Our little girl

I keep forgetting just how small Kit is, because she spends most of her time snuggled up to or hounding my husband.  Occasionally she'll seek me out for attention and I'm reminded.  It is especially noticeable for me because I'm usually covered in Muffin, and she is easily double Kit's weight.

JC Penny

Have you heard?

I am sure you have seen the über annoying commercial of people screaming. Well apparently Penny is going to really go with everyday prices and starting in February there will no longer have sales and everything will be marked down about 40%!!! Wow. And even better things won't end in .99. So a $24.99 pair of pants will be $12 (according to my local newscast)

I must say I am pleased and I will be going the next time I need clothes - or just to shop.

Although I have to say I am glad I do not work there. I can't imagine having to mark down the whole store. If I weren't over half an hour away I'd stop in sooner to see what was going on.

So what do you think? Will you be going?

a pet's will & testament

If you don't want to biggify, it says (and feel free to replace dog w/cat):

Before humans die, they write their last Will & Testament, give their home & all they have,
to those they leave behind.  if, with my paws, I could do the same, this is what I'd ask...

To a poor lonely stray I'd give:

• My happy home.
• My boy & cozy bed, soft pillows and all my toys.
• The lap, which I loved so much.
• The hand that stroked my fur & the sweet voice which spoke my name.

I'd Will to the sad, scared shelter dog, the place I had in my
human's loving heart, of which there seemed no bounds.

So, when I die, please do not say, "I will never have a
pet again, for the loss and pain is more then I can stand."

Instead, go find an unloved dog, one whose life has
held no joy or hope and give MY place to HIM.

This is the only thing I can give..
               The love I left behind.

--Author Unknown
(Petco Foundation)

Duncan and his new big Brother

Remember that Frasier was renamed Duncan.. He and Brianna were adopted by a family that had a kitty "Perseus". Perseus didn't take to kittens like a duck to water, but rather like a cat to kittens or Robyn and Fred's ducks to their pond... There were a few tense intros, but on the whole I would say it went swimmingly.

Stopped by the Shelter.

On Friday the 13th, I saw that Tamar at ihavecat.com was doing a give away.  One only had to email and be one of the first 20 and they would get a 15lb bag of Science Diet's new corn free food.  Well since I don't feed SD I emailed saying that I would donate it to the shelter I foster for.

Apparently I was too late, but Tamar was sweet enough to appreciate the donation and she gave me one of her personal codes.

I went over to http://www.petfooddirect.com/ and placed an order.  There was a little confusion on getting the code to work, but once it was in the whole process went pretty smoothly.  I got the confirmation email on the 14th, and it mailed on the 18th.  It arrived on the 19th.  Pretty impressive especially for free shipping.  Unfortunately the box it came in was damaged (nor was there any information on the outside of the box to say who it came from.. I am not a fan of that) but the bag inside was just fine.

I had to put it in my car to prevent Jack from chewing on the bag.  Not to say that he gives this food his two paws up, but just that he has a long extensive history of chewing through bags of food and food like substance (like wheat and corn based litters)

I finally got up the nerve to go to the shelter and return Spooky's needles and such (nerve because it made me sad to gather  up the bits of her life left here).  I also had a stack of pill vials that I knew the shelter could use and a few other things that I took to assist one cat or another and should have gone back. 

The people at the shelter hadn't heard of the food, and were interested in it.  Fortunately they are still not hurting for food (I can't tell you how much that warms my heart) but unfortunately that means my hefty donation of $40 food wasn't fawned over as much as some of my other donations in the past.  Hey, this isn't about being fawned over, it's about feeding cats.  Besides, too much fawning makes me uncomfortable.

The kitties were all pretty much bedded down for the night, so I didn't spend a lot of time there.  There was one black girl who was turned in on the 19th that was freaked out of her gourd.  She was growly and hissy, and swatted at the staff who tried to feed her.  I tried to make nice with her, but she wasn't buying any of my "it's going to be OK" moves.  Oddly enough she did walk out of her hidey hole to see me better when I looked at one of the kitties below her.  She was sending off very mixed signals.  I so wanted to take her home and let her chill in my foster room, but that really wouldn't help her adjust to the shelter.

I did see a notice of someone looking for a pet sitter for several months, so I thought I'd call and offer my foster room, but she has found a situation for the kitty, so that wasn't necessary.

So it is still just me, and Jack, and Muffin, and Eli, and Twee, and Kit, and Fleurp, and Skippy.

A morning hug

Last night Jack came up and sat on my chest as I was laying in bed.  He has a habit of putting his paw over one of my fingers (OK sometimes I slip my finger under his paw) and he contracts his paw and "holds" my hand.  It is one of the things that is dear to me about my cats (along with Muffin using me as a throne and Kit's gazing with love at DH) but early this morning he did something that gave me warm fuzzies as big as the mountains..

For some reason, those first few moments of "I think I'm awake but I'm not really sure" are the most precious to my cats.  Generally I wake up with out cats but shortly there after I have four or five moving into position on me.  How they can all get along is one of the great miracles of that early morning love fest.

This morning was a little different.  I was on my side, hands under my pillow, when I felt Jack nose his way across me from my back to my nose.  This is nothing new.  Lately he has decided that I really like his cold nose on my warm neck.  What was new was that he put his paw on my chin and contracted his paw.  He was laying all over me, and I swear he was hugging me.

It was an incredibly precious gift

Donna

I just got a comment from Donna's new owners. 

on November 21, 2011 I adopted Donna. She is doing really good and getting really big! She love's her daddy! I thought you would like to know how she was doing.
-Jamie&Paul 

This made me smile.  Donna was the least outgoing of the group, and it warms my heart to hear she has bonded so well with one of her new owners.  Not that I didn't imagine she would.  Just as we know the sun will come out after a rain, it is always nice to see it.

I'm assuming Jamie stopped by and posted this.  Thank you Jamie, feel free to send me photos - I've posted my email  on the side bar.

Friday..

Hey Momma, whatcha doin??

It snowed, you should stay in with us!

Yes yes, lay on this comfy couch with us Momma!!!

Seriously, how do I EVER get to work??

In the news, Fleas..

Have you heard the news? there is a new flea product on the market designed specifically for cats, and it is called Assurity.

According to this news article on The VPN it has been out for a while.  I would suggest you read the Comments, because while this seems like such a good idea, apparently it isn't.  All the comments I read were from people who used the product and it had some major side effects, from mopey cats to hair falling out.

And I also saw that Novartis also released new products.. Parastar for dogs and EasySpot for cats are species-specific formulations of fipronil, a flea and tick adulticide.  I couldn't find any reviews on it, probably because it isn't out yet. 

Too many new flea and tick products have come on the market and had major side effects.  Yes, we all hate fleas, but you need to be aware of the risks of the products you are using, and those risks really aren't well known until they have been out on the market for a while.  It is sad to think of other cats and dogs being test subjects, and it is sad to think better them then me... but I think I'll stick with the flea meds I know then risk the ones I don't...

SOPA / PIPA

I was actually not going to blog today.. both because I was feeling a little wordless after what recently happened and because of SOPA/PIPA.  Granted I didn't "black out" my website, but I figured not posting would be the next best thing.

Then I saw a few people I know asking why anti piracy was such a bad thing.  I mean it sounds like a good thing doesn't it??

Then..

I saw this..   (it's a little crass, but it explains it)

What it doesn't really explain though, is that if I were to show up on YOUR blog and post an image like this - WITH OUT YOUR CONSENT - and "they" found it before you did and removed it (think comments or forums) then "they" could shut your site down for having it on there.  No cease and desist, no discussion, no waiting for my trying to prove it is or isn't pirated..

Just like music companies have had some videos taken down off YouTube for having kids dance to their songs..

No wonder "big business" loves this.  They can take down all kinds of sites and then use their lawyers and legal departments to fight you when you try to fight back.  I don't know about you, but I don't have the money to do much other then cry if someone comes along and stomps on my website.  Which in turn means that $$=rights.  They have $$ so they have rights.. I don't, so I don't.

Do it for the kittens!!

(thank you to The Onion for the gif and to http://www.happyplace.com for the post that showed me the gif above)

PS.. My representative in congress strongly opposes SOPA/PIPA!