MEWSLETTER 21  February 6, 2004

by Pauline Dewberry

Hi Everyone!!! A very special hello to all of you and a very warm welcome to the new subscribers. It's a pleasure to have you join us – we're increasing in size every month and it's great to see so many cat lovers.

The month of January was named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings. He was symbolised as a man with two faces, one looking back and the other looking forward. As we look forward to the promise of spring let us not give up on the fight against cruelty to all animals. This is first and foremost a cat website, but all animals are deserving of our respect and love. I have great pleasure in posting a wonderful poem by Renée Humphries that fully endorses this commission. You can read it in the PURRFECT POETRY section here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/Ijustwantedyoutoknow.htm

The first three people to respond AND get the answer right to the question: `What breed of cat likes swimming?' were:
Judith Murphy (Canada)
Denise Bisaillon (Connecticut) (Get Well soon, Denise!)
Lee Bishop, (Santa Monica, California)

Well done to all three of you and of course the answer is: THE TURKISH VAN cat, which will be profiled in the new section: BREED PROFILES. This new section (coming next month) will feature a different breed each month and if you have any information on a particular breed that you'd like to see profiled here, please send it to me in the usual way.

Whilst I know that parts of the United States and Canada have had appalling winters, we here in the UK have escaped relatively unscathed to now. January has been a mainly wet and windy month until January 27th when most of the country woke up to snow. Here in the South Eastern corner of the UK we were quite lucky – it was a slight dusting – rather like icing sugar on a sponge cake! But mid morning produced a half-hearted attempt at a blizzard with a 10-second flurry.

However, by mid-afternoon, it decided it was going to snow in earnest and it came down by the truckload. What was also disconcerting – and to me, very frightening, was that at first thunder and lightening accompanied the snow. I don't think I've ever known this to happen and I don't mind admitting I was quite nervous as I was on my computer at the time!

Ollie's first experience of snow is highlighted in his diary, but it was hysterical to watch him. First he sniffed the alien white stuff that had built up in a minor drift by the back door. Then he poked and prodded it with his right paw and, realising it was cold AND wet, he shook his right paw with shock and horror! When he eventually went outside he walked tall – almost walking on two claws per paw so that he appeared very thin and skinny so there was less of him actually walking on the snow! It was hilarious to watch and with each step he took he shook each paw out to the side of him. Needless to say he didn't get very far and he edged round to the dining room window where he climbed up onto the sill and cried. I opened the window and
he climbed in, relieved to be over his first ordeal in the snow.

Helen Dowd has written a moving story about Baby, the little blind cat who came to live with her. You can read about Baby here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/tailofblindcat.htm and following on in Baby's own words, `Living with a blind cat' tells what life is like and what to do to make things a little easier – see it here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/livingwithblindcat.htm

We'll be hearing more from Helen in the future, I'm pleased to say, but if you'd like to read more of Helen's wonderful stories, visit her website: www.occupytillicome.com

Cherine Bissinger, who wrote our first compelling article in the ANIMAL WELFARE section last month, has written a heart-rending story about a beautiful dog called Judith. I cried buckets when I read this article; I just could not believe that a human being could treat such a poor defenceless animal in such a disgusting manner. Please read this article and contact your local MPs, your prime ministers, your presidents, write to your local newspapers, and radio stations and have them start a campaign for the end of all animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is linked to child abuse and spouse abuse, and if you suspect anything like this going on near you, please contact the local authorities. This can be done anonymously if you fear reprisals.

Read Cherine's moving story here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/forloveofJudith.htm

Cherine also wrote an outstanding poem about Judith that you can read here: http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/justiceforjudith.htm

Continuing the animal welfare theme, I found a beautiful poem while browsing on Helen's website (YES, I KNOW IT'S ANOTHER ONE ABOUT A DOG!) and you can see it here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/treatmekindly.htm

Myla Smith helps out occasionally in an animal shelter and sees all sorts of things. One cold winter night in December, she saw the worst case imaginable. Click here to read:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/littleloststranger.htm

One of the hardest things we as pet owners have to face is knowing when the time has come for us to let our pets go with dignity. Euthanasia is not a pleasant subject and hopefully, I've given you an insight into it in this article here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/lettinggo.htm

That particular article mentions Little Max who was a stray cat with severe liver problems who decided to check into the Daily Mews motel on a full board basis. You can read about this lovely little cat who touched my heart here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/littlemax.htm

Tennessee Williams wrote about The Kindness of Strangers and I've experienced that myself recently when Mollie's Mom sent me the most enormous gift basket full of wonderful goodies, and some treats for the `boys'. Mollie, as you all know, is the great little cat that has a severe heart problem and his website (which has undergone a recent overhaul) can be found here: www.molliesbigheart.com
Be sure to go and check it out.

By the way, you can now see a photo of Garfield enjoying his table in the FELINE FITNESS section: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/garfieldstable.htm and to see Ollie sharing the table with Garfield, you'll need to go to Ollie's Diaries: http://www.thedailymews.com/kittendiaries10.htm

I am thrilled to be presenting Chapters 1 and 2 of Daniel Weiss's great book Frankie Weiss and Her Magic. Two of Dan's stories about his lovely cats Frankie and Johnnie are featured in the CAT CHAT section, but I thought you'd love to read his book so he has his very own section.

To begin reading the first two chapters, please follow this link:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/forewardfrankieweissmagic.htm
There are more chapters to follow and they will be added each month. Enjoy!!!

I make no apology for this issue of the MEWSLETTER being heavily subscribed to animal welfare issues. It is an important theme and cannot be swept under the carpet because it is an unpleasant subject. Like the topic of euthanasia, people don't like to talk about it, but until it is aired out in the open, the full extent of Man's inhumanity to poor defenceless animals will never fully be recognised.

Ollie was humming and hawing about writing another entry for his diaries but he had a couple of fan letters so his ego has got the better of him and to that end, he has written more. To read the latest, please click here:
http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/kittendiaries12.htm

All that remains for me is to apologise for the late arrival of this MEWSLETTER but a bad back has forced me to stay away from the computer for several days – looks like an x-ray is on the cards in the near future.

I'm off to Salisbury, in Wiltshire on Sunday to attend a pet behaviour seminar, so I'll tell you more about that next time.

Take care, everyone, keep well, and warm!

All good wishes – and until the next time, have a purrfect month!!!

Your friend
Pauline, and all the Daily Mewsers

Garfield, Billy, Timmy, Sam, Ricky and Ollie

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