Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 417

Sunday Catinee: Big Cats and Toilet Paper

I’ve featured kitties shredding toilet paper before (including the cat who even rolled it back), but what about big cats? What would they do with toilet paper, if given the chance? The humans at Big Cat Rescue just had to find out! Here are the results:

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

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!

The Caturday Report: The Inside Kitty Edition

You will want to check out all the links in this week’s Caturday Report! There is news that may break open our secret feline lives, a do-it-yourself cat bed project and lots more!

Check it all out:

Researchers in North Carolina are using satellite tracking harnesses, a 3-D printer, and… ahem… feces analysis in an attempt to learn about the secret lives of kitties! Want to be part of the research? Here’s the official website. You don’t have to live in North Carolina.
Even if your human is lousy at sewing, like mine is, she can make a cat bed! This one, featured at Catladyland, is completely no sew, and completely awesome! Just remember to add nip.
Tuesday was Pet Fire Safety Day, and here are some tips from CJ’s Paw Pad. This is a special post for them, because CJ is a fire survivor.
Tuesday was also Blog the Change for Animals Day, and the Random Felines blog busted some myths about FIV.
Cat Wisdom 101 has some really amazing tips on picking the right cat — and not overlooking some of the special ones.

This was almost like “rescue week” on my blog — I had several posts that covered that topic, along with my usual (or unusual) activities:

The week did not start off well — we kitties were forced to leave our house while it was being exterminated for ants!
I am still trying to decide on a rescue to support for the Petties, and for my human’s commenthon on Monday — vote here! And also, remember to vote for me for Best Cat Blog in the Petties!
My own Blog the Change for Animals post was about the joys of kitty sponsorship — and I introduced the three kitties my human sponsored from PAWS of Connecticut.
I announced the partnership between my favorite web series, CATastrophes, and Animalist.com!
On Tortie Thursday, Binga had a modeling session in the turret!
It was Formerly Feral Friday on my blog, and I told the story of Fussy, and how she got rescued! She is ready for a home and is being fostered in Long Beach, CA, so if you know anyone, tell me!

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!
* * *

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!

Formerly Feral Friday: Fussy’s Story

There they were in the windows again — the plump cats with glossy fur, enjoying the morning sun’s rays. The four wild young cats often saw these leisurely creatures perched inside of pretty, petite houses with neatly manicured lawns. It was a life that seemed a world away for cats that had to scrounge for food while keeping an eye out for cars, loose dogs, and other predators. Life indoors was a strange, unfathomable world to them… but perhaps they found something about it appealing because when they decided to put down roots, they settled on the grounds of a beautifully decorated, homey Los Alamitos restaurant that was surrounded by a lush garden.

But even in these nice surroundings, life was tough. Too tough for the male of the group. The runt of the litter, he began to weaken from hunger. He probably would not have survived much longer, but one of the restaurant’s servers captured him. She held him gently and talked sweetly to him. Then she took him away and he never came back. The other three thought that maybe he had gone off to that other world where the well-groomed cats lived. The bolder of the three kittens who were left wondered if maybe there was a place in that world for her.

The three young cats had come to the attention of some of the restaurant’s other servers, and they began feeding the three of them secretly, so as not to draw the attention of the other shop owners on the property. They knew that feeding feral cats would not be appreciated. But the three cats did not know and did not care. They came around to eat and while they appreciated the meals, they would not come too close.

The servers realized that the growing kittens would soon become mature young ladies and didn’t want them to breed and perpetuate the sad circle of suffering that feral cats call survival. So they called the Long Beach Spay and Neuter Foundation, which trapped the three girls, spayed them, and returned them to the restaurant’s grounds. The cats soon went back to their usual feeding routine, except for the bolder one. She began to demand her dinner, and if it wasn’t served promptly, she would barge right into the restaurant’s back door, fussing for food. A couple of times she even came in through the dining room. That’s when one of the servers named her Fussy — and knew that it was time to take her away from the restaurant, before she got into trouble.

The Long Beach Spay and Neuter Foundation was called again and they returned with their traps — but they first caught one of the other cats. A couple of days later they returned and trapped Fussy and her sister. It was only after they saw the three cats together that they realized that the first cat they trapped was not a sibling, as they had assumed, but the mother of the two sisters. The mom cat was barely a kitten herself when she had had her family.

The server took all three cats home and shut them in the extra bedroom of her home. Then she began the long process of socializing them — a job she hadn’t intended to take on, but willingly did nonetheless. It was the holiday season and over the next few months, she learned a lot about fostering feral cats. She found that both play and food were helpful at creating bonds with them, and Fussy quickly came around. Within a few weeks, she could pick up and hold Fussy and eventually she could even clip her claws. Fussy enjoyed living in a house, and while she wasn’t a lap cat and probably never would be, she loved receiving affection and playing until she was exhausted. Because the server was married, and she and her husband had different work hours, there was always someone around to be Fussy’s friend.

Time passed, and as Fussy became used to the world of indoors and people, it was finally time to find her a home… which brings us here. Fussy is a smart, affectionate and playful cat, once feral, but who is now ready to have her own humans. While she would be shy for a while in new surroundings, once she got used to a new home, you would probably never know that she once lived on the streets as a feral cat. She currently lives in the Long Beach, CA area, and her foster humans really want her to find a home close by with nice people who will let them keep in touch — which is a good thing, because they will be happy to kitty sit if it is ever needed. Fussy is about a year old, has impeccable litter box habits and is up to date on vaccinations. She’s used to being around other cats, and is very teachable. She would do best in a calm home with at least one person around much of the time. If you know of anyone who fits this description, let me know and my human will pass the information along!

* * *

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!

Tortie in the Turret Thursday

Since Binga has not hissed at me or stolen my dinner since we returned from the ant disaster, I decided to allow her to be featured today. Last week, she was posing in the entryway turret that connects the living room to the rest of the house. If you look at the bottom of the above photo, you can see the lower floor underneath her.

Because the turret has small beveled, leaded-glass windows, the afternoon light makes some cool effects on the walls.

Sometimes she rubs up against the iron railing in a vain attempt to claim it. Like that is ever going to stick.

Here she is, pretending to be ceiling cat. As if.
* * *

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!

Promoting Cat Rescue the FUN Way: CATastrophes and Animalist.com Join Forces

I’m so thrilled that Discovery Digital Network’s Animalist.com has picked up the CATastrophes web series!

As many of you know, I’ve featured some CATastrophes films in my Sunday Catinees. I love them for the quality of the filmmaking, the humor, and best of all, because the films always promote cat rescue! Each episode features adoptable cats from a shelter.

If you aren’t yet familiar with the CATastrophes series, here is an intro trailer:

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

The director and female star of the CATastrophes crew, Michael Gabriele and Alana Grelyak, are a couple, and their passions are filmmaking and saving kitties! Their cats have had featured roles in some of their films, and one of them, Crepes, is also an author! The story of how Crepes wound up with her humans will appear in the anthology, Rescue Me: The Stories of Twelve Cats, Through Their Eyes, which is coming out this fall.

In addition to the regular episodes, CATastrophes also features fun tips for living with cats. Make sure to catch them all by subscribing to CATastrophes’ YouTube channel. New episodes will appear every Monday on YouTube and on Animalist.com! The latest one features internet sensation Lil Bub, as a cat with the magical ability to send humans time traveling… just by petting her! Here it is:

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

If you’re like me, you are sick of those maudlin rescue ads that show sad, pathetic animals. Isn’t it better and more inspiring to laugh? CATastrophes proves that saving kitties is fun!

Disclosure: I received compensation to write about the new relationship between Animalist.com and CATastrophes… but I totally think it is awesome anyhow! Go see these episodes!
* * *

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!

Kitty Sponsorship: A Long Distance Love Affair #BtC4A

You may remember that the donation from the Cat World Domination Day commenthon went to one of our favorite rescues, PAWS of Connecticut. When my human went to make the donation, she had several choices for where the money should go. She wound up doing one of her favorite things: she sponsored some kitties! She was donating $75, so $25 went to each of three cats.

Many rescues these days have sponsorship programs, where you can either donate a one-time amount to a cat of your choice, or you can make an ongoing monthly donation to help with the cat’s upkeep. Sponsorship is awesome because it’s more personal than just making a generic donation. You get to see the face that is benefitting from your money, and you find out about the cat’s story. I’ve heard of sponsors that actually travel to the rescue to visit their special kitty.

When it comes to human romance, long distance love affairs are usually not a good thing. But with cats, it is a great thing! Especially if you have cats of your own and can’t add to your family, aren’t able to foster, or if for some reason you can’t have a cat at all. Sponsoring one or more cats at a favorite rescue is a way to get your kitty fix — even if you are horribly allergic! You’ll still have a cat that is “yours,” and whose care you have a vested interest in.

Do you want to meet the three PAWS cats my human fostered? Of course you do!

Patch had a sad start to life. He and his mother lived with a couple, but when the wife died, the husband didn’t want them anymore. When the two kitties were being taken to PAWS, Patch didn’t want to go in the carrier, and he was shoved in so violently that he tore all his back claws. He wound up spending a long time healing in the shelter’s medical room. Patch is now six and he has spent several years at PAWS. He is a sweet cat who should live in a quiet home with no children or dogs. What he does need is someone who will love him forever.

Oreo is a big, awesome guy! He had a human who cared a lot about him, but who became homeless. He is quite a character and loves nip and people. Want to know how much he loves people? Check out the video in this post about him at the Animal Shelter Volunteer Life blog. He is six years old, playful and attention-seeking and would do well in a home with older kids and/ or other cats.

Like so many other black cats, Sweet Pea is affectionate and outgoing and just an all-around cool kitty! This easy-going girl came to PAWS after her human died. She is seven and a half years old, and with her adventurous, adaptable nature, she would do well in just about any home, including one with kids. She loves to climb and survey her surroundings, so make sure you have a nice spot up high for her to hang out!

Isn’t it time you had your own long-distance love affair? Sponsor a kitty today!

* * *

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!

Vote for a Rescue for Me to Support!

The rescue nominations are in! You guys had lots of suggestions for cat rescues for me to support in the Petties (and for my human’s commenthon). I went to Random.org to choose the five for you to vote on and here are the results:

Fix Our Ferals in Richmond, CA, nominated by Savannah.

Winging Cat Rescue, which saves kitties from high kill shelters in GA, nominated by Vanessa and Carol B.

Black Cat Rescue in Boston, MA, nominated by Selina.

Feline Rescue in St. Paul, MN, nominated by Katie, Waffles and Glogirly.

Blind Cat Rescue in St Pauls, NC, nominated by Sue B., Manx Mnews and Spitty.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite! Voting will go on all week and end on July 20, at midnight. You can only vote once, and for one rescue only — but you are welcome to spread the word and encourage your friends and rescue supporters to vote too! Remember, the rescue with the most votes will be the recipient of the money for my human’s birthday commenthon on July 21, so they will get a donation, no matter who wins in my Petties category!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
* * *

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!

Escape From the Planet of the Ants

Do I look a little put out in this photo? Well, it is because I was! The whole saga started with this:

See all those little dots on the wall over the trash can in the should-be-catio? Those are ants, and they have been a problem since we moved in here nearly eight years ago!

My human followed this trail up to the ceiling of the half bath. Nothing gets rid of these ants for long and they get into everything, everywhere. Finally, the humans couldn’t take it anymore and called an ant exterminator. He said the problem was so bad that the house and property would have to be sprayed inside and out, and everybody would have to vacate the house for several hours. This was easier said than done. Have you ever tried finding a place to park three cats… and their stuff?

Fortunately, a friend of my human’s lives just a few blocks away, and part of her house could be closed off into its own little area. (In case you are wondering, my human’s boyfriend was playing a show out of town and his brother took the dog for a couple of days.) The ant exterminator guy said the poison he was using to kill the ants wasn’t harmful to pets — at least after it dried, but my human wasn’t taking any chances. She packed up all our toys, beds, loungers and litter boxes to take over to her friend’s. It was a big ordeal that took several trips.

She stashed most of our things in her friend’s garage and only took the necessities into the rooms. Yes, she even took that confounded pillow.

We cats were not happy about having our morning naps disrupted by being tossed in carriers and dragged to a house that had to be at least 5 minutes away! We were all upset. After Binga checked out the bed, she hid in the bathroom for hours, yelling.

There was a small room with a table where my human set up a temporary office. Boodie spent most of her time hiding in there because Binga and I hissed at her every time we saw her. In fact, Binga and I hissed at each other too. We were all totally put out by this terrible inconvenience.

My human tried to make us feel at home by bringing up some of the scratch loungers and showing us that we had a nice view of the backyard, but we didn’t care.

I just wanted to go home. But my human didn’t take us home until the next morning! Can you believe it?

Instead she left us to hang out with her friend and eat nachos and drink margaritas! I could hear them yakking up a storm about people they knew and writing stuff.

Even worse, she hung out with her friend’s two cats! This one is called Aidan, and we actually got to meet him briefly in the morning when we were back in our carriers and on our way home. I think he wanted to be friends, but we were a little distracted.

The only good thing about the evening was that my human remembered to vote in the Petties.

Bedtime was a nightmare. The only one of us who got any rest that night was Binga. She commandeered the bed and growled if me or Boodie tried to get on it.

I had to spend the night on the nightstand. It made me sad. Boodie was happy because she got to wander around while me and Binga were having bed wars and ignoring her.

We were so relieved to go home the next morning. Binga was disgusted with the whole ordeal. At least we didn’t have to worry about the stupid ants anymore.

Oh, wait a minute….

* * *

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!

Sunday Catinee: Rescuing Kittens

This week, I have a feel-good video to share with you. A couple were taking a pleasant spring walk through the woods — and along the way were greeted by four very friendly, very hungry kittens! Clearly some mean human had abandoned them because they were not feral in any way. This video shows you the rescue, and it is beyond cute.

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

This video was from May, 2013, and you will be happy to know that within a few weeks, the kittens were adopted, in pairs, to wonderful families. Paws up to this couple, who didn’t hesitate to help out these little guys!
* * *

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!

The Caturday Report: The Beautiful and the Weird

I have another edition of The Caturday Report for you, full of interesting cat news and facts from around the internet!

Just wait til you see what I have for you this week!

Friskies just came out with the top 50 most influential cats on the internet! There’s just one problem… I am not on the list! I demand a recount.
It’s Photoshop gone crazy! Photographer Sebastian Magnani took photos of humans and then replaced their heads with their cats’ heads. The results gave me weird dreams and what felt like a catnip hangover.
Have you humans ever considered the fate of your cats if something happened to you… like death? This important story on Mousebreath gives you some important things to think about — and do!
There is a Buddhist monastery at the foot of Mt. Shasta in northern California that is also home to a dozen cats. The Conscious Cat shares about this very special place.
The Pawesome Cats blog had a list of traits we housecats inherited from our wild brothers and sisters! More on that below.

It’s been an exciting week at my blog too! Here are the week’s posts, in case you missed any.

It took us a while to recover from Cat World Domination Day, but we finally did, and announced all the winners, including which rescue got the commenthon money!
I sent my human walking… on a ResQwalk, that is! Find out all about this very cool iPhone (and soon, Android) app, and how it helps you help animals for free!
My good friend Bailey, a Siamese cat who lives on a boat, has a book out! Read my review and take a look inside the book!
A certain kitty that lives here has a very unusual way of enjoying bags.
Remember that Pawesome Cats blog post I mentioned? I came up with a list of traits we supposedly-domesticated cats share with our bigger relatives!
Yes, I am a finalist for Best Cat Blog in the Petties! And I need your help to choose a rescue for the donation money if I win. Find out the details, and read my thoughts on the big mistake the Petties made.

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!
* * *

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!