MEWSLETTER 31: December 24, 2004

by Pauline Dewberry

Hi everyone and a very warm festive welcome all the new subscribers. I hope you enjoy this shorter than usual MEWSLETTER – please feel free to pass it on to your feline loving friends and family members.

Well, my surgery in November had serious complications and what should have been a straightforward operation lasting 40 minutes turned into a mammoth 5 hour operation. It didn’t end there as the epidural I was given to help with the pain caused paralysis in my legs that lasted for three days! The day I was expecting to come home (Friday) I was just getting out of bed and eating for the first time since Monday. Did you think it could get any worse? Well, all that time spent in bed meant my lungs were on the verge of collapsing and I was on oxygen for about 4 days, in addition to morphine and various other things.

Finally, I was allowed home on the following Monday, much to my joy as I was missing all the cats – and wondered how Garfield was coping with Melanie, the veterinary nurse, giving him his insulin injections each morning. I needn’t have worried, he was fine!

When I got home none of the cats were around. I expected a deluge of ginger fur plus a heap of black fur (Sam) to come hurtling at me in the hallway, and was ready with my arms across my stomach in protection – but nothing happened!!!

Slightly crestfallen I carefully climbed the stairs – boy did it hurt! I had been on one level for over a week and I had forgotten how steep my stairs are. Anyway, I looked in my bedroom – Billy and Sam were on my bed and they both meowed a greeting. I came into the ‘office’ where Garfield, Timmy and Ricky were all lying on the sofa bed, and little Ollie was lying on my desk. They all looked up and meowed and I went to each of them and gave them little cuddles and strokes.

Once they had forgiven me for going away, they were soon settling downstairs on the sofa with me where I had to spend the next four weeks on bed rest.

It’s now been 6 weeks since my operation and I still have some pain, which makes life a bit difficult, and I can’t spend too long in a sitting position. So I trust you’ll forgive me for a shorter MEWSLETTER this time, plus fewer new articles on the website.

I haven’t done a quiz this time (I’m having a hard enough time trying to remember my name and the day of the week!) but I’ll think of something for next time. Well done to Laura Jaworski from Lackawanna County, PA, who was first off the starting blocks with the right answers, and Bridget Haggerty from Cincinnati, Ohio who also got them all right. Bridget has a fantastic website on Irish culture and customs, and she has just written a book on Irish weddings. To visit her website, please click here:

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com

Here are the quiz answers:

1. Who invented the cat flap? <clue: search about the website and you’ll find an article!> Sir Isaac Newton
2. Wild cats only breed once a year. True or false? True. They only breed in the spring.
3. The skin on paw pads is thicker than the skin on the rest of the body … but how much thicker? 25 times, 50 times, or 75 times? 75 times
4. What percentage of the cat population loves catnip – 25%, 50 or 99%? 50%
5. Why do cats rub their chins on objects? A cat uses the scent glands on the chin to mark objects indicating his ‘territory’ to other cats. He is not scratching an itch!

IN THE MEWS:

Ed Kostro sent me a beautiful story about little Henry, a kitten who brought a lot of joy and laughter to the life of a new lady friend – it’s a lovely romantic story – you’ll love it!

http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/christmascat.htm

Hart Dowd in Canada sent me a great poem called ‘The Night Before Dog-mas’ by Claudine Gandolti, which echoes the hopes of all animals in shelters and rescue centres. You can read it here:

http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/nightbeforedogmas.htm

The manic rush at Christmas time for many people means that very often pets are overlooked or simple measures to ensure their safety are not applied. This article gives guidelines for our pets’ safety at Christmas.

http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/petsafetyatChristmas.htm

I love this version of an old traditional Christmas carol: The twelve days of Christmas that Julie Lewis submitted. You can read it here:

http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/12daysofchristmas.htm

One of the items of advice in the Pet Safety at Christmas guidelines is about making sure the Christmas tree is securely fixed in place so that adventurous mountain climbing felines can’t practise their Edmund Hillary exploits. This reminded me once again, about Charlie, (AKA Mog the Mutinous) when he celebrated his first Christmas with Garfield, Biggles and I. You can read about his first Christmas here:

http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/ohchristmastree.htm

Did you know that Santa has a special helper who gives presents for all animals everywhere? Ed Kostro has written a great poem called Christopher Claws that you can read here:

http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/christopherclaws.htm Ed’s cat Buddy, posed for the picture used for the illustration!

Laura Dumm, our gifted illustrator, has been asked by the magazine, Cat Fancy to do some illustrations. http://www.catfancy.com/catfancy/  Remember, you saw her here first, folks! Laura has not only drawn another brilliant cartoon just right for the festive season for the Cudell Street Cats section, she is responsible for the great Feline Pyramid on the Home Page wishing every visitor to the website a Merry Christmas!!! Check out the Cudell Street cartoon here:

http://www.thedailymews.com/Cudellstreetcats/festivecat.htm

Have you ever wondered how all cats came to have the letter ‘M’ on their foreheads? Well Ed Kostro (who’s been very busy this month!) has written a charming poem called a Gift of Love that tells you.

http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/giftoflove.htm

I found a lovely book called ‘Over the rainbow bridge’ by Wendy M Tugby recently. It is a thoughtful, sensitive book dealing with After Death Connections (ADCs) written in two parts. The first part is based upon Wendy’s own experience when her partner’s beloved dog, Sweep, had to be put to sleep at just 22 months of age. For some time afterward, Sweep ‘appeared’ to Wendy’s partner, Steve, during the early hours of the morning. Each visit brought reassurance to both Steve and Wendy, although Steve would often be left in floods of tears and with headaches.

The second part of the book deals with experiences of ADCs by other people. As someone who experienced several ‘visits’ from Biggles (Garfield’s brother) for a few weeks after he died, I found these accounts not only moving but also uplifting.

It is not a sad book although some of accounts are sad, nor is it a morbid book. It will lift and encourage the reader in knowing that there is Life after death for our beloved companions.

If you would like to contact Wendy with your own ADC experiences you can email her at RYNCHANNON@NIGHTWING.FSBUSINESS.CO.UK.  You can also buy her book via her website which is: www.overtherainbowbridgeuk.com 

Finally, in the words of a poem written by Minnie Louise Harkins, which were quoted by King George VI in his Christmas broadcast in 1939: ‘I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”’

May God bless each and every one of you, and your families, and your feline and canine companions throughout this special season and throughout the coming year. Happy Christmas everyone, and may your MEW Year be PURRFECT in every way!!!!

Your friend, Pauline
Garfield – Chief Technical Advisor and Editorial Assistant
Billy and Timmy – Wildlife and Home Affairs Advisors
Ricky – Building Bridges Advisor
Sam – Ethnic Minorities Advisor
Ollie – Whirlwind of Feline Activity from dawn to dusk.

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