cat-olympics - synchronized snoozing

When it comes to the Cat-Olympics, I'm a newbie. Even though Nahum and Theo have been perfecting their routine now for a few years, their manager (me) doesn't quite know what he's doing.

So, I managed to enter them into their category, synchronized snoozing, which is being hosted by The Island Cats, and then kind of forgot about it! Yikes! Some cat-guardian I am! I learned from The Island Cat's comment on yesterday's post that Nahum and Theo made it to the finalist round!!!!!

Official Cat-Olympic Entry

There were 60 entrants which were narrowed to 15 finalists. All the finalists are now posted and wow, there are some talented snoozers out there! Nahum and Theo have steep competition, but I know they're up for it. They practiced and practiced their routine so much they could do it while sleeping!

Voting is open now, so may the best cat (or dog) win!!  Go to the official finalists page to vote.

GO NAHUM AND THEO!!!!!

more awards for me!

Wow, I'm thrilled to have recently picked up another two awards to add to the collection!

First, Random Felines graciously bestowed the Sunshine Award to me back on the 24th! Thank you so much!! With all the cloudy skies we have had lately, I'm hoping this Sunshine Award will make all those pesky clouds go away!


With the Sunshine Award comes seven questions that must be answered. I hope I get these questions right because I would hate to have to return the award.


So, you gotta answer 7 questions and then pass it on (and let them know they gotted it).

Question 1: Favorite Number?

• hmmm... I'll have to go with seven. Our hobby cattery license allows us to have seven cats. We only have six so far on the license (Oliver is a mostly outdoor cat but I went ahead and got him licensed, so he's officially mine!) So, as I see it, we got room for one more!

Question 2: Favorite Nonalcoholic beverage

• Tall soy mocha, no whip.

Question 3: Facebook or Twitter?

• Just facebook, twitter seems stupid. Not a huge fan of facebook either.

Question 4: Your Passion

• Silly question, cats of course! I love kitties, kittypets and ferals alike.

Question 5: Favorite Pattern

• Banana.

Question 6: Favorite Day of the Week

• Any day that doesn't involve work!

Question 7: Favorite Flower

• I'm impressed by hydrangeas, although I think they are toxic to kitties. And since Nahum is a flower hungry guy, I don't do flowers. (Sorry Laura!)

Now comes the fun part, I get to spread some Sunshine to some other great bloggers.

Bloggers I want to share this with:

• FosterKittenCam, The Scientist Kittens - ok, this technically is not a blog, but watching the kittens and mama has brought a huge amount of Sunshine to my life! Who can resist watching ginger kittens?!?!
• The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee - I must be in the mood for kittens! The amazing people at IBKC just raised over $75,000 for the cats at their local Humane Society! Awesome!
• Cat Tee Mission -  formerly known as the Purr Diaries, the blog was relaunched as part of the Cat Tee Mission, which is a great fundraising idea. Sarah creates fun original tee shirts which are available for purchase and all profits go to help cats!!

And if the Sunshine Award wasn't amazing enough, I was also recently given the Versatile Blogger Award by Sarah at Three Cats and a Girl! Wow! Thank you Sarah! 

I try to keep fourwhitepaws versatile in covering all things cat. I'm often tempted to fill the blog with cute picture, after cute picture of Willow, but that wouldn't be very versatile, now would it?! So, I mix in some other stuff in between the cute pictures of Willow! Speaking of which...

gratuitous cute Willow picture

Goodness, I digress, Willow will do that!

So, the Versatile Blogger Award comes with some rules. 

1. Nominate 5 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging. 
2. Let the nominated bloggers know they have been nominated for the award. 
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself. 
4. Thank the blogger who has nominated you. 
5. Add the Versatile picture to your post.

I'm gonna go out of order with the rules, hopefully this doesn't invalidate my Versatile Blogger Award! I'll start with seven random facts about myself.

• I've got a thing for Willow! 
• The best food of all time is cheese, especially Cabot Seriously Sharp, but sadly I'm allergic to dairy. :( 
• I once worked on an island paradise in the middle of no-where! It was the best!
• The first 30 years of my life I was a strict dog-person, and never even dared touch a cat. Thankfully my friends Tom and Sarah worked an intervention and set me straight.
• The briefest job I ever held was for only 5 hours. I couldn't even make myself get through the entire first day. Since I was the only one in the office when I quit, I had to leave a note for the boss telling him I was done. 
• I was a DJ at the college radio station. 
• I love trains. 
• Forget the printing press, the lightbulb and the sewing machine, flannel lined jeans are the best invention of all time! 
• Roger Water's The Wall is music for my soul. 
• I can't count to seven! 

Now, to share the goodness with five bloggers who are relatively new to blogging. Ok, here goes:

• Cat With A Garden - now, this blog is not new, but Siena hasn't posted in quite a while, so maybe this award will spur a new update! Siena is a gorgeous fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat. 
• Mr. Puddy - again, not a new blog, but with Mr. Puddy's recent return from a long absence, it's like a new blog! Since my first cat was a floofy black and white, I'm a sucker for floofy tuxedos! 
• Frank's Corner - another fluffy kitty! (are you detecting a theme here?!) It's been ages since Frank has posted any updates. Frank's blog doesn't have many followers, so it qualifies as relatively new. 
• Tails from the Foster Kittens - Connie has lots and lots of great pictures of her kitties and her fosters. For some reason I'm partial to Fleurp. 
• The Maple Syrup MOB - Jane and Chris's blog certainly qualifies as Versatile, as they cover many of their great adventures, whether working on a new deck or visiting the fun art installation in town - oh and plenty of kitties sprinkled in too!

Thanks again to Random Felines and Three Cats and a Girl!

Mr. Puddy's back!!!

Just a few days ago I posted about Mr. Puddy's missing in action status, then this morning I find this comment waiting for me:

Wow! Best comment ever!!!

So, I raced over to see Mr Puddy and sure enough, he's back! So glad to see he's doing alright! My crazy imagination had conjured up some rather unpleasant outcomes - so happy to be wrong! Welcome back Mr. Puddy!! Yahooo!!!!

change of plans

The list of chores for this weekend is mighty, so when I got home from work this afternoon I was planning to get started on that list a little early. I figured I would start with the thing I wanted to do the least, fix the peeling paint in the mudroom. I don't know what happened but for some reason the recently applied primer has decided not to stick to the wall compound on the mudroom walls, so the paint is peeling right off. Argh!

I'm not exactly sure how to repair it so it's not obvious that paint peeled from the wall, so I thought I might get a quick bit of inspiration from Google. I fired up the computer and before I know it, Nahum parks in my lap. A minute later Willow claims my lower legs. Hmmm, this might slow me down.

Then Buddy eyes the situation to see if there's room for him. Buddy's a keen snuggler, so he notices that even though my lap is fully occupied...

my arms remain available. So he promptly settles in.

Willow and Nahum occupy the legs...

Buddy gets the arm leaving me with one arm available to do my Googling. 

I suppose the peeling paint can wait!

lounging practice

yep, you're doing it right!

MIA but not forgotten

Remember this guy?

photo courtesy of everydayvisitor.blogspot.com

It's Mr. Puddy. He's been absent from the blogging world now for over three months. I think about him often and wonder if he's getting to chase bugs and Mr. Smudge around his yard or if he's getting his fill of tummy rubs.

photo courtesy of everydayvisitor.blogspot.com

I hope all is well with you and your family Mr. Puddy - please know you are missed.

well loved

The ferals sure love their Nip Nanners!

Back in April it was clean and bright yellow.

April 2012

Now it's brown and is filled with thousands of teeth holes.

July 2012

July 2012

I think it's time for a new Nip Nanner for the ferals.

Monday

Another Monday!

Kirkland Signature Flea & Tick Control Review

Giving my cats spot on flea medicine always seems scary to me. I don't know much about these things, but the chemicals just seems nasty and dangerous to me - it's got to be terrible for the cat. I usually get Advantage II and only use it every once in awhile as fleas don't seem very common in my area.

The other day while walking through Costco on the way to the cat litter, I saw they now have their own brand of a spot on flea medicine. Since I've usually been pleased with Costco brand products, I took notice. It's called Kirkland Signature Flea & Tick Control for Cats. It was less than $20 for 6 applications, I figured it can't be any more toxic than Frontline or Advantage right? WRONG.

Well, before opening the package, I thought I might do a quick search for reviews of the product and boy am I glad I did, wow! First thing that came up was Amazon.

26 reviews and 24 were extremely negative. People reported their cats had all sorts of extreme reactions to the product. Many needed emergency vet care as their cats experienced severe burns, seizures, lethargy, lost appetite, difficulties breathing, the list goes on. The reviews read like a list of horror stories.

Next up on the review list was Advantix vs. Frontline. They compared the ingredients on the Kirkland product and found the listed ingredients to be the same as Bio Defense Spot On. They looked up reviews on Bio Defense and found mostly negative ones. A few people shared their experiences of the Kirkland product at Advantix vs. Frontline and they were also heart wrenching.

I thought I might look over the packaging a little more thoroughly after finding all this out. What I found disturbed me even more. Here is the back of the package. (If you want to read it, click on the picture to make it bigger.)

The parts that were most alarming to me was first the WARRANTY AND CONDITIONS OF SALE section, especially the last two sentences.

As I read that, they are saying they are not liable for anything more than the purchase price of the product. So if your cat gets sick, incurs vet expenses or dies, don't go looking for damages from Costco.

The little yellow box was also alarming.

Seeing all this information and bad reviews made me wonder about my trusty Advantage II for Cats by Bayer. On the back of the Advantage II there are no warnings about reported side effects only the statement, "Individual sensitivities, while rare, may occur after using ANY pesticide product for cats. If signs persist, or become more severe, consult a veterinarian immediately." There is no warranty or conditions of sale listed on the outside of the package, however on the leaflet inside the box there is a similar limited warranty and limitation of damages statement.

Lastly, I looked at Amazon to see what the reviews were of Advantage II for Cats, and they were about the opposite of the Kirkland product.

After researching the available reviews on the internet, my conclusion is that Kirkland Signature Flea & Tick Control for cats is extremely toxic and should never be used. Please warn everyone you know to read the online reviews before using this product, so they don't unintentionally hurt their beloved cat. I'll be returning the one I bought to Costco for a full refund. While I'm at it, I'm going to call Costco's customer service number (800-774-2678) and express my concern for their choice to carry such a toxic product.

afternoon drama and EBK gets a name!

warning: this post is heavy on the pictures!

This afternoon I took a short break from work to check in on the feral cam as I sometimes do. Usually, I see Oliver sleeping soundly in his bed and that makes me very happy. Today, I was treated to an action packed soap-opera unfolding on my very own back porch - and I learned that Oliver makes a lousy guard-cat.

 4:11:47pm

Evil Bushy Kitty (EBK) lounging on the back porch with the feral's cat toys.

4:12:09pm

And sure enough, Oliver's in his his bed snoozing away. As far as I know these two are not friends. Last time I saw them together, Oliver was beating up on EBK for trespassing in his yard. I broke up the fight so EBK could get away.

4:12:36pm

EBK doesn't seem concerned at all that Oliver is sleeping just a few feet away.

4:15:09pm

4:16:31pm

These nipped filled homemade cat toys are fun!

4:17:22pm

Oliver continues to sleep...

4:21:02pm

EBK keeps glancing up at Oliver to see if he's been noticed.

4:22:24pm

Might as well have a snack...

4:22:53pm

and play with the food!

4:23:21pm

Ok, now what...

4:24:09pm

I'm bored.

4:24:39pm

Oliver still seems oblivious...

4:28:37pm

suppose I could take a nap too...

4:30:05pm

or, I might just have another snack...

4:32:17pm

this blanket blanket looks comfy...

4:32:26pm

4:32:57pm

4:33:22pm 

4:33:51pm

yea, this'll work.

5:30:12pm

 One hour later: zonkersville!

5:31:32pm

Meanwhile, Oliver's still snoozing away.

6:33:44pm

Another hour later, still zonkersville.

6:52:09pm

7:02:29pm

Stretch!! Time to get up.

7:03:11pm

All that napping's worked me up an appetite!

7:06:23pm

You see me yet Mr. Oliver?

7:07:53pm

nope, still sleeping

7:09:54pm

gosh all that snackin's made me tired...

7:10:13pm

time for a nap...

7:10:43pm

I'm kinda liking this place...

7:15:26pm

I might have to make this place a regular hang out...

7:17:08pm

Oh, Mr. Oliver finally got up.

7:17:44pm

He finally sees me!

7:18:14pm

Oliver: Uh, excuse me! What are you doing on my porch??

7:18:24pm

Can I help you with finding the exit?

7:18:40pm

Well, if you're not gonna leave, I guess I will.

7:19:05pm

bye.

7:21:49pm

EBK: I got the place to myself!

7:45:04pm

Sounds like something exciting is going on out there...

7:47:48pm

I better go check it out.

7:48:10pm

time to go...

7:49:51pm

bye!

Can you tell that I got a lot of work done this afternoon and evening?! Oh well, the work will always be there tomorrow.

As I was watching Evil Bushy Kitty lounge on the back porch over the course of the afternoon, I realized it's been a long time since I have seen him do anything evil. Maybe it's time to remove the 'Evil' from his name and return to Bushy Kitty once again. If you don't remember how Bushy Kitty became Evil Bushy Kitty, you can read all about it here.

As Bushy Kitty was walking away, I noticed he still has a nasty limp on his back right leg.

I actually got a little video of him limping, but it's too sad to post.

After seeing him hobbling so much, I gathered all my gumptions and went down the road to the house where I often see Bushy Kitty hanging out. This house has a cute little cat house and an empty pail of kitty litter on the front porch, so I was hoping they could tell me something about him.

I knocked on the door and asked the man who answered if he knew the big bushy kitty who frequented his porch. I learned that he and his family have taken on the care taking role for Bushy Kitty since they moved in a year or so back. He said Bushy Kitty's really old and has been a neighborhood stray for many years. Apparently the children who live in the house have really taken to Bushy Kitty and he's quite friendly with them. 

I explained to him about the limp and he seemed quite concerned. We happen to notice that Bushy Kitty was lounging in someone's yard across the road so we went over to him to check him out. He was quite content being picked up and handled by this guy even though he's never allowed me to get near him. This time I got to rub his head a bit - he's really quite sweet! We didn't see any visible wounds, so he brought him inside and said he would have his wife take him to vet to see what's going on. I'll follow up tomorrow to see if there's any news.

I learned that Bushy Kitty's real name is really Gilbert!