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MEWSLETTER 63 JANUARY 31 2008
Hi there and the warmest of welcomes to all the new subscribers who zipped through the cat flap in the past few weeks to escape the winter weather. It’s a pleasure to have you with us and please feel free to forward this Mewsletter in its entirety to all your feline loving family members and friends. Hope all the Cats and their Staff in households throughout the world had a very enjoyable Christmas and New Year. For those of you with AOL you’ll need to copy and paste the links into your browsers. Thank you.
Thank you for your feedback on some of the topics I mentioned in the last Mewsletter. I shall deal with them as we proceed through this issue. Speaking of New Year, I think I may have mentioned before that January is named after the Roman god, Janus, which symbolises new beginnings. He is traditionally depicted as having two faces looking in opposite directions, suggesting not only vigilance, but also fair-mindedness. It is thought that he is looking back, reflecting on the Old Year, and looking forward into the New Year. With this in mind I asked Billy, Timmy, Sam and Ollie to come up with some New Year’s Resolutions. Other Felines from around the world were invited to share their New Year’s Resolutions and deigned to wake up for 50 seconds to jot down their thoughts (or dictate something to their secretaries) on this matter also. The result is a whimsical look at Mew Year’s Resolutions, the link to which will be given a bit further into this Mewsletter. If, having read the offerings, your own Cat would like to share his or her ideas for Resolutions, please contact me in the usual way and they’ll be added next time. We have a packed issue this month and I do hope you’ll take some time to read through the various items and articles and as always, I welcome your comments and feedback and experiences. Jane Ennis wrote in response to my comments about the Culpeper catnep mice in the previous issue: ‘I just read in the Mewsletter about your experience with the Catnep toys - they are amazing. Last year I bought some for the cats I look after - Mimi, Millou and Pandora - and their 'Mum' put them under the tree for Xmas. However, Millou found them and opened them about a week before Xmas, and he went ABSOLUTELY BERSERK, and so did the others when they got theirs! So I thought - this was such a success I will get them the same present this year. Actually for Pandora I got a STAR and MICE for the other two. Pandora is a dignified old lady of fourteen - but when she got her toy, she was playing with it like a kitten, we were amazed!!! These cat toys are absolutely the best!!!’ Love from JANE ENNIS. Visit Jane’s website here: http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/leonora/cats.html A very sad story was published in the February 2008 issue of YOUR CAT magazine about a cat called Barrie who died as a result of drinking antifreeze. Some nasty people do use antifreeze as a means of poisoning cats, but many cats are attracted to its colour and smell and very often by the time the symptoms are showing, it’s too late to save them. I urge you to be very careful how you store antifreeze and make sure it’s out of the reach of cats, dogs, and children. For more information, please go to this website: For those of you with a surfeit of Christmas cards, the Woodland Trust in the UK wants to recycle 100 million Christmas cards so that it can plant 24,000 trees. So, once twelfth night has come and gone, gather up your Christmas cards and put them to good use by recycling them. Most branches of W H Smith, Tesco, TK Maxx and M&S will accept your old cards from 2 – 31 January. For more details visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards or www.recyclenow.com (I’m sorry that we’ve gone past that date now). Although I tried to find out if other countries had recycling schemes, I was unlucky, so perhaps you will let me know and I can mention it in another issue, or certainly, in time for this coming Christmas. If you’re creative, you can always cut the cards up and make gift cards out of them, putting them to good use that way – and then recycle them the following year! This Christmas I won’t be sending out any Christmas cards because there are people in the world who don’t enjoy Christmas at all – that’s not because they aren’t Christian or have a different religious belief – it’s because they live in a third world country and have nothing. The money I would have spent on cards and postage will be given to help them. For more information of ideas where you may like to help, click here: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/Browse.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&category=UWGifts My good friend Dale (aka Slim) wrote in response to cats looking at themselves in the mirror. Slim has dogs and had this to say: I was interested (and amused) about the 'cats’ reflections in mirrors' comments. Dogs don't seem to do it (or certainly not that I've seen). They tend to look, assume a "Damn, I'm good looking" pose and then walk away. Slim went on: ‘Also the 'barfing' syndrome - dogs have a slightly different version. At 2am you will hear the "bleurk, bleurk, bleurk" sound that precedes a vomiting session. You will leap from your bed in the darkness and run out into the hallway to tread fair and square in the previous pool of, now cold puke, something which was done without a single sound and designed to create the maximum 'squish' effect through the toes. While you're hopping around trying not to put your defiled foot to the floor, your dog will now fully engage all it's abdominal muscles for the final heave "BLEEEUUUURRRK", deposit the remaining contents of it's stomach (normally over something important) before throwing you a quick glance and wandering off for a drink of water.’ With that visual image in mind, I’m thankful that Timmy’s piles of puke just resemble what came out of his food bowl and so far, I’ve managed NOT to tread in any. Richard from the UK said that IAMS cat food also does a hairball mix available at most supermarkets and pet food shops. I’ve just tried Royal Canin for Timmy and he doesn’t like it – and he still throws up regularly. Has anyone else tried anything that works? Further to my question if anyone has any talented cats, I found this clipping about a white cat nicknamed McCavity who regularly takes the bus from Walsall to Wolverhampton (UK) – he seems to know where he’s going and which stop to get off the bus at. Here’s the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447527&in_page_id=1770
Barbara Florio Graham writes about the Messrs. Simon Teakettles II and III and
their abilities to do simple tricks on command. She says: ‘Simon
Teakettle II did all kinds of tricks, including sitting on command, staying when
I put a treat in front of him, giving first one paw and then the other, touching
the treat with a paw before being rewarded (finally!) by being allowed to eat
it. I've started to teach Simon Teakettle III some of this repertoire, and he
has the "one paw and then the other" down pat, and will sit up on his haunches,
but "stay" isn't yet in his vocabulary! Without intentionally doing so, Garfield learned how to ‘guess which hand it’s in’ when I’d hide a treat in one hand and he would tap me on the back on that hand with his paw. If he got it right, then he ate the treat as a reward. Sometimes I would change hands and sometimes I’d do it 3 or 4 times in a row in the same hand and MOST of the time, Garfield would get it right. So that he couldn’t be influenced by watching which hand I hid the treat in, I’d do it behind my back and he started looking behind my back to see if he could see which hand the treat would be in. Who said cats are dumb and stupid??? None of the other Daily Mewsers have ever tried to do this ’trick’ and Garfield loved to show people how clever he was at it. Sam opens the larder door when he wants some fresh tuna (in a can) as opposed to his food in a pouch, so I know what he’s after. He also likes ‘sweeties’ (dried food) on top of his normal regular food, and that’s in the larder too so I usually say to him, without looking at him ‘Sam, open the door for Mummy, please.’ He usually responds with a meow and opens the door and meows to let me know he’s done it. He knows then he will get some sweeties. Billy pats me on the head when I’m singing. I’m not sure how to take this: is he saying, ‘OK, don’t give up your day job, we’ll call you!’ or perhaps, ‘Wow, whales and dolphins the other side of the world are gathering in huge numbers in response to your calls…?’ Or maybe he’s blessing me and saying that although my earthly singing may be poor, to God ALL singing is heavenly! Perhaps he has a fine ear for music!!! < harrumph> If Ollie wants his dinner he’ll automatically sit on the dining room table where there is always a place mat and wait until I have obligingly put his dish down on the mat – where he studies it for a second or two before deciding that yes, he WILL eat it. And Timmy – apart from studying by the light of the moon for his Community Nursing Exams, he always vacates his spot on the sofa to make room for me and will sit nearby. We’ve never really debated the fact that ‘his’ spot is actually ‘my’ spot – he automatically just gets up and moves a few centimetres. Sometimes when I’m going to do another job somewhere else in the house, as I get up, I tell him that he can sit there if he wants to, and he happily moves to where it’s been warmed by the Dewberry Derrière and meows his gratitude. It was with great sadness that I heard from Laura Dumm that her cat, Belly, passed away on 3rd January after a valiant fight with a particular nasty form of cancer on his face. He was a young cat, 9 this year, and he had a great spirit which will be sorely missed by Laura, her husband Gary, and all the other Cudell Street Cats. Val in Florida had to have her beloved Sabastian, who was 20, put to sleep recently – he had a tumour on his spleen. Val has written a moving tribute to him which you’ll find in the Napping on a Sunbeam section. Lillian in the UK lost her beautiful 15 year old cat, Camille Rachel – she also had cancer. My friend, Colin, (‘PetShopMan’ in Ollie’s diaries) had to have his fabulous white boxer dog, 6 year old, Boris put to sleep because he had pancreatitis – please remember all these lovely people in your prayers at this sad time. I received notification of a cat called Shenifer being stolen from its owners’ business premises in Los Angeles. For those of you living in the area, here’s a video link which may help to catch the person responsible. If anyone has any up to date information on the progress of this case, please let me know. Thank you. http://www.findshenifer.com/pet-theft-los-angeles/index.html I have two new websites for you to check out this month relating to everything you could possibly want to buy for your pets. The first: www.prettypawsaccessories.co.uk has lots of really interesting things for your pets which no respecting dog or cat would want to be seen without, so hightail it over there immediately! My contact, Gaz, has told me that at the moment there is free shipping to anywhere in the world which is a great offer. As Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, they have also generously donated a heart shaped ID tag if Daily Mews subscribers and readers can answer this question: When was the website launched? You’ll find details on the site. Only the first correct entry will win the ID tag. Send me your answers in the usual way and I’ll pass on the first name to Gaz who’ll sort out the prize.
The second website is: http://www.valupets.com where you can get 100’s of discounts that are available on Brand Name Pet Food and Accessories, from the leading manufacturers, for your Cat, Dog, Fish Bird, Small Animals and Reptiles, delivered direct to your door in the UK. It’s worth a mooch round as well. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Animal Welfare Articles Book Review Cat Chat Charity profile Feline Fitness Jim Willis Mewsers’ Mewsings Mewsletter Archives Napping on a Sunbeam Quiz *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!! http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* BOOK QUIZ: There was a tremendous response to the last Book Quiz with every entrant getting all the answers correct. Being an old softie, I sent everyone a small prize, but in future it will be given to the winner of the first email I receive with all correct answers. OK? The answers are as follows: 1. Animals as Teachers and Healers by Susan Chernak McElroy 2. Fur Babies: Why we love cats by Liz Jones 3. Church Cats by Richard Surman The Wonderful Winners are: 1. Val Weigle, Florida 2. Sammy Gibson, Stoke on Trent, UK 3. Kevin Wilson, Essex, UK 4. Antoinette Gale, Dorset, UK 5. Jared Kline, Belgium 6. Richard Carlyon, Berkshire, UK 7. Dana Beaton, Scotland Well done, to all of you! And now for this month’s quiz. I want the author to the book titles below and if you have a website you can nominate it, or you can nominate a favourite site. A modest prize will be given for the first respondent so hurry up and don’t miss out! Who wrote the following: 1. Animal Prayer Guide 2. The Emotional Lives of Animals 3. Blessing the Bridge: What animals teach us about Death, Dying and Beyond. Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Please click here for the rest of the January Mewsletter:
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I
checked out the pet beds and there is a fantastic silver limo bed which I know
Ollie would love – I can just picture him in there, sitting at the wheel, shades
on, wind in his fur … (the picture of this car will be shown on the website in
the Mewsletter Archives).
