The Tagged Game

THE RULES
Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Cats who are tagged need to write about themselves (the seven random facts) as well as the rules in their diary. You need to select seven cats to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment (via p-mail) telling them that they've been tagged and that they need to read your diary for more information. My family is going to play by altered rules and we are not going to tag other kitties. Mom was on vacation for a week and came home to a mail box full of 'tags'

MY SEVEN FACTS
1. I am FIV+.
2. I am an attention hog.
3. I try to eat the tastiest morsels from the dishes of all of my siblings. After I eat mine, of course.
4. My favorite person is my Aunt Ami.
5. When I first came to my home, mom had to put out stuffed animals for me to cuddle because I missed the cats at my foster home so much.
6. I very rarely meow.
7. I lived in a foster home with over 30 other cats.

Kitties I tagged:

I'm not tagging any other kitties.

The Best Catmas Present You Can Give

Hi everyone, Busbee here. You may not know this, but I am a cat of few words, which is why this is only mythird diary entry. I only write about important things, like treat recipes, my Aunt Ami and cat rescue.

With the holidays upon us, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about volunteering with homeless pets. My mom volunteers with a cat rescue so she knows how much local shelters and rescues need your help!! Thousands of animals are euthanized each day in this country. Millions each year. Think about it! Beautiful, precious dogs and cats and even rabbits, yes, rabbits and other *exotic* pets are surrendered to shelters too. These animals are put to sleep because nobody wants them. Worse, they would be able to stay alive longer and maybe even find a home, if there was more money to support them and more foster homes for them to live in.

There are many national organization that are very well funded. In fact, you might even watch their shows on Animal Planet. I'm not saying that they don't need money too, because they do. But there are many private rescue agencies out there who are barely able to stay afloat because they so badly need volunteers and monetary contributions. They are trying their best to help cats like me and Lucy and Colby and Jack and so many other cats on Catster who are pound and rescue cats and dogs, and like our canine brother, Pony Boy and our cousin Geoff.

If you can't contribute money, that's OK because they need warm bodies to volunteer their time to care for the animals, foster them, take them to the vet, screen applicants to adopt them and lots and lots of other things. So please, won't you consider helping local shelters and rescues in your area? It is very rewarding work and it's a wonderful way to give back to your community.

These shelters and rescues can also educate people about managing feral cats - how to care for feral colonies by providing food and shelters and about trap/neuter/release programs to help decrease the feral population. I'll check my numbers just to be sure, but did you know that one male and one female left unaltered, can produce over 35,000 cats in 7 years? ***CORRECTION*** According to Al Dams, spokesman for King County Animal Control, Bellvue, Washington, one female cat and her offspring, if not altered, can produce 420,000 cats within seven years. One female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs over six years. (http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_062604ADKshelter sSW.29d7c476c.html)

Alley Cat Allies is a wonderful national organization that specializes in educating the public about feral cats. Please visit their site at www.alleycat.org

So please, while the spirit of giving is still in your heart, won't you consider volunteering with an animal charity? We don't have a voice of our own so we rely on you to be our voice.

Thank you and Merry Catmas!

Welcome Aunt Ami and Darci

I'd like to welcome my best Aunt Ami and her kitty girl, Darci, to Catster! Aunt Ami has other cats, too, and I'm sure she will put them on Catster as soon as she gets a chance (she's also got two human babies that keep her busy). Aunt Ami used to come over to my house almost every day and sit with us and take Pony Boy out to potty and sometimes take him home with her. She would brush me and cuddle and kiss me and she was my very bestest friend! But then her husband graduated from school and Aunt Ami had to move away because Jimi got a new job. I liked Jimi a whole lot too! He's a real big guy, like me. Aunt Ami still comes to visit sometimes, but I sure do miss seeing her almost every day, and I know that Pony Boy and the other cats, they miss her too. So Aunt Ami, I just want to say that I love you and miss you and I'm glad that you've joined Catster so we can all FINALLY be friends with your kitties :o)

Best Treats in the W ORLD!!

Today my mom made us the best treats in the whole entire WORLD!!! If you've read my profile, you know that my household is raw fed. I think that's a pretty good way to eat...I like the food a lot and it's really good for us. We do miss kibble and enjoy store bought treats, though we don't get them that often. But my mom decided that she wanted to make some treats for us that were more natural, with no preservatives and stuff like that. So she made us these AWESOME liver treats! Just chicken livers, brown rice flour and garlic - but I swear they taste like cat candy!!!!

Here's how she did it:

1 lb. any kind of liver, pureed
2 cups brown rice flour
1-2 TBS garlic powder or 1 - 2 cloves minced garlic

Bake at 325 - 350 for 30 minutes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. For crunchier treats, cut after the inital baking time. Reduce heat to 200 - 250, bake for an additional hour, checking a couple of times. Store in refrigerator or freeze.

I'm telling you, these are good, good, GOOD treats! All natural and very good for you.