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MEWSLETTER 76 MAY 15 2010 Hi there and a very warm head butt and belly rub of a welcome to all the new subscribers who’ve joined us since the last Mewsletter was distributed.
Well after the torrential rain and hailstones the size of footballs ceased, in early April we experienced some extraordinarily hot – and I mean REALLY hot for the UK – weather with temperatures reaching the dizzying heights of 20 degrees. You have to understand that 20 degrees to a Brit is equal to temperatures found at the Equator and we change colour from blue to red pretty quickly. Monday mornings are the funniest because you see people of various shades of red, ranging from slightly pink to ‘Oh My Goodness, you’re almost Purple!’ where they’ve spent the weekend probably without sun block lying in the garden or on a chilly beach somewhere lapping up what might be their only chance of getting a sun tan. But then, the freaky sunshine that we experienced in April gave way to freezing cold temperatures in May; so much so that it was necessary to put the central heating back on and the cats hogged the radiators again! And once again we’re back to blue – our usual hue! The Mexican orange bush that Ricky used to love snoozing under is out in full force at the moment: the scent is just heavenly. I love nothing more than sitting out on the patio (in a winter coat as it’s so cold!) with my hand around a cappuccino and breathing in its intoxicating aroma. I’ve just looked out of the window and seen the most beautiful of sunsets. What glorious colours streaking across the sky – you can’t be grumpy when you see such beauty. And you can’t be grumpy for long in the company of a cat or two, or three – they are so dignified and graceful. Even when they lose their footing on a wall and fall down, they always recover in such a dignified way as if to say ‘I meant to do that!’ And the Volcano in Iceland with the unpronounceable name – why couldn’t it have an easier name so that it trips off the tongue. I feel sorry for the news readers who have to report on the status of the ash cloud; you can almost see them gearing their tonsils up as they make a mad dash for the beginning of the word and hope the momentum carries them through to the end. The ash cloud could scupper my flight to Majorca on Monday morning but hey – what’s a holiday without spending a day or two at the airport in discomfort?! Hopefully the ash will have dispersed somewhere else where it doesn’t interfere with anyone’s lives and it won’t erupt for another 200 years or so. With all these earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods etc, it certainly seems like we’re living in the End Times. And then I saw two programmes on television about The End of the World. Apparently, December 23rd 2012 is D-Day according to the Mayans and Nostradamus. Time to max out your credit card perhaps????!!! I’ve been recently having a decluttering purge and I ‘let go’ about 10 years worth of various cat magazines, tearing out articles of interest to keep until I decide that I don’t really need them either! But I came across a rather interesting snippet in a pet charity magazine from last year. Apparently a Terrier in Italy banked two thousand Euros in a local lottery. A regular entrant, he chose the winning combination of figures by wagging his tail in approval at numbers which are shouted out! This reminded me of when the Lottery first came into play in the UK and like zillions of people I chanced a couple of pounds each week in the vain hopes that I might win a modest amount. After a few months of no luck with my own combination of numbers made up from birthdays and anniversaries, I gave the job to Biggles, Garfield and Charlie to sort out. I wrote the numbers 1 – 49 on a piece of paper and cut them out into small squares and then scattered the numbers face down on the carpet. When any of the cats walked in the room the first two numbers that they trod on would be the ones I’d have. Three cats; two numbers each; six numbers chosen in total. How hard could this be! This worked well for a couple of weeks with one or two numbers coming up (never the magic 3 which would have netted me £10 – about $20) until one week Biggles blotted his copy book and spoilt the whole system. As usual I’d scattered the numbers over the carpet and was just waiting for one of the cats to walk in the room. After a while, Biggles came in and sprawled himself all over the numbers, he stuck his hind leg up behind his head, gave his nether regions a thorough going over and then left the room! I was stumped – what numbers should I choose as he covered so many! That was when I stopped doing the lottery – it was too stressful. Do any of you ask your cats (or dogs) to help with choosing lottery numbers? Do write and let me know. Enough nonsense, on with the MEWS. The latest EMRO Mewsletter is out and you can sign up for a free copy if you follow this link: http://www.emaurescue.org/news_MM_Newsletter_Spring_2010.php Aida also sent me a great video called ‘Help’ which has a timely message about neutering and spaying; here’s the link: tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMzW3LIkNLA Rosemary in Greece sent me this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAaH_HlUD68&feature=player_embedded Warning: it is sad and heart-wrenching. It’s a film about a stray cat that was filmed in Turkey (Kızılsaray district of Antalya) trying to reanimate his female friend who got hit by a car. Even though some people tried to help him, the white cat wouldn't let them come near for two straight hours. Finally a vet arrived and took the injured cat. Sadly, it was too late and he couldn’t resuscitate the feline. Joyce in the UK sent me this in response to Richard Jones story about Midnite revisiting him on the anniversary of his passing. ‘Just talking about animals re-visiting their humans, I have to admit to being slightly sceptical, although it is a lovely thought. However ... a strange thing happened last year on the anniversary of our beloved Dexter's death the 1st November. I was in the garden and as usual thinking of him at the time he was killed. He always liked to come into the house via the conservatory doors, and would sit outside waiting for us to let him in, bringing with him his various hunting trophies. We have no cats in the garden now, and there is a high fence all around. As I walked past the doors I looked down and there was a dead mouse just lying where Dexter used to wait. I can't think what would have left it there in the open. Did it just stagger up to the doors by itself, I am not sure. In all the years we have lived in this house, this is the first dead mouse I have seen in the garden and on that day at that particular time, seems quite strange.’ Have any of you experienced something similar on an anniversary of the passing of your cat (or dog)? Robert Blau sent me the following link for an emery board type scratching pad for cats. It works like a nail file does on human finger nails and as the cat scratches the pad, so its claws are ‘filed’. Personally, I think ordinary scratching posts do the job just as well but if you want to have a look and try it out, I’d like to hear from anyone whose cat uses it. https://www.emerycat.com/flare/next *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!! http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* BOOK QUIZ: The answers to last month’s book quiz are as follows: 1. Cleo: how a small black cat helped heal a family by Helen Brown 2. The Cat Who’ll Live Forever by Peter Gethers 3. Angel Cats by Allen and Linda Anderson Well done to Nancy Breedlove (US) who was first to enter with all three correct answers. Other sleuths were: 1. Laura Jawalski (US) 2. Bridget Haggerty (US) 3. Jared Kline (Belgium) 4. Kevin Wilson (UK) 5. Brian Smithfield (UK) For this month’s quiz, please tell me who the authors are 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 but you have a bit longer to do your research as I’ll be on holiday for a few weeks. Who wrote the following: 1. Strictly Cat Dancing 2. Glamourpuss 3. 101 Cataclysms Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ARTICLES: Lynn Schiffhorst’s fast-paced action thriller culminates this month with the final instalment of ‘A Day in the life of a Detective’ which is from ‘The Cats of Manhattan Story.’ Sergeant Pinky’s daughter, Rocky, has taken on her first case of a missing moggy – does she find her? Read the concluding part here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/life_of_feline_detective_3.htm Be sure to email Lynn to let her know that you enjoyed her stories – her email address is at the foot of her story. Charities throughout the UK and worldwide are reporting fewer cats are being rehomed and a higher percentage of surrendered or abandoned animals. This is in all probability due to the economic down turn that we are all experiencing. Click on the link below to read some tips to hopefully help you to save money: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/beating_the_credit_crunch_with_kitty.htm If you love your cat, you will never, ever consider having them declawed. If you don’t know or don’t understand what declawing does to a cat, please read this article: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/declawtruth.htm My good friend, Gerald Schiffhorst (Lynn’s husband), has written about cats being good listeners. You can read it here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/good_listening.htm Do you talk to your cat about your troubles, your day at school or at work? Does your cat seem interested or does it walk away with an ‘I’ll get back to you sometime when you’re less freaky’ kind of attitude?! Please let me know. We know that cats make good counsellors and good listeners, but what about dogs? Paul Gifford has written of a time his father was in a rehabilitation centre and he took his dog, Sir Winston, in to see him. The affect Sir Winston had on staff and patients alike was just wonderful to watch and of course, Paul’s father, really enjoyed seeing his ‘grand dog’. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/Sir_Winston_Unofficial_Dog_Therapist.htm CAPTION COMPETITION: Last month’s picture of my Garfield stretching up on the Welsh Dresser produced the most entries we’ve ever had – well done to everyone who sent in their entries and in the end I chose two winners because I had a hard time choosing an outright winner. Well done to Andrew Lane from Wales and Liz Brewster from Oxford, UK. You can see all the entries here: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_11.htm This month’s caption competition can be found here: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_12.htm CAT CHAT: You’ve been following the different stories of Sue Fallon’s cats in the Mewsers’ Mewsings section (last month’s was by Twinkle about her and her brother Socks’ new life with Sue and her daughter Carey.) This month, Sue writes about Button, a 21 year old female who was destined to be put to sleep because at her age, she was deemed to be too old to find a home. Here’s the link to her story: http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/Button.htm I love Kathe Campbell’s beautiful rolling style of writing and her latest story, which was recently published in Petwarmers, is absolutely riveting. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/Mouse_Wars.htm There’s nothing harder to bear than watching a loved one cope with cancer, but when that loved one is a beloved cat, it’s even harder. Simba was the most beautiful butterscotch cat who made his life and home with Lee Robie – who wrote the story of Sekhmet last month. Here’s Simba’s story: http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/Simba.htm FELINE FITNESS: As our pets age, they can suffer with arthritis. Using magnet therapy may help. Read this article for more information: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/easingdiscomfortofoldage.htm MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS: Jimmy, our Resident Feline Correspondent, is on fine form once again as he chews the fat over the Media and Volcanic Ash among other things. Read him here: http://www.thedailymews.com/mewsersmewsings/making_it_all_up.htm If you’d like to write to Jimmy, please write to me at the usual address and I’ll pass on all emails to him. NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM: Paco and his brother Philip came to live with Georgia and her family. Then tragedy struck on Paco’s first birthday. Read Georgia’s moving tribute to her beloved Paco here: http://www.thedailymews.com/NAPPINGONASUNBEAM/Paco.htm My thanks go to everyone who writes with comments and feedback to the previous Mewsletters. I value your feedback. The next issue will be slightly later, towards the end of June, because of my summer holiday. The World Cup starts on 11th June and I shall be interested to see how England fares this time around. I shall also be pressing on with my book – which I’ve been trying to finish for several months <sheepish grin> and then I hope to get Ollie’s Diaries revamped and sent out to a publisher as well. Anyway, have an enjoyable couple of months and I’ll see you all very soon. With all good wishes Pauline, Billy, Sam and Ollie
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