Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 449

Winners and Bombers

I have winners for my Kitty Kick Stix and Simon’s Cat giveaways! I also have somekitty who thinks she can just walk right in and take a seat when I am trying to make the announcement!

Are you sure she’s gone? Okay, then — the winners of the Simon’s Cat Vs. the World books are:

Katie Isabella

Savannah

Jeanne of Random Felines

Laila and Minchie

Branden B!

I hope you can hear my congratulations meow!

I also have a winner for the Kitty Kick Stix… and another photo bomber! The winner is:

Jobi and Fisher!

Congratulations to everyone! Another giveaway is coming up soon, so keep an eye out!
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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!

Wordless Wednesday: You Awake?

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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!

Be the Change for Feral Cats… and Commenthon!

Many of you already know that tomorrow is National Feral Cat Day, in which thousands of humans work hard to raise awareness and remove prejudices about feral cats. Many groups will be spaying and neutering feral, or as I prefer to call them, “community” cats for free. Some groups will be teaching people that a cat colony that is properly cared for consists of healthy cats that won’t spread disease or breed. They will show that TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) is the most effective and humane way to reduce feral cat populations. Click on the link above and see if something is going on near you. My human will be attending an event put on by Fixnation and the Best Friends Free Fix LA Team.

How to Make Your Cat Do What You Want

I am about to divulge the biggest secret of all kitty-kind. It is the answer that you humans have been seeking since time immemorial. Because if I know you humans and you kitties, I’ll wager that the latter rarely seems to do what the former wants. In fact, when a cat does do what a human wants, it is usually so surprising to the human that it gives them a rush of pleasure. Before I go on, I do want to point out that if you follow what I am about to tell you, you risk losing that special rush. So if you would rather have fleeting moments of extreme ecstasy (wedged between deep valleys of frustration) instead of a lower-grade, all-the-time bliss, then you may want to skip this blog post.

Still here? I figured you would be. You humans are too curious for your own good. But still, I am ready to reveal the big truth of making your cat do what you want, every time, all the time. It will change your life, and I am serious about that. Ready? Here it is:

To make a cat do what you want, you must want exactly what your cat wants.

When you enjoin your heart’s desire with your cat’s desire, only then will your cat do exactly what you want her to do. Because cats will only ever do what they want to do. And the only way you humans can make that work for you all the time is to want the same thing.

So does your cat want treats? Give him treats. Does she want to counter surf? You want her to do that too. Do your kittens want to turn your linen curtains into beautiful strands of handmade lace? Appreciate this gift!

The path to eternal happiness with your kitties is very simple. But it is not a path everyone can make. Kitties, do you think your human is up to this spiritual challenge? Or do they lack the serenity and mental discipline to accomplish this journey of feline discovery?
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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: DIY Binga

Today’s Sunday Catinee features our own tortie terror, Binga! The Purina ONE humans have been encouraging people to get crafty for their kitties and they asked if my human could come up with a puzzle feeder and videotape the results.

Confession: we did not have any Purina ONE food here, so my human grabbed a bag of food that she got at one of the conferences she attended. Trust me, Binga is not picky.

So my human cut some holes in a plastic bottle, dropped in some food and let Binga go to town… or where ever she thought she wanted to go! As an afterthought, she added some music to Binga’s odd ballet.

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

If you want to see some more crafty DIY cat projects, check out this Pinterest board featuring lots of toys made by people from the Purina ONE Facebook community. Some of them are pretty cool!
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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!

Photo Hunt: Plant

Well, what did you expect to see here? My human is too lame to grow silver vine, but catnip thrives with neglect, apparently.

We didn’t have time for an actual nip party this week (just a lot of box treats), but my human found some outtakes from a nip party we had in July, 2012. (Don’t worry, we’ve had lots of nip parties since then.) Here are Binga and I debating ownership of this pile of fresh catnip.

Here I am, taking in an intoxicating whiff. This is good stuff!

Binga is taking a big bite here… but she’s not exactly eating it. What she’s doing is bruising the leaves so that it releases more of the essential oil nepetalactone so she can get higher. My human learned cats do that when she was working on the Catster story on kitty intoxicants. Now you know too!
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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 Box Game

My human has a game she plays with me. She tosses one of my current favorite treats into a box. You probably know what happens next.

If I did not know better, I would think the whole point of this game was to get photos of me in motion.

Of course, after a while all this fun drew a crowd.

My human got rid of Binga by tossing a treat far, far away. Boodie, for some reason, did not follow.

In fact, a while later, hours after the game was over, my human found Boodie, being a copycat and sitting in the box. I think she expected a treat to magically appear there.

Does your human think up any fun games for you? I’d love it if you told me about some of them in the comments!
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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!

Simon’s Cat Vs. the World – Review and Giveaway!

Hey Boodie, look what Simon’s cat is up to here!

Oh hi! We are engrossed in the latest book by Simon Tofield, Simon’s Cat Vs. the World!

You’ve seen the YouTube videos, and you might have some of the other Simon’s Cat books too. Simon’s Cat Vs. the World is especially cool because it is color all the way through.

And along with seeing all the new ways that Simon’s cat and his kitten sidekick have found to have fun and get in trouble, you get a page of stickers too!

Even better, some of you lucky U.S. humans will get to see Simon Tofield in person! He is doing seven dates in November — if you live in one of these cities, mark your calendar:

Monday, November 18 at 7 PM

Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St., Brookline, MA

Moderated by Jef Czekaj, author of Cat Secrets

Wednesday, November 20 at 7 PM

The Book Cellar, 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL

Moderated by Anne Elizabeth Moore, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Thursday, November 21 at 7 PM

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH

Cosponsored by The League for Animal Welfare

Saturday, November 23‚ time TBA

Miami Book Fair International at Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus, Miami, FL

Exact program details TBA

Sunday, November 24 at 5:00 PM

Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC

Monday, November 25 at 6:30 PM

New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Avenue at 40th St., New York, NY

Moderated by my pal, Stephanie Harwin, creator of Catsparella.com!

Tuesday, November 26 at 7:00 PM

Clinton Book Shop, 12 E Main St., Clinton, NJ

Cosponsored by my favorite rescue, Tabby’s Place!

And yes, I am having a giveaway! In fact the publisher is letting me give away five copies of Simon’s Cat Vs. the World! The only catch is you have to live in the U.S. (Don’t worry, if you live outside of the U.S., you can still enter my Kitty Kick Stix giveaway!) Just leave a comment on my blog and tell me which state you live in. All the other ways to enter are optional but will get you more entries! And if you hate the Rafflecopter widget, just tell me in your comment and I will enter you manually. The giveaway closes on Monday night, October 14 at 11:59 PM! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: Links to Amazon are Associate links — a kitty’s gotta eat!
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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!

Wordless Wednesday: Angelic, at Least in Photos

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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!

Tuesday Toes

Since I’ve been working extra hard having giveaways, debunking myths about humans and being forced into cheap, tacky Halloween fashion, I figured I would take it easy today. I told my human she could take photos only if she was quiet and did not use flash.

I also said she do macro photographs of my toes, as long as she did not breathe on them.

She also had to keep her hands to herself.
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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!