions for When Your Human Misbehaves

My human wrote a story for CatChannel.com about how we kitties are humans’ real best friends because we are honest and critical and will tell them when they are wrong! As opposed to dogs, who gloss over everything and never give humans a chance to better themselves. I know everybody loves my sweet face, and I admit, it gets me a lot of cool stuff, but there are times when I have to put on a sour puss because my human has misbehaved. Hard to believe, I know (about my sour puss, not about my human misbehaving — that happens almost daily).

Here are some of the faces I use when I need to show my human she is letting me down. I don’t use them often, but when I do they are very effective!

This is my “You aren’t gonna take the chair away from me, are you?” face. Everyone knows that kitties get first dibs on chairs, always, but sometimes humans try to pretend they forgot that rule.

Here is my “There you go, being stupid again” face. My human gets some really dumb ideas, like posing me with something silly, or making me do a trick I don’t want to learn, like “Lie Down.” That’s when she gets this face.

Here’s another one you kitties will find handy: my “Will you hurry up and take the picture already!” They need to learn to be quick about taking photos, so we kitties can get back to doing fun things.

Here is one I hope you don’t have to use often: my “I can’t believe you just did that! I’m embarrassed to even be seen with you” face. Sad to say, I have to make this face at least once every time my human and I go out somewhere. She really is that embarrassing.

Sometimes you have to do more than make a face — you have to tell your human off! I am mostly a quiet kitty, so when I need to give my human a firm talking to, she really takes notice.

Lastly, here is my “You make kitty sad” face. Sometimes nothing works better than a good, old-fashioned guilt trip.

I hope you found these helpful!
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

Weekend Adventures… and an Announcement!

On Friday, I got to hang out for a while in front of our house and enjoy the spring weather. Even though I wasn’t going anywhere, I wore my cool pink satin harness with the bow and faux diamond accent.

But don’t think I just sat around looking pretty! I also chased birdies! Well, as much as a cat can chase birdies when she is attached to a leash. It was still fun.

Saturday, I got to go to the Los Angeles County Store in Silver Lake. They only feature items made in Los Angeles, and our friend at Feline Yogi was having a trunk show featuring her cat yoga mats and cat toys! She combined it with an adoption event featuring kitties from LUXE Paws.

I wanted to check out the new yoga mats, so I asked and it was okay!

As you can see, they come in all sorts of colors — including Black Cat Black!

While I was up there, I smelled something really interesting. I mean, besides the mini cupcakes my human was eating.

It was a baby kitten in a birdcage! Like, really a baby — she was about four weeks old, and hanging out sleepily.

Now, that is something I don’t see every day!

Which brings me to my announcement — no, my human is not adopting that kitten! It’s about me! I handled last weekend’s flight okay, and am getting comfortable enough being out in public that my human has decided I can come to BlogPaws in May with her! So we are both going to Nashville for the first time ever! I am really looking forward to it.
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

Sunday Catinee: Skater Park Kitty

Just when I thought Kaiser the Bengal was the most amazing kitty I’d ever seen, I ran across a video of a skateboarding cat named Didga. It turns out that Sparkle ran a Sunday Catinee video of her a little over a year ago… but the video I saw is a newer one, of Didga at a skate park — and she’s really good, and clearly having a great time! Prepare to be amazed:

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

Didga’s human is an animal trainer — in fact, his business is called Malibu Dog Training (which is why you often see a pack of dogs in Didga’s videos — they’re all trained, just like she is). He has lots of tutorials for both dog and cat training. While we kitties are able to do lots more than humans generally give us credit for, Didga is really gifted, and so is her human! After all, kitties can only hope to be as good as the humans they are working with. Which is why I’ll probably only learn a couple more tricks besides “high five,” “stay,” and “shake” — that’s about my human’s limit!
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

The Caturday Report: Very Interesting Edition

I found a variety of cat stories that sparked my interest this week!

You may have seen some of them before — but I bet you haven’t seen all of them!

Here’s an article that looks into the “crazy cat lady” stereotype — and why it is all wrong!
Meet Naoto Matsumura, the lone human who is taking care of the animals of Fukushima. (Yes, there are more than just cats in this story, but I think you’ll find enough felines — and enough heart — to make it worth your while.)
While everybody else was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, we smarter kitties were honoring our own patron saint, St. Gertrude.
Many cat bloggers wrote about Pet Poison Prevention Week, but my own favorite was the post at Kitty Cat Chronicles because it actually listed a variety of toxic plants, plants that are deadly to cats — and plants that are safe for cats! While it’s not comprehensive, it’s enough to help you in a floral or plant store.
I also really enjoyed this post from The Swiss Cats about feline eyesight.

As most of you know, this was my birthday week, and it was quite exciting for a lot of different reasons!

I competed in a cat show in Portland, OR, and that was quite an adventure.
An even bigger adventure was getting there — I flew! Find out all about that, and who I spent time with in Portland when I wasn’t in a judging ring.
In fact, I had so many photos left over, I devoted a whole Wordless Wednesday post to pictures from my trip.
Thursday was my birthday, and I celebrated by holding a commenthon for Southern California Abyssinian (and Somali) Rescue. Because so many of you stopped by to wish me a happy day, I made my goal well before midnight!
Here are some lessons in cute for you kitties who need a refresher course!

If you see a good cat-oriented news item around the internet, send me a link and I may include it next week!
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

Lessons in Cute

Since I am one now, it means I am no longer a kitten! But as we all know, we kitties are cute our whole lives. If you feel you are getting a little rusty in the cute department, however, never fear — I’ve put together some pictorial cute lessons for you. I hope you enjoy them!

Any questions?
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

I’m One!

Can you believe I’m one year old already? Where does the time fly? Between cat shows and my human’s working on Rescued (the Kindle version just came out!), we’ve been too busy for a big birthday bash — but don’t worry, there is still going to be an awesome Cat World Domination Day in June!

I did have a special birthday meal — my favorite chicken cat food sprinkled with freeze dried chicken (eat your heart out, Ashton!). It was awesome!

She also got me this Hello Kitty Beanie… at least that’s what she said. Do you think she got it for me or for herself? Your guess is probably the same as mine! But it doesn’t matter because I didn’t want any presents for my birthday, really. I already have a house full of toys, playmates and more cat show ribbons than I could ever chew through!

I did ask for one thing, however — for my human to hold a birthday commenthon to benefit Southern California Abyssinian (and Somali) Rescue. Just because Abys and Somalis come from a breeder, sometimes we wind up in trouble — and even in kill shelters! The worst nightmare a breeder has, in fact, is that a kitten she lovingly raised winds up being cruelly treated or dumped… and even though nearly all responsible breeders have a clause requesting the kitten or cat’s return if things don’t work out, sometimes people ignore this and just get rid of a cat that has been an “inconvenience.” S.C.A.R. helps Abys, Aby mixes, and Somalis in need and gets homes for them — and they could always use donations. So my human will be donating 50 cents per comment, up to $50. Please make my birthday wish come true, for my commenthon to hit its goal!

P.S. If you want to see Sparkle’s first birthday, it’s at this blog post.
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

Portland Trip Extras

There were so many photos from my Portland trip that some good (or at least interesting) ones were left out. So I’ve included them today — scroll over the photos for secret messages!

Tomorrow is my first birthday! I’m not having a huge party or anything, but do stop by!
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

My Trip to Portland… and Back

Of course I can go to cat shows within driving distance from my house, but my human wanted to take me to this past weekend’s show in Portland for a special reason: we had to fly there, and she wanted to see how I did on a plane. The flight was just a little over two hours, perfect for a first time. Actually I thought the drive from where we live in Northeast L.A. down to Los Angeles International Airport was the most annoying part of the trip up! My human had to take me out of my carrier to go through TSA, and I stood on the table and people watched while they checked her hands for bomb residue or whatever they’re checking for. I also got to hang around outside of my carrier at the gate while we waited to board.

I really wanted to explore and say hi to people, but my human wouldn’t let me — out of her own laziness. She did not want to follow me around carrying her laptop bag and my carrier, because there was no one to watch over them. I think that was a poor excuse.

Eventually I settled down on a chair until we were called to board. A couple of women came up to pet me because they missed their cats at home. I was wondering if the cats at my home missed me!

When we got on the plane, my human stuck me and her laptop under the seat for the duration of the flight. I would have liked to have had my own seat, but apparently airlines don’t “do” that. I did not mind the flight as much as the car. The only time I got upset was when the plane started shaking a bit. That part didn’t bother me — it was my human opening the carrier to pet me, and then zipping it up again without taking me out! For a moment there, I thought I was free, and I was so disappointed when I wasn’t. I complained loudly about that, but only meowed quietly a few times for the rest of the flight.

The short trip from the Portland airport to the hotel was very cool because my human and I were driven there by the human of the Colehaus Cats! She even made up a sign with our names on it so we could easily find her! I got to hear all sorts of things about my pals. And what’s more, she had a gift bag for us! It was even paw-painted by Quint!

It was full of crinkly paper, tissue paper — and cat toys! Plus some treats for my human to keep up her energy during the cat show (going from ring to ring involves a lot of walking, and occasionally running).

Plus there was also a really sweet card. Thank you! You really made us feel welcome in Portland!

The hotel turned out to be really nice. We stayed on the 10th floor.

There was an amazing view of the park!

The bed was comfy, even if my human used most of the pillows to block me from climbing behind the headboard (she was only partly successful).

The bathroom was nice too! My litter box was set up next to my human’s.

The next day at the cat show, there was more fun when Angel and Isabella’s human showed up and watched me compete in some rings! There were even a couple of photos on their blog yesterday. My human has met her before and they chatted lots.

Later on, the Colehaus Cats’ human showed up at the cat show, and so did Cory and her family’s human… and the human of the PDX Pride, which includes one of my therapy cat heroes, Tabby! Can you imagine, all these humans showed up just to see me! My human invited them up to our hotel room for a bit. I thought it was strange at first because I’ve never had guests in my room before, but once I realized they were all there to worship me, I had a great time being hostess! I held court in my favorite chair… and all over the hotel room, actually. The next day, another human that my human and Sparkle knew from social media visited; she wrote a very charming children’s book called The Too True Adventures…: NeeNee and Furrends Explore the Neighborhood. It features special needs kitties and teaches love and acceptance. This human even filmed me on the judging table and posted it on Facebook! We had lots of fun with her.

Early the next morning, my human and I headed home. We were kind of sad to leave Portland, even though we were happy to get back to L.A.

Don’t I look like a seasoned traveler?

And I brought home gifts from Portland! Many of you know that one of Cory’s family members, Jonesie, is an expert gardener, and her human brought a bag of fresh nip right from their garden! It was very strong! Binga almost instantly got stoned, and so did Boodie.

And our friend from Sunday night brought some primo nip bud with her! Binga, who was already stoned from Jonesie’s nip, tried to eat it all! My human had to snatch it away because she is saving some of the seeds to plant.

Our friends in Portland were fun and more than generous! I hope I get to come back soon.
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!

The Portland Cat Show

I got to fly up to Portland to compete in the McKenzie River Cat Club cat show in Portland, OR! I’ll tell you all about the flight and my visitors tomorrow (it was all very exciting!), but today I’ll tell you all about the actual show. My human thought it was ridiculous to pay a baggage fee to fly my usual Sturdi cage up with me, so instead she requested a standard cage to be set up for us. It took a little getting used to.

The fun part was that I could reach out between the wire bars and touch stuff! Including the curtain of the cat next to me. His name is Bing, and he’s a Manx who is doing extremely well this season! He looks like he is worried about me messing with his curtains. My human agreed and told me that was not allowed.

This wasn’t allowed either… but it was really fun!

As I mentioned in my last show report, the season is ending, and things are getting really competitive in the cat show world! I figured the best way to stand out was to look as cute as possible, so I practiced that a lot.

It works too — look at this white Persian! She totally enchanted both the judge and the audience.

Since we cats are given numbers alphabetically, the kitty next to me happened to be a Sphynx, and she was very sweet and pretty! If she had fur, it would be white! Her skin was utterly perfect, and she was nearly as charming as the white Persian! She’s new to showing, and I think she will do well.

I thought you might like to see some cats in the Household Pets Category being judged, so here you are. There were two cats vying for the Best Cat ribbon, and the judge was getting a consensus by getting the audience to applaud (mixed breed cats don’t have any standards to conform to — they are lucky and have more fun). The cat that got the biggest response was this tortie, #145! She reminded my human a lot of Binga. We breed cats get applause too, but the Household Pet humans are a wilder, more raucous bunch! Did you know that sometimes if a rescue cat is having a hard time getting adopted, if the rescue humans do cat shows, they bring the cat to a show because every kitty gets ribbons — and they hang the ribbons on her cage back at the facility. It makes her look special (which all cats are), and she usually gets adopted a lot faster!

Here I am with one of my ribbons.

But you know what’s even better than ribbons? A new toy! My human found this at a vendor booth between judging rings and thought I would enjoy it. She was right!

My two days competing in Portland were exhausting but lots of fun!

And I got six ribbons! That means that, out of eight rings, I finaled in six! In fact, I finaled in all four rings on my second day — that was a first. So I did really well.

But just wait til you hear about the rest of my trip. It was even more awesome!
* * *

Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!