MEWSLETTER 36: May 05, 2005   

by Pauline Dewberry

Hi everyone, and a very warm welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined since our last MEWSLETTER. Please feel free to pass this on to any of your feline loving friends or family members.

It’s been an interesting month. Garfield has been backwards and forwards to Kevin, our vet, on the delicate matter of ‘number twos’ – or rather the lack of them. Without going into clinical detail (I don’t want to embarrass him any more than he has been already, poor darling, having suffered the indignity of an enema) suffice it to say that Garfield’s nether regions seem to have been on a ‘go slow’ or an all-out strike!

I’ve had to monitor his ‘goings’ which is fine when he’s used the litter tray and I can see what ‘evidence’ there is to support my report back to Kevin, but at times Garfield goes into the garden, and just gazes into space, wondering why he’s there. Have you ever done that? Gone into a room and wondered what you were doing there? I do that all the time now – maybe I’ve caught it off Garfield!

So I say to him, ‘Go to the toilet, Garfield,’ and he walks off to one of a couple of favourite toileting areas that he has made his own and after a bit of thought, maybe a change of venue, and a bit more thought, he does his stuff. I go and check on him at this point to see what ‘number’ we’re doing and even though, at the moment, it isn’t the desired number, I tell him he’s a good boy and that he’s very clever.

The Mexican Orange shrub that I’ve mentioned in many a previous MEWSLETTER as being one of Ricky’s favourite snooze-spots in the high summer has grown enormously this year and the scent is heavenly. Whether that’s because the heat of Ricky’s body as he snoozes seeps into the roots and spurs growth onwards, and upwards, I don’t know – but the tulips he hatched a few weeks ago all came up beautiful. Garfield also likes to go to the toilet near the Mexican orange and when I’m calling out encouraging messages to him, the bush starts to shake. Now, I think I’ve sussed him out. I think that he stands the other side of the bush furthest away from me, and just shakes it with his paw, letting me believe that he’s about his business!

This MEWSLETTER is slighter later this month, than previously intended, because I’m afraid to say that the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been playing me up and I’ve been in a relapse for a few months now. At times I’m in so much pain that sitting on the computer is just too painful to cope with. Garfield has also been calling to me more frequently during the day so I’m up and down the 14 very steep stairs in my house more times than I can comfortably deal with. When I do get to him, all he wants to do sometimes is just to give me a kiss and hold my hand. Bless him.

Then I thought about a mechanical stair lift that humans use to go up staircases when they’re not able to go up by conventional means, and I had a mental image of Garfield sitting in a little container, pressing a button with his paw and whirring upstairs slowly and majestically (as befitting a senior of his advanced years) and then alighting at the top of the stairs ready to go and lie down on his folded up duvet (quilt). I wondered at the possibility of such a thing happening, when in this evening’s email flood, I had this incredible email from Dan Weiss, about an Australian woman who has taught her cat how to use a toilet, based on Mr Jinks, the cat from the film, ‘Meet the Fokkers.’ To see this first paw, please click on the link. Whatever next! Moving stair lifts???? Please! Someone clever – get designing!!!

http://g.msn.com/0MNBUS00/2?http://

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723627&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1

To all of those who are celebrating Mother’s Day on May 8th, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone – hope you all have a good day. Here, in the UK, we celebrated our Mother’s Day in March. Also Cyprus celebrated Easter last weekend so good wishes and blessings to those of you enjoying Easter. And to many of my friends who celebrated Passover the week before, SHALOM!

I would like your feedback please on this next item. Rather than send out a lengthy monthly MEWSLETTER, I am thinking of sending out two shorter ones at fortnightly intervals which means the website would be updated twice a month, rather than once a month. Can I ask you to please let me have your opinion on this? Would you like two shorter MEWSLETTERS each month, or would you prefer the monthly one? Please let me have your responses as soon as possible. Thank you.

For all the creatively gifted among you (and I know there are many of you) my friend, Sandy Harris, has agreed to let her beautiful Sunny cat designs be free for the whole month of May so that you can take advantage of this wonderful offer. Please click on this link and start making those quilts for your grandchildren, for your friend’s babies, or even a cat blanket!
http://www.sundropdesigns.com/funstuff/sunny.html


In your new look MEWSLETTER

A’mews’ment Arcade
Animal Welfare
Articles
Breed profile –
Cat Chat
Charity profile
Cudell Street Cats by Laura Dumm
Feline Fitness
Jim Willis
Kitty Bits: Net Pets
Planning Ahead
Napping on a Sunbeam
Purrfect Poetry
Quiz
Wisconsin Update
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A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!!
http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html
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First of all, the book quiz had a number of responses, and I apologise for the problem with the original link that I gave you. The more determined among you overcame that obstacle and got the answers anyway; here are the answers:
1. 100 Secret Thoughts Cats Have About Humans – Celia Haddon
2. Talk To Your Cat – Susie Green
3. Outwitting Cats – Wendy Christensen

And here are the intrepid few!
Val Weigle (Florida) who recommends this website: http://member.nsalamerica.org/site/PageServer 
Jared Kline (Belgium)
Helen Dowd (Canada) http://www.occupytillicome.com 
Trisha Morales (Florida)
Sabrina Ralston (North Carolina) who recommended the Daily Mews but modesty prevails and I couldn’t possibly mention it!

Now for this month’s quiz. If you have a website you can nominate it, or you can nominate a favourite site (apart from the Daily Mews!) A modest prize will be given for the first respondent so hurry up and don’t miss out!

Who wrote the following:
Cat Massage: Expert Know-How at Your Fingertips
What Is My Cat Thinking?
The Secret Life of Cats
(Clue: they can all be found from this link, which takes you to a book in the Book Picks section!) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/
ASIN/0007109490/thedailymewsc-21/026-1573846-3014066
Tell me what that Book title is as well!
Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com
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PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO FEED A HUNGRY ANIMAL.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com 
The animals and I thank you.
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A’MEWS’MENT ARCADE:
The original cat commandments were sent to me ages ago, but Laura Dumm, our resident cartoonist, sent another version, which incorporated some of the commandments from the original. I have just added in the newer commandments – the last one in particular is very poignant.
http://www.thedailymews.com/amewsments/catcommandments.htm

ANIMAL WELFARE:
Submitted by Trisha in Florida, if pets could tell us what they wanted from us, I’m sure this is what they’d say:
http://www.thedailymews.com/AnimalWelfare/10commandmentsforpetowners.htm 

Following on from the Wisconsin travesty, I wrote the following article which I will be submitting to various newspapers for publication.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/disposablepets.htm

ARTICLES:
Many people buy their pets identity discs or have their names stitched into collars. This is a very dangerous practice – please click here to find out why.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/dangersofpersonalisedcollars.htm

BREED PROFILE:
This month’s breed profile is the Egyptian Mau. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/egyptianmau.htm

CAT CHARITY:
EMRO (Egyptian Mau Rescue Organisation). This follows on from the Breed Profile, as I was fortunate enough to meet one of these delightful cats while in the vets recently with Garfield. Then in my monthly magazine there was a letter highlighting the plight of these beautiful, intelligent cats in their own country, Egypt. To see ways in which you can help, please click the link below. I’m going to sponsor one of their lovely cats for $20 a month, (just a few English pounds) and I will be able to give you future updates in the MEWSLETTER and on site, about EMRO and the cat I’m sponsoring. This will be an ongoing issue.

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

CAT CHAT:
Figaro, the tiny six-toed kitten, found a new loving home – click here to read about his heart-warming story: http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/figaro.htm

I can really identify with Pamela Jenkins’ thoughts in this next article about a tiny little kitten that miraculously lived against all odds.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/onemorecat.htm

CUDELL STREET CATS:
The latest terrific cartoon from Laura Dumm celebrates Spring:
http://www.thedailymews.com/Cudellstreetcats/springkitty.htm

Some Cats are … http://www.thedailymews.com/
Cudellstreetcats/somecatsaresleepy.htm

FELINE FITNESS:
Jack Stewart, one half of the team who brought us www.purrfectsymphony.com CD of cats’ purring wrote a great article for the Daily Mews. Please click below to read it.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/catspurr.htm

GARFIELD’S BIRTHDAY PICTURES:
Check out Garfield wearing THAT birthday hat here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/mewsersmewsing/garfieldsbirthdaypics.htm

KITTY BITS:
Colleen in California sent me this interesting piece called ‘NetPets’. If you need a vet you can rely on, check out NetPets.Org (http://www.netpets.org), the largest informational website for veterinarian referrals. As if that isn't great news for Fido or Fluffy, for the past three years, NetPets has also been the leader in a foster care pilot program for dogs, cats, birds, even horses and ferrets whose owners are military personnel. The site’s Military Pets Foster Project https://www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php has been very successful, with over 5,000 animals placed in foster homes while their owners are on duty overseas.

Each potential foster home must have good references, a vet and compatible animals. “We don’t want to put a Chihuahua into a home with a Great Dane,” says the website’s founder, Steve Albin.

For more information or to become a NetPets foster parent, visit the website or call (843) 249-5262. To make a charitable donation -- 100% of your donation goes to the project -- go here: https://www.netpets.org/donations.html 

The Military Pets Foster Project is recognized, recommended and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defence.

One of the things that many of us fail to do is to make adequate provision for our pets so that when the inevitable happens, often there is no one to take care of our beloved pets. Some end up being thrown out onto the streets, or being euthanised because there is nowhere for them to go. If we make adequate provisions for our pets, then that needn’t happen. Read what Hart and Helen Dowd have decided for their own menagerie of pets.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/planaheadforpets.htm

JIM WILLIS:
Many of us know about Rainbow Bridge, but hardly any one knows who its creator is. Thankfully, we have Jim to thank for this information.
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/legendrainbowbridge.htm

You will absolutely love ‘La Visitadora’, another great story from Jim. Click here to read it: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/lavisitadora1.htm

NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM:
Little Pippin, the beautiful Somali boy, is remembered here napping on a sunbeam. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/pippin.htm

PURRFECT POETRY:
We have a plethora of poems this month:
From the prolific pen of Jackie Brooks, we have two new poems, which you can read by clicking on the links below.

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

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

Jared Kline’s cat, Barney, wrote a poem about himself, which you can read here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/barney.htm

A warm welcome back to Caitlin Malcolm for her cute poem, which reminded me of Ollie and the snow – (see last month’s MEWSLETTER).
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/catandsnow.htm

And finally, naming cats is very important, as Ruby Garcia points out to us in her poem.
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/namingcats.htm

On the subject of naming cats, you might enjoy this article:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/whatsinaname.htm 

WISCONSIN UPDATE:
Last month’s hot topic was the proposal that all free ranging and collarless cats should be shot. Thankfully, Governor Doyle, who is not a cat owner himself, saw the idiocy of such legislation and is working to get this stopped. My thanks go to several of you who sent me various pieces of information and website addresses. I am grateful to all of you for the trouble you went to. On the home page there is a link where you can sign the petition to stop this legislation going ahead. Or you can click here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/797408228?ltl=1110468947

Another website giving lots of information is http://dontshootthecat.com/index.htm 

You can also write to Governor Doyle, not only thanking him for taking this stance, but also offering your support. The Honourable Jim Doyle, 115 East State Capitol, Madison, WI 53702, 608-266-1212, 608-267-6790.

The Humane Society of United States has this article about free roaming cats:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/
cat_care/keep_your_cat_safe_at_home_hsuss_safe_cats_campaign/index.html  

Well that about sums it up for this month. Until the next time, have a purrfect month.

Pauline – editor
Garfield – Chief Technical Advisor and Assistant Editor
Billy and Timmy – Chief Wildlife Advisors and Care of The Elderly (Timmy)
Sam – Ethnic Advisor
Ricky – Bereavement Counsellor and Psychiatrist
Ollie – Chief Mischief-Maker and Joker Extraordinaire!

Those of you with AOL will have to copy and paste the links into your browser.

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