Merry Christmas!

Hiya! I hope everyone is having a nice and safe (and FUN) holiday this year!
Also wishing and purrring for a much better 2011 for us and all of you out there. Been some trying times for everyone.

I'm having a quiet Christmas and there's nothing wrong with that. A cooked chicken and beans in the beanpot and a pumpkin pie =D

We kitties got some toys and I'd like to thank whoever sent the two $5 Petco gift certificates to us from my wishlist. I will give one to my neutered brother Grey. Also, thank you from both Rosalie and I for the VERY nice water fountain for her.
Its PINK and she's a girly girl now that she's all indoors and a housecat...so she especially likes it =D

Also, thankis for the holiday wishes and love.


This is little Abigail and Grey's first Christmas so this blog entry is short because I have to go and show them how to tear up the Christmas Tree. Its a very small tree this year. And it's gonna be TOAST MOL!!!

Bless You All,
Christopher



KITTY CHRISTMAS WISHLIST*

*Amazon.com

My Brother at The Vet

But it's all good, he just got a neuter. And he's doing FINE!

My brother Grey was from a feral litter. He never tamed much (except with my mommy) but was adopted out as a barn cat...and returned just a few months later.
They'd decided to move and didn't get the neuter they'd said they'd would (they were purrrsonal friends of mom so she believed them) and Grey was acting feral again when he came back.

He kinda had to be retamed and doesn't like any humans but mom. Long story short, unless he finds someone special who he likes, he's staying. I like him a lot. I didn't care for the fact he kept trying to make me his girlfriend recently. Hence, the neuter.

He won't be pulling up to the bumper anymore. Hopefully.

My mom goes to pick him up at around 4:30.
It was about 27F when Grey went to the vet but it should get around 60F later so mom and Grey won't freeze their hineys off. I will post pics of Grey at vet later if mom doesn't run off and forget her camera.

Also, THANK YOU whoever purchased 2 $5 Petco gift ecards off my Wishlist. I will pass one onto my brother Grey if thats ok with everyone =D

Hopefully I can get some pics up of Grey later.
~Christopher




KITTY CHRISTMAS WISHLIST*

Happy Holidays!

It's been forever since I wrote in my blog. Not that things haven't been happening but because sometimes my typist gets so caught up in her own stuffs, or because we don't want to write about depressing stuffs. Or we just lazy mol!

Things have been okay here.
Over the summer my baby sister Abigail got very ill very fast with pneumonia. She almost died and spent time at the Emergency Urgent Care and then time at our vet inna O2 tent for a few days. She came out of it really well and is FINE! She still petite but a fighter. She cost about $900 now so I guess we gotta keep her mol! (Just kidding, she already kept.)

Right now some of us kitties have some Fall sneezies tho we vaxxed and all. Abby got a cold and we were very worried after the pneumonia thing over the summer but she doin great an never missed a meal an playing right now =) We have a portable nebulizer from her Pneumonia Days and use that for us kitties.

Me, I got no sneezies at all!
I celebrated my birthday November 2. I am THREE years old now.

My older sister Rosalie now official. She spayed and indoors and is loving it! During her spay about twelve weeks ago, what we thought was a sore tooth turned out to be severe stomatitis. This is very painful and only cured (most times) by surgery, but the surgery is very expensive and averages about $1500. We are caring for her to reduce inflammation and make her comfortable without surgery right now. And she is feeling much better and can eat without crying out. She seems a lot happier and we doing what we can. She even has a Twitter account so follow her at @MissRosalie.

I have some pics. My photographer sux so please forgive me.



Pardon the blur~it's an action shot:



This is a groovy picture of my little sisfur Abigail:


And this is my sisfur Rosalie at the bus stop
coming home from the vet.



I promise not to be gone so long again! I've missed everyone sooo much! I'm looking forward to celebrating the holidays with my online family too =)

Stay tuned!
~Christopher

Little Bug Now a Big Bug =)

Some of my friends who knew about my foster sisfur Bug has asked how she's doing.

She's doing great!

Bug was a little 8 week old kitten dumped that mom medicated and helped. She was meant to only be a foster kitty but mom did fall in love with her.
I have a cute pic of her on my blog on Halloween with her costume on! She went trick or treating as a butterfly. The pic made the finals in the Worlds Coolest Dog and Cat Contest in the catagory "Costume and Shades"!! WOW!

She was still fragile in the pic but went onto lose those wild hairs and get bigger.
Mom was keeping her as my sisfur until a good friend of mom's lost her cat at the age of 16. Mom's known this lady for years and she's a good cat mom and missed having a nice kitty around but was still mourning her cat Pebbles.
In the beginning of 2010, she decided to try to open her heart to another kitty.

Bug seemed a good match, was about 4 months old, and went on a trial basis to see how things went.
They went pretty good and she didn't seem to miss mom too much MOL! and is now living just outside of town (indoor cat only). Mom wished we could ALL live outside of town in a nice rural place.

Hard to believe Bug's 6 months old now =)
Mom sees her friend now and then and mom will always be there for her and Bug.

*purrrs*
~Christopher

Technical Difficulties =(

Fisrt off, little Abigail is doing good and toddling around.

But we got some technical difficulties =(
Long story short...mom had a particularly craptacular paycheck so she went out and splurged on a Vivitar digital camera that cost $19.99 and she can't get it to work.

Could be the fact that it cost $19.99, but besides that, it should at least have images in the window that don't look like a nite-time infra-red pic. Just inky smears if we're lucky.

Mom really didn't have $19.99 to spare and esp not for a camera that we can't even make an image with.

Mom at least wanted to get some pics of me and baby Abigail (and her progress). We wanted to take a pic of her canister of formula and tinned foods and her heated snuggle and stuff that my friends so generously helped us get =(

The second part of our problem is the fact that mom has a netbook with no disk drive...so we can't put the image software on the compy to use with the camera...
BUT that's beside the point when we can't get more than a faint orange smear on a black background in the camera's image window.

Mom and I are gonna put this camera and stuff up for a while before we do some damage. Mom's already pretty upset.

If anyone has a suggestion please feel free to comment.
We can't find any info on the Vivitar website about alternative software options for people who have netbooks. We couldn't find online software download on the website.

The camera is a cheapo Vivitar V15 Freelance.
It's red.
It's shaped like an amoeba.


Not happy right now.

EDIT: Angel and Kirby suggested mom get someone to put the software on a usb stick.
Mom was so POed she didn't even think of using a flash drive! Angel and Kirby are so smart! Thank You for the great suggestion!
Mom sees a co-worker on Thursday who might be able to help her out.
And maybe then we can troubleshoot that ol amoeba.

~Christopher

Mom's Runnin Behind mol

Mom was intending to go get kitten supplies yesterday but woke up sick with a migraine, was sick all day at work and most of the nite last nite. She feels better today but really tired.
Little Abby has a small carton of formula and babyfood to last until mom gets to picking up supplies tomorrow (mom's back at work now).

Mom was offline the whole time and almost fainted when she logged on to help me update everyone and saw Abby's Milk Fund widget....the outpouring of support for little Abby made mom's eyes rain like when she peels onions.

I really don't know what to meow to describe how touched we are!

I've never done a chipin and I don't know if it would be proper to send an email thankyou to everyone or to just thank you all here as I am. (Advice from anyone who uses chipin/paypal button?)

Many heartfelt meows,
~Christopher

Update on Tiny Rescue Kitten

First of all, she has a name now.
It's Abigail. Abby for short =)

She's doing good.
Tomorrow mom will go get little Abigail some supplies. Food and things. We are very grateful for the outpouring of support for this little former throw-away.
I'll scan the receipts and put them up in my blog with some new pics of the baby.

Yesterday she had some diahrrea which can be very bad for kittens. Normally mom would proceed to fix the situation without panic, but after seeing Abby's sister die from being sick...well...mom almost freaked out.
She was at work with the baby and couldn't really leave.

The next poopy was even worse and mom got scared. The baby seemed to feel well and was active. She wasn't squirting all the time just when mom took her to potty. Still, mom was worried they'd have to make a run to the vet.

Mom did what she's had to do in the past with little bottle babies and dilute the formula with 1/3 water so it isn't so "rich".

Still watery poop.

So in the next mom mixed in 1/3 of Gerber chicken baby food to the formula.
Not only did it make the milk smell like chicken soup, Abigail really loved it!
Two feedings of this mixture and we had normal poop again.

YAY normal poop!

Abby's so cute, she's toddling along now.
She's been with us one week tomorrow.

>^..^<

Some of my pals expressed that they might want to contribute to a kitten fund for the little one. Tho it feels kinda wierd to accept help, it is both humbling and very generous and my family and I are grateful. I've never done a Chipin or a Paypal button...in fact, I got screwed up and put up a shopping cart at first an I'm not even a merchant mol!

I decided on a Chipin because I could put a fixed amount just to cover some formulas and maybe some peepads because we are not a registered charity or rescue. The donation isn't tax-deductible or anything. It's just my mom and us kitties.





~Christopher

Little Abandoned Kitten Pics are IN!

Ok here she is! These pics were taken with a phone so aren't as sharp as they could be.

That's the end of a 5cc syringe so you can see how little she is.
She's not being tube fed; that's a marsupial teat...cause she thinks she's a sugar glider.
Here's another pic:

She has her bunny rabbit. She's cute!

Here she is holding up a sign for her friends, mol. She's also getting a little sleepy.

So that's the new baby kitten =)
She was wiggling around today in her blanket and made herself poop on her own which was a BIG plus as far as mom was concerned!

Some of my pals expressed that they might want to contribute to a kitten fund for the little one. Tho it feels kinda wierd to accept help, it is both humbling and very generous and my family and I are grateful. I've never done a Chipin or a Paypal button...in fact, I got screwed up and put up a shopping cart at first an I'm not even a merchant mol!

I decided on a Chipin because I could put a fixed amount just to cover some formulas and maybe some peepads because we are not a registered charity or rescue. The donation isn't tax-deductible or anything. It's just my mom and us kitties.

*purrrrs*
And Thank You

~Christopher

Tiny Kitten is Chuggin Along =)

Not much news...and no news is good news as far as little neonate kittens go. No drama is a GOOD thing!
Little kitten is putting along and seems to be doing fine.
Most of all, she seems like a happy little thing, playing with her toes and purrring. Wiggling when momma snurffs her tummy.

Right now, we're waiting for mom's co-worker to email the pics he took of the kitten on his phone. Mom's camera isn't functioning so she'll try to get her boss to take a pic Monday if all else fails.

I'm thinking of maybe going ahead and putting up our email/Paypal for a baby fund but first I want to put her pic up so my pals can meet her.

So, right now, I'm just chillaxing and waiting for the rain to start. Supposed to rain the rest of the weekend and thunderstorm on Monday. Mom does a split-shift on Monday so she won't have to take the baby to work with her in the rain.

I had the skwerts earlier today because I got into the butter and stole some. TOTALLY worth it! I'm fine now and feel great.

Christopher

Hi Ho Off to Work Mom Goes (With a Tiny Kitty) =)

First of all, thank you for the encouraging words.
Mom was really sad this morning when she wrapped the tiny kitten's body in a little hand towel and buried her.
It's dark and looking like rain...

Mom felt better after I read your nice words to her. The kitten's passing wasn't unexpected but still it's so very sad. Tiny kittens are already such little explorers with purrrsonalities. All brand-new.

Anyway, mom's feeding the surviving baby girl kitten small feedings every two hours so as not to overburden her tiny system after not eating for a while. We will work up to every 4-5 hours. (A big YAY on that.) She's eating the daily portion for her weight. She now weighs a whopping 7 ounces full.
The baby looks forward to being picked up and fed and rejected the kitten bottle for a syringe with a long skinny teat that you feed marsupials with. (So she thinks she's a sugar glider?)
Whatever works =)

To keep the baby on her schedule, mom's packed an "overnite" bag for her and is taking the baby to work. Actually mom's not working overnite but 2-8:30 pm. (Overnite for a tiny kitten.)

What's wierd is that baby purrrs louder than me!
I'm not kidding. Mom puts the baby under her neck and skritches and pats it and it rumbles so loud and burps and stuff. Mom likes that.
She rubs its hiney with cotton balls and I'm kind of jealous of that because mom never rubbed my hiney. Of course I was three months old when mom found me, but still!

Mom will have a co-worker take some pics of the baby on his phone and I will post them as soon as he e-mails me the pics.

Some of you asked if we had a Paypal button. We do have a Paypal account but not sure how to do a button. We just use the Paypal address so mom can send a few dollars when she has it to help kitty rescues. Which reminds me:

Concats! @Michelles_Cats, a lady in Bakersfield CA who alters strays, that Ginger is 100% funded and was able to go in today for her emergency spay. Yay Ginger!

You see, it's so very important to spay/neuter so little babies aren't born unwanted like the tiny kittens mom was tossed.* Way to go @Michelles_Cats!

*The little girlcat mom's taking care of is wanted now that she's here...but it's BEST to prevent a litter in the first place.

Thanks for the purrrs and good thoughts and hopefully the little kitten will stay strong and grow up. Tinies are fragile.

~Christopher

Tiny Dumped Kittens =(

Today a woman came into my momma's job with a shoebox with a tiny screaming kitten. Actually there were two kittens but the other was quiet and weak. She said something about moving and going back and finding the kittens in a closet. That they probably hadn't eaten for the two days she'd been gone. That she'd left them out the night before hoping momcat would come get them but she didn't.
The whole deal didn't make much sense...

There were faint smears of blood/pee (fluid?) in the box.

She said she hoped mom could find a home for them.

My mommy wasn't/isn't really up for two neo-nates especially a sick one. Mom doesn't really have the money to do that either...times are tough. So mom tried to explain but the woman wouldn't take the kittens with her.
(Not that mom really thought that would've been a great idea either.)
Mom said that they needed bottle fed and that one was hurt or sick and they needed to be seen by a vet first off and mom would have to get formula, bottles and probably a feeding tube and syringe for the sick one and this wasn't a good time for mommy to do this. She has her plate full.

The lady wouldn't take the box and took out a five dollar bill and said "here's some money".

Mom didn't want that money.

Anyway, mom has the babies now at home. Two girls. One, the noisy active one is a gray tabby. The ill one is a gray and white kitty. She appears to be weaker and has a lesion on her butt bone like she'd sat wet or been bit by a mommacat or something.
It looks better now clean and doesn't seem infected. Mom made the kitty a little gauze "diaper" to keep it dry so her tail doesn't stick to it.

They look about ten days or so old.
They don't really care for the formula but the stronger one did eat after mom warmed them up and she stopped crying.
The weaker one wasn't sucking so mommy tube fed her.

Mommy's pretty depressed. Not that she doesn't want to take care of these sweet babies, because she does want to see them grow up and get a home and doesn't mind getting up at night to feed and clean and stuff...but she doesn't want to see a baby die. And the grey/white baby looks like she may not make it.

Momma cares about these babies, of course she does, but feels bad for having them dumped on her like that.

Well, now that we have them, we're purrraying that they do well and the sick baby gets stronger and beats the odds.

Sitting up with a sick baby is very sad.

EDIT:

The sick baby was just too weak and declined fast.
She passed away comfortably and warm in a soft quiet bed.

The other baby is now sleeping with a stuffed toy.
It's 3:00 am and mom needs to get some rest and I will rest with her...


~Christopher

I am Sunshine-y!

I have recieved a most coveted award from a seriously groovy guinea pig named Mookie! THANK YOU!!!

THE SUNSHINE BLOG AWARD!




Now that is cool! Thanks Mookie and I'm happy I brought some sunshine into your life (as well as some good nip).
Of course joy is best shared so I am passing this award to 12 other blogs who brighten the days with Sunshine!
This was a really hard choice because all of the linkies I love rock!



A Wizard and an Angel

Big Bad Boy Boris Kitty

Bizbee Kitty

Brian's Home

Daisy the Curly Cat (and Harley too)

Island Cats

Jan's Funny Farm

The Guido Gazette

Skeezix Scrtaching Post

Ariel~A Smile a Day

The Cat in the Clover

The Shenanigans of Shawnee the Shepherd



To accept your award you must also pass it on to 12 other recipents and post their blogs up (like I have done) along with their award and of course send a comment to them telling them how they have brought SUNSHINE to you and send your linky.

BE SURE AND PUT YOUR AWARD ON YOUR PAGE!!!

Now, in all reality, you winners may not have a large enough blog circle, or time to send out the full 12 awards to others.
It is perfectly cool to just pass one or a few on. And if you already have a Sunshine Blog Award (Lucky You!) Just put this one beside the other =)

And now...Spread the SUNSHINE!!!

~Christopher

Kitty Kounter Kulture (or Grow Your Own)

Catnip, nip, herb,catweed...you know what I'm talking about.

Catnip is a herb that makes cat's high. As you know. Most cats get frisky and silly but a few are mean drunks. The effect lasts, oh, about 20 minutes before the kitty chills out. Some get the munchies and most will sort of nod out for a bit.
It's non-addictive (Right guys?) and no tolerance is built up even if used on a regular basis.
(Just to be safe, put a few days between each serious bender. You don't wanna be trying to score in an alley someday.)

About 75% of cats get high off nip. The rest are not interested. It's a genetic thing. Most cats under 6 months old don't respond which is ok because if you aren't old enough to roll your own, you're too young to hit it.

The magic in catnip is the oil nepetalactone or 4,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,7a-tetrahydrocyclopenta[c]pyran-1(4aH)-one.



^ This makes kitty happy! ^

How to Get It
The easiest way to get some is to buy it already processed from a reputable dealer. Just make sure it's fresh and has no fillers. (You don't want it cut with oregano unless you're making a pizza.)
You can even score on eBay.

And some garden centers have it already growing fresh in little pots. Very cool! (And some herb garden centers will even carry the aformentioned other kitty drug plants.)

The BEST Way
Grow your own!
Remember, catnip is a member of the mint family and can take over a garden, which is a good thing, of course. But you'll want to take that into consideration.

Soil and Sun
Catnip likes an average, well-drained soil and full to partial sun.

When
Sow seeds when the last frost is over or sow in the fall to sprout first thing in the spring. Catnip is perrenial and can grow for many years. In harsh climates you can treat it as an annual and sow it new each year.

Sow
Sow seeds about 1/8 inch deep and keep moist but not soggy. Baby plants called "seedlings" (cute name, huh) should pop up in abot 10-20 days. When the little plants are about 4-5 inches tall you can thin them to 15-20 inches apart.

The Secret to BUDS
When your little plants make the first set of true leaves, pinch the little stem that begins to grow from the middle of them. In a few days it will branch. Then, pinch those and on and on. Since catnip buds on the ends of the branches, more branches more BUDS!

The Shape of Things
You want to aim for a green, compact, and bushy plant. Too pale, too leggy and not dense means you need more light and more pinching.

Premium Nip
Just like grapes, if you want a sweet and strong harvest, grow it in sandy/well-drained soil and keep it on the dry side. Drench then let it dry between waterings. You want to encourage the nip to produce more oils. Yeah!

Harvest
It's all good but buds are the best. Cut early in the day and hang the stems upside down in a shady place to dry. (Some of you looking for an especially potent treat can try fresh nip straight off the plant.)

Her's an awesome step by step diary of catnip culture by a kitty named Stella Click It!

For Peoples
Since peoples also read this blog, I know they're going "but what about ME?".
So I want you to know I haven't forgotten you. Yes, peoples can use catnip for a variety of things.
In fact, the online drug-bible Vaults of Erowid * has an entry about catnip!



~Christopher

* The Vaults of Erowid is a valuable source of information about drugs from caffiene to heroin. Even a non-user like my mommy finds the first-person experience stories very interesting. There's medical and scientific information and indentification. The site isn't biased pro or con and shows all angles.
So find out about the world around you and educate yourself. You may even find some everyday things you ingest are in Erowid's Vault.

YES YES YES!

Just "saw" the radar and the snows are coming with 1-2 inches in the Texas Hill Country and maybe just a dusting on the city.

Snow flurry pics are comin in from the northside of town.
I'm in the far south...a tad warmer usually.
That's ok.

I'm still waiting for it on my house.


*waits in anticipation*

Christopher

EDIT

YES YES YES! SOME SNOWFLAKES! OH YESSSSS!

*falls to knees*

Last Chance!!!

OMC!

We have one last chance for a freak (AN I MEAN FREAK) snow here in south Texas!!!

I cannot believe this because our winter is ovah and it was, like 80 degrees F here yesterday. No joke.

Tomorrow morning they say a freaky deaky snow is likely and that we may get some to stick on the northside of town (I'm in the south but that's ok). Even if it doesn't hit the ground...There is a chance for the white stuffs to make flakey goodness in the sky!

Then right back to spring.
But that doesn't matter now because we got one last chance!
We had a couple of kinda chances this winter, more than ever really, but blew em all.
This time I ain't messin around. I'm purrrin for snow...

Ok everybody. One more time with feeling ....purrrrin for SNOW!

This is it my friends! Now or nothing for, like, ever!

Round up the purrrs and wooofs cause we're makin some SNOW in south Texas tomorrow!!

*unpacks his jacket from the closet*

~Christopher

ReHoming Kitties in Urgent Situation

UPDATE on ReHOMING KITTIES

Momma and Pero have been rehomed to a wonderful young couple in their momma's area. She's feeling lonely without them of course but is in contact with the new family.
Very Good News!

Also, my brofur Little Red turned FIVE years old today so a big MEOW-OUT to my bro! To celebrate I've asked him to co-blog with me here. After he signs up and gets his desk together he'll start adding things here. Because I'm blind, he may do like movie reviews or something mol.
Anyhow, thanks for your response for my pal PeroDaCat and I will post any updates.

Ya know, I don't want my blog to be just about fund-raising and emergency pleas. Those things go out on Twitter (and boy, do I bug everyone MOL). But like I said, sometimes things overflow on here...and I am grateful beyond meows for your help.

Please remember: even if you can't help financially for a cause, PLEASE pass the word along! Facebook, Twitter, messageboards, blogs. That really helps =)

Have a wonderful day everyone.
(Happy Birthday Little Red!)

~Christopher


When it rains it pours. Literally. It's flooding where I live. But more about that later as I'm dry and safe.

What's urgent is my friend PeroDaCat and his catfamily members need to be rehomed. You see, his loving mommy is going into an assisted living home and there is no one to care for the cat-children so we need to find loving homes.

Put yourself in his mom's position...scary, isn't it, the thought of your babies being in total limbo!

Here's where YOU and anyone you can pass this message to, comes in:

We are trying to raise funds to rehome these cats.
Pero's mom would appreciate it be in the Phoenix AZ area.
But wherever the best home is...they'll go. We need people who can home these sweet babies! Knowing it may take a cross-country move to do it, it isn't going to be cheap so my dear doggie pal Ginger Walker has set up a fund and organizing for this. (Man, ain't she something!)

@PERODACAT FUND
Click for Details

Pero is laid back around 2 0r 3. Mammacat is a little bossy but cuddly also and about 1.5 years old. Gwin (da Panther) is smart and silly and Abby is a shy tortie over 10. (I'll try to get pics later.)
>^..^<
If anyone can help beyond a donation (rehoming, moving, freqent flyer miles or whatever) or need more info drop a line.
You can also reach us on Twitter (DM is best so's well see it). Be sure and mention PeroDaCat:

@ChrisGroove1 (me)
@ForeverGinger (Ginger Walker)
@catsalady (Pero's mom)
@PeroDaCat (Pero)

Thanks a lot, pals!

******************

Okay onto the flood. Ya know we missed out on even a snowflake while most everybody else got snows. Lots of it! It's sad because here they actually had to truck in 12000lbs of blown snow for some schoolkids. They never get to see it here.
We actually had to BUY snow! It's snowin in North Texas but we're too far South and within the curve of the Gulf Coast and Mexico.

And to think everybody else is getting it for FREE!
How fair is that?? Oh well, we missed the snow and getting the ice-water flood instead. Why? Why?
And I live in a flood zone. YAY!

The thing about snows is that it doesn't come into your house like water does...

So far so dry for me.
~Christopher

Mommacat Thanks You and So Do I!

UPDATE to STORY BELOW

As of earlier today Aveta and her babies were out of the kill pound and on their way to Winging Cat Rescue! They are safe.*

*Punapipurri, you have set your profile on private and I couldn't answer you back about the kitty. I hope you will see it here.

Avena's Story (w/happy ending!)

I don't normally put up chipins for donations on my blog. I do Tweet em...in fact, I pimp those that touch my heart pretty hard.
This was one of those and it spilled over into my blog.

Imagine being a heavily pregnant cat on death row at a high kill gassing pound with very little chance if any. (I won't go into the deatils of how gassing is done or the cruelty it entails.)

Winging Cat Rescue, one of the absolutely last chances to pull kitties of death row sends an urgent plea and a chipin is set up with a goal to pull and vet this unfortunate cat named Aveta. Just look at her picture...her eyes are terrified.

Shortly after she is taken into death row, the kitty goes into labor and gives birth to 7 kittens in her cage. Born in prison. I can only imagine her pain and fear in a crowded unknown place, trying to nurse her babies that will die with her. Even worse, how she will try to protect them and fight for them as the family is being gassed...

It broke my heart! I hit Twitter like a maniac and pimped this fund and didn't go to sleep until after 2am. I'm poor, I won't lie (see previous posts mol) but I scraped up $10 because every $ counts.
Twitter pals and Blogger pals and Catster pals passed the word and today we have SUCCESS!
I was just a small part of this, a drop of water in an ocean, but it all came together because of YOU and WINGING CAT.

Since babies were born after the intial chipin was set up, generous people have donated at this time, an extra $25! Fund goal has been met 116% as I write!
Any extra for the new babies is genuinely appreciated!

Check out the great peoples at Winging Cat Rescue

Man, what a great day!
I'd like to thank my own special angel Daisy as well.

~Many Purrrs
Christopher

Purrrin for SNOW!

On Dec 2nd I wrote in my Catster diary that we were due a freak snowfall here...70% chance. Well, it turned warm and the sun shone and we didn't get anything.
We've had some cold days since and plenty of sloppy weather but no snow or even any swirly flakes.

Ok, I may be blind but I wanna "see" snow here!
Maybe it won't stick to the ground but I wanna go out in the swirlies at least.

Nine weeks later (today) the weather is (maybe) gearing for snow again. If we don't get it this time we probably won't get another chance this year. It gets HOT here early in the year and summers last forever. To put it in perspective, the last time snow fell and stuck (it was about 8 inches) was 25 years ago.

HERE'S THE DEAL:

1, Within hours we are going to get a rainstorm and lots of hail. It hails here a lot so that's no biggie. Temps will drop steady and it will rain ice water all nite.

2, Tuesday it will be in the 40s and cloudy.

3, Tuesday nite it will freeze.

4, Wednesday morning it will start to rain lightly then turn to sleet and, hopefully, SNOW. 50% chance.

5, Wednesday night...more of the same chance of SNOW. 60% chance.

6, Thursday morning 70% chance COME ON COME ON then it will get a lil warmer and rain. (Thats ok.)

7, Thursday night gets cold again and the chance of SLEET/SNOW goes back up to 60%.

After that....well, no more.

So you see, we have a few periods that may see snowfall. In south Texas if snow falls, even if it doesn't stick, people call all their friends, get the children up, and run outside at 3am!!

COME ON SNOW!

***************

Just got this urgent call!

Sweet mamma cat just gave birth to seven babies in kill pound while on death row. SUPER URGENT!
We almost have enough for Winging Cat Rescue to pull her. Every dollar counts. Let's save her and her babies.

~Christopher

A New Year a Month In Already...

The holidays were ok. Thanks for all the good wishes. Mom was a little depressed this year. Times are tough (as it is for many) and she was missing her family that have passed. Kitties and peoples.
Turned out fairly cold too. We don't have heat and mom didn't have a real winter coat (in south Texas a winter coat is a sweatshirt and a knit cap) and we were truely touched when a Catster pal sent her a coat! How do you thank someone for such a sweet gesture?
Sometimes it's hard to accept help.
We'd all rather be the one writing the checks and helping and not the one in need.

We were told that we do have family. Maybe not blood family (like THAT ever assured concern and love) but family none the less.

They say that cyber friendships are outpacing "real" ones (and it makes me think of The Matrix when they say that) but, honestly, friends are wherever you find them.
How many of us have blood family and real life "friends" who don't give a rat's hiney when the chips are down?

Yup, things are still tough and I don't see any indication in my reality of the recession/depression ending. The upswing (that they tell us is happening) hasn't trickled down to us yet. Analysts say it may take years (we tend to believe the guys who say that) for the average Joe to feel it. They also say that for those who have lost thier jobs and had to take a much lesser job in return may be especially hard hit. Very hard to crawl back up.
But we are very lucky as we do have a roof over our heads. Kitties are eating discount brand food but we're eating. Moms eating hotdogs and beans. But she's eating. Don't qualify for public assistance but that's ok. Had a few dollars left and gave it to the Red Cross fund for Haiti at the supermarket checkout. God knows they need help. Gotta paw it forward.

That's probably one of the very most important lessons we learned from our online friends: We are all brothers on this planet and those that need help are to be helped by those who can. Some can give thousands. Some a dollar. Some their time. Purrrsonally, my family is taking on water. But we're bailing too. We're still afloat. I hope our few dollars will help someone. I know if everyone sent what they can, it sure would.
Thousands.
A dollar.
A coat.
Volunteering at an animal shelter.
Sending water to Haiti.
Visiting a nursing home.
Adopting a child.
Financing a playground.
Building a school.
Raking your elderly neighbor's leaves.
It all matters. So paw it forward.
Even if you just have a bag of potatoes...divvy up those taters, my friends =)


~Christopher