Hi everyone and welcome to the Scratching Post. I haven’t sent it out in recent months for a variety of reasons but I hope you’ll enjoy the links and snippets contained in it today. If you like, this is the Mewsletter’s baby brother, where the overspill from the Mewsletter finds a home so that you can have a double dose of fabulous feline fun, although, I have to be honest and say that this issue is INSTEAD of a Mewsletter this month.
AMAZING CATS:
We’ve not heard from Dezi and Lexi in a little while as Lexi sadly has Chronic Kidney Disease. But they’ve written a piece about Lexi’s training to use the phone and dial 911 which I know you’ll enjoy. There is a link towards the end of the article which will take you to their fundraising page. If you can spare anything, I know they will be very grateful as the meds are expensive:
Link to the fundraising page:
Indigo, who comes from Ohio, US, is known on Twitter as ‘weightloss cat’ and he’s very kindly agreed to write something about his life as a feline with weight problems. He is considering whether to write a regular column for us, so watch this space:
Pookie, who hails from the West of Ireland, had a very unfortunate start in life when he wandered away from his farm cat mama. He was miraculously found by a dog and rescued. Some years later, a recurring eye problem meant that he would lose an eye and this is his story:
Pookie: how I lost an eye and regained my happiness
ANIMAL WELFARE:
In the last Mewsletter I accidentally put the wrong link to a piece that Barbara Bates wrote about the International Coalition Against Declawing.
Here’s the correct link – and my sincere apologies:
International Coalition Against Declawing
ARTICLES:
15 CATS AND MEOWING:
Ellen continues her stories with how Stinky came to live with her and her husband. Luckily for Stinky the television was burning otherwise she may not have fared so well.
BOOK QUIZ:
Jody Tucker in the US won the last book quiz. For the answers, please click on this link:
Due to the prohibitive cost of postage, I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to send prizes out anymore. So in future, the caption competition and the book quiz will be just for fun.
CHARITIES AND RESCUE CENTRES:
When I hear stories about cats, I’m always amazed at the level of wisdom and understanding they seem blessed with. When I heard this next story, it only served to remind me that cats are, without doubt, awesome in every way.
Feline mother takes on four orphaned kittens
Carolyn Waterson in the US told me about a great website for visually impaired kitties (it seems as if we’ve got a bit of a ‘theme’ going on this time, but it wasn’t intentional!)
Do let me know if you live with a cat who is blind and how they get on with other cats, or dogs, and their lives in general.
CAPTION COMPETITION:
Congratulations to Arlene Sphikas in the US who had the winning entry in the last caption competition. To see all the entries (and they were all good), click here:
For this month’s caption competition, send your entries, no more than 5 please, to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com
JOHN GRAFTON:
We haven’t heard from John in a while and his latest story will have you enthralled.
KITTY BITS:
You find some interesting things on the Internet and here’s one of them, I found!
www.crackforkitty– great website – and they kindly gave me permission to publish their article about growing catnip.
LINKS:
Arlene in the US sent me this great link of cats ‘stealing’ or ‘helping their paws’ to their owners’ money. They obviously have serious catnip habits!
Britta in the US sent me this link of cats ‘helping’ their humans with their homework. I can certainly attest to this as ALL my cats have been very helpful when it came to any writing projects I worked on, and Casey is no exception.
Britta also sent me this link to a lovely montage of animal friends from the wonderfulwww.edgarsmission.org.au
Why can’t we all just be friends?
Pops, the 19 year old cat who was found walking the streets of Bath (UK) had been found a new home.
My friend Graham sent me this link; for those outside of the UK you may have a bit of trouble understanding their accents; I think the ladies are from the West Country – Devon or Somerset but it is very funny.
Saved from the Chinese meat trade, this little dog has a new life at last:
LYNN SCHIFFHORST:
Lynn’s prolific writing is not only found on this website, but on Kindle too. Just look her up!
Here’s another lovely story of Carlo who lives with Father Risolino:
Carlo and the surprising development
My thanks to Jem Vanston for trawling the Internet for pictures to illustrate Lynn’s stories.
MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS:
CASEY’S CHATS:
More of Casey’s down-to-earth observations:
MOET’S MEWSINGS:
Casey is beside himself with delight as we welcome a new feline columnist on board. Moet from Oman very kindly agreed to write a column for the amazing and discerning Daily Mews subscribers and her first one will echo the thoughts of many a cat when their ‘staff’ or ‘human’ goes away on holiday.
TOFF CAT:
Things are hotting up at Gripewater Grange as Mrs Curmudgeonly invites herself to afternoon tea and Skrowte has to physically evict her before her large bottom hits the horse-hair sofa.
Mrs Curmudgeonly and Mrs Snottingham-Periwinkle
Lady Fanny, Skrowte and Toff Cat turn out for the school concert held in honour of Teddie Trumpington-Trubshaw:
The Archbishop Cardinal ASBO School Concert
NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM:
It breaks my heart to hear of cats I’ve known for a long time that have passed away and one such cat is Lizzie Schiffhorst. Muse for Gerald’s book, Writing with Cats, and for his wife Lynn’s stories (some of which you’ll find on Kindle, and many you’ll find in her section under ‘Articles’.
Sookie lived in San Salvador with her son, Chips, dog Anjuli, and human Mum, Jean. She had a good life which Jean remembers here:
It’s always heartening when cats that begin their lives in rescue centres find their paws and begin living their (nine) lives like they’re supposed to. Cory was three months old when he was rescued from a centre and spent his next 15 years living with the Kolonel family in Canada. He is hugely missed.
NEIL THE VET:
What do you know about kidney disease, that insidious killer that creeps up on our beloved cats? Neil the Vet has some answers for you:
PRODUCT REVIEWS:
Casey had a lovely surprise in the post the other day. Purrfectbox.co.uk (who also make one for dogs – pawsome box) contained some cat treats (noms), some catnip toys, a PINK cat collar which he wasn’t very impressed with! And some toys. Here’s his review:
PURRFECT POETRY:
I still have hundreds of poems from the ‘old look’ website which need to be transferred over – a job that will take me ages and at the moment, I just cannot spend the time doing that. However, Neil the Vet, having sent me three articles about older cats recently, dashed off a poem of ‘such poetic beauty’ that I had to share it with you, lest his creative genius goes unnoticed for all time.
SNIPPETS:
Jean in San Salvador told me about Corduroy, the world’s oldest living cat, who is 25 years of age:
WHAT MY CAT MEANS TO ME … :
I often receive emails from people who write just a few lines telling me how much they love their cat(s) and what he/she/they mean to them. I have been deliberating for ages over whether to add a new section and finally I made the decision! You’ll find it in the CAT CHAT section (which is under the ARTICLES heading).
Jem Vanston has written about the cats that have shared his life – and made a house a home with him:
My Cats – what they mean to me
If like Liz Charman and Jem Vanston who have written about their precious cats, you’d like to write a couple of paragraphs about your cat(s) write to me at the usual address. Include a couple of good clear photos and I’ll add them each month. This is not the same as writing a longer piece which will go in the CAT CHAT section; this is just for those ‘I love my cat because’ moments.
And that just about wraps it up for now. Hopefully, towards the end of September you’ll have a Mewsletter winging its way through your inboxes. Till then, keep safe.
Love
Pauline – editor
Casey – birthday card counter and the voice of reason when the numbers aren’t going in the right direction
A Morning Kiss
A morning kiss, a discreet touch of his nose landing somewhere on the middle of my face.
Because his long white whiskers tickled, I began every day laughing.
Janet F Faure