Sparkle the Designer Cat

I Win the Superior Scribbler Award!

Sparkle — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:11:08 +0000

I actually won it over a month ago from Fisher, a fellow advice-giving cat who not only has a blog, but also a column in the Tampa Bay Times! I read all his posts and I have to say, he gives excellent advice. Thanks, Fisher, for the kudos!

This award has been going around since 2008. If you wish to read more about this award, please visit Scholastic Scribe.

Here are the rules of this award:
1. Each Superior Scribbler (S.S.) must pass the Award onto 5 most deserving blogger friends.
2. Each S.S. must link the author and name of the blog from whom he/she received the award.
3. Each S.S. must display the award on his/her blog and link to this post, which explains the award.
4. Each S.S. who wins is asked to visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List so they can keep up-to-date on everyone who receives The Prestigious Honor. (I think this refers to the very original post back in 2008, and the Mclinky list is so long — over 1300 names! — that I don’t think you can add any more.)
5. Each S.S. must post these rules on his/her blog.

Here are the blogs I have chosen. Not all of them are kitty blogs, but if you are a cat, I can guarantee you will find each one interesting! In no particular order, they are:

Housecat Confidential Long after most senior kitties have retired to spend their days napping in the sun, Fin keeps working overtime to make her blog a fun place to visit! She recently hosted the 2010 Cat-O-Lympics and the A-Cat-Emy Awards! She always has something new going on.
Beaded Tail Sharla and her mother Shari create pretty beaded jewelry that they sell on their Esty shop — and they donate proceeds to benefit worthy animal charities! Although Sharla is supposedly in charge of the blog, she pretty much lets her two cats, Angel and Isabella and husky, Sadie, run rampant all over it! Which, of course, is as it should be.
The Everyday Adventurer Ratty is not a real rat, but a human, so kitties, don’t go chasing him around! Instead, sit back while he takes you on a tour of pretty nature scenes not far from his home in eastern Michigan. In photos and occasional videos, you get to meet a host of birds, squirrels, deer and the occasional bug, and wander down lots of inviting hiking paths. No matter what season it is, Ratty always has a way of highlighting the special qualities of nature scenes that are probably not unlike those near you!
New York Renovator While this blog is supposed to be about renovating a mid-1800s house in upstate New York, just as often it’s about Livvy, the kitty who inhabits said vintage home. I don’t blame her owner, Rebecca (who writes under the penname Mrs. Mecomber) — Livvy is a larger than life personality. If you want to read the posts about home renovation, you can choose from the topics at the menu bar at the top of the blog… or you can click on “Find the Kitty” and read the posts about Livvy instead.
Wild Facts This is a really fun blog for humans and cats alike! It’s run by a biologist named Nathan and his goal is to present 1000 fascinating animal facts, one per day, five days a week. At the moment he is in the 800s, and he is counting backwards, so he has a long way to go! But Nathan often doesn’t write about your every day creatures — he finds really unusual animals, like the Binturong (#863), Numbat (#867) and Blobfish (#890). And he’s got a great sense of humor, so his entries are always very entertaining.

I hope everyone enjoys these great blogs!

Wordless Wednesday: Ring Around the Kitty

Sparkle — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:15:45 +0000

Update on Sam

Sparkle — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:27 +0000

Remember Sam? The young feral kitty who lost a leg and was rescued by a group of Trap, Neuter and Release volunteers in Florida’s Sandestin resort? Well, I have great news — he’s been adopted!

Read all the details here, at the Spay and Stay website. And make sure to leave a comment to let these humans know what a great job they are doing!

Looking for Me?

Sparkle — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:00:32 +0000

I’ve noticed that a lot of humans are obsessed with the number of visitors who come by their blogs. They use stat counters and Google Analytics to see who has found them, and which pages they looked at. I’m not all that interested, mainly because these stat counters do not differentiate between cat visits and human visits — and I only care about how many cats visit my blog. But I was kind of curious to see what kind of search phrases, or keywords, visitors use to find me, so I had my human check it out.

Here are some searches that may brought you to my blog:

sparkle the cat
Fair enough. Entering that into Google is a pretty good way to find me.

sparkle cat collar
Hm. I don’t like this one so much. I tend to think collars are evil. And after Binga got her name tag stuck in the heater grating and my human had to undo her collar to free her, she agreed and just let us rely on our microchips.

cat collars for humans
Yessss! Make them wear the darn things.

designer cat trees
Ah, that’s even better! Designer cat trees are definitely a good thing. In fact, I wish a designer cat tree would find me, instead of just a human (or cat) looking for one.

cat trees made from real trees
Another winning idea! What I want to know is why do visitors find my site using this phrase, when I don’t have my own cat tree made from a real tree? It’s unfair, I tell you!

do cats like kisses
I am happy to report that this search phrase led this particular visitor to an advice column of mine that definitively answers, “no.”

cat rules for humans
A very wise human must have used that search. Either that, or a cat with a not-so-wise human.

cat pirate ship
Sorry guys, but you can’t have mine!

amazing cat toys
I’d certainly like an amazing cat toy… how sad to know that searching on that phrase would likely just bring me right back to my own website.

pro declawing
I’m proud to say that this search brought the visitor straight to my article entitled, “There’s No Such Thing as a Pro-Declaw Kitty.” Idiot.

human manipulation
I’m 99% positive a cat did that search.

Hanging out with Tashi and Dave

Sparkle — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:15:30 +0000

You might recall that a while back, I donated some of the proceeds of my December book sales to Tabby’s Place, the fantastic Ringoes, NJ-based cat sanctuary that cares for many special needs kitties. I briefly mentioned Tashi in one of my posts. He was rescued from an Ohio feral colony as a kitten when the cats’ caretakers realized he was incontinent and couldn’t use his back legs. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary recommended that the colony volunteers contact Tabby’s Place, and the little guy found a new home. He may not be able to walk too well, but he certainly has had no problem winning the hearts of everyone at the sanctuary! His lively, mischievous personality can’t be held back! He’s been at Tabby’s Place for a little over a year now and is living proof that nothing can hold a good cat back. Who knows? There may even be a family out there who could handle his special needs! Check out this recent video of Tashi as he plays outside and enjoys the New Jersey winter — honestly, how could you say no to this kitty?

Tashi’s best friend these days is Dave, a special needs kitten who was born in the fall of 2009. He’s a wild little boy who doesn’t seem to know, or care that Tashi’s back legs aren’t all they could be (maybe that’s because Tashi himself doesn’t seem to notice!). Unfortunately, this active kitty has a host of physical challenges — chronic kidney disease (something usually only seen in elderly cats), and some nasty gastrointestinal issues to accompany it. He needs a special diet and medication (and luckily, he actually likes the medicines’ flavors!), and monthly blood work. The people at Tabby’s Place are hoping that his kidney condition will normalize over time, and that he will find a great home. Watch Dave and Tashi playing together — they are an amazing pair!

Until they find forever homes, Tabby’s Place has a lot of bills to pay to keep Tashi and Dave healthy. Can you help?

Click here to read more about Tashi’s story, and to find out how to sponsor him.

Click here to read more about Dave’s story, and to find out how to sponsor him.

See more of the special needs kitties at Tabby’s Place.

Photo Hunt: Foreign

Sparkle — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:15:38 +0000

My human’s boyfriend recently spent six weeks touring Europe with one of his bands. While they were in Germany, he picked up a gift for my human. I don’t like it.

It’s a Dead Cat Purse. Can you blame me for hating it?

It doesn’t even smell good. Believe me, I gave it a real good whiff. As an idea and as a smell, it stinks either way.

Naturally, my human’s boyfriend thought it was funny. I do not think it’s funny at all! And I would like it out of my sight immediately, if not sooner.

Bee for Me?

Sparkle — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:00:22 +0000

You’ll never believe what I found! Well, okay, Boodie saw it first but I immediately claimed it as mine.

Could you see it? No? I guess I’ll have to help you out.

And in case you still can’t tell what it is, here’s the ECU (that’s filmspeak for “Extreme Close Up.” You learn these things when you live near Hollywood!).

I wasn’t sure if I should play with it or just eat it right away, but my human put her foot down and said I couldn’t have it. She thought it was sick, or might sting me, so she brushed it outside. And guess who immediately came up to check it out?

I was bummed. It’s hard to have dibs on an outside bee.

Wordless Wednesday: I Am Totally Not Responsible for This

Sparkle — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:15:01 +0000

Taxation Without Representation

Sparkle — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:14:48 +0000

I am a little miffed! My human has been hogging the desk for the past few days to do that “tax” thing that happens every year around this time. It takes up way too much space on my desk.

Look at this! There is no room on my dining table for my dinner. Plus it’s harder to supervise my human from a distance.

I hate paperwork. Paper is for playing not working!

Blow Up

Sparkle — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:47 +0000

Since my human runs an exercise DVD review site, she sometimes commandeers the computer to look at fitness blogs, when she knows very well she should be looking at cat blogs. At least she struck paw-I mean PAYdirt at the Fitness Diva’s blog: a cute video gif of a kitten and a balloon. I’ve reposted it here for you to enjoy:

So I thought it would be fun to dig up some more fun videos of cats playing with balloons (with the inevitable ending), the same way I ran a group of videos showing cats battling with toilet paper last week. But disappointingly, I couldn’t find much on YouTube! The best one is below, and for the longest time, it seems like the balloon is indestructible. Just so you know, the action happens somewhere around 1:10 in.