Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 408

Little Devil(s)

A few weeks ago, my human got a press release announcing the Martha Stewart Pets Fall and Halloween collections. The items featured in the email were mostly dog stuff, but my human’s eyes lit on one thing she found irresistible: a devil costume with adjustable harness. So she asked for one, in small, and the Martha Stewart humans sent her one! There was just one problem: while I am a small for the Puppia harnesses, small in the Martha Stewart harness was too big for me! It was even a little big on Binga. So my human emailed the Martha Stewart people, and they obligingly sent her an x-small, and what do you know — it fit!

I actually did not mind wearing it at all, even though it is meant more for a dog’s build.

This is my devilish expression! All I need now is a pitchfork.

Because I have such big ears, it is easier for me to wear it hoodie down.

Plus it is easier for me to play when the horns are down — they have a habit of slipping off when you are attacking a misbehaving cat toy.

Here is a full shot of the harness costume, so you can get a better view of the little tail on the back. And yes, if you look in the lower left hand corner, there is Binga, trying to bomb my photo session. But she is welcome to do that, under one condition…

My human still had the larger devil harness! With a little bit of cinching it just barely fit her without slipping off.

I hope she enjoyed her photo bomb.

So who do you think is the real devil here?

Oh yeah, and in case you want to shop:

10% off All Martha Stewart Products at PetSmart.com! Offer valid 10/6 to 10/31

Disclosure: I got the Devil Harness Costumes from Martha Stewart Pets for free… but I was not influenced in any way. My opinion, and Binga’s, are strictly our own. Links to PetSmart are affiliate links and I earn a commission if you use them to shop there… but don’t you think I’ve earned it?
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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!

Whiskerslist Boxed Calendar Winner

How do you like my pose? This is my “Announcing the Winner of the Whiskerslist 2015 Boxed Calendar Giveaway” pose! The calendar is already on its way to the winner, who is…

Jan of Jan’s Funny Farm!

A big concatulations to you, Jan! If you would like your own whiskerslist Boxed Calendar, you can order a copy from Amazon.

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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!

Sparkle’s Petties Award

When is a package that is addressed to me not really meant for me?

When it is Sparkle’s award from the Petties for Best Cat Blog! She earned this award before I ever came here. Her blog has belonged to me for a month and a half now, and it has only made me appreciate all the work she put into it even more!

Sparkle worked very hard, teaching humans about cats, and teaching cats about human behavior. I’m only a kitten and still learning about all that. Honesty, I don’t even have Binga figured out yet! But I know Sparkle had faith that I could carry on her blog, with my own spin as a traveling cat and therapy cat in training — and that keeps me going.

If Sparkle were here, she would thank all her fans for faithfully voting for her — because so many of you did, and that is why she won! And she would also point out that the best part of winning Best Cat Blog in the Petties was getting to have $1000 donated to one of the original rescues she supported, Winging Cat Rescue!

Sparkle was so well loved and I will always be sorry I never got to meet her. So I want to say my own thank you, for welcoming me so warmly! Sparkle said many times here that her readers were awesome, and she was right! I hope to carry on Sparkle’s legacy for many years to come.
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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: Real, Live Kitty Video Game

I am sure many of you know my pretty tuxie kitty pal Katie Isabella. She has a human brother who has created a simulated world called Schulmania, in which she appears on occasion. Recently, Katie mentioned one installment on her blog that contained the following awesome video. If you ever played any of the Super Mario video games, or at least know about them (and who doesn’t?), you will really enjoy this!

If you can’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube!
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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: The 21st Century Cat

Today’s Caturday Report takes on a distinctly modern feel, as this week’s news is mostly about things that impact us 21st century kitties.

So what are you waiting for? Things move fast nowadays!

Finally, the crazy cat lady myth is being debunked!
We kitties are highly adaptable creatures. This special story from the BBC looks at the ways in which felines are changing with the times.
This is a sad statement on modern times — these cats may not have survived an unfortunate situation without the help of this dog.
This post from the Playful Kitty blog suggests that the #1 cause of death for cats may be… overpopulation.
Lastly, I loved this article from Cat Chat with Caren and Cody on how to photograph and groom shelter cats (although I get the sneaking suspicion that the guy in the video tutorial is more of a dog person).

And how did the week go for this thoroughly modern kitty? This way:

I competed in a big, three-day cat show in Las Vegas last weekend, and this is how it went!
While I was on my Vegas trip, I learned some kitten only hotel rules… either that, or I set them!
I also revealed my least favorite part of my trip… getting there and back!
I taste tested some freeze-dried turkey liver treats! Were they awesome? Were they ever!
I also spilled the beans on how Kitten Magic is a big part of Cat World Domination.

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

Kitten Magic

Sparkle talked a lot about Cat World Domination, and you are probably wondering how a little kitten like me figures into all of that big, important stuff. Well, it’s easy! In fact, did you know that Cat World Domination starts early for kitties? In fact, we kittens have a secret weapon that gets the whole Domination thing underway. It is called Kitten Magic, because it works like magic!

A big part of it has to do with our ability to look cute no matter what! For example, see how cute I look after killing this toy mousie? After this, it does not look that bad when I kill — and eat — flies! I get kissed lots even when I have fly breath!

Kittens are born looking innocent and we stay looking innocent for a long time! I think that is why the humans here did not take Binga back to the kill shelter when she decided her most fun game was attacking their faces first thing in the morning — claws out! She was only three months old and when you are that age, everything is forgiven.

We kittens have things that we do that give us instant power over humans! This head tilt pose is one of them! I don’t know why it works, but it does every time! In fact, it is so powerful that I’m scared to use it too much. It might do irreparable damage to humans and make them useless when we need them to do important things, like go out and buy us food and cat trees. They get so mesmerized, they might leave and forget how to come back!

Here is another one — the upside down look. Humans go crazy over that! If you have black lips and a little brick-colored nose like me, it works even better.

It is even more potent if you can hide your ears at the same time! Especially if you have very large ears like me. It will make your human putty in your paws.

With all this cuteness, we kittens can get away with a lot! For example, I am not supposed to be on the kitchen counter, but I can go up there any time I want and I don’t even get yelled at! When you are a kitten, it is all about “setting precedents.” It is so simple for kittens to establish their dominance over humans, and it makes it easier to spread your dominance when you are older. If your human takes lots of kitten photos of you, it is even better, because they will go back to the pictures frequently and get hypnotized all over again.

So do not ever let anyone try to convince you that Kitten Magic is a myth. It is very real, and it is something all kittens have! It’s one of our most amazing weapons in our Cat World Domination tool kit!
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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!

These Freeze-Dried Turkey Liver Treats Are Tasty!

When I got home from Las Vegas, I had a box from Chewy.com waiting for me!

…a Chewy.com box with my name on it! Ahem.

It’s Primal Freeze-Dried Turkey Liver Munchies! Can you tell how excited I am to try them out?

My human always reads the ingredient list, but she did not have to spend much time with this treat — there was only one ingredient! There was no added salt or sugar, and the turkey the liver came from was raised in the U.S. without antibiotics or added hormones. This all sounded really promising to me!

And these treats were totally yummy! I do not understand why some brands add so many extras to their freeze-dried treats. We kitties do not need them — we love the meaty taste the way it comes right out of the bird! The treats were really easy to break into small pieces, which my human liked, and they were soft and very easy to crunch, which I liked lots!

Binga did not like how hard it was to break into the packaging, although I am sure with persistence she could have done it. Don’t worry, she got some treats too, and so did Boodie.

These Primal Freeze-Dried Turkey Liver treats certainly meet with my seal of approval! And they are for both cats and dogs. My human is going to pack some up for when she is teaching me to walk nicely on my leash, and for teaching me to “stay.” That is a new thing I am learning. And I do stay if the treat is worth it!

And as always with Chewy.com, there’s a cool box! I love this one. It is just my size.

Sorry. I am not sharing the box!

Disclaimer: I received these treats, and the box, from Chewy.com for review, but all opinions are completely my own.
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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!

On the Road… Back Home

I have to admit, being in transit is my least favorite part of traveling! I love the hotel rooms, and I enjoy meeting new people and getting ribbons and stuff, but the drive? Ugh, you can take it and keep it! Here I am, about to be loaded into the car on Monday. Can you see me in the carrier?

This was my set up in my human’s MINI. The half Sturdi shelter was firmly latched in with the seatbelts in back, and I had toys and a litter box (which I used the moment I was put in there), but I didn’t like it! I wanted to ride shotgun and hang out with my human and I complained the whole way home from Las Vegas to Los Angeles!

I could see through the mesh, but I didn’t really get to check out the scenery except for the couple of stops my human made to stretch her legs or to eat. Then she would let me out for a few minutes. If she went to the ladies room, like she did at this rest stop, I always came with her.

My human tried to make me feel better by telling me it wasn’t safe for me to run freely in the car while she was driving.

I promised that I would sit nicely in the passenger’s seat and be good.

I even offered to sit in the back, next to the Sturdi shelter instead of in it.

But my human pointed out that I never sat still for long in the car, and I invariably wound up places I shouldn’t be when she is driving. She is a big spoil sport! And she thinks I’m the spoil sport, or as she put it, a PITA — she said next time, she may fly with me because I will probably be quieter if she can spend more time talking and hanging out with me.

What a relief when the drive was over! Staying at the hotel and being in the cat show was special and fun, but there really is no place like home.

Well, mostly!
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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!

Kitten Only Hotel Rules

My trip to Las Vegas was the second time I’ve stayed in a hotel room (the first was with my human the weekend she took me home). That means I am an expert now on how a kitten should act when staying at a hotel! Here are the most valuable tips I learned!

The first thing a kitten needs to do when she enters the hotel room is find all the good hiding spots! My human made this difficult because before she let me out of my carrier, she looked for them herself — which meant they weren’t hiding spots anymore. But she felt it was important to look under the bed and chairs and behind things because you never know what you will find in a hotel room that might be dangerous to a kitten! Behind the bed skirt on this bed was a platform, so I had nothing to go under. But there was a slight space underneath the headboard, so my human put a pillow there to keep me from going in it (although I might have done that anyway — don’t tell!).

There are often cubbyholes in the furniture that make great places to watch your human! This space was right by the desk, where my human spent much of her time.

Sometimes when you accompany your human to a hotel room, they are on vacation, but if they are like mine, they might be working — and it is very important to supervise them! As you can see here, my human is on my Facebook page and is helping me update it.

In hotel rooms, there is usually a chest with lots of drawers. Humans generally only use a couple at most, so that leaves a lot of empty drawers. They should be left open so you can play in them!

Of course, you must test the bed and make sure it meets with your approval! As a kitten you will be spending a lot of time playing and sleeping on it.

But be careful to keep an eye out for the paparazzi — they may take a picture of you in a compromising position!

If you are lucky, you will have a ledge by the window so you can check out the view!

In hotel rooms there are always curtains on the windows, so you can play hide and seek with your human! I bet you can’t find me in this photo.

Sometimes you wind up entertaining guests in your hotel room! The human from Katnip Lounge came by the first night we checked into the Riviera, and she came with gifts! She made this cool kitten-sized blanket/ mat just for me!

She also crocheted this cool snake to play with! When your guests bring gifts, you always have to thank them properly, especially when they are this nice. The Katnip Lounge human ate in the hotel room with my human so she could hang out with me, and I thanked her by trying to eat her chicken! That meant I liked her! And her chicken.

I know she appreciated my gesture because she came by the cat show the next evening and brought even more gifts — fresh catnip and dehydrated chicken! Isn’t that awesome? Of course I saved some to share with Binga and Boodie when I got home.

A couple of last notes: try to play safe, although that is not always possible! I was leaping for the bed in this photo, and if you look closely, you can see that I missed. I wasn’t hurt, though. The second day we stayed in the hotel, my human found me hunting through the trash, and after that it mysteriously disappeared. I asked her where it went but she played dumb.

And lastly, this is very important: be nice to the housekeeping staff! They probably will not see you while you are staying there because you human will put up a “Do not disturb” sign and warn people that there is cat in the room. And if they do come in, you will probably be locked up. But we kitties with our food and litter boxes make more of a mess than a lot of regular guests (unless they are rock stars). So make sure your human cleans every thing up thoroughly when you both are getting ready to check out, and that she dumps your litter and any other messes in a bin outside of the hotel. It is just common courtesy, and keeps the hotel humans wanting to accommodate pets. Plus, leave a tip — the housekeeping staff does not make a big salary, and it is a nice thing to do.
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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!

Vegas Cat Show Tell All!

My human and I drove in to Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon for the Jazzy Cats club’s three-day TICA show at the Riviera Hotel. It was a long weekend, and we were gambling that I would get some finals!

This is where I was from 4 P.M. to 11 P.M. on Friday, 10 A.M. to nearly 6 P.M. on Saturday and 9 A.M. to around 4 P.M. on Sunday! There were 18 judging rings over the three days, so I had a lot of work to do! Plus I had visitors on Friday (the Katnip Lounge human and Quill and Greyson’s human), and some nice Facebook friends stopped by on Saturday.

The show had a Halloween theme, so all the rings had Halloween decorations, as did the announcer’s booth, which you see above.

Some of the decorations were kind of creepy!

My breeder was showing her 7-month-old Aby kitten, so she and my human got exhibitor spaces next to each other, and there was enough room to set up a nice-sized grooming area! See those two ribbons? CG (the Aby girl) and I got them when we came in. When — and if — we got any final placements, we’d get a small badge to stick on them. I was crossing my paws a lot for badges! This was a very big show with many different breeds, and the competition was fierce! Although I was the only Somali kitten, I was one of about 60 kittens competing, and we Somalis aren’t as popular as some of the other breeds.

Here are me and CG right next to each other in a judging ring, which almost never happens! But as Number 30, I was the last kitten in the longhaired group, and as 51, CG was the first kitten in the shorthaired group (breeds go in alphabetical order). So this ring was finishing up longhaired kittens and then judging shorthaired kittens right after. CG and I actually lived together briefly, but we never met. She had just come from Russia and lived in a different part of the house from the rest of us, to make sure she was kitty germ-free. And even though we were near each other in our benching cages and occasionally in the judging ring, I only caught brief looks at her. There are lots of cats at shows, and you have to be careful because you don’t want one cat to take a dislike to another cat. That causes all sorts of unpleasantry!

Like most cat shows, there were rescue cats available for adoption, and many of them were showing in the household pets category. This guy had a lot of charisma!

So did this guy. He was huge! He must have been around 25 lbs… and he wasn’t fat! I don’t know why my human keeps photographing gray cats. There were lots of other colors there too. Some kitties got adopted, which was great, because even though this is a big cat show, it doesn’t get a lot of local people coming by because of its location at the Riviera. It was fun to hear the announcer say that a cat couldn’t finish his household pet rings because he was adopted.

Another cool thing this show had was a Junior Exhibitor Ring during lunch on Sunday. That’s when young TICA humans who love cats and cat breeds learn what it’s like being judges. The two my human saw were both stewards this weekend — the stewards are responsible for keeping the cages in the judging rings clean. I really liked this little boy a lot. He was nice and friendly when he was cleaning the cage next to mine, and he was clearly happy to be there.

This teen knew his stuff! The judge who was in charge at the Junior Exhibitor Ring tested him on his knowledge of cat shows and he did really well. If you want to know more about TICA’s Junior Exhibitor program, you can read about it at this link.

Like last time, I practiced my facial expressions. This one was meant to be a sly wink, but I don’t think it worked out.

Although you aren’t really supposed to call out to the judges while you’re in the ring, some kitties do. It’s very important to remember that the judge’s name is never, “Hey, you!” That is rude.

A nice, pleasing look with a slight smile works best!

It must have done the trick because I placed in the “Solo Ring.” The Solo Rings are part of the training to become a judge. This nice judge-in-training gave me 7th Best Kitten (CG placed first!).

When you place in a Solo Ring, it doesn’t count as points, but you do get a special ribbon! You aren’t supposed to eat it, though. At least that is what I was told.

So you are probably wondering how I did in all the real rings, right? Well, since I was the only Somali kitten in competition, I was the Best Somali Kitten every time! That meant I qualified for consideration in all the finals, but like I said, competition was tough and I only got four finals. They were all specialty rings, which means I was only judged against the other longhaired kittens, not the shorthaired and longhaired kittens combined (that’s the Allbreed rings). I got a 7th Best and 10th Best longhaired kitten… and two Best Specialty Kitten titles! That meant I won over all the other longhaired kittens in those judge’s rings! This was the first time I came in first place… and it happened twice here! My human and I were very excited!

You are not supposed to eat these ribbons either.

This was really an exhausting weekend! I am coming home today, so maybe when I catch my breath, I’ll tell you all about the drive, and let you know some hotel room rules!
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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!