Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 472

Look What We Got for Easter!

Does the Easter Bunny take returns?
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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!

Friskies DIY Winner… and My Human’s Project

When we last left off, my human had done virtually nothing with the boxes set aside for a kitty condo. I am here to tell you that things did not get any better:

So she thought maybe she should try something a little less ambitious — like this Irresistiball, involving the tube from a toilet paper roll. But first she used the tube to help pick the winner of the Friskies coupons from the DIY giveaway.

Binga demanded asked to help.

My human wrote down all the names on slips of paper, folded them up and put them in the tube.

Then it was up to Binga to fish out the winner!

But there was a snag — she fished out two, and she wouldn’t choose between them.

I had to take over and do it right!

So I picked… this one!

And the Fraidy Cats are the winners!

Concatulations to Pip, Minnie, Hollie…

And especially Smidgen, who posed with the toy, the Knotty Spider! My human will have the Friskies humans send you the coupons!

Now that the giveaway is over, my human can make this Irresistiball. That is, if she can get the pieces away from Binga and assemble them.

Honestly? I would have preferred the kitty condo made out of boxes!

At least Binga and Boodie enjoyed it. I think the treat hidden inside helped!
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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: Easter Egg Hunt!

Now, this is the kind of fun I think every kitty should have on Easter! Watch Cole (who bears a bit of a resemblance to our pal Spitty) have fun with a bunch of Easter eggs. I get the feeling that treats and catnip were involved in this… as they should be!

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

Not so sure about the white socks, though…
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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: Wind

Here are my favorite types of wind:

Warming up in the mornings with the hot wind that comes out of the floor heater by my office.

The afternoon wind that comes through the window, although it is really more of a breeze.

But I have to share with you the wind I love the most…

When I wind up Binga! It is easy to do.
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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!

Why Kitty Loyalty Counts

I read an article this week in the Pussington Post that debated whether cats or dogs are more loyal. The writer made some great points (in favor of us kitties, of course!), but I felt the topic deserved a deeper look — because I believe our kind of loyalty is richer and far more valuable than dog loyalty.

Dog loyalty is a very simple and uncomplicated thing, because it comes from instinct. Dogs are pack animals that work together in a hierarchy that makes loyalty a necessity of life. To go rogue and stray from its pack means a dog becomes less effective in providing for itself. So it is in a dog’s best interests to cultivate loyalty and to have it become part of its make up. Dogs don’t put any real thought into their loyalty. While dogs and humans can establish very tight relationships, at its very base, the beginnings of a dog’s loyalty is pretty meaningless.

Loyalty for a cat is a matter of choice. Yes, feral colonies do establish hierarchies, but it is more a matter of keeping things organized and avoiding fights rather than working together. Cats mostly work on their own, making plans and catching prey without answering to anyone or soliciting help. To gain a cat’s trust and loyalty, you must earn it, and unless she intuitively senses your goodness, the cat may take a good amount of time deciding. A cat makes a conscious decision to become loyal, and offers it as a gift that goes against her natural inclination.

So tell me, which do you think holds more value: the kind of loyalty that is ingrained and indiscriminate, or a loyalty forged by careful consideration?

Discuss.
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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!

Thankful for YOU Thursday

Every day, I am grateful for all of you who read my blog, Like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter, but sometimes you do things that are above and beyond your usual awesomeness. There have been a couple of examples in the past week — one fun and one life-saving.

You probably know about the fun one because I’ve been spreading the word all over — getting myself, and my fellow cat bloggers, into the AmazeCats Next Top Cat bracket. I linked to the other blogger’s profiles in addition to mine, and you have been voting — many of you daily! Last I counted, it looks like we all have a great chance of making it to the bracket! Even better, one cat blogging family, Allie, Faraday and Maxwell, did not have a working button for the first couple of days, but as soon as it was fixed, a couple of us alerted everyone to the fact and they are almost caught up with the rest of us! Granted, once the bracket starts, I don’t know how far any of us will go — I am willing to bet that the top position will go to one of the popular and very special special-needs kitties that is in the running. But that does not mean we won’t give it our all!

Now for the live-saving news: The human who has the Random Felines blog volunteers for a Columbus, Ohio rescue called Colony Cats and Dogs. A cat that got adopted from this rescue wound up at a kill shelter in Charlotte, NC. Instead of contacting the rescue (which is what you should do if you adopt a cat and ever realize you can no longer keep him), the family dumped him there after a divorce. And although the “shelter” was able to locate the rescue through the cat’s microchip, they were not willing to keep him for any length of time. He had to be out of there right away or be euthnized, so I put out a desperate plea on my Facebook page, where I have the most eyeballs at any given time… and someone in the area stepped forward and saved him! The last word I heard was that they are still working on getting him transported from Charlotte to Columbus. If you can help — especially the first part of the trip — contact the Random Felines human immediately. Her contact email is on the left hand side of the blog. The faster he can get back to Ohio, the better!

Whether it is something as simple as clicking a “Vote” button or as life-changing as saving a rescue cat from a kill shelter (or helping transport him), remember — making a difference is easy. All you have to do is say yes!
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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 Downloadable Calendar: April 2013

For fan members only — you must login to see this content. My downloadable monthly calendars are one of the perks when you join my fan club!
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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: Binga and the Wrong End of a Wand Toy

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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!

DIY Progress Report

How are you doing with your DIY projects from my Friday giveaway post? I hope you have come up with something because I have Petco Friskies coupons for somebody out there! Meanwhile, let’s see how my human is doing with the kitty playground she is supposed to be putting together.

Hmmm. This does not look promising! Perhaps she should try something a little less ambitious. Maybe I will send her over to the Friskies DIY Pinterest board instead. I know there are some easy and fun projects there.

How about you? Do you have a DIY cat toy project you are working on for my giveaway? Details on posting what you have are on the original post. So far, the field is wide open, so make sure you give me something between now and Friday!
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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!

Happy Not-Easter

Yesterday, my human’s boyfriend surprised her with an Easter basket full of goodies — purple Peeps, dark chocolate bunnies, Godiva truffles and all sorts of stuff not-edible for kitties.

There was only one problem.

Easter isn’t until next Sunday! Much as I would like to say it is his fault he can’t keep track of dates, it was his brother who told him the wrong day!

At least this means there is a whole ’nother week to come up with an Easter basket of goodies for me!
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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!