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MEWSLETTER 77 JUNE/JULY 2010
Hi there and a raspy lick of the tongue and a gentle belly-rub and head butt to everyone and a very warm welcome to all the newcomers who burst through the cat flap since the last Mewsletter was sent out.
Since I last wrote, I’ve had a holiday – I went to Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, for two glorious weeks of rest and recuperation. The Volcanic Ash Cloud had disrupted flights from 10.00pm on the Sunday night up to about 6.30am on the Monday morning. Our flight was due to leave at 7.35am but in the end we were only an hour late leaving the airport so it wasn’t too bad. It’s funny but you don’t hear any more about that, do you? I think Jimmy (The Daily Mews Feline Correspondent) was right in his last piece – perhaps it was just media hype. Billy, Sam and Ollie, my three cats, didn’t leave my side once I got home, all purring fit to burst! It’s always great to get away, but it’s heaven to be back – even though life is at a more frenetic pace once home again. The cats calm everything down and by sitting on my lap they say ‘hey, I just got here, chill awhile and lets chew the fat. What did you think of the Eurovision Song Contest? Wasn’t our choice of song embarrassing?????’ And they giggle and I giggle and we spend some time happy and contented in each other’s company, picking holes in the England choice of song and wondering why they’re always so dire. And now that the World Cup final has been played and Spain won (deservedly in my opinion), they sit on my lap and they say ‘hey, chill awhile and let’s chew the fat. What did you think of the way England played? Wasn’t it embarrassing?????? And they giggle and I giggle and we spend some time happy and contented picking holes in the way England played. And why wasn’t Rooney on better form, and why didn’t Walcott play in the squad instead of some of the others. (Like I know the first thing about football!!!) Clara Wersterfer (US) sent me the following link to cats playing football; perhaps if England had had feline football players we might have done better! http://www.flixxy.com/world-cup-soccer-as-played-by-cats.htm Have you seen our weather? Oh, the news reports are saying that this is the driest weather up to this part of the year since 1953. Once again, Gravesend, Kent (which isn’t a million miles away from where I live in Kent), recorded the highest temperature of 31 degrees (about 90 F). The people of Great Britain have changed colour; we turn white once we’ve warmed up (from blue) then we turn red because we’re not used to seeing the sun for any length of time! That’s why our flag is red, white and blue I think – it reflects the changing colours of our skin! Ha ha!!! The cats try to find various spots in the house and garden to keep cool. Billy likes to lie in a Superman pose in the bathroom where the tiled floor is cool on his belly bits. Sam and Ollie lie under various shrubs in the garden, emerging half-heartedly at meal times with leaves and creatures accompanying them into the house. They take a mouthful or two of the dish of the day but then turn their noses up; they head off to my office where the darkness under the sofa offers rest and peace and some quiet solitude. Don’t be surprised if your cats go off their food in this heat. I know I haven’t eaten as much as I usually do and cats can’t be bothered; it uses up too much energy to eat so they conserve their energy by lying as flat as possible on any cool surface doing as little as possible. However, if they seem listless and off their food for more than a day or so, please take them to see their vet – they may be harbouring an infection and the sooner it is treated, the better for them. Ollie has been presenting me with mice; some of the running around at breakneck speed variety while others are lying prostrate in deceased mode on the dining room floor – ready for my unsuspecting feet when I get up in the mornings. I don’t know if he has discovered a ‘retail outlet’ as he’s been quite prolific lately. If they’re of the running around at breakneck speed variety I manage to catch them in the ‘humane’ mouse catcher. This is a large cereal sized plastic container – probably by Tupperware or something similar. I try to catch the mouse unawares and it runs into the container. I peer over the sides to check if the mouse is injured and then take it into the back garden where I release it carefully under one of the shrubs and hope and pray that the cats won’t rediscover it. I did have one scare though. I got up the other morning and there was a mouse in the ‘lying prostrate in deceased position on the dining room floor’ mode. Carefully and with great reverence I picked it up in some kitchen paper and after examining it, wrapped the paper around it and put it in the bin. After giving the cats their breakfast and disposing of their empty food pouches in the bin something – some inner sense or something – made me pick the ‘enshrined’ mouse again. To my horror – and chagrin – and gaining another look of scorn from Ollie in the process – the mouse jumped out of the kitchen paper it was wrapped up in and landed with a thud on the floor. Pausing a second to get his bearings and his composure, he sped off towards the back door where, fortunately, I managed to corner him in the ‘humane’ mouse catcher and gave him his freedom in the garden again. I did have my face slightly near to his as I peered over him looking for signs of life originally. Maybe my breath was like the kiss of life perhaps and he had a ‘Lazarus’ moment. I’m sure he rushed home to tell all his family members and friends of his brush with death and his miraculous resurrection. For those of you who’d like to hear more of Ollie’s prowess as a Mouser, please click on this link: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/mousewhogotaway.htm Last time I mentioned in passing the kitty emery board and Jamaka who lives in the Mojave Desert told me that she has two and her cats love using them and all enjoy them. She said that ‘Sammi, who joined our family at age 14, already front-declawed, loves to exercise his poor little hands on these. He's probably the most frequent user of the one in the living room.’ Something that caught my eye in my cat magazine this month was the incredible 2,000 mile journey that Karim, the 9 year old cat made to find his owners. They moved from Gulistan, Uzbekistan to Russia leaving Karim with a neighbour. But two years later, his owner was nearing her house in Russia and she saw a much thinner Karim waiting for her on the doorstep. Here’s the link (one of several) to this story: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3026493/Cat-walks-2000-miles-to-owners.html Now, you have to ask: how did Karim KNOW where to go? He had never been to Russia before. He didn’t know WHERE his people had moved to and yet he found them. Doesn’t this just prove – as if proof were needed – that cats are really incredibly smart! There was a joke written after the article in the newspaper that Karim had used his ‘Cat-Nav’ to find his way! Ahem! Let me know what you think. Have you moved house and thought the move would be too traumatic for your cat so left him behind with neighbours only for him to go missing from their house and he turned up on your doorstep again some time in the future? My thanks to Robert Blau (US) for this next piece of news: ‘Earliest evidence of pet tortoise in Britain BBC, 9 July 2010 Researchers have found the earliest archaeological evidence of a tortoise being kept as a family pet in Britain, at a castle in Staffordshire. The find, which is reported in the journal Post Medieval Archaeology, dates to the late 19th Century. The researchers say that, at this time, attitudes to keeping family pets "began to change". "A fondness for pets was more regularly expressed in literature," the researchers wrote in their article. There has been evidence of turtles and terrapins in domestic situations dating back to the 17th Century - but it was believed that these animals were used for food. The discovery of a 130-year-old tortoise leg bone at Stafford Castle, amongst the remains of cats and dogs, suggests that this animal was a pet kept by the castle's caretakers. According to Dr Richard Thomas of Leicester University, who led the research, the keeping of pets had until then been considered "morally suspect". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10574385.stm In June I sent out an ‘Extraordinary’ Mewsletter which gave the heady news that Jim Willis has had his incredible work ‘How Could You?’ translated into two Chinese dialects. For those of you who are not familiar with Jim and the selfless unwavering work he does with animals, he is the WAD ambassador for the US. I’ve been blessed to have him as a friend going back about 10 years or so and he has his own section on the website where you can read more of his poems, stories, and articles. For those who haven’t read ‘How Could You?’ for themselves, or heard it read out on various radio programmes, you can read it here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/howcouldyou.htm To enhance the plight of abused and neglected animals there is so much more you can do. You can send copies of ‘How Could You?’ (keeping Jim’s personal details in situ) to your local radio stations, to your local newspapers or even the big daily papers. You can go into schools and colleges and speak to the children/students and read them Jim’s poem. And tell them about World Animal Day which is on 4th October every year. Apathy is the silent killer – did you know that? In case you missed the Extraordinary Mewsletter last month, here’s the link: http://www.thedailymews.com/MewsletterArchives/extraordinarymewsletterjune232010.htm Michelle Hollow has a lovely blog about all different animals. She’s a very good writer and she’d welcome your visit: http://www.petnewsandviews.com. Roger Kiser contacted me recently and asked me the following: ‘Have you lost a pet you loved? http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978317641 “Crossing Rainbow Bridge I-II” was a book(s) I put together several years ago and it brought much joy to those who had lost pets. I would like to put together another book titled “Crossing the Rainbow Bridge III.” Anyone interested in putting their stories in the book; please send them to me at trampolineone@earthlink” with “Rainbow Bridge III” in the subject line. How does this work? It cost you nothing to put your story in the book. The only cost is if you want to buy a book and that will cost between $10.00 and $20.00 depending on how many stories and pages are in the book. Again, you do not have to buy a book. What do I get out of it? When completed, I will get about $1.24 cents on each book sold by the publisher. Believe me; I will make less than $2.00 an hour for the time it takes to put such a book together and design the cover. What money I do make helps in me my work with abused animals. The stories can be about any animal that crossed over. The story should be between 1000-2500 words which should be about two or three pages. I did not put pictures in the other two books as that raises the cost of the book but will try and put small pictures in this time at the top of each story. Those wanting a (one-1 only) picture should send that to me as a jpg format along with their story. I will do minor edits but will publish your story as you write it and will only correct misspellings. We will need about 30 stories to do the book. When completed, these are beautiful books and are book store quality. Here is a link to the first book which was rather large and ended costing about $20.00. Rainbow Bridge I: Roger’ Laura Dumm sent me a funny video link about a seagull who thinks he’s a cat: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/local/sussex/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8802000/8802201.stm Carol Turner who is live-in Maid to Willi Whiskas and his fellow feline companions, wrote to tell me that Little Dumpty Roo is not only the July pin up puss for the Purina calendar, but they’ve done a You Tube of her as well. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4nViT95ExY&feature=fvhl Being a starlet seems to have gone to Little Dumpty’s head because she has now written a diary account of her experience which runs to several pages and because we’re running out of time at this update, her diaries will begin next month. Having seen her picture, I have to admit, she is a beautiful feline and well deserving of her title: Her Royal Mewness! OK – on with the MEWS!!!! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!! http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The BOBO awards winner 2010 is a black kitten called Thunder who comes from Essex (UK). Here’s the link to see more: http://www.go-cat.co.uk/BoboAwards/ BOOK QUIZ: The answers to the book quiz from the last Mewsletter are as follows: 1. Strictly Cat Dancing – Felix Foxtrot 2. Glamourpuss – Julie Jackson 3. 101 Cataclysms – Rachel Hale Well done to the super sleuths: Laura Jowalski – US Jared Kline - Belgium Maureen Cummins – UK Sarah Barkings – US A prize will be sent to Laura pretty soon. 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. Homer’s Odyssey 2. Angel Pets 3. Wonder Cats Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* CAPTION COMPETITION: Much to my surprise there were only two respondents to the last Caption Competition. I would have thought that the picture would have stirred up your literary leanings and expected dozens of entries. Ho Hum. Both entrants have been sent prizes because I couldn’t pick an outright winner. Here’s the link to their entries: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_12.htm See what you make of this month’s picture sent in by Mary Bradley. http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_13.htm ARTICLES: Oscar the beautiful black cat who lost his two back feet courtesy of a combine harvester is given two new bionic back feet. This is the 30 minute video of the BBC1 programme which aired on 30th June. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00syxlx/The_Bionic_Vet_Give_a_Cat_Two_New_Feet_Done!/ It’s also on You Tube on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcy78rnDKiQ August 28th 2010 will be the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Ed Kostro, who made several trips down there to help rescue the animals left behind, has written a very moving tribute on this anniversary. http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/still_in_my_heart.htm HAIRBALLS: I wrote an abridged version of this article originally for www.nutrecare.co.uk’s website but you can read it in its entirety here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/hairballs.htm We all know that Isaac Newton invented the cat flap for his cat and her kittens to go through while he was working. Some years ago when Billy, Timmy and Joey were kittens they had their own ‘rites of passage’ to endure as they learnt the ropes of going through the cat flap: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/throughthecatflap.htm AMAZING CATS: (CAT CHAT) Gibson the little ginger kitten made friends with every little newcomer that came into his home. Then he moved next door to spend time with the neighbours, giving comfort for hours to the sweet little lady with Alzheimer’s. He knew what was needed of him and he rose to the challenge. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/cat_with_2_names.htm BOOK REVIEWS: I always love reading books by Allen and Linda Anderson and Angel Cats: Touching Hearts and Changing Lives didn’t disappoint. http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/angel_cats_touching_hearts_changing_lives.htm CAT CHAT: Bobbi Hahn’s ‘Training Her Well’ first appeared in a recent Pet Warmer’s issue and she graciously gave me permission to use it on the website. I can just see Annabelle and Mozart (her cats) working out a rota to train her into their way of doing things. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/training_her_well.htm Fostering Kittens wasn’t something that Judy (Canada) thought she could do. But three little kittens were brought to her one evening – and the rest, as they say, is history. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/fostering_kittens.htm MEWSLETTER ARCHIVES The Mewsletter Archives are now bang up to date so if you’ve missed any issues you can now go to the navigation bar on the left hand side of the Home Page, click on Mewsletter Archives and select your year of interest and then pick out the Mewsletter you want to read. MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS It’s a sad fact of life that when competitions like the World Cup are taking place, there are higher incidents of spousal abuse, child abuse, and animal abuse reported. Jimmy, our resident feline correspondent has an opinion – of course – on these and other things. Read Jimmy’s comments here: http://www.thedailymews.com/mewsersmewsings/balls.htm NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM I saw this next piece in a recent Pet Warmers and I asked Teresa Brewer, the author, for permission to include it on the website. It is a beautiful tribute to her wonderful ‘Cheagle’ (a beagle whose daddy was a Chow Chow!) who saved her life. I’ve included Teresa’s email address if anyone would like to write to her. http://www.thedailymews.com/NAPPINGONASUNBEAM/I_remember.htm PURRFECT POETRY Kathy Nelson, (US) sent me this poem which is an interesting conversation between God and ourselves about taking on the responsibilities of looking after a cat: http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/lend_me_a_cat.htm Bridget Haggerty (US) sent this amusing poem to me a while ago. It’s a subject that we’re all too familiar with, especially if you have long-haired cats. http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/ode_to_shedding_cat.htm CANINE CORNER: Jim Colasanti sent me a link to a television programme he appeared on, promoting his story in the Cesar’s Way magazine. In the search bar type: james colasanti jr - a story will come up: ‘local man tells stories of man's best friend’; click on it and you will see the "video" square and click on the arrow to start it – it lasts only a couple of minutes. That is his dog, Mister Neville, with him in the interview. That about wraps it up for now. There are a few birthdays coming up in August: Ollie will be 8 on August 4th, Billy will be 14 on August 6th, Ed Kostro (who has written a moving tribute on the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina) has a birthday on August 16th and I have a whopping big birthday on August 18th . I hope you like the new look Mewsletter – my heartfelt gratitude to Bridget Haggerty (US) for putting it all together for me. Please let me have your feedback on the new look and any of the other items in the Mewsletter – I value your opinions, good, bad or indifferent! Hopefully, the next issue will be out towards the end of August, but until then, have a good summer. Remember to put sunblock on cats with white ear tips and noses to avoid the risk of sunburn and cancer.
Pauline, Billy, Sam and Ollie
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