Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 467

Sunday Catinee: The DVD Player Wars

I’ve had my doubts about the DVD players around here, but many cats have declared out-and-out war on theirs! And when I say war, I mean it — there were a bunch of cat versus DVD player video clips on YouTube. I thought the following two were the best.

This kitty is determined to whap this DVD drive into oblivion:

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

What the following cat lacks in concentration, she makes up for in enthusiasm:

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

Hey! We’re not lazy, we’re resting!

And by the way, check out who has commandeered Binga’s Sleeky Lounge XL!
* * *
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!

12 Six-Word Stories About Kitties

My human made me wear these cheap, non-prescription glasses because — get this — she thought they made me look like a dignified author! I do have some stories for you today, but I could have done without the supposedly writer-ly trappings.

Do any of you recall a while back that six-word stories were all the rage? They were based on a claim by author Ernest Hemingway (who shares a birthday with my human, as she always reminds me): that he could write a great story in just six words. And he proved it with this one — “For Sale: baby shoes, never used.”

I looked around the internet and was shocked to find there was a decided lack of six word stories about cats! So to rectify this horrible oversight, I wrote a few of my own. There are a dozen, and I have numbered them.

1. Claw tap on cheek. Breakfast served.

2. She was semi feral, forever loyal.

3. Missed her human until euthanasia day.

4. Best cat and worst roommate ever.

5. Slipping out front door… not freedom!

6. One sun puddle, two fighting cats.

7. Bella purred bravely in cancer’s face.

8. Squirrel head — kitty’s most precious gift.

9. A good brushing — human requesting forgiveness.

10. Sweet kitten eyes that echoed Muffin’s.

11. Bed felt empty with three cats.

12. Catnip, claw tip, let ’er rip!

All brilliant stories © 2013, Sparkle the Designer Cat!

Which ones were your favorites? And can you come up with a six-word story or two of your own?
* * *
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!

Awesome Yeowww! Toy Giveaway

I have a confession to make.

When the guy with the cool Yeowww! catnip toys contacted me about his products, I suggested a giveaway for my readers but did not request any for myself! We already have several of these awesome and fragrant nip toys and my human figured that she could get us to pose with one of the toys we already have. Well, it did not work out that way! Every time my human found them and put them aside for a photo session, they would mysteriously disappear before she had a chance to get us to pose with them! This happened several times and finally she had to give up. So I can tell you from my own experience that these toys are meant to be played with, not posed with!

I can also tell you for a fact that if you love the nip, you will adore these toys! I convinced the guy from the company that makes them to let me have two winners! Here is what the winners will get.

A 4″ Yeowww! Hearrrt Attacks Heart, ready to be grabbed and bunny kicked into oblivion! Or…

A tin of three small Yeowww! Stinkies Catnip Sardines! They are fun to bat around and hide under things… trust me, I know!

Unfortunately, this giveaway is only for my friends in the U.S. and Canada. But don’t worry — my very next giveaway will include my international friends!

To enter, just leave a comment on my blog and fill out the first two entries of the Rafflecopter widget below! You have a couple of other options too — “like” my fan page on Facebook if you haven’t already, or Tweet about my giveaway and you get extra entries. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, May 14, Pacific Time, and I will announce the winner on Thursday, May 16! Good luck everybody!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


* * *
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: Me and My Shadow

* * *
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!

Ask Sparkle: My Beginnings

When I asked if you readers had any questions for me, it turned out you had lots! So here is the first in a series. Tillie and Georgia wanted to know who was here first, Binga and Boodie or me, while the Poupounette Gang and Cathy Keisha wanted to know how I came to live here. Those questions are kind of wrapped together so I will deal with them all at the same time.

So… yes to the Chans, I came to live with my human as a kitten, and nope to Cathy Keisha, I was not a rescue. I came from a very small, but excellent Somali breeder from Temecula, California. My human usually doesn’t get breed cats, either as rescues or from breeders (Binga and Boodie are testament to that!), but after the cat before me died, she really wanted a cat who would be hers and hers alone. Binga (who came from a kill shelter) loves all humans equally, even if she hasn’t met them yet, and Boodie likes cats more than humans. So she decided if she found a cat breed with a trait that included bonding with one human, that’s what she would get. She always loved Abyssinians, but when she found out about Somalis — a longer-haired version of an Aby — and read that they generally bonded with one human, she was hooked. Unfortunately, it did not work out the way she thought, because she says I am bonded with her like a 13-year-old is with her mother — shunning her one moment and needy the next! Well, that’s what she gets.

It was months before the breeder had kittens available. My human and her boyfriend came down to visit with us — I had two sisters and a brother. One sister was crazy, the other one was quiet, and my brother bit my human’s boyfriend. I was in between and did not bite anyone, so a couple of weeks later, they came down to Temecula again and got me. I was not happy about this! In fact, I screamed the whole two hours back to Los Angeles. Here I am in the car while the humans were filling up the gas tank, and you can see I am complaining.

And it got even worse when I got to my new “home” — I had these waiting for me, ominously:

That’s right — Binga and Boodie were here before me. In fact, Binga knew the cat before me. They were not pals either.

I was quite intimidated by both of them at first!

Binga especially seemed to have it out for me. But I spent most of my time in my human’s home office… which is how I learned it was actually my office!

Boodie was pretty easy to win over, since she is more of a cat’s cat.

Binga was more difficult, but some playtime helped.

But it was not long before I took over!
* * *
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!

Five Surprising Lessons Humans Can Learn From Cats

To be honest, I am not sure why I am even bothering to write about any lessons humans can learn from cats. When a creature loses all sense of instinct and then tries to replace lost inner knowledge with foolish things like MBAs, books about relationships and so-called value systems that more often than not conflict with someone else’s so-called value system, it kind of makes a kitty lose hope. Even so, I do think there are a small handful of humans who are willing to take note of feline wisdom and maybe even apply it to their own lives. And for those three or four people (I am being optimistic here), I am presenting five lessons we cats have that may actually surprise you!

1. It is fun to jump and fly through the air! Most humans lose this type of exuberance early in life, so it is no wonder they develop so many illnesses later on. And then their health gets so bad that they could not jump around if they even wanted to. So if you have not gotten to the point of no return, I suggest you start leaping around and feel the rush of your blood flowing and adrenalin pumping. There is a reason that cardio exercise is good for your heart health, because the heart is where you feel joy.

2. Stalking is a good thing! Okay, maybe not stalking someone you love who does not love you back, but just about anything else goes. If you keep focused, keep your eye on the prize, and are patient and persistent, you can catch that feather wand toy or anything else you may have as a goal. In fact, it is about the only way anybody accomplishes anything, no matter their species.

3. Talking is not necessary for communication. We cats meow at humans a lot because it seems to be the easiest way to communicate with you, but we really think it is an awkward, inarticulate way to make a point. If you watch two or more kitties spend time together, you’ll notice that they rarely meow (unless they are wrassling and one is being too tough with the other). Instead, we cats communicate through subtle visual cues that have a lot more meaning than mere speech. A brush of the tail or cheek, a flick of an ear, slow blinking — each of these actions contains a whole story. If humans would shut up sometimes and really watch what other humans are saying instead of depending so much on words, they would communicate with each other a lot better. Often, I notice that words get in the way of communication rather than making it easier.

4. Disagreements are not forever. If you live with more than one cat, you might notice they get into occasional arguments. There may even be bad meows spoken, and some hissing and whapping. But you can pretty much guarantee that a little while later, they will be hanging out together, sharing a sun puddle or curled up together on the sofa. When we kitties are pals, we don’t hold grudges. Of course we don’t always see eye-to-eye (no kitty or human ever does), but when we get in an argument, we get it over with and forget about it. The only time animosity between kitty pals may linger, it’s an indication that something else is going on (such as redirected aggression) — and that is something humans should explore in their own relationships too.

5. Always cover your you-know-what! We cats are known for our fastidious litter box habits. We like a clean litter box, and we like to cover up what we leave there. Humans should do the same and cover up their messes. It is only good manners. And yes, there are cats that don’t cover — they are usually the ones who think they are top cat. Have you ever noticed that there are boss humans out there who do the same thing? They let all their bad behavior hang out and create messes for everyone else. Nobody wants to work for someone like that, so follow your kitty’s lead and don’t be that guy.
* * *
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: Cinco de Mayo, Big and Little Cat Style

I know I featured some big cats last week, but this was too timely to pass up! So… introducing Reno the leopard from Big Cat Rescue, who is having a happy Cinco de Mayo!

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

Now check out Charlie the housecat having exactly the same sort of fun!

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

Twins under the fur, wouldn’t you say? And how about you humans out there knock back a couple of cervezas and put together an awesome piñata for your kitties?
* * *
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: Under

There aren’t many really fun places to get under in this house, but this armoire in the living room is one of them.

In fact, I think I will get under it right now!

I can play all sorts of games here, like wait for a toy to catch or keep an eye out for Binga and annoy her!

Here is a larger perspective. This thing is actually pretty big!

P.S. Make sure you scroll over the images for the secret messages. I have them every day (except Wordless Wednesday), but today’s are especially fun!
* * *
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!

Business Casual Friday

This box did not have my name on it, but what is inside is for me! Can you guess what it is?

It is business cards that my human made up for me for BlogPaws! She does have her own cards, but they are not very interesting, and besides she is not the important one at this conference. She is attending as my personal representative (since I am staying home), so she needed cards with my info. Let’s see how she did.

They are not bad. There are a couple of picky things I could complain about (like when is she going to learn how to do better photo crops of me?), but they work okay and I like the fonts.

Here is the front close up:

And here is the back:

There was only one problem with this order. Can you guess what it is?

That’s right — my human did not order enough! If she had placed a bigger order, then they would have come in a decent-sized box.
* * *
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!