Thursday, February 27, 2014

Thankful Thursday - A Kong Review



Callie checks out the package from Kong
A few weeks back we were asked to review a package of kitty goodies from Kong.  We are always thankful for free samples to try out.  We never seem to have enough green stuff for all our needs. Well the package arrived and we got a cardboard scratcher, tub of catnip and a package of treats.

Lily wants to try the treats.

 We opened the treats right away.  Mom had been looking for some kitty treats to replace Temptations which we love but Mom says the ingredients are not what she would like to be feeding us.  Kong Moist Treats are made from duck, chicken, cranberries and blueberries and no wheat, corn or soy or icky preservatives or colorants.  Most of us loved the Kong treats - Ivy scoffed them up so fast  we couldn't get a photo of the treats and her.  But others like Only did not care for them and left them uneaten.

Ivy licking the floor after she ate the treats.


Only did not want his Kong treats.
 The Kong scratcher on the other hand went over very well.  Two Spot went right to work on it as soon as Mom put it down.  We needed a new one for the cat house so it worked out well.

Two Spot getting a work out on the scratcher.
Our neighbor cat Jack even got to try some catnip and he gave it paws up!  So overall it is a paws up on the three items from Kong - Mom will get some Kong treats for us to eat instead of Temptations!


Jack likes the Kong catnip

Friday, February 21, 2014

Flashback Friday with Sweetpea

Me living in the bathroom till I tamed down.
 Mom has been very lazy this week and has not even done a Wordless Wednesday post - how bad is that?  So I hijacked the blog and will show some pics of me  when I first came to live in the house.  This was back in the original house in the high mountains of NC.

It was  the winter of 1999-2000 and we had just had a huge snowstorm.  All of us kitties found a nice warm place to weather it out but we were gone for a few days and our Mom-to-be was very worried about us, especially me cuz I was young and little.  When we all showed up again at the shelter/feeding station, Mom was so happy and relieved that we were all accounted for but that was when she decided to bring me inside.

Me after I was a bit friendlier - I looked better already.

I was pretty wild, my fur was matted and my skin was not in great shape.  The vet had to sedate me to examine me and told the humans to bathe me while I was out - the only chance they would have.  They did bathe me in the bathroom sink - I could see them but could not fight to stop this horrific thing from happening.  I do admit I felt so much better when I was all dried off and clean and fluffy.

Mom used lavender tea on my skin patches - I had spots of grayish rough skin all over.  Pretty soon the spots healed up and I looked super if I may say so myself.  And the rest is history!

Me, now, all growed up!



Friday, February 14, 2014

Snow and Celebrations!

Lily

Lily here today wishing you all a very Happy Valentine's Day from our house to yours!  It is a big day for us - it is Pop's 65th Birthday (yes he is THAT old!)!!!  Here he is is from a baby to his freshman year in high school.



And then...it is the human's anniversary - Mom picked this day so Pop would never forget what day their anniversary was!  They have been together for 26 years - pretty amazing.  Here they are from when they met in CT, in Germany on vacation, at Cape Cod, in FL (where they adopted Angel Chica and Angel Yoko) and then NC!



All us cats chipped in and are sending them to a great restaurant for dinner tonight - hoping they can get out and into town after all the snow we had this week. 

Looking down our driveway!
So whatever you do and where every you are, celebrate LOVE today - we leave you with this poem Mom loves by E. E. Cummings

“I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet)I want no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)”


Georgie

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

A Friend Has Flown to the Bridge


 Sweet Gracie of  Manx Mnews blog has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, much too soon. Please do go by and leave your condolences.  Her Mom is having a hard time as she lost her beloved Abby just six months ago.

I hope this poem offers some comfort to all who have lost a beloved pet....

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.

All is well.


Thursday, February 6, 2014

Al, Ivy and Darby Consult with a Pet Pyschic

Albert

A few days ago we were contacted by Psychic Source, an online psychic group, for a free pet psychic consult with Nancy.  I was told to email a photo of the cats we wanted Nancy to read so I chose Albert, Ivy and Darby.  At the arranged time, I placed a phone call to Nancy and we began the 30 minute consult.  The cats were in the other room either asleep or watching bird TV.  I will write about what Nancy said and then after, how it related to the cat  and us.

Albert - Nancy honed in on Al, our deaf cat,  first and wanted to talk about him. She asked how long we had had him (since he was a kitten) and how old he was (9).   Before he came to us Nancy said that he felt rejected and without support, even by his mother.  He struggled alone and feeling excluded. Now she said he does get support from us.  Nancy saw a male figure in Al's life giving him steady reliable support. This male figure is Al's rock. He is dependable for Al and Al wants to please him very much. Their relationship is very stabilizing to Al.

She explained that Al does have a cold side to him, that he can be domineering, arrogant and cut off from his emotions.  Like a person who has shut down his emotions, he can be overbearing because of this. In his own room, Al is confident and peaceful: he feels safe. He loves his humans.  She said that when Al lashes out at the cats or us, it is fear based.  Some cats pull back in fear but Al becomes aggressive.  Nancy suggested trying to find an online support group for deaf/aggressive cats for us to help him feel more peaceful.  She stated that All needs extra loving to make up for how he felt in his early months.

Al was found by the side of a highway by me as a tiny 8 week kitten.  He may have been dumped there by humans or wandered off from his litter.  Obviously he had been on his own a while since he was covered in bruises and cuts and matted.  He was very passive and cute as a kitten but as he matured he began to become a bully.  Al is very close to my husband and they do have a special bond.  Al looks to him for comfort when he is upset.  Albert does not relate well to other cats, does not pick up their behavioral cues and ends up in fights with them.  Snowball is out dominant cat in this group but Al is always confronting him.

I think Nancy did get an accurate picture of Al - and his feeling rejected and dominant explains his aggressive behavior. We are going to try to find a support group online to help him - if anyone knows of one, let us know.  We love Al but he has been our problem child since he matured.  For his safety and the safety of the other white cats, Al has his own room and is let out only if we are there to supervise.



Ivy

 Ivy - The first thing Nancy said about Ivy is that she struggles with her vision.  She described her as tiny and very loving with a strong bond with me.  Outside she explained that she suffered from the other cats. Inside with us Ivy feels special, protected and safe.  I asked if she was OK and Nancy replied that Ivy was content , feeling harmony and balance in her life.  Nancy felt that she is not ready to leave this earth and will be with us for several more years.  She told me that I look like an "angel" to Ivy and that I have done the best I could do to care for her.

I have noticed that Ivy seems to hesitate when getting up on furniture and often is startled when other cats come s close.  Her vision may be the reason so we will take her to a vet to check this out.  She is a small cat - at six pounds and in spite of being feral for seven years is affectionate and loving to both my husband and myself.  I am her constant companion.  Unless she is sleeping, she is right next to me or on my lap.She comes to me when she wants something quacking her funny quack.  She was the last of the ferals in this group to be brought indoors and I fear that her life was challenging.  Nancy was right when she said she was picked on outside - the male cats were trying to drive her off to start their own feral colony. Ivy is 16 and has FIV so hearing that she would be with us a while longer made me happy - I hope this will be the case.


Darby looking out the window.
Darby - Nancy saw that Darby was in great shape physically and was surprised that she was 15 years old this year.  She described Darby as a happy cat who gives much love back to us: she is very affectionate. Nancy did not see anything negative with Darby.  She stated that Darby had deep feelings and was very intuitive.  Darby can pick up on things without being told - she reads our energy.  In this way she felt that Darby is a healer, a cat that stays with us when we are not feeling well.  Nancy explained that Darby needed companionship, to be constantly reassured.  She learned to be quick and very sharp living on her own outside before we took her in.  She can take care of herself in spite of her small size.

Darby was found living under our rented house in another neighborhood, not a part of the main feral group.  She about six months old then and alone.  I thought she was a male cat watching her defend her territory with other cats twice her size, running them off.  She was the hardest to tame when we took her indoors, not even allowing us to pet her without smacking our hands. Now, she has a close bond with both my husband and me, sitting with us on the computer chair or on the sofa. She will seek one of us out always wanting to be near us.  If one of us is sick, Darby will be the cat sitting next to us the whole time, making biscuits and purring.

Nancy ended the session with a little more information about Albert and then about me.  Nancy said once again that Albert blocks off his emotions.  He is afraid to give of himself to only get rejected again.  She reiterated that Al had no loving mother and was lost and alone as a kitten until "angels" stepped in.  She mentioned seeing "angels" around my cats. Nancy saw me as an angel for these cats, helping them recover, bringing balance, health and energy back into their lives.

Hope you enjoyed this post!  This was great fun and I feel I learned a lot about why Albert acts the way he does.  I found Nancy to be easy to talk to, pleasant and very kind.  If you would like more info about this psychic group, click on Psychic Source.  Nancy's personal link is here.

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