Sparkle the Designer Cat's Blog, page 483

Sunday Catinee: Bye to 2012

Although this video is a couple of years old, I thought you would enjoy seeing how one kitty celebrated New Year’s Eve:

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

And no matter how 2012 wound up for you, it certainly started off great for one kitty who was stuck in a tree. A pair of tree climbing humans came to Moss’s rescue on New Year’s Day, braving 50 MPH winds and ascending a very skinny pine tree to do it. These folks have a YouTube channel and apparently rescue a lot of cats from trees. At seven minutes, the video is a bit long, but I think you will wind up watching it most or all of the way through, and you will be rewarded at the end:

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

So what are YOU going to do for cats in 2013?
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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: End

What else could you possibly expect?
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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: January 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!

And remember, if you want a full, 12-month wall calendar of my Cat Rules, I still have some copies left here! Click here or on the image below to see more and order!

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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!

Advice – January 2013

Dear Sparkle,

I hate going to the vet, but my human hates it even worse! Every time I have to go (which thankfully isn’t often), she freaks out. She pulls out the carrier with shaky hands, and then runs all over the house, calling for me in her nervous voice. I hate when she is like that, and I can sense it a mile away so I hide, but she always manages to find me. She grabs me, shoves me into the carrier and I can just feel how tense she is the whole drive to the clinic. I yowl at her to calm down, but she just gets more upset. Then while we are at the vet, she acts worried the whole time we are there. Only when the vet finishes with me and tells her I am okay (usually) or need some medicine (happened a couple of times), does she start to chill out. Finally when we get home, she returns to her normal self, but geez, what an ordeal! I don’t know what her problem is, especially since I’m the one getting stabbed, manhandled and having a glass tube shoved up my you-know-what! Is there any way I can get her to stop being a freak during these trips? She is stressing me out.

Signed,

Vet Fatigue

Dear Vet Fatigue,

The problem with humans is that not only are they high-strung, they live in their own little world and are oblivious to how they are affecting those around them. Your human is so busy fretting about whether she will be able to get you in the carrier, how you will behave at the vet, and creating doomsday scenarios in her head that I am not surprised she is stressing you out! We cats absorb the energy around us and you must feel hammered with all the bad vibes she is generating. I bet she tells her friends about all the trouble you give her every time she has to take you to the vet, when in reality she is causing 90 percent of the of the problem.

How do you solve something like this, when your human isn’t even aware she is the one at fault? There is no quick solution because you need to work on your human on a synergistic level. In other words, you can’t get her to calm down about your vet visits without working on her day-to-day behavior. You will have to spend a lot of time sitting on her and using purr therapy to reduce her anxiety. I also suggest urging her to join you in play sessions several times a week. If you double or triple down on your daily efforts to keep her relaxed and refreshed, then eventually it will make her a better partner when you have to take those trips to the vet. In a perfect world, she would figure all this out by herself and adjust her behavior on her own, but let’s face it, how often does that happen?
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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!

Tipsy Christmas

Before my human brought out our Christmas gifts on Tuesday morning, she thought it might be fun if she sprinkled them with a bit of silvervine. The only problem was, she accidentally went a little overboard and spilled a lot on them! Seriously they were reeking when she put them down for us.

We were so high on silvervine that we did not really care about the presents! Here I am, halfheartedly playing with the first gift we opened — one of those circular things with fuzzy mice spinning around.

Binga just wanted to go back and huff the wrapping paper.

The next gift was one of those elaborate things that requires a bunch of batteries and instructions. My human was so proud of herself because she actually had the batteries on hand. Never mind that she had them on hand because she had to make an emergency run to 7-Eleven at 11 PM on Christmas Eve.

Of course, the 7-Eleven batteries, along with being overpriced, did not work! I may never find out what this thing is supposed to do.

Not that I cared. I was so high on silvervine that I wound up making love to the armoire!

The last gift seemed like an afterthought. Cheap ping pong balls from the drug store? Really!

Binga couldn’t even be bothered to get up for them.

At least Boodie enjoyed herself.

Until the silvervine got to her too. So yeah, this was not the most impressive Christmas ever.
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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!

Designer Tote Bag and Fancy Feast Ornament Winners!

I just want to say, I had way more entries than I expected! Thank you everyone, for making my giveaway such a great success! I wish I had tote bags for all of you, but since there are only 20, one minute after midnight last night, my human went to the Rafflecopter widget and picked out the winners! Here they are:

Carol

Cupid and Chloe

Selina

Beaded Tail

Amy O.

Sammy, Bubba & Harley

Momsbusy, Kintaro, TT, & Buddy

Coco, Jake & Angel

Judi D.

Baby Tali

Mizz Bassie Cat

Fisher

Laila and Minchie

Dash Kitten (who is having it sent to a U.S. friend)

Rust

Melissa W.

jmuhj

Kathy M.

Truffle and Brulee

BrucesMom

And the international winner of the Fancy Feast ornament is:

Hannah and Lucy

Concatulations to everyone!
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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: Boxing Day

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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!

Holiday eCards From My Pals 2012

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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!

My Christmas Wish

Like every other kitty this holiday season, my biggest wish is for all homeless cats to find homes, and for all kill shelters to be empty. Most of us wish for this every day, in fact. But today, let’s make this wish a tad more tangible, something we can see within our reach. Let’s make our wish directly from the place where the magic happens.

Let me explain. That magical Christmas spirit is more than just wishing. It is actively searching out solutions for whatever problems we want solved and the hurts we want healed. First comes the desire to see something done. But did it ever occur to you that if you see something that needs addressing that maybe you are the one who is supposed to help? That maybe if you sat quietly and contemplated solutions, no matter how small, that you could be one step on the road to make things better? No matter how insignificant you think you may be, you can always be of service and find ways to help a kitty out.

And as you know, healing kitties heals hearts. Look at my human friend, cat rescuer and fellow blogger, Robin Olson. After the tragedy in Newtown, CT, the town she calls home, Robin came up with the idea to bring kitties and kids together as her offering to the broken hearts she saw around her (and to heal her own broken heart too). The Kitties for Kids program has just started and already over two dozen humans, youngsters and grown-ups, have been through Robin’s doors to visit with her rescues and learn how to smile once again. All it took was a small idea and the desire to help. I know that within you, there is something, some idea or some ability to make a difference in a cat’s life — and the good of doing that will spread to all other beings.

So here is my Christmas wish: that all of you find a way in the coming year to be of service to homeless cats out there, that no matter how big or how small your ideas are, you gather up the energy, desire and courage to take action. Because that is really where the magic happens… in the act of doing.

Oh, and my other wish is that this hat gets lost sometime between now and next Christmas!
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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!

My Human Is an Idiot – FOUR Calendars Left!

Well, I thought we only had three calendars… but then my human found she had misplaced one! So we actually have four calendars that I would really like to sell before the end of the year. No wonder my human’s math was not working out for her!

So click here to get a preview of some of the cat rules pages, and to buy the calendar! There is still time to start off 2013 knowing The Rules!
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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!