Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 415

Imperial Cat Toy Winner – and Announcement!

I have a winner for my Imperial Cat Cat’n Around Catnip Toy! And I am really thrilled because it is…

Kitty Cat Chronicles!

Concatulations to you kitties! I know you will love your new toy!

I am having another giveaway next week, but it is going to be for newsletter readers only! So if you haven’t joined yet, go to where it says “Get Sparkle’s Newsletter” in the sidebar and sign up! I send out newsletters once a month with my favorite blog posts and a short editorial from me — and if I have a giveaway in the middle of the month, I send out a special email blast! This is the first time I am doing an email blast announcing a giveaway just for my newsletter readers. It is my thank you for being a subscriber!
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

Scene Chewy-ing Roommates!

Chewy.com is really generous! A lot of their blogging partners have gotten a big box of awesome cat stuff, including us! Our delivery was waiting for us when my human got back from her trip.

Wait… she’s laughing behind me, isn’t she? Well, never mind her — let’s look at all the cool stuff inside the box.

What’s she doing here? I’m supposed to be here, not her! I can’t even do a simple photo session without these scene stealers horning in.

That’s better — and now you can get a better view of the towel, the water bottle, the sunglasses and all the awesome treats we got! A lot of these are our favorites! And just in time too — we were getting low on treats.

Plus I got a couple of pens to bat around, some post-it notepads for my human and a very nice thank you card from the Chewy.com humans. I want to say thank you to Chewy.com for this wonderful surprise!
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

Working Like a Cat

Did you know that today is Work Like a Dog Day? I didn’t either until yesterday, when Daisy wrote about it on her 1-800-PetMeds blog. I find this day confusing — who in their right mind would want to work like a dog? According to the saying, dogs work to exhaustion (although frankly, I’ve never seen a dog work at all). I think it would be much better to work like a cat! There is even a book called How to Work Like a Cat that I reviewed several years ago. We cats know how to work better than either humans or dogs. I have proof! Here are some ways to work like a cat:

Focus. Have you ever seen a kitty stalk a mouse — or a cat toy? We watch its every movement (or in the case of the toy, imaginary movement), and we’re involved in the hunt with every millimeter of our body! One of the reasons we are so successful at catching our prey is because we focus on it so intently.
Trust Your Timing. Because we are so good at focusing, we cats know exactly when and how to do things. We know when to pounce on our prey, or how far we need to leap to get to the top of the cabinet. It’s like we become one with our goal! And when that happens, timing just comes naturally, so trust it. If you think or hesitate, you lose.
Be Efficient. Do you know why dogs have to work so hard? Because they are all over the place, wasting their energy, jumping around and going in all different directions. We cats live way more efficiently. When we kill our prey, we do it in one swift bite to the neck. Even when we play, we don’t scramble — we make the moves we need to get what we’re after and we keep our eye on the prize. Cats don’t waste energy, and as a result we get things done with less effort.
Persistence Wins. When we cats really want something, we don’t give up! Like, when a cat wants his human to get up and fetch breakfast, he will keep patting her face, sticking his paw in her mouth, purring and head butting her, or whatever else he needs to do to get his human up and moving — and he won’t take no for an answer! This is why cats are so good at training their humans — humans need constant repetition to learn things, and we cats are up to the task.
Get Enough Sleep. I bet you were wondering when I was going to get around this one! I’ve seen it over and over — when humans don’t get enough sleep, they don’t think clearly and mess things up. Sure, sometimes you have to pull an all-nighter to get something done, but when you are finished, crash out and don’t emerge until you are well rested. Bedtime is for recharging your batteries, so don’t waste time mulling over your day and worrying about tomorrow. Cats never have insomnia and we are generally in charge of the households we live in. ’Nuff said.

Follow my advice and you will never have to work like a dog!
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

A Visit to a Very Special Place

My human’s boyfriend was playing a show that was only an hour’s drive from a place that my human has been wanting to visit for years! So she decided to go up there. I agreed that this was a good idea since the place involves cat rescue and she was only going to be gone for a couple of days. I even offered to donate a bunch of my “gently used” toys (in other words, toys that weren’t totally drooled on by Boodie or ruined by Binga) — and I even paw-picked some of my favorites!

So I sent off the toys, and my human, with my blessings. Can you guess where she went?

If you guessed the Cat House on the Kings, you were right!

It was impossible for my human to really capture the scope of the sanctuary — it’s 12 acres, totally enclosed with a cat-proof fence! And there were many different buildings and enclosures for senior kitties, kittens, an FIV ward, an ICU and even places for long term and short term boarding!

This is the main house. It’s 4,200 square feet and totally belongs to the cats. The owner of the Cat House on the Kings, Lynea Lattanzio, used to live there, but she wanted some space away from the cats, so she moved to a mobile home a few yards away. Of course, lots of special needs cats live in the mobile home now!

It was dark in the main house so my human only took a few photos… and one of the first kitties she took a photo of was — yep, a tortie!

And then there was this Bengal hanging out! The Cat House on the Kings has several breed cats living there, including three Bengals.

There was even a Sphynx hanging out in the office! This girl was very friendly.

This kitty was a Pixie Bob!

My human doesn’t know how many cats were there. The website says 700 adult cats, and there were too many for my human to count. Plus it was very hot — over 100 degrees that afternoon! — so a lot of the cats were keeping cool in places my human couldn’t see. The humans at the Cat House on the Kings make sure the kitties are comfortable during the extreme summers they have — and the cold winters too.

But the cats seemed to be better prepared for the heat than my human. The tour was led by Lynea Lattanzio herself, and when she took the group of visitors down to the river, a number of cats followed them.

This kitty didn’t want pictures taken — he wanted to be petted.

This one didn’t mind posing for photos.

Behind the patio furniture and the trees is the Kings River. The area where the Cat House on the Kings is located is dry and harsh and green and beautiful, all at the same time! The kitties clearly enjoyed living there, but even so, in her heart my human knows that most of them wish they had a family of their very own.

The trip to the Cat House on the Kings, and seeing her boyfriend play an awesome show, were worth having to stay at a tacky casino hotel, where they made no secret of letting guests know they were constantly being watched.

The hotel was surreal in a lot of different ways. But when my human saw this, the only angels she could think of were the ones taking care of the kitties, just an hour’s drive away.
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

Sunday Catinee: Too Much Cuteness!

Even if you are like my human and not that big on babies, you will die of cuteness watching this video of a cat licking a human baby’s toes! The sheer delight of the kid and the dad is pretty awesome, and the cat is happy to help the baby get clean. It’s one of the happiest videos I’ve seen all year.

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

And if you can stand more cute, here is Joe Joe the kitten, tasting his own feet and just… being. Caution: he will hypnotize you with adorableness! This clip has been making the rounds lately, so you may have seen it before — but even if you have, I bet you will watch it again!

If you can’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube!
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

The Caturday Report: The Weird News Edition

It’s been one of those strange weeks around the internet! Where do these reporter humans come up with these things? It just shows that we cat bloggers have much more useful information.

I mean, really:

You know how humans are always thinking that we cats can see things they can’t? Well, according to this study, they are right!
Do you live in a cat state or a dog state? This handy graphic will tell you — and there’s one for countries too! I hope you do not have to move.
My human has been really annoyed by the “Women Against Feminism” Tumblr, for a lot of reasons that don’t concern cats — but some kitties have come to her rescue and made fun of these misguided women!
Have you ever considered fostering a cat or kittens? Crepes’ human offers some suggestions on how to determine whether you are cat foster material!
And if you have ever wondered about caring for a feral colony, the Playful Kitty blog has some things you need to know!

The week on my blog was pretty random, but mostly fun!

I revealed a secret that my human has been hiding from my readers — and what she did to fix it!
I am having a cat toy giveaway! Enter before Monday, August 4 if you want a chance to win!
In my monthly advice column, a cat asks me if the new tortie kitten who joined his family is broken. I have bad news for him….
I love my slicker brush, and I show you just how much in this blog post!
All three of us cats had to go to the vet together! It was nothing serious, but find out what happened… and see some photos of Binga sporting a stylish bandage!
And lastly, I featured some of my favorite Facebook posts from the past few weeks.

That’s it for this week’s Caturday Report! If you see a good news item around the internet, send me a link and I may include it next week!
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

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

Facebook Fun Fest!

It’s time again for fun Facebook posts from my page! I’m sure you’ll enjoy them — and I bet you haven’t see them all!

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

The kitty actually broke the scale!

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

A lot of humans actually seemed to want this, which means we cats have already won.

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

Truer words were never spoken.

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

This video made everyone on my Facebook page MOL!

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

Ha-ha, humans!

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.

I didn’t know they made an electronic version!



And… my favorite Facebook post of the past month:

Post by Sparkle the Designer Cat.


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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!
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Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” I have answers to many annoying problems in my two award-winning books! Visit my author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of my awesome Dear Sparkle books!

No Fun Vet Day

Here I am, at the vet clinic for no reason! My human, with the help of her boyfriend, had to bring all three of us in because someone had what humans refer to as “soft stool.” It was either Binga or Boodie. My human already knew it wasn’t me (don’t ask how), but I had to come along anyway because I act “aggressive” when my roommates return from the vet. Aggressive, really? Tiny little me? Heh-heh. I didn’t want to be there. My human didn’t want to drag me along either — but she knew I’d go ballistic on Binga and Boodie if she didn’t.

You know who didn’t care about being there? Boodie! Can you believe it? She’s supposed to be the “shy” one, but while we were all waiting for the vet, she wanted out of her carrier so she could wander around.

She kept trying to figure out why Binga and I didn’t want to come out — and we kept hissing at her.

The vet checked out both Binga and Boodie, looked up their butts and felt their abdomens and figured out it was probably Binga. Binga also had a claw growing into her paw pad that needed to be cut out. My human warned the vet that her techs needed to put on their heaviest armor if they expected to do that successfully. While Binga was out having her pawdicure, I decided to explore a little… and I saw a ceramic treat container on one of the counters.

Sadly, it was empty.

In spite of my human’s dire warning, the vet techs said Binga complained a lot, but did not totally freak out on them. Her paw did bleed when they cut away the nail, so they bandaged it up. They said she had to wear the bandage for two days.

Binga did not like the bandage at all! She complained the whole time it was on and kept whapping the humans (and sometimes us cats) with it.

She never got used to it. In the end, I think she was plotting revenge.
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

* * *

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

Me and My Slicker Brush

I always talk about how much I love being brushed, but not just any old brush will satisfy me! It has to be a slicker brush — one of those brushes with the tiny metal tines. It’s like getting the best scritches ever.

I am always ready to be brushed with the slicker brush!

Supposedly, you shouldn’t use these brushes around a cat’s face — I say FEH on that! That is my favorite place to be brushed. My human lets me direct where and how I want my brushing, and even she is not clumsy enough to get the tines near my eyes.

The chin brushing is my favorite part.

Can you tell I am smiling?

My human needs to clean the fur out of this thing — and brush me some more.
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

* * *

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

Dear Sparkle: What Is Wrong With This Tortie Kitten?

Dear Sparkle,

I am an orange tabby who loves my big brother and tortie sister, but they are a lot older than me and I’ve been friendly with the neighbor’s cat. So my human thought I would enjoy someone younger to play with and she brought home a tortie kitten (seems to be a theme here, doesn’t it?). But I think there is something wrong with her! She sits in most of my favorite spots and hogs the toys. I find myself growling at her, even though I’ve never growled before in my life! Since you have Binga, I thought you might know what to do about this troublesome tortie.

Signed,

Rucker

Dear Rucker,

I hate to say it, but the only thing wrong with this tortie kitten is that she is a tortie — and that’s something you just can’t fix! In fact, I think you are lucky — if this had been Binga, she would have hogged your favorite spots and toys, and then growled at you! Smacking her is useless because chances are she will just smack you right back. Torties are feisty kitties who give as good as they get… or better! I bet your older tortie family member was quite a pistol in her day. There are some torties who buck the bossiness trend, but they are not very common.

You want to know the secret to dealing with a misbehaving tortie? You have to change your own reaction to her! That is really about all you can do. Torties are happy just the way they are, so they have no reason to change. Let me give you some tips on adjusting your own attitude: instead of growing at her, maybe you should pretend something else is more interesting than what she is hogging. It is bound to spark her curiosity and she will want to have whatever it is too. Then you can take back what was rightfully yours. Or here is another one: instead of letting her make you angry, get on her nerves on purpose! Torties are really fun to annoy because it is very easy to do. I do that all the time with Binga, purely for amusement. Just remember, torties always act before they think, so if you do the opposite, you should be able to have the upper paw. The moment you react to their bad behavior, you’ve lost. Good luck, and who knows? When you look at her from a different perspective, you might find you like her after all.
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I’m a finalist for the Petties, in the Best Cat Blog category! Please vote for me, and your other favorite blogs, at the Petties homepage! Just go to the top menu where it says “Finalist Voting” and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account, or sign in by email! You can do this once a day until August 7!

* * *

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