|
MEWSLETTER 68 28 DECEMBER 2008 Hi there and a huge head-butting welcome to all the new subscribers who hurled themselves through the cat flap these past few months since the last Mewsletter. I do apologise for the lapse of Mewsletters but unfortunately circumstances conspired beyond my control and I was unable to update the website or send out a Mewsletter. For those of you who have taken an interest in my health situation, let me just say that in October I received the welcome news that at long last my brother’s stem cells had finally kicked in and they are now at 100%. This has great ramifications for me and the future now looks brighter and rosier. To all my wonderful prayer warriors, my very grateful thanks, once again. God bless each and every one of you. So how are you all coping with the credit crunch? It seems a pretty dismal time at the moment but there are organisations and agencies out there that will help you if you’re in difficulties. Many rescue centres and veterinary surgeries are reporting greater numbers of cats and dogs being abandoned or surrendered because of financial difficulties. It must be a very hard decision to make to let go of a beloved animal companion. I know I personally couldn’t do it but some people are driven to despair and if it’s a question of a bill being paid and the cat or dog needing medical attention or a meal, then some people choose to let go of their pets to save money. I have a couple of links for you which will give you helpful tips on ways to save money. Jim Willis sent me a link for help with veterinary costs which some of you may find helpful. http://carecredit.com/index.html He said this: ‘Routine vet care for multiple animals is expensive and a vet emergency or extraordinary vet expense can be a real problem. Check out this site and maybe it will be useful to you. (I found 8 participating vet hospitals in my area including one of the best, which I've used in the past.) Also read the FAQs and if this works for you and your vet isn't already participating, give the info on becoming a registered provider to your vet. One good website run by a friend of mine, Michelle Jones, is www.betterbudgeting.com. If you have debts or are sailing close to the wind each month, Michelle’s site has lots of good advice and help to keep you afloat. Subscriber Robert Blau (US) sent me this link which also gives some helpful information: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24018225/ Pet Smart (www.petsmart.com) has lots of gifts for your cat or dog at quite good discounts and a proportion of the money spent will be given to various charities and rescue centres. Pet Supermarket (http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk) also has a great range of cat and dog delights for our furry companions and there is free delivery in the UK. They do deliver to other parts of the world so click on the link to see what specials they have. Pet Planet (www.petplanet.co.uk) also have a huge number of reduced toys and treats for cats and dogs – so hightail it over there right now and pick up a bargain for your pets! Purina (https://www.purina.co.uk) are giving a voucher for £1.00 off any Purina product so click on the link, subscribe, fill in a few questions about your cat or dog and then you should be able to print off the voucher to use in the supermarket or wherever you buy your cat or dog food. If you have any tips to share on saving money then please email me at the usual address. If you’re not sure of the usual address: p.dewberry@ntlworld.com . My thanks go to Jim Willis who sent me a link regarding anti-freeze. As we all know, this is the time of year when many cats die because they’ve ingested anti-freeze. Click on the link below to get more information. http://vetmed.illinois.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=405 I have another website on anti-freeze in the UK: Jamaka Petzak in the US sent me a wonderful link to a site which creates blankets for cats and dogs. Each blanket is made to order in the colour(s) you want. There are lots of fabulous pictures of cats in hats, scarves, nestling up on their blankets. I couldn’t tell if they ship outside of the US but for those of you in the ‘zone’ check it out! If anyone does find out that they ship abroad please let me know. Thanks. http://www.prettyhazel.com/tranquilityblankets.htm Some time ago I gave you the link to my brother’s page on Red Bubble. He now has his own website www.anthonyhedgerphotography.com and it’s brilliant – even if I say so myself. My brother, Tony, is a very talented photographer and you can buy photos direct from his site. Make sure when you visit, that you tell him you’re a Daily Mews subscriber. It was Tony who donated his stem cells to me back in January 2007 so I will always be very grateful to him and it was also necessary for him to donate additional lymphocytes (white blood cells) to help strengthen his cells as they weren’t performing. Is your cat psychic? Many cats (and dogs) have psychic abilities which we humans often overlook and possibly put down to coincidence. You’ve all heard of the cat Oscar who lived in a nursing home. He had an unerring sense of when the residents’ time had come and would spend several hours with them helping them to make that transition into the next world. Perhaps your cat has warned you of intruders? A fire? Or even alerted you to the fact that you have a tumour? Some cats are able to tell when their owner is about to go into a diabetic coma or have an epileptic fit. If your cat has done anything out of the ordinary, please write and let me know. I’ll feature them in a future article. I had a rather strange surprise a few weeks ago. I was putting on my shoes to go out and noticed ‘something’ in the left one as I was just putting my foot into it. Fortunately I had socks on – if I didn’t, there might have been a very different scenario to report! I looked in the shoe to find a perfectly preserved mouse – of the deceased variety! Ollie is a prolific mouser bringing in two a night sometimes and what I think might have happened is that in chasing the mouse it may have landed in my shoe and thought to itself ‘I’ll hide here until the coast is clear and then I’ll flee to safety and freedom.’ But hiding in my shoe for some hours may have caused the mouse to die of noxious fumes so I feel terribly responsible that I’ve got blood on my hands of an innocent mouse. OR – the mouse was mortally and fatally wounded and was flicked into the shoe and Ollie – being slightly dumb at times wondered where he’d left the mouse, gave up and forgot all about it, and the poor mouse passed away as a result of his injuries. We’ll never know. But now, I ALWAYS CHECK INSIDE MY SHOES before I put them on!!!! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!! http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html This is quite fun as well: http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* BOOK QUIZ: The answers to the last book quiz are as follows: 1. Time Travelling Cat and the Viking Terror: Julia James 2. Sheba and the White Whisker: Billie Love 3. The Cat Lover’s Treasury: Charlotte Gerlings And the incredible sleuths were:
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:
Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ARTICLES Here’s the penultimate episode in the Honey series written by Lynn Schiffhorst: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/benny_poppy_hear_the_stars.htm No matter how stunning the fairy looks at the top of your Christmas tree, your cat will think that he will look much better at the top of the tree. This is a MUST-READ article: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/petsafetyatChristmas.htm I bring this Christmas story out year after year because it serves to show JUST what kittens can get up to when our backs are turned. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/ohchristmastree.htm What happens when a Devon Rex called Lola, sporting a diamond collar, finds herself lost and on the street? Read Lola’s story, written by a friend of mine called Betty McDonald, here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/what_lola_wants.htm BOOK AND PRODUCT REVIEWS: All the books reviewed in this issue would make wonderful Christmas presents so what are you waiting for? A Dickens of a Cat and Other Stories of the Cats We Love edited by Callie Smith Grant http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/dickens_of_a_cat.htm For Every Cat an Angel by Christine Davis http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/for_every_cat_an_angel.htm For Every Dog an Angel by Christine Davis http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/for_every_dog_an_angel.htm Good Mews by Kitty Chappell http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/good_mews.htm Old Dog and the Christmas Wish by Christine Davis: http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/old_dog.htm Saying Goodbye to your Angel Animals by Allen and Linda Anderson: http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/saying_goodbye_to_your_angel_animals.htm The Secret Diary of Adrian Cat by Stuart and Linda Macfarlane: http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/secret_diary_of_adrian_cat.htm You can visit Adrian’s website on this link here: www.thesecretdiaryofadriancat.com BREED PROFILE: The breed profile this month is the lovely and slightly exotic or should that be eccentric Devon Rex: http://www.thedailymews.com/breedprofile/Devon_Rex.htm CAPTION COMPETITION: The last caption competition drew some excellent responses which you can see here: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition4.htm The winning caption was sent by Dale in the US who will receive a prize soon. Well done, Dale. Please let me have your address and I can send you a prize. I received an email from someone who was concerned that the cat in the picture was perhaps upset at being in the water. I did reassure her that the cat was perfectly ok and if I thought for one second that the cat was being cruelly treated then I wouldn’t have used the photo. Because I had some problems with my computer, the couple of pictures that had been sent to me by people to use in future competitions have been lost – gone into cyber space somewhere along with lots of other emails that I hadn’t replied to and articles and stories that I hadn’t made copies of. If you sent me a photo of your cat please resend it and I will include it another time. The only request I will make is that the photos are clear – I have received a couple that are so dark I can’t see the cat at all! So please make sure the pictures are clear. And if you did send me an article or story to use, please resend them as well. Thank you. And now for Caption Competition Number 5: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition5.htm See what you think might be going on in this picture. Captions to be sent in the usual way and there will be a small prize for the winning caption. CAT CHAT Clara Westerfer hit the nail on the head with her observations on the presents her cats bring her. It’s hard to know how to respond when a deceased animal is laid lovingly on your lap, in your shoe (see earlier), or on the front or back door step. If you have any comments about how you deal with such unwanted gifts, please write to me and I’ll share them in a future Mewsletter. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/gifts_of_love.htm Earla Jean Hollon from the US sent me this lovely story back in July about a little kitten she and her husband adopted. It’s so good to hear that people will take in a stray and give it a good home. Little Jody has certainly landed on all 4 paws! http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/Jody_the_kitten.htm Will Perry in Canada sent me a lovely story about a dog that he and his wife adopted. Sir Richard, the tree climbing dog, is a sweet and funny tale. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/Sir_Richard_the_tree_climbing_dog.htm Nancy Breedlove (who won the Book Quiz) recommended the blind cat rescue website because she has a visually impaired cat called Sophie. Nancy has written about Sophie and how she has integrated with the family’s 3 other sighted felines very well. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/sophie_marie_visually_impaired_cat.htm ED KOSTRO Ed has written a very funny account of Christmas in the Kostro household which I’m sure most of us will nod with familiar understanding. This poem isn’t on the website yet although it will be added but for the time being you can read it on Ed’s Author’s Den website. Be sure to leave your message and comments. http://www.authorsden.com/categories/poetry_top.asp?catid=69&id=243478 JIM WILLIS This next piece written by Jim Willis is taken (with kind permission) from his best selling book ‘Pieces of my Heart’. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/deck_the_halls.htm MEWSERS MEWSINGS Our feline correspondent, Jimmy, has written yet another thought-provoking piece this month: http://www.thedailymews.com/mewsersmewsings/change.htm NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM Diana Sichta wrote about her beloved cat, Adham who died back in June. You can read her loving tribute to him here: http://www.thedailymews.com/NAPPINGONASUNBEAM/Adham.htm We’ll be hearing more from Diana in future updates of the website as she is a Pet First Aider and she’ll be writing occasional articles for us. Well, that about wraps it up for another year. All that remains for me now is to wish each and every single one of you, and your furry beloveds, a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful and blessed New Year. All good wishes Pauline, Billy, Timmy, Sam and Ollie BACK TO THE MEWSLETTER Archive Index
|
|
|
Copyright 2001-2010 by TheDailyMews.com. All rights reserved.
Hosted by http://www.supanames.co.uk |
