Good Morning Monday! March 5

What a beautiful morning! Here in Alabama it's sunny and cool outside, -high 50's. The rain pounded us for 2 days along with whaling winds, and tornadoes. The evidence of it is a flooded front yard, lawn furniture blown around, busted outside ceramic pots and lots of tree limbs on the ground. 7 tornadoes touched down but this morning we awoke to beautiful sunshine and a renewed feeling that I've been blessed and  "Life is good." 

My family pets were delighted to see the morning sun as well. They huddled around the sun rays and gave each other loving fur hugs in celebration of the beautiful morning. 


The first thing I did (other than enjoy a pot of coffee) was rescue the bird feeders; reload them with bird seed and hang them up. I put up a feeder in a new location on the front porch so the cats could enjoy watching them through the glass doors. You can see one side of the feeder in the photo. I know it will take a few days for the birds to find it but I will keep a close watch on how it does in this location and will happily pass on the news.
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Here's What's Happening on the Holiday Front for March 5, 2012:
March 5th is: Namesake Day, Fun Facts about names day, National Cheese Doodle Day, Dr. Doolittle Day, Mother-in-Law Day, Healing From the Inside Out Day, Say hi to Mom day, Multiple personality day, Crispus Attucks day, Casimir Pulaski day, 


Around The World:

Custom Chief's Day (Vanuatu)

Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)

National Tree Planting Day (Iran)

St Piran's Day (Cornwall)

Guam: Discovery Day (Magellan Day)

Australia: Labor Day (or Eight Hour Day)

The Week Ahead:

• We are still in Celebrate Your Name Week!
• The Oreo Cookie is celebrating 100 years March 6th and Louise on twitter/lavesta from monthsofediblecelebrations blogspot want's to do a round up of oreo cookie recipes. So in it's honor I'm passing on the link to my version of the oreo pie. I call it my orenilla fluff pie. I blogged it in 2008 for Oreo Cookie Day.
• National School Breakfast Week: March 5-9. See http://www.schoolnutrition.org
• Don't Forget: Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 2:00 am. The clock needs to be set forward by 1 hour at this time.
• Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology (March 5-10) See www.globalmarathon.net

Find The Cat In The Picture

National Cat Day

2 of our furry family members: Mother & Son

Celebrated: October 29th.

National Cat Day is a party affair at our house. I surprise my cat crew with one new cat toy every National Cat Day. Plus I drag out all the old cat toys and let our furry pets have a field day of play. I get in the floor with them and shake, rattle and roll roll roll. wink~

For a bit of "high on life time," 
I sprinkle cat nip on the floor so they can happily roll around in cat bliss. It's such a site to see when every one's crawling around on their bellies and rolling side to side. LOL! It's as much fun for me as it is for them. :)

Cat treats are on the menu for such a special day too. After all it's a celebration day so I treat my babes all throughout the day. A little bite here a little bite there. I usually buy a couple different ones and sometimes I even try my hand at making homemade. (this is just for treats and not a meal) I'll list a couple of recipes I found on the Internet at the bottom ok. This way you can make some too.

Official Website

Last but not least, I cook them up a sinful supper of boiled chicken and let them drink the chicken juice too. They love it! I put the vitamin drops in and stir it up. I line up a row of dinner bowls and ladle each cat a bowl of their own and serve them all at the same time. 

What is Cat Day about?
Pet lifestyle expert and animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige established National Cat Day in 2005. The day serves as a reminder to the public about the number of cats that need to be rescued. This holiday encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bestow upon us.

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2 of our furry family member

A nutrious treat for those special occasions.

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup soy flour
• 1 teaspoon catnip
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c cat's milk
• 2 T wheat germ
• 1/3 cup powdered milk
• 1 Tablespoons unsulfurated molasses
• 2 T butter, vegetable oil, or canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients together. Add molasses, egg, oil and milk. Roll out flat onto oiled cookie sheet and cut into small, cat bite-sized pieces. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and store in tightly sealed container.  

Tuna Cat Crackers

• 6 oz. undrained tuna
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into treat sized pieces. Place on a greased cookie sheet. bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.Let cool. Give to your cat and watch them gobble it up.
Recipes found at www.simplypets.com.
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The love of black cats

It was fall and time to find Mrs. Kitty's litter of kittens a home.  We took all 5 of them to our Vet to have a check up and get all their shots before we placed them in the hands of the local pet store to be sold.  Our Vet was delighted to see such beautiful kittens but was concerned when he saw the 3 black cats.  He explained to us that he did not suggest that we put the black cats up for adoption now since it was October.  To my shock he explained how they tried to protect all animals and during October many cults bough black cats for sacrificial purposes.  I was horrified that that type thing was going on right in my own neighborhood!  Ohhhh Noooo not my cats!  My cats are NOT going to be killed just for being a black cat.

While getting all the facts together, I also found out that some religious Christian groups still kill cats because of their association to what they believe is evil or because they belong to someone who they think is evil.  Can you believe that there are still people out there that think cats are evil spirits that have taken the form of a cat?  Geesh!!  Some even believe that the ownership of certain type cats is their "evidence" of Satanic association and witchcraft which has got to be some of the most ridiculous information that I think I've heard yet. Cats, are still believed to be evil in their own right, from many religious groups and often punished by being burned alive.

I also found out that it is traditional for Witches to have tabbies and calicos.  Did you know that?  Well.... which type of witches??  Good witches or bad witches??  I didn't know.  I had 3 black cats, 1 tabby and 1 female calico.  What on earth was I going to do?  I couldn't bear the idea of them being killed at all. This very litter of 5 beautiful kittens were now a litter that I could no longer put up for adoption.  I made up my mind right then and there that my 5 cats were staying with me.  I already had 2 cats and that was going to make 7 cats in all but I could not bear the idea of those babies having a tortured ending. 

I always considered 7 a lucky number anyway.
I would just keep them myself.

And keep them myself I did!! 
They are now 7 years old.

Please make the extra effort to keep your animals safe 
during the month of October.

I love you and goodbye

This post will be placed in our Catsville section.

With a heavy heart we said goodbye to our little Itty Bitty this week. He was strong cat and tried hard to keep going but with the heart disease that we found out he had, along with anemia, pleural effusion, ascities, tumor, leukemia, lungs were bleeding and blood clots which at the end paralyzed his legs .... the suffering had to stop and we sadly had to put him to sleep.

Our only regret was..... 5 months ago he was sink and was put in the hospital for 3 days. The vet said she didn't know what made him sick but they gave him antibiotics and fluids and after 3 days sent him home. We came home and he didn't act sick any more at all. He was active, playing, eating like a pig, no weight loss at all and I had no idea there was unknown problems.

Then, 3 weeks ago the little man got sick again so I took him back to the vet. This time they did a leukemia test. I said.... you mean to tell me you didn't do any tests for him 5 months ago when I brought him in????

The test came back positive which didn't surprise me because when he was 6 to 8 weeks old the test said he had leukemia and that was 7 years ago. But was never sick from it. This vet gave NO other suggestion for his health care. Just sent him home and said since he has leukemia we can give him a B12 shot if you want to bring him back to get one later. That a once a month shot was good. NO mention at all about any other problems he needed help with. We came home and he didn't act sick at all. He was active, eating like a pig, no weight loss at all and I had no idea there was problems unknown.

We came home and for 3 days he just didn't seem himself
We were not satisfied with his care. Something just didn't seem right so we decided to take him to a holistic vet and get some acupuncture to help him feel better. He did fantastic with the acupuncture. He didn't mind the little needles up his back at all and she even stuck one on his nose. We told her that we had a feeling that something else might be wrong....She suggested a vet for us to take him too. The acupuncture made him feel soooo much better for that 1 day.

The New Vet
Come to find out... the leukemia wasn't the problem of concern.  The problem was he had heart disease plus others things that didn't relate to the leukemia that he needed medicine for. The new vet told us that all those problems would of showed up on the tests 5 months ago if the previous vet had actually ran the test and read it. We were in shock because we are big on the care of our animals and were just sick to find out the problems that our little guy had to of been going through for months and months with no treatment. That these problems were probably what activated the leukemia into play. There is no cure for Leukemia and we knew this would eventually kill him but the other problems could of been treated and his quality of life could of been much better if we had known.

We will never go back to the 1st vet ever again. 
In fact we were so sick about the lack of care that we contacted the BBB and put in a notice. The new vet was very thural in him care and keep us informed every step. Once Itty Bitty had the 2 blood clots which paralyzed his back legs and one clot was sitting on his spine. This all happened within 2 weeks and we were in shock. The new vet had tell us there was nothing more could be done. We knew we had to end his suffering and had no choice but to say goodbye. Stephen & I both held him as he was put to sleep.

We spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying and praying for him as if he was a child. He had always been special to us even from birth. He didn't open his eyes for 3 weeks after he was born which is unusual. He had a concave chest which means his rib cage was spread apart. We gave him lots of attention ever since birth. He as a special pet and we love him and will miss him dearly. He was the leader of the pack in our house and made his cat family follow the rules. lol- He was so much fun to watch play and a joy to have as a pet. We will forever have a empty place in our heart for him and forever regret the lack of care that he received.
Pam

It's The Way Of Nature

We call this section of our blog "Catsville."


My day didn't start out like I wanted it to. I had big plans for some great articles that were just busting to be put down on paper but my cat Rocco had other ideas. 


You see this big boy is beautiful, bold and a visious hunter. (this is a pic of my hubby holding him) And even though he is an indoor cat and only has access to a large closed in pen... that goes outside.... he still manages to catch something like he did today.


Squirrels sometimes wonder near the pen and his sneaky arms reaches out and grab them. This was one of those sad days that it happened. He grabbed the little girl squirrel and before I knew it he was running with her all over the place. I chased him (along with my other cats who wanted a piece of the action) all over the pen and all over the house knocking down everything. I had busted plant planters, flipped over chairs, lap top in the floor and desk papers everywhere. I tried to get the little girl out of his mouth before he killed her but I just wasn't fast enough. By the time I got my hands on him and held the little squirrel in my hands it was to late. I watched her take her last breath. It broke my heart :(


I burried the little squirrel under the tall oak tree in the back yard. :(
I really do hate to see things like this happen. I love all Gods creatures and even though it's a natural thing for a cat to do.... I still don't like it. 

Never leave cream sitting on the table.

Early this morning about 6:00 am -I was enjoying a relaxed morning at my computer checking emails and reading my favorite blogs. The hot coffee pot was brewing and the smell of the deep dark roast was filling the house full of that soothing morning coffee smell. The real cream and the coconut creamer neatly sitting beside the coffee pot waiting to be pored in the coffee. 


While I was waiting for the brewing to finish, I settled back into my computer and was well on my way at typing when all of a sudden I heard it. crashhhhh! bangggg! bam! crack! I ran to the kitchen and....... I should of known. I should of known not to leave the real cream sitting on the kitchen counter unattended especially when you have cats. 


Nothing attracts a cat more than milk does and you guessed it. While Batman the cat was trying to get to the cream he knocked off a canister above the sink and it fell right on the breakfast dishes that I had ready to serve up breakfast on. The canister was so heavy that it busted 2 of my sea shell design dishes that I loved so much. ^$^$#%#$%#*(& 


Ok I was mad for a brief moment.... But who could stay mad at such a sweet face. He ran right up his cat tree and lay his head down as to say... I'm sorry.

• In honor of National Cat Holidays 
• We call this section of our blog "Catsville."

Ittie Bitie has been sad

In honor of all National Cat Holidays
we made a section just for cats!
We call this section of our blog "Catsville."


Ittie Bittie the cat has been sad 
for several weeks now because he finally ripped to pieces his favorite gray toy mouse. It's been so funny watching him drag the tail to the body and drop it... then drag the head of the mouse over to the tail and body and drop it. He just stands over them as if by magic they are going to put themselves back together again. He taps on the head and meows..... he taps on the tail and meows. Then he sadly walks away.
We have search high and low for weeks trying to find another gray furry mouse but with no success. We buy other mice for him but he turns his head away sadly as if his best friend left him forever.


Up-Date 
Wellllll I'm happy to say that Ittie Bittie the cat is now happy happy happy because we finally found a gray furry mouse just like his old one and brought it home to him. He has been playing with it for hours and he is now tuckered out and sleeping. And yes you guessed it.... his favorite gray mouse is sleeping by his side. (or should we say... it's under him)

• Shop Cat Toys