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GRUMPY CAT VIDEO

We all know Grumpy Cat (aka Tardar Sauce) the 2 1/2 year old cat who has become a media sensation. She even has her own movie, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, debuting on Lifetime on November 29 at 8 p.m.

The Cat on My Head was asked by UZoo to share Grumpy Cat’s latest video with you. (This video is no longer available.)

The video promoted Grumpy Cat’s recently published book, The Grumpy Guide to Life: Observations from Grumpy Cat.

Hope you enjoyed the video. You can see more cat videos by copying this URL into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1Kzf-RX5Ge90riNddBz1wO1yjeSnWupS.

Disclaimer: We were not compensated monetarily for this post but we have been promised a shout out on UZoo’s Facebook and Twitter pages and a link to our blog on their videos.

November 20, 2014 by Janet Blue Uncategorized 20

PLEASE HELP OUR FRIENDS

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I am hanging my head in shame as once again I am reneging on my promise to Mau. He won’t be posting today about his surprise birthday party at Cat Scouts. When he found out the reason his post is being postponed again, he promised not to retaliate. His troop mate and our friend, Cat Scout Dezi, and her family need our help.

Cat Scout Dezi

If you don’t know our sweet friends, Dezi, her sis Lexi and Mom Audra, I encourage you to drop my their blog, DezizWorld. Dezi and Lexi are service cats who help Mom Audra with her day-to-day needs, like driving her wheelchair. And the three of them are the most caring and loving individuals you will ever meet.

More than two months ago, their apartment was flooded by a broken pipe in another apartment. Before any repairs were made, this same thing happened again. The management of the complex has been thoughtless, cruel and unhelpful when it comes to correcting all the problems that have occurred as a result of the flooding. Though the carpet finally has been replaced and the apartment painted, some personal and essential items were ruined by the flooding.

Lexi

Right now Mom Audra needs a new mattress for her bed, and a reclining chair where she can keep her feet up. Lexi is now 15 years old, and the girls need stairs they can use to get up on the bed. In order to help procure these things, Savannah and Sage’s mom, Linda, from Savannah’s Paw Tracks, has set up a YouCaring campaign. You can read much more about Dezi, Lexi and Audra’s circumstances and need at the YouCaring site. I have added the YouCaring link to the side bar. By clicking on the title, “Righting a Wrong…” you can read our friends’ story. If you click on the word, “GIVE,” you will be taken directly to the donation page.

I pray that you can open your hearts by contributing to this campaign and help our lovely friends obtain these few things they desperately need. No amount is too small. If you also can share about Dezi, Lexi and Audra’s need on Twitter, Facebook and your blog, that too would be so helpful.

Kitties Blue and I are sending purrs and prayers to our special friends, Dezi, Lexi and Audra, and ask you to do the same whether or not you can make a donation.

Thank you, Mom Janet, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

MY WRITING PROCESS TOUR

We were invited to participate in the “My Writing Process Tour” by our friend the lovely Cathy Keisha and Mom TW from Stunning Keisha. C.K. is a self-proclaimed ghetto kitty who once lived on the street. She’s been blogging since 2009 and says that her blog is all about entertainment. If you don’t know her, you are missing out on lots of fun and laughs. C.K. claims that what sets her apart from other blogging cats is her catitude. She adds, “I’m not afraid to tell it like it is. My fans and followers trust me to tell them what makes me purr and what makes me hiss.”

After accepting C.K.’s invitation, we also were invited by Kitty Cat Chronicles and another bloggy friend. But as with Astrid and Lisbeth’s birthday, I have forgotten who that was. If you are that someone and visit us today, please leave a comment so I can acknowledge you as well.

As with all of these things, there are some rules to be followed and questions to be answered. I may be forgetful, but I am a rule follower. The first RULE requires me to link back to the writer who tagged me for this tour. Click on the graphic above and you will be immediately whisked away to C.K.’s blog.

RULE number two requires me to answer three questions, so here goes!

1) What am I working on?

We are sponsoring a kitty from PAWS named Swizzle. You can see her in our sidebar. We are hoping to find her a new home by featuring her periodically on the blog and will continue to sponsor her until this happens. You can see her again in our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop next weekend. And speaking of that: This was something I had been working on getting started and it debuted this past Sunday. You can click on the badge at the left to be teleported there. It is my fervent hope that this will grow as more readers find out about it.

I have an idea fermenting right now for a book featuring Mauricio. I don’t want to say much more about it until I am further along.

Finally, I am working on becoming more organized so I don’t forget to post about important things like my kitties birthdays or events such as “Blog the Change for Animals.” The kitties’ dad gave me a 2015 calendar this morning, and I am going to start putting dates in it right now.

2) Why do I write what I do?

The slogan for The Cat on My Head is: This is a website dedicated to the mostly comical antics of the eight felines currently residing in the household and their nine predecessors.

When I began the blog my intent was to write about this and nothing else. I believe this remains the current focus, but I have expanded into writing book, product (and an upcoming art) reviews.

I now feature posts about Cat Scouts on a somewhat regular basis as that has become a huge part of Mauricio’s day-to-day life.

When I started out, I featured an old, previously published, cat-centric poem of mine in the sidebar. Since then I have featured a variety of poems, stories and songs written by either Mauricio (with my help) or myself. This will always be a part of the blog no matter what direction it might take in the future.

3) How does my writing process work?

When I began, the blog was all about the narrative. When I completed the writing, I would search my archive of photos for ones appropriate for that specific post. Over time, I have started writing more to fit the photos of the kitties, but for me it is still about the “story.”

I am terrible about writing ahead as I am deadline driven and must have that threat to motivate me. Most posts (like this one) are written the day before they are published. In the beginning, when I published only about three times per week on average, I usually wrote and published on the same day. I always have ideas for upcoming posts floating around in my head where most are preliminarily composed while I am doing something else such as swimming, biking or trying to fall asleep. Occasionally I will write a draft to be completed at a later time. Sometimes I will get back to it, and other times it is abandoned.

I am obsessed with good grammar and spelling. As I once made my living writing, these are skills I have honed and try to adhere to at all times. Not being perfect (damn it!), I do publish posts with mistakes and will always correct and update when I find them. I also have the kitties’ dad, if available, read posts before publishing to help catch any errors I may have missed.

RULE number three requires me to pass this on to three other writers.

So many of you have already done this or may have it on your agenda, so I hope I am including three of you who are not in either of these categories and are willing to do it.

Pierre, Ashton & Newton

Sisfur Nylablue

Savannah

I am challenging: Mom Julie and Ashton, Newton and Pierre, Sometime’s Cats Herd You, Mum Sherri-Ellen and sisfur Nylablue, Nylablue & Sherri-Ellen’s Purrfect Pad, and Mom Linda and Savvy and Sage, Savannah’s Paw Tracks. Click on any badge to visit these blogs.

August 19, 2014 by Janet Blue Uncategorized 25

THE MOUSE IN THE HOUSE: THE FINAL CHAPTER

When the bags of Cat Chow left the house, we thought the mouse had as well and that “The Mouse in the House” saga had come to an end.

But then what to our wondering eyes should appear but a poor little mouse who’d lost his life so dear. And it took the smallest cat in the house to bring him down.

“Look Mommy, I deaded it for you!”

And so the tale ends…the mouse in the house is no more!

To see the three previous “The Mouse in the House” posts, click on the Mouse tag below.

April 6, 2014 by Janet Blue Uncategorized 45

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE PART 2

Remember this adorably furry intruder? He doesn’t even look real, does he? If I hadn’t seen him scampering through the house, I would have thought he was an animatronic creation.

Comments abounded from our kitty friends as well as other four-leggers asking what had happened to the “Mouse in the House.” Some were cheering for the cats, others for the mousey.

Truth be told, none of us know…not even the cats.

They spent hours hot on his trail, and Calista Jo even had him in her mouth. Unfortunately, that’s when the camera battery went dead. When enlarging one of the photos I used on Wednesday’s post I could see blood in the little guy’s fur. I presume it was from Calista’s teeth.

They had him trapped under the china cupboard, the desk, behind the radiator and hall butler as well as behind the cookbooks in the kitchen bookcase and under the stove. That’s the last place any of us (cats and humans) saw him before retiring for the night.

It’s not hard for a field mouse to find its way into our house. The house is 101 years old and has any number of small holes that mice have used to gain entrance through the years. As I have found no dismembered mouse parts or a decomposing carcass anywhere in the house, I suspect this fellow found his way out by the same way he came in.

Usually, a mouse doesn’t have a chance around here with eight cats in residence. Normally the kitties will terrorize and bat it around until it keels over dead from stress. But this little chap was particularly adept and finding hiding places where he was just out of reach.

And I didn’t really mind his presence. He was darn cute and it kept the clan busy and quiet in their cooperation of hot pursuit for several hours!

So that’s the entire story of “The Mouse in the House.”

If you have the CB Calendar and hadn’t noticed, Lisbeth is featured this weekend.

March 8, 2014 by Janet Blue Backstory Uncategorized 43

BLOG FOR PEACE 2013

TODAY BOTH THE KITTIES AND THE HUMANS AT THE CAT ON MY HEAD JOIN BLOGGERS WORLDWIDE WHO DREAM OF AND PRAY FOR PEACE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS OF THIS EARTH.

MAY EACH OF YOU FIND YOUR OWN INNER PEACE AS WELL.

Click here for additional information about Blog4Peace.

November 3, 2013 by Janet Blue Prayers Uncategorized 22

ASTRID SNOOPERVISING

Though this appears to be two separate photos, Astrid is staring at me while sitting behind the screen of my laptop.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled, Tabby/Tortie Tuesday with MacKenzie and Astrid. In it, I talked about how Astrid has become my little shadow and showed a photo of her sitting in my lap as I worked on the blog.

As she rarely leaves my side, she has been entrusted by her meowmates to ensure I type exactly what they have dictated for each comment. In spite of the fact that cats are not known for their work ethic as well as the fact that she does nap frequently, she is a rigid taskmaster. If I deviate from the plan, I get laser, zombie eyes or she takes matters into her own paws. That usually proves to be disastrous as her spelling is atrocious and her paws have a tendency to hit several keys at once (as evidenced in the photo below).

She also is easily distracted and so sometimes finds it hard to stick to the task at paw. Or she becomes bored with the entire endeavor and camps out on the keyboard.

Being a good Mom I do, however, encourage her literary interests and pawticipation in the blogging process, even if she does occasionally impede our progress or necessitate corrections.

Besides, I like the companionship!

September 26, 2013 by Janet Blue Backstory Uncategorized 36

MAGICAL MONDAY MIRACLE & SQUIRREL CAPER

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. If someone had told me about it, I would have called them a “big, fat liar, liar pants on fire!” I have no photographic proof of the event, so I may end up being called that same thing, but…

Lily Olivia after breakfast this morning.

Early this morning, I woke up as Lily Olivia, who always sleeps in the center of the bed between her dad and me, walked across my body. She approached Calista Jo, who always sleeps next to me on the outer edge of the bed. Lily tentatively raised a paw and gently touched C.J. on her face. She then withdrew her paw and began washing Calista’s face. When she finished, she returned to her usual spot.

No hissing, growling or paw smacking occurred. Both kitties went back to sleep as did I, after I closed my gaping mouth.

What I witnessed was a MIRACLE of monumental proportion. Lily Olivia never has given any other kitty a bath or vice versa. Lily is and always has been the pariah of the family. There have been moments of camaraderie. One time I caught Lisbeth and Lily sleeping head-to-head. You can see photos in the post, “Conjoined Twins?”.

My logical self tells me I was either dreaming or hallucinating, Lily was sleep-bathing Calista or Calista was in a coma. How else could this have happened? Will it ever happen again? Again, the logical brain tells me, “NO!”

Calista after this morning’s squirrel caper.

Nor do I have photographic proof of what occurred later this morning. Somehow, a squirrel managed to find itself trapped on the catio with Lisbeth, Calista, Fiona and Giulietta. To be honest I didn’t even try to get a photo. I just wanted to rescue the poor squirrel before it became somebody’s second breakfast. It finally managed to escape, with Lisbeth in hot pursuit, after I opened the door to the grill area.

So right now, I am not very popular with the kids, but I did save myself from having to clean squirrel blood and guts off the deck floor. Another CATastrophe averted.

Of course, when the kitties’ dad returned home from an errand and heard the story, his response was, “What, no video?”

Monday has started off with more excitement than we normally have in one week, much less one day. It can only be dullsville from here. Not too dull I hope, as that will leave me with nothing amusing to tell you.

P.S. Don’t forget about the call for submissions for the upcoming book, A Letter to My Cat. All the information you need is on my previous post, which you can get to from the bottom of this page. Submissions close tomorrow, August 20.

P.P.S. My plan for this blog has always been to keep it clean and uncluttered. With this in mind, I have moved all awards and badges to a separate page. Anything the kitties and I are fortunate to receive in the future will be displayed in the sidebar for a month and then moved to the new page.

August 19, 2013 by Janet Blue Uncategorized 28

NUTRISCA TASTE TEST AND BOOK WINNERS

Nutrisca Salmon Recipe Dry Cat Food

A few weeks ago we received a bag of this Salmon Recipe, grain- and potato-free food by Nutrisca®. The folks at Catswell® asked the kitties to try it and let Catswell know their thoughts.

Here’s what the company has to say about this dry food.

Rated 9-10 on the Gylcemic Index (<55 is considered low glycemic)
each recipe is formulated with protein sourced from a single category (such as poultry or fish) to help with food sensitivities
Low in carbohydrates to align with a carnivore’s diet: No grains, potatoes, gluten, corn, wheat or soy
Antioxidant-rich ingredients such as Vitamin A and E help maintain a healthy immune system
With cranberries to maintain urinary tract health
Natural with added vitamins and chelated minerals

As the purchaser, all of this sounds so healthy and good for my kitties. And the food is made in the USA, which I like. However, the felines can’t read and only know if they like the way their food tastes.

Let me start by saying, all of our cats eat only two things: Purina® Cat Chow® and Purina Friskies® Ocean White Fish and Tuna Classic Pate. They do not get any people food. We have tried other flavors of the Friskies, and the current one is the only flavor that most of them will eat. Fiona and Giulietta will often not eat any canned food, and on other occasions, they will take of few bites. The remainder gobble up the Friskies. Each gets 1/8 of a small can twice each day.

With the idea of maybe finding something that Fiona, especially, would like, I filled the upstairs cat bowl with the Nutrisca while leaving the Purina in their downstairs bowl. I believed it wouldn’t be a fair test if only the Nutrisca was available. They had to have a choice.

Usually I fill their upstairs bowl at night prior to bedtime, and it is nearly empty every morning. With the Nutrisca, this has not been the case. Usually in the morning, I find that very little has been eaten.

The Nutrisca food comes in very small ( ) pellets.

The Nutrisca food comes in very small (3/8″ ) pellets.

I have observed Lily Olivia, Misty May and Astrid eating the Nutrisca. Lily has a hard time keeping it in her mouth as the pellets are quite small (about the size of a pea at 3/8″ across) and she only has one upper fang. She has remained persistent, however, even when she has had to pick the same piece up a few times. Misty May and Astrid have not had this same problem.

So of the eight cats, three will eat it. That means the success rate for the Nutrisca, at least in our household, is 37.5 percent. I would have liked that to be higher as this food seems as if it would be a healthy option for all the kitties, from 15-year-old Lily Olivia down to one-year-old Calista Jo. But with only three liking it, I would not purchase this food.

I was sent a four-pound bag to try. On-line at CATSWELL and Chewy.com, the cost for that is $12.99. The cost for the 13-pound bag is $33.99. At Petflow.com the cost per bag was $15.99 and $37.99. For us, even the lower price would not be cost effective if only three cats out of eight will eat it.

Disclaimer: I thank CATSWELL® for the opportunity for the kitties to try and and me to review Nutrisca® Salmon Recipe dry food for cats. I was not compensated (other than receiving one four-pound bag of the product) for this review, and the opinions expressed are mine exclusively.

**Now, the announcement for which you all have been waiting: The names of the winners of the book, A Street Cat Named Bob.They were selected using Random.org.**

**They are: Marg from Margs Animals and Abby from ManxMnews. Concatulations to the two winners. I wish each of you who commented could receive a free copy.**

August 13, 2013 by Janet Blue Product Review Uncategorized 18

OUR FIRST AWARD: YIPPEE!

Last week, The Cat on My Head was fortunate to be nominated for the Reality Blog Award by Kitty Tales. This blog is hosted by Denise Brixey. The blog’s mascot is Punkie.

This is not just an ordinary pet blog. It also lists both cats and dogs available for adoption from Wee Bar None Ranch Pet Placement in Apple Valley, CA. As I support a feral cat rescuer and no-kill shelter, Barn Cat Buddies in Hardy, VA, and sometimes show their adoptable pets on this blog, I really appreciate other sites that do similar things. Three of our kitties have been adopted from BCB: Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette.

Thank you, BoBo, Mi-Mi and your mommy, Denise Brixey, for nominating The Cat on My Head for the Reality Blog Award. We shall treasure it and each of you always!

There are several rules you must follow in order to accept this award:

1) Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.

2) Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back to them.

3) Answer the 5 simple questions. (See below)

4) Nominate up to 20 blogs for the award and notify each of them. (See below)

5) Display the award on your blog somewhere.

Here are the 5 questions and their answers. We all collaborated on the answers to prevent any hissing, growling, swatting or hair pulling.

1. If you could change one thing, what would you change?

We would make all cat owners accept the responsibility of spaying or neutering their beloved housemates so that so many of us would not be left homeless or end up euthanized.

2. If you could repeat an age, what would it be? any year?

Mommy would go back to a time when her beloved boys, Madison and MacKenzie, were alive; though, that would mean that some of us youngsters wouldn’t be, which makes us very sad. But she told us that we would still be in her future. So we guess that would be okay. We kitties like things just the way they are here and now.

3. What is one thing that really scares you?

The garbage and recycling trucks when they come down the alley if we are out on our screened-in deck.

4. What is one dream you have not completed, and do you think you’ll be able to complete it?

We all dream that our food bowls would never be empty and that we could live forever ’cause our mommy misses all the kitties who have passed on and she gets really sad. Mom says that she wants to go to Chengdu, China, to the Giant Panda Breeding Facility.

5. If you could be someone else for one day, who would it be?

That’s a really tough one for us kitties and for Mom. We all like who we are just the way we are. But after much deliberation, Mom says she would like to be Hugh Jackman’s wife. She thinks he’s really sexy! Sorry Dad.

Last but definitely not least, we would like to nominate some blogs we follow and admire for this award. This was a most difficult task for us as so many excellent blogs exist. We did have a tendency to chose some that feature oodles of great photos and maybe not as much writing. Our mom does tend to go on-and-on, and let’s face it, we just want to look at the pictures to make sure we don’t see any kitties cuter than we think we are.

Those of you who have stumbled across and read our blog are probably well aware of these blogs and read them regularly, but if not, please drop by and let them know you did by leaving a Comment. We feel sure you will find them entertaining.

Random Felines

Brian’s Home

Poppy Q

Daisy the Curly Cat

Jacqueline’s Cat House

Sweet Purrfections

Our Life by Eric and Flynn

Sometimes, Cats Herd You

The Island Cats

Prancer Pie

Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette