Saturday, December 31, 2011

Our Pawesome Chanukah In Pictures

 We had a pawesome Chanukah! Momma stayed home ALL WEEK and we got in loads of cuddles. And latkes. And candles. We had to stay Very Far Away from those (they were only lit for a second.)

Yukon Gold, Purple & Sweet Potato latkes, ready to fry up

YUMMY! 
Papa lighting the candles

*SQUEE!* ooh and Bling! We-- err, ah, *I* got bling!
Modeling for Daddy *giggle*
*eyeroll* yeah, yeah...bling, whatever. But I gotted me some WAND TOYS!!

Wand Toy Number 1
Wand Toy Number 4012870

AND....I don't care if Daddy sez these are new tires for Mommy's car, it looks like a Cool New BED to me! *score!*



And Gramma & Grampa gave us this really cool condo, too. All three of us can be in it at the same time, swatting each others' tails. HIGHPAW!

Maxwell, holding down the fort, Momma sez

We had a PAWeSOME Chanukah! How was your holiday???


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

(wordless except for the video's audio track, MOL!)





Wednesday, December 21, 2011

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Mommy sez I'm the Menorah Mensch (uh, izzat a GOOD thing?)




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Happy Chanukah!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Do You Need to Pet-Proof Chanukah?

There are a lot of articles and blog posts circulating right now about pet-proofing your home for Christmas. It got me to wondering: for those of us who observe a different holiday, is there any need for concern?

Turns out there are a few things folks can consider when preparing for the Festival of Lights.

1.  Trade in your Hanukkiah for an electric model

photo courtesy CarbonNYC on flickr
I love the warm glow of real candles and have a nice collection of hanukkiahs (the 9-branch Chanukah menorah). So for me, swapping out for the electric version is difficult. It feels somehow...tacky.

But I now have three very active cats (two of them barely out of kittenhood). One of them in particular (that would be you, Faraday) does a passing impression of Tarzan, and the fire hazard is just too great.

So I'll be screwing in a new electric bulb each of the eight nights instead of lighting up all over the house.

When Ryker was alive, it wasn't such a big deal; he was a laid-back kind of a guy and just so long as I blew out the hanukkiahs before leaving the family room each evening, all was well.

But for those of you who know my herd on twitter....nah. Not a chance I'm willing to take!

2.  What is it with cats and cords?

This goes for both the Christmas tree and the Chanukah menorah: some kitties just can't resist gnawing on those cords. If your fur-kids indulge, you might want to invest in a bottle of bitter apple. Cats find its taste to be unpalatable so it works nicely as a deterrent. Though the best solution might be to consider purchasing cords that shut off if damaged.

3.  Tinsel: it's not just for Christmas any more.


Chanukah is considered to be pretty kid-centric and as such, there are many sites that sell - yes - Chanukah garland.

Those metallic little dreidels and magen davids are just cat-nomming (and choking) size.

If you plan to decorate with tinselly garland, make sure it's out of reach of your four-legged tree-swingers, too.




4.  All that glitters is not gold...but it is nommy!

One of the most iconic traditions of Chanukah is the game Spin the Dreidel. The game, which dates back to the 17th century, was used as both tradition and teaching tool for children - especially if there was money involved!

In 1920's America, the tradition of giving gelt (Yiddish for "money") took a delicious turn. Now, kids everywhere vie for shiny, foil-wrapped pieces of chocolatey goodness in the shape of coins. 

Unforunately, chocolate is not good for kitties. And of course, shiny as they are, they can become kitty magnets. The gelt strewn about my home in various candy dishes will probably get a boost - up out of the way of enterprising paws - this year.

5.  Kittens do not make good Chanukah gifts either.

photo courtesy exfordy on flickr
A fellow blogger recently posted about the sad trend that occurs at this time of year: giving kittens and puppies as Christmas gifts. I would imagine that trend pops up at Chanukah time, too.

Pets should never, ever EVER be an impulse purchase, and the person on the receiving end of such a gift really needs to be involved, as this involves not only the personality of the person receiving the pet but the personality of the animal itself. 

This is so important that the ASPCA recently instituted a program called Meet Your Match, which assesses the personalities of both person and cat and attempts to guide adopters into finding the perfect match for them.


That's it for my Top 5 for Chanukah-proofing your home. No matter what holiday you celebrate, may it be merry...and safe...this year.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Brotherly Love

Saturday, December 10, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Israel Bans Declawing

On November 28th Israel unanimously passed a resolution banning the declawing of cats except in rare cases of medical necessity. This comes with a punishment of up to $20,000 in fines plus a one year jail sentence for anyone caught in the act.

Israel joins the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe in banning this procedure as cruel and inhumane.

For this eminently civilized legal action, we give Israel two enthusiastic paws up....WAAAAY up!

To read more about it, visit The Discovery Channel's blog

Tigger: recent shelter kitty & victim of mangled declawing procedure




[source: Ynet (Hebrew), Arutz Sheva]




How To Give Your Human Heart-Failure

STEP 1:
Place yourself in a potentially precarious, bodily-harm location and proceed to look innocent.

Exhibit A:


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Pfft! Ignore last Wednesday's post, please!
The Fabio of the Kitteh world? Right here.





Saturday, December 3, 2011

Ahhh SPA!

When it's chilly out, there's nothing like having yourself a spa day, I always say...







Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

"I am the Fabio of kittehs...Rrrr-RAWR!"



Saturday, November 26, 2011

PFFFT! Silly Television!

What do you do when the cable channel changes their schedule on you just hours before the show starts?

We apologize for anyone who tried to watch Jingle All The Way last night so's they could play in our Treasure Hunt Contest...
Mommy kept checking to confirm and she saw the schedule on their web site go back & forth from 6 PM CST to 7:30 PM CST.

In the end,  Jingle All The Way did not air when we said it would on our bloggie, and we's sooo sorry about that! So...because of that, we're extending our contest through next weekend when both shows air again.

Straight from hallmarkchannel.com, here's the schedule for Friday December 2 (pleez don't change it again, Hallmark Channel! *kitteh smiles*):



6:00 PM
hoops&yoyo Ruin Christmas - When Hoops, Yoyo, and Piddles wait up
to catch Santa in the act on Christmas Eve, disastrous consequences follow.
Will Christmas or Santa ever be the same? Only if these comedic friends
save the day.
6:30 PM
Jingle All the Way (2011) - A spirited Husky puppy looking for a home at
a Christmas tree farm instantly bonds with a young boy visiting with his
parents. Unable to keep him, the boy rides away, and the pup embarks
on a snowy journey to find his friend again.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful Thursday




Since today's Thanksgiving...and in just a few short weeks, I celebrate my "gotcha" day with Mother & Daddy...

I wanted to share all the things I'm thankful for.


A wonderful family (well, except for Faraday, sometimes)...
Food to eat, a warm place to sleep...
And a lovely back yard to play in.



*sigh* oh, okay and even my own purrsonal bodyguards who shadow me when I go out to keep me safe. *grudging look at Mother*

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


Monday, November 21, 2011

Backstory: Petfinder's Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays




Hi all! *wiggles pink toenails in hello*

I asked Mother if we could blog about Petfinder's "Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays" because it's very personal to me. You see, that's how I found my Forever Family! And Mother was excited to do it because she knows - and works with - the people who were instrumental in making this a great new national tradition!

It all began many years ago when a lawyer in suburban Kansas City wrote a bedtime story for his kids. It was about a special boy who heard his hometown shelter needed to find temporary homes for its animals over the holidays.

The story also told how his small act of kindness inspired and motivated an entire town to extend their peace and goodwill to animals that year, too! That man's name is Greg Kincaid, and his story, "A Dog Named Christmas," was first published 3 years ago this month.


Someone gave a copy of Mr. Kincaid's book to a really nice man that Mother works with - Brad Moore, president of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. He fell in love with it - first because it's an awesome story but also, Mother says, because it's a hometown story and we're big about supporting hometown talent!

Greg's book became Hallmark's 2009 Holiday Hall of Fame movie (and if you never got a chance to see it, set your recorders for Sunday December 4, because at 8 AM EST it's playing again on the Hallmark Channel).

But that's just the beginning of the story! Hallmark then partnered with CBS and Petfinder.com to launch a new program that winter, based on the concept in Greg's story: the idea to foster a lonely pet for the holidays.

This is a wonderful idea for several reasons. Not only would this make it easier for shelter workers to have a holiday of their own (fewer pets in the shelter = less time they need to work), but it also gives animals a few weeks away from the stresses of a shelter environment.

Did you know that there is such a thing as shelter stress and that it can weaken an animal's immune system?

Veterinary News wrote about shelter stress and its affects on cats in particular in an article this past July. They quoted Dr. Michael Moyer, President of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), as saying that a shelter environment "means stress, and stress means relapse of latent viruses ... [and] supportive care for weeks in order to convalesce."
 
Please consider participating in this year's Petfinder's Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays program. You'll be giving a wonderful animal a few weeks' reprieve, lightening the load for your local shelter, and - who knows? You just might discover your foster friend is someone you just can't part with. (It can happen - just look at me! *giggle*)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Fabulous Fall!

*squee!* ooh I just LOVE Fall! All those lovely leaves to roll in! 
(and I *do* mean ROLL...!)
oh look! It's Allie's best side! *snicker*


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

(Almost) W_rdl_ss Wednesday

But Motherrrrr.......

When I said I wanted a roll in the hay, I meant it Literally!

Gee...what did you think I meant?


Monday, November 14, 2011

Remembering Ryker



Mommy was going through old photos of Ryker cuz we lost him to a blood clot one year ago today (11/14/2010).

While she was looking at his pictures, she thought she'd better scan them in so she'll have them digitally, too.
We told her to share them on our bloggie, so here they are!

Ryker at 4 months with older brother Caleb
Mowzers! He was TINY!

Ryker at 5 months
We Tonks are a handsome bunch, aren't we?


Mommy tried to fix Ryker's LAZER eyes here = FAIL! MOL

Ryker liked to kick older brother Caleb's fuzzy butt.
Often!
Here Caleb's telling the Little Whippersnapper to STAND DOWN.

Didn't Work. (MOL!)

Mommy thinks he had the most amazing eyes. (This picture was not retouched.)
He was Mommy's baby boy. (We're her baby boys, too)
RIP Ryker Richman
January 3, 1997 - November 14, 2010