Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 419

Kitty Portraits

This time there were no photo bombs.

Well, almost.

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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!

Tortie in the Way Again Tuesday

So there I was, posing for some portrait shots to go along with the posts where I impart my words of wisdom and…

Yep, right on schedule.

Even worse, she refused to go away.

Just call her the photo-killer.

This really wasn’t necessary.

This was even less necessary.

She totally ruined the whole photo shoot!
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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!

9 Reasons to Adopt ANOTHER Shelter Cat!

Although Adopt A Shelter Cat month is coming to an end, promoting cat adoption should go on all year round! So I want to share a special guest post with you. It was actually a comment on my Facebook page, written by one of my human fans, Vanessa Powell. I thought it was great, and when I asked if I could share it on my blog, she agreed, and added, “The credit really goes to my cat Marty (R.I.P) who taught me this and so, so much more.” I’d say Marty was one smart kitty! So here are 9 reasons to adopt another shelter cat:

Cats benefit from mutual grooming. There are all kinds of spots that a buddy can get for you.
As kitties get older, a buddy helps them stay interested and active!
Your cat might not always feel like cuddling; adding another cat increases your odds of always having an available friend.
Cats generally tire of a game within a few hours — increase your available entertainment by adding one more!
Most people are absent from home up to 8 hours; a feline friend can pass the time.
A second cat makes each sun puddle more enjoyable!
Why do you think humans have two hands? It’s to pet two cats at once!
You really bought too many treats for one cat. (Ed. Note: Binga is actually not too sure about this one.)
Another cat in your home means another empty cage at your local shelter, and another source of joy and beauty.

Thank you so much, Vanessa! Marty did teach you very well.
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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: Somebody, Build a Better Cat Flap!

For cats that are allowed to go outside, a cat flap sounds like a good idea on the surface, but honestly? I think they make ’em too small for the average cat.

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

And when the cat is a bit, um, larger than average? I felt sorry for this guy, although (spoiler alert) he does make it through eventually:

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

Although I have to say, when a dog does it, high comedy ensues! My blog is usually a dog-free zone, but this one was too silly not to share:

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,” 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: First Edition

I’m trying something new today — for the next few Saturdays, I will have the Caturday Report, in which I let you know what has been happening in the world of kitties, and on my blog for the past week! So let’s get right to it!

Here are some of the most interesting items I found around the internet:

Chester the Cat, a Scottish Fold kitten escaped from his carrier in the Montreal airport a month ago when he was getting ready to board an Air Canada flight to his new home. He was finally found on June 18 and sent to his new owner just yesterday!
Two cats knocked the handle off their human’s bedroom door, effectively locking her inside. But instead of doing something about this right away, the dumb human spent hours Tweeting about it instead.
Did you know that even indoor-only kitties can have heartworm disease? I found out all sorts of interesting, and kind of scary facts in this post from the Pawesome Cats blog!
Scuttles is still looking for a home — please spread the word!
A lot of my fellow kitty bloggers posted about Cat World Domination Day, but I want to give a special shout-out to Truffles of Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries and Meows for her heartfelt Cat World Domination Day wish.

I know lots of you don’t get a chance to stop by my blog every day, so here is what you might have missed!

A cat can’t figure out his human’s weird guest so I explain what his deal is in my monthly advice column.
If you live with a sun sign Cancer human, or know a kitty who does, you will want to check out my monthly Astrological column — it is all about those crazy Cancer people!


Tuesday, of course, was Cat World Domination Day (and also my birthday) — there is still time to enter my giveaway!
Who stole my human’s cornbread and took a big bite out of it? Check out the evidence and vote for who you think the guilty party is.
My human baked Tuna Catnip Kitty Cookies for my Cat World Domination Day party, and the recipe was so tasty and easy that I decided to share it.
And if you didn’t get enough of Cat World Domination Day, there are also some fun outtakes.

If you see anything newsworthy going on in the kitty world, let me know and I may feature it in my Caturday Report!
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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!

Outtakes From Cat World Domination Day

It’s a lot of work putting on a big party like I did on Cat World Domination Day! You can see above how exhausted I was by the time the sushi was served.

I was even falling asleep in front of the prizes — and so was Binga.

Tempers flared at one point.

My human tried really hard to get on my good side so I would cooperate for every photo session. I had to tell her she needed to do more than just give skritches.

Can somebody please tell me exactly why my human decided to snap a photo of me cleaning my foot?

When my human and I were making the cookies, it seems like this statue was in every shot. I know my human has had her for, like, 30 years, but I still can’t figure out why she rated.

When I said to grab dessert before Binga stole it, I wasn’t kidding! There are a bunch of shots that look like this.

I hope you enjoyed the outtakes!
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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!

How to Make the Tuna Catnip Kitty Cookies

On Cat World Domination Day, somekitty asked for the recipe for the Tuna Catnip Kitty Cookies, and I’m sure there are more of you who are interested. It’s actually a very, very easy recipe! So easy, my human could make it without whining about all the time it was taking — because it took practically no time to make the dough. She originally found the recipe at Joy the Baker, so you can download the recipe from there.

It requires only five ingredients, and you can see four of them here because my human forgot to pull out the egg before having me pose. She made oat flour out of the old-fashioned oats by using a very clean coffee/ spice grinder. You do not want any coffee flavor on these whatsoever! In fact, the grinder she used is not for coffee at all. So she used a cup of oat flour, a 5-ounce can of no-salt-added tuna in water (drained), the unseen egg, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of good quality catnip. As you can see, we used some of our nip from the Natural Pet Company.

Here are all the ingredients in the mixing bowl. I offered to mix them up myself but my human said it was too much work for me.

The original recipe called for a food processor, but my human was too lazy to drag ours out of the cupboard and assemble the pieces, so she just used a hand mixer. Yes that is a wooden cat towel holder you see on the left.

I gave the cookie dough my paw of approval, even though my human veered from the recipe. I was kind of ticked off that she would not let me have any of the cookie dough.

She did let me have tastes off the beater, though.

She used a half teaspoon measure to make the cookie balls, then flattened them out with toothpicks. I made sure they were spaced out evenly on the parchment paper. Did you know that parchment paper is the secret to making evenly baked cookies? They don’t burn on the bottom this way! My human put them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 to 12 minutes, just until they were slightly browned and felt dry on top. She let them cool somewhere I could not reach them.

As you can see, they were a big hit here! They should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within seven days. It does not look like there was much dough, but since the cookies are cat sized, the recipe made nearly 100! So if you make these cookies, make sure you share them with your kitty friends, or with a local cat rescue.
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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 Mysterious Cornbread Caper

Every so often, my human enjoys having cornbread for breakfast, so she brought a piece home from the market the other day. But when she got up the next morning, she found a crime had been committed in the kitchen!

In the dark of night, somekitty had her way with the cornbread! My human was shocked. Never before had any resident cat even hinted that they had a depraved cornbread craving.

Immediately, suspicion fell on the tortie. It always does.

But my human decided not to jump to conclusions. She placed the evidence in front of Boodie to see her reaction. Does she look a little… sketchy?

Wait a minute — is she actually going to snatch a bite in broad daylight?

But just when my human thought she had found the guilty culprit, Binga proved she was not so innocent after all!

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

Celebrating Cat World Domination Day (and My Birthday)!

Happy Cat World Domination Day! Although we cats dominate all year round, it’s good to have a dedicated day of celebration. Kind of like Fourth of July or Valentine’s Day. And I’ve got lots of fun in store for you today!

It’s summer and quite warm here in southern California, so I’m serving cool, refreshing catnip coladas!

And instead of a heavy meal, I hired a sushi chef who will make you these amazing salmon, tuna and shrimp rolls to order! Have as much as you want, but save room for dessert!

Since it is also my birthday, I could have any gift I wanted, but instead I chose to have a commenthon today! My human will donate 50 cents for every kitty and human who comments, up to $50. To which organization? You tell me! Name your favorite U.S. 501(c)3 cat rescue in your comment and I will pick a name!

And I have a bunch of prizes for you too! I have three Cat World Domination Day mugs — two will go to my regular blog readers and one will go to a newsletter subscriber. You cannot buy these, and these are the only ones in existence — they are collector’s items!

Here is a closer look at them:

I also have a Fun Prize pack of toys and my favorite treats, all personally paw-picked from my favorite local pet boutique, Pussy and Pooch!

You can see them better here:

Because my fun prize pack contains edibles, I am limiting this to U.S. residents only. But the giveaway for the mugs is worldwide, as is my grand prize (and I am very excited about my grand prize)! Check out what I have for you:

It’s a custom-made, one-of-a-kind Cat World Domination Day catnip quilt, created by Stacy Hurt, human to Ms. Stella O’Houligan, Ollie, Miss Jack and Scrappie Cat! In fact, Scrappie gave the quilt her seal of approval:

You can see more of Stacy’s quilts here — but you won’t see another one like this one! She will personalize it with the name of the kitty winner!

Wow, what a giveaway! To enter, leave a comment and say you did on the Rafflecopter widget! Plus say which country you live in. There are other entry options too. Let me know if you are having a problem with the widget and I will enter you manually!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now it’s time for dessert! I have individual coconut cream pies and homemade tuna catnip kitty cookies!

You had better hurry and grab dessert before it gets stolen! Thanks so much for coming to my celebration!
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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!

Sparkle’s Human Astrology for Cats: Cancer

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

When you first come home with a Cancer human, you’ll think you’ve hit the jackpot. Here’s a human who really knows how to care for you. She (or he) knows exactly the right kind of cat bed and cat tree that will appeal to you. She carefully chooses the best food for you, striking the perfect balance between healthy and tasty. She is lots of fun, nurturing and loves you like mad. Then trouble strikes.

You have to go to the vet clinic and you don’t want to. You are sure you can manipulate your way out of it — go hide somewhere or put up such a fight that your human will panic or feel guilty and give up. Well, guess what? You are out of luck. You are going to that vet, no matter what. Cancer knows all your hiding places, even the super-secret ones. She will turn your struggling body every which way until you fit into that carrier. And don’t think you will make the both of you so late that you will miss the appointment — she has already factored the time dealing with you into the trip. And as you are in the car, singing the song of your people, she may even tell you that awful, boldfaced lie: “I’m sorry, baby. This hurts me worse than it hurts you.”

Cancer loves you through the good and the bad, that’s for sure. Unfortunately, this sign is up to all the “caring” tasks you would rather avoid — the trips to the vet, the meds, even — yes — the dreaded “diet.” At least with the latter, you will have a sympathetic ear, since Cancer loves food as much as you do. But Cancer is one tenacious cookie, and will persist in doing something after every other sign (except perhaps Taurus) has given up. And if it involves doing something for your own good? Cancer is even more persistent. How maddening!

The upside to all this is that Cancer will protect you fiercely and love you forever. This sign can’t even fathom the word “fickle.” When you become part of Cancer’s family it is for life, and if your safety is ever threatened, you’ll discover that Cancer’s claws are as sharp as yours. She is a little clingy with money, it is true, but she will probably scrimp on the quality of her own rations before she cheaps out on yours. If she starts bringing home cat food on sale from the grocery store, you will know she is down to her last few thousand in the bank. Did I mention she is clingy with money?

One Cancer quirk that will annoy most kitties: many of them are photography nuts. They will enjoy taking endless photos of you whether they have any talent at it or not (and actually a large percentage of Cancer people are excellent photographers). And no matter how often you look away and try to ruin shots, they will not stop until they’ve gotten their picture. Trust me, I know — my human is a sun sign Cancer! In the old days, they would have put all these photos in a treasured scrapbook — and because they are sentimental, I bet some Cancers still do own scrapbooks. But these days, they are more likely to post them online, and they’ll have a dedicated photo account or hard drive (or both) where everything is saved and backed up thricefold.

Cancer humans are changeable and moody, kind of like their ruler, the Moon. They are happy one moment, tearful the next, and then so snappish you don’t even want to be near them. Fortunately for us kitties, Cancer moodiness is usually directed at other humans — they will seek comfort and validation from you. Be a good sport and hang in there — you will be rewarded with your favorite treats, and your Cancer human will know exactly which ones you want.

Not every cat will get along with Cancer humans equally. There are some adjustments to be had for several signs. Gemini, you will feel like Cancer is stifling your freedom (and you would be right) — you will have to work extra hard to show this sign that you really need space. Sagittarius, you will have a similar problem, plus you are a bit clumsy, so Cancer will be overprotective of you. Try to have a little more grace and make her laugh — that should help. Aries will love being nurtured by Cancer on one hand, but balk at some of her “rules” — rules that are meant for your own safety. You will, of course, ignore them, so don’t look at me when you wind up at the vet. Good news for Aquarius kitties: the sort of things that would drive Cancer crazy if you were a human, she will like about you. Your quirkiness appeals to her, and she will take very good care of you. Libra, your Cancer human may get frustrated when you can’t decide which food you like, but other than that you will make a great pair. The Cancer human-Leo cat combination is especially nice — Leo kitties will be happy to have their very own fangirl or boy. Virgo cats will find it easy to train Cancer humans to their exacting standards, and Taurus kitties will feel very comfortable under Cancer’s warmth and caring. Capricorn cats have a hard time opening up to humans — but Cancer can make that very easy for you. You Scorpio cats will be amused by your Cancer humans’ protectiveness, when you know they are the ones that need protecting! And of course you are up to that challenge. Pisces cats will have a connection with their humans that is almost psychic. Well, actually it is psychic!

What about a Cancer cat and a Cancer human? You are both so moody it might be a bit of a roller coaster! When you are both in the same grouchy phase, your house will be quite an unpleasant place! On the other hand, when you are both cheerful, you couldn’t find a sunnier home.
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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!