Thank You

A SPARK OF THANKS

Sparks Blog Hop: Week #17

The outpouring of condolences after Lily Olivia’s death truly touched my heart. Those who make up the community of pet bloggers are the most loving, empathic, kind and considerate individuals I have ever come to know. This comes as no surprise to me. Those who love animals are generally nice humans to know.

I wanted to thank everyone individually who left us comments or sent e-mails. But it still remains too overwhelming. Until I can do this, my Spark today is my way of letting each of you know just how grateful I am for your love and support.

As I have stated many times now, Lily Olivia was my constant companion. She may appear to be sleeping here, but she has her paw on the trackpad in an attempt to orchestrate my every move. She spent hours each day sitting in my lap while I worked on this blog. I would remove her paws from the trackpad over and over again or move her head aside so I could see the laptop screen.

I sometimes still take get too many bowls when feeding the other Kitties Blue their breakfast or dinner. Lily had to be first to get her food and sat right on the counter yelling at me to hurry up. And she always licked the inside of the can lid.

I continue to call the other cats by her name, and I look for her constantly, wondering why she is not pestering me or trying to get Dad Tom’s and my food when we eat. The house is quiet and empty without her huge calico personality.

The remaining eight do keep us on our toes, but their antics will never take away my missing her or my Fiona (or all the others who have gone before.)

I am joining Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) for her Sparks blog hop. In establishing the hop, she wrote this, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!” This is what makes Sparks so special and why I look forward to participating each week. I believe my Spark with Albert Schweitzer’s quote completely speaks to Annie’s intent.

If you’d like to join the hop, click on the Sparks badge.

Health Update

I had prayed I would not be writing another of these until every kitty was well. Unfortunately Cooper Murphy has had a flair up of the eye infection and now is sneezing as well. It is obvious he doesn’t feel well. He slept all day on Sunday. He has another appointment to see one of the vets at our animal hospital this afternoon. My biggest fear is that he will one again present with a high fever. Some purrs and POTP would be appreciated.

Thank you for your continued love and support as we deal with the loss of Lily Olivia as well as this persistent infection.

THANK YOU, FILL-INS & GIVEAWAYS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #67

It’s Friday again. Funny how that continues to happen each week. The only way I can keep track of what day of the week we are on is by which post we have to write. Even then I occasionally get messed up. Anyhoo, if it is Friday, it must be time for fill-ins. Each week, Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) and Ellen (15 And Meowing) each select two sentences for us to complete.

Kitties Bue let me complete all of them this week, as they have never been to school, like the catio better than any room in the house, and have never visited any place in our area but the vet, and they surely wouldn’t recommend that to anyone.

This is a blog hop. To enter click on the fill-ins badge. You will be whisked away to Annie’s blog, where you can enter the link to your post.

My completions, as they are each week, are in teal italics.

1. If someone were visiting my area, I would recommend a visit to the Mill Mountain Star. You can read more about it on our posts, Sharkie & Blue Visit the Star and Come Fly with Me for Sammy.

2. My favorite room in my home is the kitchen. After waiting more than 25 years, we re-invented it about six years ago. It is where we all spend the most time.

3. Back-to-school time makes me think of how I always wanted to wear new school clothes for the first day of school, but it was always too hot. I would end up roasting in a wool skirt and sweater and regret my decision.

4. My favourite year of school was probably third grade, as that is when I discovered I liked to write. I have been doing it ever since.

Thank You from Astrid & Lisbeth

Astrid and Lisbeth would like to thank everyone who came by yesterday to wish them a happy birthday. They especially want to thank Lisbeth’s boyfriend Charles for the beautiful e-cards he sent (a separate one for each girl). He also sent a box of goodies. The girls will share about that tomorrow.

They received another gorgeous card as well. This one is from one of the Three Gingersnaps, Teddy (aka Butter Bean). It features their favorite colors.

Still Time to Enter our Two Giveaways

In honor of their birthday, Astrid and Lisbeth are having a giveaway to include some items of swag from the BlogPaws Conference as well as some The Cat on My Head goodies. If you’d like an opportunity to win this giveaway, please leave a comment on the girls’ birthday post, Astrid & Lisbeth Are Birthday Girls, prior to 5 p.m. ET on Monday, August 21. The winner will be selected using Random.org and announced the following day.

Our second giveaway is for the gorgeous art book, The Book of The Cat: Cats in Art, by Angus Hyland and Caroline Roberts. For an opportunity to win a copy of The Book of the Cat, please leave a comment on our review post by clicking here. This giveaway also will end on Monday at the same time as the birthday giveaway. This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide. This winner also will be selected using Random.org and announced the following day.

See everyone again tomorrow for Caturday Art.

August 18, 2017 by Janet Blue Astrid & Lisbeth Birthday Friendly Friday Fill-Ins Giveaway 12

PRAYERS AND THANKS

Prayers Please

We usually purrticipate in the Friendly Fill-Ins each Friday. However, both Mom and all of us were having a very difficult time figuring out what we waned to say, so we are going to skip this week. We hope our hosts, Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) and Ellen (15 And Meowing) will forgive us.

Instead we’d like to ask you to send some purrs, prayers and POTP to two of our ginger tabby friends.

Toby from Toby’s Wrecking Crew has been feeling poorly for the past few days. He’s off to the vet today. We are keeping our paws crossed that no serious health issue are found.

Our friend and Mau’s Cat Scout pal, Wally from The Island Cats, is suffering from pancreatitis. He had to spend several days in the hospital. He is home now under the care of the lady with yellow hair (Mom Sue). Unfortunately he had to have a feeding tube inserted in his neck and is on several medications. The Island Cats are taking a little time off from blogging so Mom Sue can take care of Wally. She has promised to leave updates on their Facebook page.

Veterans Day

Finally, Kitties Blue want to thank all of those Americans, who have served in the U.S. military, for their service.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

November 11, 2016 by Janet Blue Holiday Kitty Written Blog Prayers Veterans Day 26

SCARED OR SCARY?

Caturday Art

Do you think I look scary or scared?

This is probably one of Mom’s most uncomplicated art creations to date. She selected a photo of me from last weekend’s selfie photo shoot and used PicMonkey to overlay a photo Dad took. Then she added a border with piZap and a frame with Picasa.

Here’s the photo she used for the overlay. It is a burning filament in a broken light bulb.

This is our entry in Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop. We enter a few hops each week, but this is Mom’s very favorite. If you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for? With all the holidays coming up, we can’t think of a better time to try out your creativity. To get the links to the other hop submissions and/or add one of your, click on Athena’s badge.

Thank You

Fiona asked me to convey her sincerest thanks for the kind and supportive comments on yesterday’s post, especially, Sammy‘s. We know that without all the purrs, prayers, good thoughts, POTP and friendship, the past ten months since her diagnosis of CKD would have been much more difficult for her and our humans. She is a fighter, and we are fairly certain she’ll do all she can to stay with us as long as possible.

Sunday Selfies

Tomorrow is that day of the week when we all try to put on our best expressions and snap a selfie for our blog hop. We will have a guest host tomorrow. It’s a super cute one, but that’s the only hint you get. Hope lots and lots of you will join us tomorrow and invite your friends to hop as well.

Until tomorrow, this is Mauricio signing off with purrs and paw-pats for all and love and smooches for my sweet wife, Allie.

October 15, 2016 by Janet Blue Caturday Art Blog Hop Halloween Holiday 19

THANKS FROM OUR FIGHTER

Tuesday Doozy of a Snoozy

Dear Friends,

I have returned today to say thanks on behalf of Mom, Dad and myself for all your kind words, love, purrs, prayers and suggestions as we deal with my CKD.

In the past few months many of you have asked if I am getting a phosphorous binder. Yes. I have been since I was diagnosed. Mom, however, is changing to a different one as she recently read that I should not take one with magnesium. The one I have been taking does contain magnesium, so I’ll be starting on one without as soon as it arrives.

Mom has also ordered the Astro’s Oil. Dezi’s and Raena’s Mom, Audra, suggested. After reading about it, Mom has decided to give it a try.

Though my numbers are really quite bad, I haven’t been displaying the symptoms of CKD. I do not have bad breath, and I have not been throwing up. And though I was looking down in my selfie photo, I do not have a droopy head. I do not play like I used to, I whine a lot for attention and treats. I also sleep more. In my defense, it has been too stinking HOT to want to do anything else.

The photos I am sharing today are ones of me having a couple of snoozies in my dad’s lap. He is a great comfort to me when I am getting my fluids and medicines, and I am gravitating to him more and more.

Once again, please accept my sincere thanks for all your kindness and love. I’ll be keeping you posted on how I am doing.

In the meantime, please join us tomorrow for the fifth birthdays of Astrid and Lisbeth.

Purrs and paw-pats, Fiona the Feisty Fighter

August 16, 2016 by Janet Blue Doozy of a Snoozy Health Kitty Written Blog Prayers 23

KITTIES BLUE ADVENTURES IN LITTER LAND

Week One: Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract and ökocat

Today Kitties Blue and I embark on a new series to appear on either Friday or Monday for the next several weeks.

If you have followed us for any length of time, you know that I am obsessed with finding just the right litter on which all the kitties, their dad, and I can agree. I know as a cat guardian this dusty, messy stuff is an evil necessity. And with eight kitties, many litter boxes are required as well. We have seven. They all prefer the same two.

Our current, primary litter is Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract. We have been using this for at least a couple of years. The kitties are happy with it, and I like that it is fairly low in dust. But when peed on it turns into cement and glues itself to the bottom of the litter box. If you have one or more kitties who like to pee in the corners, as we do, you need to call in the Incredible Hulk to scrape it out.

We currently are using four or five different litters. I honestly am having trouble keeping track. Just as some kitties are picky about what food they’ll eat, several of ours are just as picky about litter. Anytime I have the opportunity to try a new litter and review it, I do so.

Last year I spent quite a bit of time speaking to the representative from ökocat at the BlogPaws conference. I was impressed with the natural wood litter. When one of our affiliates, Propel Communications, gave us the opportunity to try it, I selected the ökocat Clumping Litter and the litter for Long-Haired Cats.

This post will cover the clumping litter. According to ökocat the benefits of their product are:

Controls odors for 7 days
Absorbs 500% of its weight in moisture
Coniferous wood (pine) fights bacterial growth
Free of harmful chemicals & synthetic scents
Offers little to no airborne dust to bother allergies

The litter is biodegradable and flushable. Even when a litter claims to be flushable, I just won’t flush it. I know this would be better for our environment, but I am afraid of clogging the plumbing. The biodegradability appears to be true, as any damp litter tracked outside the box usually turned to mush on the floor. I found that our users seemed to throw less litter out of the box when covering, but did track more when leaving the box.

Misty May was the only cat to use the litter with any regularity. Calista Jo and Lily Olivia were occasional users. I would have loved for every kitty to find this litter to their liking as it is unscented, made from a natural product and did control odor quite well, but alas that was not the case. Regardless, if you are looking for a new litter, I recommend you give it a try. If you do, and decide to flush it, please let me know how that goes. If anyone is already using ökocat, I would be interested in hearing about your and your cat(s) experiences with it.

Book Winner

I am pleased to announce the winner of a copy of the book, The True Tails of Baker and Taylor by Jan Louch with Lisa Rogak: Congratulations to Wally, Ernie, Zoey and Mom Sue of The Island Cats. For those of you who didn’t win, I recommend this book as one you’ll want to read and add to your collection.

Thank You

Fiona asked me to convey her appreciation for all the kind and encouraging comments in reply to her post yesterday: Weight Up & Numbers Down. Fiona, as well as her dad and I, are so pleased with her progress. We know the purrs, prayers and POTP so many of you have sent us are part of the reason for her improvement. Please keep them coming. I really want our sweet girl to have many more years with us.

May 13, 2016 by Janet Blue Giveaway Health Prayers Product Review 23

DEAREST FRIENDS THANK YOU

Birthday Wrap-Up

Wow what a great day I had on Monday thanks to my sneaky little furballs. I received so many well wishes, I was almost rendered speechless. Those who know me well can attest that rarely happens.

In addition to all the great comments on Kitties Blue post, I received these great cards from Pipo and Minko; Cat Scouts Gracie and Anya; Cat Scout Andy and Shelley and Tater; and Wally and Ernie.

I also received an e-card from Sammy and Mom Pam. And they snuck into Mau’s Bake Shop at Cat Scouts to make this gorgeous cake.

The kitties and Dad Tom showered me with gifts, including Laurel Burch earrings (cats, of course), kitty t-shirts and kitty socks. And I got a really special gift. It’s something I have wanted since high school. It’s a Chevy Nomad. This one happens to be a 1955 model. What do you all think?

Okay, it’s only a model, but I love it just as much as I would a drivable car.

As we age, birthdays don’t seem to be as big a deal as they were when we were kids. But I have decided I am changing my mindset. Now is when they should be celebrated to the fullest. Heck, I don’t know how many I have left. I don’t want to squander even one of them. And thanks to a wonderful husband, Kitties Blue and all of you who sent cards and good wishes, this was one of my best birthdays EVER! Thank you friends from the bottom of my heart.

Now on to some other news.

Cat Lady Box

A few days before my birthday I received my first Cat Lady Box. It wasn’t a birthday present but the timing worked out perfectly to allow me to count it as part of my birthday bounty. The box was actually a Christmas gift from Sampson‘s mom, Emily, who sent me a gift card. I had no idea by waiting, I would get some items that seemed to be handpicked just for me. I am a collector of Maneki-Nekos (Beckoning Cats). If you don’t know what these are, check out my post showing my small collection here. My Cat Lady Box had a Maneki-Neko t-shirt. That’s it in the background. And check out the gorgeous bracelet with the cat and cat paw charms. Bracelets are my favorite accessory, and I wear bunches of them. Score! Thank you Emily.

Meow Winners

Using the Random.org sequence generator the two winners of our most recent giveaway were selected. They are LynneMarie and Cat Scouts Aspen, Mango, Tigger and Willow’s mom, Brenda. This is a beautiful book, and I know the winners will really enjoy it.

So that’s it for now. We’ll be back tomorrow for Caturday Art and then on Sunday for our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. Hope to see you then.

March 11, 2016 by Janet Blue Birthday Giveaway 23

A THANK YOU AND A REQUEST

My dear friends,

Thank you so much for celebrating my birthday with me. Each and every one of you are so special to me and my family.

I had a very nice and quiet day. The best part was getting bonita flakes atop my dinner and also for dessert. I also got a little piece of Dad’s tuna from his dinner. Oh, and I stole a Wheat Thin, just ’cause I could. I licked it some and then threw it on the floor. Good times. As I dictate this to the typist, I am curled up next to Dad while he watches The Blacklist on T.V.

Two of our wonderful friends made me birthday cards. They are both so beautiful, and I am thrilled to have received them.

This card is from Toby at Doggie and Kitty Caperz. Isn’t he handsome?

This card is from Pipo, Minko and Mom Ingrid at WeBeesSiameezers.

I am not that fond of my brofur Mauricio. But I am feeling generous since he made that gorgeous cake for me. So I offered to do him a favor. As reported earlier, Mau has entered the Cardwood Derby with his Cat Scout University Campus Security vehicle. He could use your votes to to get in the derby finals. The deadline for voting was extended until today at noon EST. We know some of you tried to vote and couldn’t because of an error in the link. Mom sent the correct link to those of you who asked.

For anyone who wanted to vote and couldn’t or anyone else who’d like to, here’s a reminder of what Mau’s car looks like.

You can vote by going here. Several voting categories exist. Mau is listed in each category. I thank you and so does Mau.

Purrs, paw-pats and my heartfelt thanks, Lily Olivia

January 29, 2016 by Janet Blue Birthday Cardwood Derby Cat Scouts Kitty Written Blog 24

WHY MORE IS BETTER WHEN DECORATING

Each December, our dear friend, Speedy the Cheeky House Bunny, has his Christmas Countdown contest. Blogging and Facebook friends are asked to send in photos of their holiday decorations, including themselves if possible. Mom is always decorating right up to Christmas Eve, so we usually get our photos in moments prior to the deadline. None of us are ever in them. But this year was different. She didn’t put up one of our trees and finished a few days earlier than usual. Here’s what we submitted.

We were knocked right off our paws when Speedy selected us as the winners. It just proves what Mom has always said about decorating for Christmas, “If too much is good, more is even better.” In her defense, she has been collecting ornaments for 43 years! Here’s a link to Speedy’s post where he announced the top three finishers.

As winners we received a surprise prize from Speedy. He let us know it would be coming from Amazon so we took turns each day waiting at the front door for the delivery. Finally it arrived, and it was something we always wanted. In fact we gave one of these items to the kitties at Angels of Assisi as part of our Christmas Shelter Project gifts. Mom says that is the sign of generous hearts when we give away something we want. Whatever!

Here are some photos of us checking out our prize.

Fiona, Lisbeth and Mauricio were the most interested. Calista Jo sat in the background and watched.

We all were overjoyed that Fiona purrticipated. She’s been eating a bit more; though, she horked up all over Mom’s shoe last night. Today, under heavy protest (with claw action), she let Mom and Dad give her subQ fluids. Thanks to one of the techs at our vet, they tried a new method for administering. Fiona will tell you more about it in her next update post.

We know we are going to enjoy giving ourselves back, head and cheek scritches whenever we desire. No humans needed! Thank you Speedy and Mom Rachel for choosing our decorations as your favorites. And thank you for sending us this pawsome prize. We love you.

Purrs and paw-pats,Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

January 12, 2016 by Janet Blue Christmas Christmas Shelter Project Kitty Written Blog 28

MY BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOUR BOYFRIEND

Lisbeth claims that her boyfriend Charles is the best on the planet. Astrid, of course, claims that Sampy (Kitty Cat Chronicles) is the best boyfriend. They are like children in the schoolyard arguing about this. We suspect if Allie (Friends Furever) was here, she’d claim Mauricio ranked number one in the boyfriend department. But Lisbeth claims to have photographic proof and submits it here for your opinion.

Lisbeth admits that Sampy sent Astrid some nice birthday gifts. You can see those here. But Sampy did not deliver them in person as Charles did. Yep, that’s him in the photos.

Charles is traveling as part of the flat Cat Scouts program. That means he’d be here to visit Cat Scout Mau even if Lisbeth was not his girlfriend. So she considers herself pretty fortunate to have him here and plans to spend as much time with him as possible. Their interactions, however, will be monitored. Head-butting, bathing each other, kissing and snuggling are okay, but no inappropriate hanky panky is allowed.

Lisbeth and others of the Kitties Blue will be sharing more photos of Charles later in the week. And we promise to share photos of of the cats playing with the terrific Pull ‘n Play Charles sent as well as the other toys.

Lisbeth also will be wearing and showing off her beautiful new collar she is inspecting in the upper right photo. She is blowing a kiss to the real, in-the-fur Charles in the photo on the lower left.

Mauricio has not created his flat Cat Scout, but he does hope to be of visiting friends very soon, starting with his girlfriend Allie, of course. We aren’t sure about Scout Sampy. His family just moved a week ago so we expect he’s staying pretty close to home for now. When Mau starts traveling and some of his other Cat Scout friends visit us, we’ll be sharing photos here.

Lisbeth is sending kisses and purrs to her handsome, generous and thoughtful boyfriend.

September 1, 2015 by Janet Blue Allie and Mauricio Asrid & Sampson Birthday Cat Scouts Lisbeth and Charles Tuxie Tuesday 22

YOU
For Fiona

It seems like only yesterday…
You were just a kitten.
When I saw your pleading look,
I was completely smitten.

Now at only six years old,
You are getting ready to leave,
Soon you will have your wings.
I’ve already started to grieve.

You’ve fought hard for the past year,
And I’m not ready to say good-bye.
I can’t imagine you not in my life
I am so sad…today I had to cry.

I am grateful and blessed
For my six years with you.
You’ll live in my heart forever.
You’re one of the best ever Kitties Blue.

YESTERDAY

Many yesterdays have passed since
You gained your angel wings. Today
Is six months since you left us behind
To remember and mourn. Our hearts
Continue to hurt, and we miss
You as much as the day you left.
Giulietta whined from the catio
Yesterday as I worked in the yard.
I know you put her up to it. That
Was your way of getting me to,
Allow you to join me as I
Gardened. You were there with me
In spirit. With every meow
I thought of you and how much I miss
Your sweet face and disposition.
In these past few months, many friends
Have traveled your same path in your
paw-steps. I am certain you were
Waiting to greet them with purrs and hugs.
I pray you and your friends are laughing,
Frolicking and having fun together.
Picturing that makes me smile, but
Does not lessen my sadness at your
No longer being here to snuggle
And receive our love, care and kisses.
Fiona, please do not ever forget
You are still and always will be loved.

ONE YEAR MISSING YOU

One year has passed since you flew away,
And I still think of you everyday.
I see your sweet face in my mind’s eye
And wish we’d never had to say good-bye.
It’s nice you’ve sent us kitties needing a family,
But my dearest love, we are now at capacity.
You thought it would take more than one cat
To take your place in our habitat.
We love Cooper Murphy and baby Sawyer dearly
But thinking either could replace you makes me teary.
You were one-of-a-kind and will stay in my heart
Until the day I join you and we’re no longer apart.
When once again I can hold you in my arms
And revel in all your love and feline charms.
Together with you and all who have passed.
I will spend eternity contemplating how blessed
I was to share my life with my furry children,
Each and every one of you one-in-a billion.

UNTIL

I miss you each day.
Until we meet in heaven,
The pain will remain.

ONE OF A KIND

I don’t know how to say good-bye.
I thought you were invincible; though,
You used up many of your nine lives.
You ruled us all with an iron paw;
Never took “no” for an answer
And always got your way.
If not, you’d bark to signal your
Displeasure and sometimes raise a paw.
I always joked that you were bi-polar.
When I told people you were a calico
They immediately understood what I meant.
Today was unnaturally quiet in the house.
Can a home seem empty with eight cats?
I will miss waking up at night to find you
Sitting next to me and staring at me.
I will miss you yelling at us as you did
When you wanted breakfast and dinner.
I will miss watching you lounging and snoozing
On the porch settee on a warm afternoon.
But most of all I will miss your kisses!
When kitten Sawyer befriended you,
We suspect you were imparting your
Wisdom and secrets for controlling us.
Time will tell if he was a good listener.
But whatever he may have learned,
Neither Sawyer nor any other cat
Can or will replace you in our hearts.
Lily Olivia, you were one-of-a-kind.