Click N Feed

Our friends The Bumpass Hounds have been asking everyone who doesn't have a favorite shelter entered into the Shelter Challenge at the Animal Rescue Site to please vote for a rescue they are very involved with, the one that saved their newest member, a blind pup they named Radar -- Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue & Sanctuary in Capon Bridge, WV.

It's very easy.You're already clicking at the Animal Rescue Site daily to help feed shelter animals, aren't you? Well, then, we hope you will begin as of today! Their link and the links to Feed Hungry Dogs & Feed Hungry Cats are in our sidebar. You can pick up a graphic for your blog at each site. Encourage your friends, relatives and even your enemies to visit each site daily.

At the Animal Rescue Site, as soon as you click the button to feed the shelter animals today --

Look toward the top of the page for the shelter challenge voting button. Click on it.
From the state drop down menu, choose "WV."
At the bottom of the box click "search."
The second shelter listed is AHGRR in Capon Bridge. Click "vote."
To validate your vote, type in whatever type of animal you see: elephant, cow, dog ......

Click on the graphic or click here to go to the Animal Rescue Site.

Now, if you aren't voting for any other shelter/rescue, please vote and help spread the word. The AHGRR can use your vote.

And now that your clicking finger is warmed up, don't forget these fun daily clicks to feed the animals. Each has a daily question but it doesn't matter whether your answer is right or wrong, the animals still "win" -- the food is still donated.

Oh, by the way, our Jan said she feels like a dunce trying to learn how to do things at her age, that it wouldn't be so hard if her brain still had room left for new information. But we figure she still has lots of room to learn and store, her brain just needs a new filing system.

Still, even with her limited knowledge of Photoshop Elements she managed to make us a header for our Zazzle store last night. We really like it. It features Buddy and our Crystal (R.I.P.)when they were both younger. We're so glad Crystal is included since he will always be one of the original Funny Farm. You can see our new header here..

Have a great Sunday!

Sunshine and Olive

Christopher gave us the Sunshine Award Friday and although we received it on February 1st, we are very pleased to receive it again, especially as Christopher left us this message: Thanks for your write-up about the disabled pets book. Since I am disabled myself, you are like a ray of Sunshine!

He is referring to yesterday's post on disabled pets. We titled it "Perfect Pets" because each one is perfect for someone. Christopher was born blind and is obviously a ray of sunshine to his family. How do we know? His nickname is "Mamma's Little Boy."

"

The Sunshine Blog Award

Thank you, Christopher. We won't pass the award on to other blogs again, but we will value it. You can visit him at Christopher's Groove.

Oh, when we stopped by Christopher's, we noticed he is on Catster. This reminded us that we kitties recently joined Catster. And the doggies joined Dogster. We joined so recently we haven't even had a chance to build our pages yet. That's kind of a daunting task, to consider doing 8 separate pages. We wish we had taken the time to join before Crystal died so he could be on there with us. He was part of the Funny Farm since long before we started this journal. It doesn't seem right to leave him out.You can click on any of our photos in the Catster/Dogster widgets in the sidebar to view our basically empty pages.

Have a great weekend. And don't forget to visit Ollie's birthday party this weekend. Click on the graphic at the top of the sidebar or click here.

Perfect Pets

A few months ago we posted Rewards of Disabled Pets and Mary A Shafer who wrote the book Almost Perfect about disabled pet and the people who love them.left a comment, "It's so important that we take the time to realize the value of all life, and special needs critters sure do have a way of helping us do just that. We have a whole book about the rewards of sharing your life with a disabled pet:" We intended to check this book out but time got away from us, so we're just now getting to it.

We stopped by her blog today, Almost Perfect Pets. She writes about different species of disabled pets, not just cats and dogs -- including a duck named Sebastian.

We are intrigued by Mary's book but Jan says we're in emergency only spending mode, so she won't let us buy it. But we find the subject intriguing. It does take a special heart to adopt a special needs pet. But we hear each of these animals greatly enrich the life of the owner. That's why we titled this post "Perfect Pets." Each one is just perfect for someone.

We don't know Mary and she has no idea we're posting this. But we figure anyone who devotes a blog and a book to animals with disabilities has to be a kind, loving person. Stop by Almost Perfect Pets and meet some of the animals she posts about..

One of them is Chase. A bad beginning but a happy ending. Ignore the part of the video that asks you to vote for Chase. The voting evidently ended and Chase didn't win but according to the Hope for Paws page, Chase Bank donated $25,000 to Chase. (Hmmm, think it might have anything to do with his name?) So we assume Chase is having or has already had the surgery on his hips so he can be pain free.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Buddy: Jan says Sam and I should chip in to send her toe on vacation, that perhaps a little sand and surf would help it. (We checked the trash for a wine bottle but evidently she was sober.) When we asked how we're supposed to pay for it, since she won't give us an allowance, she said, "Get a job!"

Sam: Since she insists much of the problem is our fault, we're thinking of singing at passersby and passing a hat for donations. Only problem is we don't have a hat, so we'll have to steal .... uh, borrow one of Jan's baseball caps. It shouldn't take long to raise the funds to send her toe on vacation. The rest of her -- well, she'll have to pay her own way.

Don't forget to attend Opus' surprise birthday party for his sister Ollie (Olive). Just click on the graphic at the top of the sidebar to get there. The party will be going on all weekend.

Bronze Medal and Friends

We're very proud of our Merci. She placed in The Monkey's Fetching Competition. We realize she's a dog and dogs are expert fetchers but she had some very tough competition from kitty photos and videos. Since none of us kitties fetch, we didn't realize there are so many that do.

Moving quickly, Merci runs with the stick.

The Monkeys said: "Now for the bronze medalists! We had a tie for bronze... Merci from Jan's Funny Farm and Ellie from Cory's blog! Congratulations, you two!"

Yes, congratulations also to Ellie, Milo(silver) and Alfie (gold).

We enjoy the Anheuser Busch Clydesdale ads and since some of our readers live outside the US or aren't sports fans, we decided to post the 2010 Super Bowl ad. A great reminder that nothing comes between friends for long.



If the video doesn't play for you, click here.

Gold and Bronze

Tuesday was a very busy day for us as we all attended the awarding of the medals for three separate events of the Cat-o-lympics. It was a race to be there on time for our nervous siblings and our friends in the competitions which were held at different locations.

The results from the Naughty Kitty Club's Strong Cat Competition of the Cat-o-lympics was a lot of fun for Cyndi to participate in. And she got a gold medal for it. Now before you think we're bragging on our Cyndi, the judges made an announcement: "Because of the joy you all brought to the judges, they decided unanimously - everyone gets a gold!"

So to all the competitors in the Strong Cat category -- including our lovely and super strong Cyndi -- congratulations on your gold medal! You can view all the contestants at the Naughty Kitty Club.

Cyndi and the tree she knocked down to enter the competition.

Our Cotton took a Gold Medal in the Extreme Climbing, Indoor Competition at Amy & the House of Cats.. As with Cyndi's competition, "Because everyone did such a great job, and it was so tough to make a decision, the judges have deemed that all entrants deserve a gold medal!" We think all the indoor and outdoor entries were fun too. Congratulations to all of you. Pawsome climbing performances.

This is Cotton's entry. She's on top of the fridge where our oldest resident reigns. (Cotton, we think either you needed to be shorter or Jan needed to be taller to take your photo with you head in it.You have a pretty face.)

Cotton on her fridge mountain.

The Island Guy broke the fight between the judges at The Island Cats over the Synchronized Snoozing event.. This is what the judges said about Buddy & Sam's entry: "Buddy & Sam from the country of Jan’s Funny Farm! Excellent use of the frontward mirror technique, Buddy & Sam! Your tail placement was darn near purrfect!! Pretty good for woofies!!"

Buddy & Sam, trying to look humble: Aw, thanks for the kind words. We enjoyed competing at something we both do so well.

Synchronized Snoozers Buddy & Sam

And for this, our largest and noisiest residents won a Bronze Medal. If there are any teeth marks showing, it's because Sam and Buddy both assumed their medal to be edible. It isn't.

Congratulations to God Medalists Angel & Kirby and to the Silver Medalists Laila & Minchie. All the entries were fun to view.

The winners of Merci's category will be announced tomorrow.

Percy: Sam has requested an opportunity to speak. Perhaps we should let all the winners have a turn.

Sam: Oh, sorry, I don't ... uh, I didn't mean ... I mean I wanted to say something on another subject. It wasn't my fault. Jan blamed most of those accidents on me, but she can't blame me for this one. I wasn't even in the same room this time!

Percy: What are you babbling about, Sam? You aren't responsible for what?

Sam: Jan's toe. It was Buddy. He jumped off the bed in the dark Monday night and landed smack on Jan's toe again. At least he landed on a different part of it but ... Well, it doesn't matter if he doesn't weigh as much as I do, he's still a big guy. And I'm not the one that made her scream this time. Can I please take my half of the medal and move into the closet until Jan's toe heals so I can't be blamed for any more accidents? My nerves are shattered and I hate the sight of blood.

Buddy: That's it. Blame me. It's actually Jan's fault. I distinctly heard her say, "Buddy, get off the bed." So I did!

Percy: Yep, none of us can fault you for Jan's lack of sight in the dark. If she didn't want you to land on her toe, it shouldn't have been in your way.

Chewing Our Nails

The Island Cats were going to announce the winners of the Synchronized Snoozing competition in the Cat-o-lympics but the judges got to wrestling over all the great entries and thus they had to wait for a special judge, The Island Cat Guy, to help break the deadlock. As we type this on Monday evening, we are pleased to note that Buddy and Sam have made the cut and are among the 12 finalists.

Synchronized Snoozers Buddy & Sam

Will the only woofies included prevail among all that cat talent? Hard to predict. There are some pawsome entries. We'll find out tomorrow -- oh, that would be today, since this won't post until early Tuesday. . You can view them all here.

The Monkeys are taking a poll on the Fetching Contest. If they award the winners from the poll results at this moment, Milo is in the lead with his brother Alfie right behind him. Our Merci is tied for 3rd place with Ellie. Will Merci pull ahead or drop behind before the poll closes tonight -- Monday -- at midnight EST?


Moving quickly, Merci runs with the stick.

We are each entered in one event, but we don't have any updates on any of the events we kitties entered. We're all chewing our nails in excitement..

We do have an update on our water situation. If you remember, we didn't have any water from last Wednesday evening until after 2 pm Thursday. And then we were under a boil water advisory. Jan boiled pots of water and then had to cool them so we were constantly short of drinking water. It wasn't until mid-morning Monday she heard on the radio the advisory was lifted -- about 1 pm SUNDAY! A furry could die of thirst with the lack of news in the county over the weekend. We finally have big bowls of water so we can drink all we want. What a relief. We have two bottomless jugs here, named Buddy and Sam ... so if one of them got to the bowl first ...

Courthouse Dogs

Yesterday we posted on Zoey, the grief therapy dog at a funeral home. Today we want to bring you another type of therapy dog -- courthouse dogs.

From the website:

A courthouse setting can be an intimidating place for most people who enter the building to participate in criminal or family court matters. However the presence of a well-trained dog that provides emotional support by offering a soft head to stroke can make the experience a less stressful one.

Since 2003 courthouse dogs have provided comfort to children who have been sexually abused while they undergo forensic interviews and testify in court. The dogs also assist drug court participants in their recovery, visit juveniles in detention facilities, greet jurors and in general lift the spirits of courthouse staff who often conduct their business in an adversarial setting.

In the King County Bar Bulletin, Superior Court Judge Wesley Saint Clair, who has had the experience of a facility dog assisting two witnesses during a trial and providing companionship to everyone in the drug court setting, stated that he “finds that the dog's presence dissipates tension for everyone when dealing with difficult issues and provides a sense of normalcy.”

You can read the rest of this and find more information at CourthouseDogs.

We think it's terrific that humans are finding we furries are not just flea buffets but flesh and blood comforters. There are entire blogs dedicated to therapy dogs. And we know a few therapy cats in the Cat Blogosphere.

So, if all these dogs and cats can be therapy animals, why won't Jan let us do therapy on her toe? Does she have something against furry therapy?

We added a new design to our Zazzle store for mugs, cards, misc. items.

Zoey, Grief Therapy Dog

Humans are finding new ways to allow furries to help them. We already know we're comforting to be around in times of stress and few things are more stressful than attending the funeral of a loved one. so what could be more natural than a therapy dog for a funeral home? (We kitties would like to know whether there are any therapy kitties for funeral homes? We're comforting too.)

Sharon L. Peters, USA TODAY

Most of the time Zoey the golden retriever is just a typical, good-natured family pet. She cheerfully submits to being dressed up in little outfits to play house with the three young girls who adore her. She's a regular on family rollerblading outings. And when things get a little slow around the house, she rounds up the family's socks and slippers for reasons known only to her. But about once a week, she dons a red and yellow vest and slips into another role. Zoey is a grief therapy dog. She offers empathy and comfort to friends and relatives who have gathered at Michigan Memorial Funeral Home in Flat Rock, Mich., to say goodbye to a loved one. "It's almost as if Zoey knows that her calm presence just seems to make people who are sad a little less sad," says the dog's owner, Kelly Dwyer, whose husband owns the funeral home where Zoey has become a regular. Read the rest of the article here.

It's been a while since we've added a new design to our Zazzle store but we think you'll like the new one. There are a few miscellaneous items displaying it on the site and once it's approved by the USPO, it will be available for sale from our store as a 44 cents US postage stamp.

Saturday afternoon we learned from our friend Khyra of a woman in North Georgia whose rescue was closing down. The economy is hitting many rescues hard and funding has dropped significantly. Rescue is stressful enough, but this was evidently too much stress. She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Most of the dogs are already gone, but there are still about 20 left at Dog Pack Rescue in need of a home. Some of them are pictured here. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of .Shari Johannes.

Kleen and Fetching

Today we have our final entries for the Cat-a-lympics. Each of us has had opportunity to participate.

Mile Long Machine Kleen
We have entered Rusty in this event which is sponsored by One Cats Nip.

As you can see Rusty is very thorough, washing carefully all the way to the tip of his tail. This takes quite a while as Rusty has a long, thick coat. Unfortunately, when Jan took this photo, she had no idea there would be a competition coming up and she very nearly deleted this one, along with the other bath photos he conned her into taking that day.

A very thorough Rusty finishes his bath.

Fetching
We were stymied as to where Merci could participate since many of the games are limited to cats. We were just about to give up and enter her in the Competitive Napping contest with Percy when we learned The Monkeys are hosting a fetching competition. Can Merci fetch? You bet your rawhide! She played fetch with Jan in the front yard in the rain one day and fortunately Jan's brother recovered all these photos when her computer had a meltdown last year. So here is our lovely Merci fetching her stick. This was pre-dog pen, so for her safety Merci was on a very long leash.


Jan threw the stick and Merci has caught up to it.


She is very particular. It must be picked up to be carried just so.


Moving quickly, Merci runs with the stick.


And a reflective moment on her fetching success.

We have enjoyed participating in the Cat-0-lympics. There is some very tough competition, but we think the Funny Farmers are good athletes and each entry stands a good chance of winning a medal.

Good luck to each of the other competitors.

Wakeup and Strong Cat

Well, after about 20 hours of being without water -- not just us but the county -- we finally have water again. Going without water is kind of an Olympic event of it's own. The local radio station was announcing a boil water advisory but Jan couldn't figure out how to boil it if there isn't any available. She did get a small pot of water just before it went off and at one point this morning there was a fast drip and she managed to get a small dishpan of water to half fill the toilet bowl before the tap ran dry again. She wants to take a shower but she's afraid the water will disappear like it did when she soaped her hands this morning and found the drip had dried up.

The Late Night Human Wakeup
We just had to enter Cameron in this Cat-o-lympic event which is being hosted by Tuck.

Fortunately, since photos are hard to come by in the middle of the night, a story is allowed. We could tell the one about Sam leaping on Jan's infected toe in the middle of the night. But we have an old one we'd like to share again. Cameron is a winner in this category as far as we're concerned. Hehehe

Cameron, our Late Night Human AND FURRY Wakeup champion!

This is an excerpt from our August 5, 2005 post, Waking the Dead.

Crystal says, sadly, “Grayce died suddenly and Jan didn’t have a chance to say good-bye. She knows Jenny’s time is short, so Jenny is getting as much attention as Jan can give her. Jenny was always affectionate but independent. She never liked to be held before, but now she’s eating up the extra attention.”

“I thought I would bawl last night when Jan suggested we say good-bye to Jenny because Jenny was going to go to sleep and she probably wouldn’t wake up.”

“You?” Cyndi asks, in surprise. “I never thought of you as the sentimental type, Cotton. Perhaps it was from lack of sleep since none of us got much rest last night, between Jan sitting up with Jenny and Mr. Clatterpuss waking the entire household after we all finally drifted off to sleep.”

“I resent that Mr.Clatterpuss remark!” The voice comes from underneath the bed.

“Come out from there, Cameron,” Percy demands. “What are you doing under the bed?

“Hiding.” Cameron’s head appears from under the bedspread. “I’ve been trying to keep out of Jan’s way. I figure she has enough on her mind with Jenny being so old and tired.” He tilts his head and changes his tune. “Actually, Jan — all of you — should be thanking me that Jenny is still with us today.”

“What?” the group choruses, in unison.

“Have you lost your mind?” Cotton demands.

“No,” Cameron asserts. “But if you remember correctly, Jan told us in the wee hours of the morning that when Jenny went to sleep, it would likely be for the last time; she probably wouldn’t be waking up again.”

“But Jenny is alive. She did wake up again.” Merci shakes her head, in confusion. “What does that have to do with you?”

Cameron looks around at the group. “It has everything to do with me. I’m not any more prepared to say good-bye to Jenny than any of you, so I couldn’t get to sleep when all the rest of you did. I tossed and turned on the counter, until in desperation, I decided to try a relaxed breathing technique I read about in a book. I took a deep breath, stretched, and suddenly there was a deafening clatter! Scared me out of one of my nine lives.”

“That’s because you pushed the dish draining rack off the counter, and all our stainless steel food bowls and Jan’s silverware went bouncing around the kitchen. The noise was loud enough to wake the dead!” Merci reminds him.

“Exactly!” Cameron exclaims. “The noise woke Jan, all of you guys — and Jenny!” He looks around at the blank faces of his friends. “See, Jenny did wake up. She’s not dead. You should all thank me.”

Percy shakes his head, in disbelief. “And you guys think Buddy and I are daft? Cameron, if Jan had caught you last night, you would probably be minus three inches in height and another one of your nine lives. I think you should go back under the bed until your concussion heals.”

Strong Cat Competition
We entered Cyndi in this competition which is being held by the Naughty Kitty Club.

Cyndi and the tree she knocked down.

Yep, Cyndi knocked the oak tree in front of our house right off its stump! Jan was upset since that was our shade tree. However, when she saw how rotten the inside of the tree was she calmed down and eventually thanked our hero Cyndi for possibly saving the house.

We'll be back tomorrow with our last entries, starring Rusty and Merci.

Extreme Climbing Competition

The House of Cats is hosting an Extreme Climbing Competition for the Cat-0-lympics. Well, cats are great climbers so we just have to enter this one. And since we're housecats, we are entering the indoor division.

We chose Cotton on top of the refrigerator as our entry. See, she is so high up Jan couldn't even get her head in the picture. (Actually, Jan just blew it, but we're trying not to insult her so she'll let us use the computer.) Cotton's favorite dishpan bed with Gizzy quilt is to her right (your left) and her favorite blue and white "lounge chair" (ice chest) is behind her. All she needs is food, water and litter pan and she could have her own fridge apartment up there. That would make her very happy, but Jan says no!

Cotton on her fridge mountain.

Competitive Napping

We couldn't resist. We decided to enter the Competitive Napping category of the Cat-o-lympics at Huffle Mawson's. Are you sensing the theme here yet? Napping is something we are all experts at.

Again, we pulled out the first good shot we found. Well, actually we came across some great shots of Buddy napping in his chair but since he's already entered in the Synchronized Snoozing category, he agreed another one of us should have a chance.

Percy napping on Buddy's chair

Synchronized Snoozing

We decided to enter a competition we're all experts at. The Island Cats are hosting the Synchronized Snoozing competition for the Cat-o-lympics, which are being held in honor of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. Fin of Household Confidential came up with the Cat-o-lympics idea.

Thankfully, woofies can enter too because we found this woofie photo first, so they are the JFF entry. We're not even sure we have any synchronized kitty snoozing. We kitties have so many places to choose from that we tend to sleep far enough apart Jan can't fit us in the same frame.

Synchronized Snoozers Buddy & Sam

Move Over

We told you yesterday that Jan didn't even feed us woofies breakfast Friday until 2:30 in the afternoon. She just plain forgot. She even forgot to fill the cat bowls.

And then she forgot our dinner! By bedtime she was confused -- did she or didn't she? -- so she gave us woofies each 1/2 of our dinner ration, figuring we were either overfed or underfed by 1/2. Does that make any sense to you? We give her one day off in 6 1/2 years and she totally forgets we only need to go out to poop if we put something in the other end first.

At least she was with it Sunday. We got fed, we got to drag Jan on a short walk, and we spent time in our new Romper Room. What more could we ask? Well, the other half of Friday's dinner, for one thing!

Now, we would like to deviate for a moment to bring Americans a Public Service Announcement for your humans. We don't recommend you furries drive unless you have a valid driver's license. And if you do have one, MOVE OVER!

New Move Over Law is being Strictly Enforced --The law about approaching emergency vehicles on the side of the road is being strictly enforced! The drivers approaching any type of emergency vehicle with it's lights flashing is supposed to move over one lane to the left. If traffic won't permit this, slow your speed to approximately 20 mph under the speed limit -- not 20 mph slower than other drivers. This law is really being enforced by police departments all over the country. Almost all states have some type of move over law now in effect. The law is to keep emergency personnel from being endangered or killed when performing their duties. Watch for flashing lights, move over and slow down.

Move Over America!

(s) Buddy, Merci, Sam

Romper Room and Angel Crystal

Happy Valentine's Day to all our internet friends!

We were going to pack up all our snow from yesterday and ship it off to Khyra in Pawsylvania and to Phantom & Thunder at the Kansas Ocean, but it melted before we could even find the shovel and plastic trash bags.

We would like to thank Noll's Nip for naming our new, improved dog pen the Romper Room. At the moment, it could be more aptly called the Mud Puddle but it will dry out eventually.

When Jan put us out earlier today (Saturday), she watched us through the window and denies that anyone in the neighborhood was throwing snowballs at us. However, someone was! And it wasn't the wind blowing snow off the trees as Jan claims. Poor Sam was temporarily traumatized, standing head down and tail tucked between his legs to protect himself from the onslaught.

Sam: I was not traumatized! I was trying to see where the barrage was originating from but the snow was hitting me in the face when I looked up.

Jan totally forgot to feed us breakfast till 2:30 this afternoon. She claims it's because it's the first time in 6 1/2 years she hasn't had to run around getting our breakfast and rushing one or more of us out the door to walk. But since she spent all those hours lounging around in her pajamas, we think she is just plain spoiled already. We have got to get her out walking again so her brain keeps working -- at least somewhat. You know how it is, use it or lose it!

We hinted numerous times. For example, we would go out the back door, come right back in and go directly to the front door, where we would stand and stare at our leashes. We did finally get her to go outside with us before she scraped snow off the car and went shopping for some "necessities." She didn't return with anything for us, so we wonder how necessary the items really were. We think our quick trip down the front steps to the curb and back again was just a guilty conscience for starving us halfway to death's door today.

Our Valentine VSquillion has arrived from the Cat Blogosphere Shelter.It's from a special litter of Memorial Angel Virtual Squillions, named in memory of those now at the Bridge. Our VSquillion is adopted in honor of our late brother Crystal, a classic orange tabby.

(s) Buddy, Merci & Sam, Cotton, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron & Rusty

PS -- We would all like to thank those who generously donated to help us take care of Jan! (She'll tell you it's the other way around but this is our blog.)

Our Human Angels

Two months ago we posted this photo of our new 10'x10'x6' dog pen provided by Matthew, project manager of the mill restoration project. (You can read that post here.) At first we weren't sure what to do in it since we hadn't been off leash in over 3 years.

As some of you know, Jan hurt her toe last month -- it wasn't our fault, no matter what she says! -- and she has been wearing huge slippers on our walks, yelling at us not to come near her the whole time. Geeze, you'd think we were going to leap on her feet or something. The worst walks were when it was cold and rainy. Her feet got wet if she didn't wear regular shoes which made her harder for us to walk and she'd complain even more.

So Monday she decided she would open up the front panel of the pen and move it toward the house so she could just open the back door and we could fend for ourselves. Only she figured if she did, it would fall down and she'd have to hike the city looking for us. So she emailed Matthew to ask what to do to anchor it. Evidently Matthew has heard of Jan's prowess with tools. He immediately responded, "No! Wait, and we'll take care of it for you Friday." Jan didn't mention any of this to us, so we were unaware of what was coming.

This week a donated 10'x10'x6'pen became available through our friend Kay at the Humane Society. So all week Jan has waited expectantly for Friday (that's today, as we write this) when the two pens would be joined together. And then last night's weather report: our first SNOW of the winter! Possibly beginning overnight. Jan was nervous but hopeful. If the second pen couldn't be picked up today, the large pen couldn't be set up. We would have to walk her in the snow and she is rambunctious. Oh, wait, that's us. She's the dawdler who manages to fall without any help.

But this morning Matthew, Drew and Audoro went to work combining the fences, while Kay and Jan watched, then headed to Home Depot to buy metal poles. It was snowing when they returned with 2 more poles for added stability. Jan says she wasn't sure who was the most excited about this project. Well, duh, that's an easy one.

WE WERE!

Wow, were we surprised when Jan finally opened the door and let us outside on our own for the very first time here. We ran, we barked, we wrestled, we dug, we tugged on our toy.

Here are the guys moving the original dog pen.

Every dog needs a good tug of war friend.

Checking out the larger space.

Before long it looked like this in our pen. And guess what? We then refused to go outside without Jan. Does she think we're stupid? It's cold and wet out here. Jan refused to go outside at all.

This is from the front porch before sundown. It's still snowing A lot of you are already piled with snow and expecting more, but this is our first snowfall of the winter and we're not accustomed to it. And more snow is expected. Brrrrr.

Here are our hardworking human angels -- Kay is not pictured -- Drew, Matthew & Audoro.

Many thanks to all of them, including the donor of the second dog pen. It's really an answer to Jan's prayer for us to have a place to exercise and have fun. And Brick Butt (that's Sam, in case you've never been knocked down by him flying backwards into you) needs a lot of stretching room when he starts running in circles.

But, Jan, in case you think you're going to get to laze about now, our human training books say humans must be exercised daily. So heal that toe and lose those slippers because after the snow melts you will be back to hoofing it before you forget everything we've taught you.

And just for the record, we did finally go outside a couple of times tonight to run and sniff and .... well, you know.

(s) Buddy, Merci & Sam

Jewelry Art Designs

We were asked to do a jewelry review for Jewelry Art Designs, so we chose a lovely 2-strand Black and White necklace. Cyndi said since she once modeled on the catwalk for Misha's contest, she was the one it should go to. But Cotton said she is the oldest and if the necklace went to Cyndi, we would have to buy her one. And then Merci said since she had survived the Cutest Dog Contest, it wouldn't be fair if the girl kitties get a necklace and she doesn't. Well, we don't have any money in the treasury, so they agreed the only fair solution would be for Jan to get the necklace. It arrived shortly after we lost Crystal, so we apologize to Sarah for taking so long to post this.

We wanted to take a picture to show how dainty the chain is, but this is the best of the photos we took. Jan held the necklace up in front of the window with the door open to get light without the dark shadows obscuring the view in our other pictures.

Jan really loves the necklace. It is very dainty and feminine. In her younger days, Jan claims she would have been able to wear this. But as she's gotten older, her fingers and delicate clasps don't work well together. However, someone with nimble fingers, as Jan claims she once had, should not have any problem putting it on.

You can view this necklace at Jewelry Art Designs. Sarah also carries rings and earrings and has some good information on how to care for your jewelry.

To keep the peace between Cyndi, Cotton and Merci, we made a suggestion to Jan about sharing the necklace, and she agreed. The blogging cats and dogs have been very kind to us and we would like to do something to help another blogger. We hope Sarah won't mind, but we have unanimously voted to donate this necklace to the next auction our friend Gracie holds to help a blogger in need, which should be next month. (We told her we have something for her after we blog about it, but she'll find out what it is when she reads this).

We were not paid for this review, only asked to "post your honest thoughts (good, bad or ugly) on your blog," which we have done.

(s) Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Buddy, Rusty & Sam

Breakaway Collars Save Lives

Deetz added our Crystal to his In Loving Memory slideshow. Crystal is in such good company there, including Deetz's two brothers Gizmo and Sharkie.

As many of you are aware, Deetz's brother Sharkie died recently after their collars became tangled during their play. We wanted to post this earlier, but we decided to wait a bit out of respect for Sharkie's family and to heal a little from our own loss four days earlier.

We were surprised when we started reading the comments on Sharkie's post. We had never heard of this happening before but it is evidently more common than we would have thought. Each year thousands of dogs are injured or choked to death due to dog collar accidents. That frightens Jan. It undoubtedly does you too.We dogs love to wrestle and even little Merci wrestles hearty with Sam. It never occurred to Jan that this could be so dangerous. She now wonders whether this is what happened to our 3 rabies tags. (See Ban Bell Tags.) The one Merci is wearing now is round instead of bell-shaped. She is so glad they changed the shape.

We found this video on the dangers of regular collars. This does not show the type of accident that happened to Deetz and Sharkie. In this video, one dog grabs the other by the collar to drag it around in play, demonstrating the potential for a dog to get his jaw caught in a collar and be unable to get loose. (Don't worry, this doesn't happen in the video.)



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Jan was unaware breakaway collars were sold for dogs, although she used to buy them for her cats. She said if she had the funds we would all be wearing a breakaway collar! But we'll have to wait. However, we hope you will do a little research and purchase one for each of your dogs and cats.

The leash attaches to two rings, one on either side of the buckle so the collar is secure while you walk the dog. But when the dog is not on a leash, if pressure is applied, the safety buckle releases. It can be easily snapped back together again. Wearing one of these could save your pet from serious injury or death.

Graphic by KC of the Cat Blogosphere

If you have not visited Deetz's blog yet, perhaps you would like to stop by and leave a comment on Sharkie's page. It would encourage his mom. We don't think she would mind if we share this comment from her, I am at peace now with Sharkie, even though I miss that little guy so bad. So many bloggers became aware of this danger and have made changes or are taking precautions to assure it does not happen to their animals. So, something good came out of his passing! For that I am blessed.

You can read Sharkie's post. His mom does not want any of us to lose a beloved pet. It is too painful.

And Sharkie's memorial post.

(s) Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Buddy, Rusty & Sam

Confused Brain

Are you a right brain or a left brain? Or are you like someone we know who is confused brain? The reason we ask this is that since the news was announced that dog owners reportedly have a higher IQ than cat owners -- or was it the other way around -- and Jan has both dogs and cats, we have been wondering whether one who has dogs and cats has a confused IQ.

If you'd like to find out whether your brain is confused or not, click here.

As an update to our question on why the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand do not have rabies.

Buddy: Boy, I had no idea what we'd learn when my rabies tag tore off one month before renewal and we decided to post a photo of what is left of mine and Sam's. Such shoddy workmanship for a three year tag. Wonder what I can break next?

Hsin-Yi, Honey the Great Dane's human, left a comment to explain this.

Yes, there are some countries that are "rabies-free" and they have very strict quarantine laws to keep it that way. It is actually 6 MONTH quarantine in the UK, not 6 weeks! - unless your dog has a Pet Passport and has had 2 blood tests over a 6 months period to prove that they are rabies-free, if they are entering the UK from other countries which have rabies (eg, US & Canada). Of course, if they are born and have lived all their lives in those rabies-free countries, then they are considered safe. So animals from these rabies-free countries can travel between them without quarantine restrictions (eg, why Honey moved into Australia from NZ with no quarantine). Aside from the UK, Australia and NZ, the other countries are Switzerland and Taiwan and Japan, I think. They are mostly islands, so easier to patrol borders, but they do maintain very strict controls to keep their rabies-free status. It is good as if you live in them (and your pet was born there), then you never really have to worry.

Nora, Tags & Kittens

When we posted the video of Nora the Piano Cat playing with the full orchestra, Cats in Trees left a link to an interview Milo & Alfie did a while back with Nora. You can read it here. We think you will enjoy it.

And our post on the broken rabies tags of us woofies brought some surprising comments. We were not aware the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand do not have rabies and the pets do not have to have a rabies vaccination. Anyone know why?

The woman who pierced the ears and neck of kittens and calling them "Gothic" was found guilty of animal cruelty. We have trouble understanding why she is so confused as to why this has happened. Just because there is no specific law stating she can't doesn't mean she should. There are laws against cruelty and in some instances it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what constitutes cruelty. You can read about the verdict here.

Stupid Human Laws

We can't help but wonder why humans pass animal protection laws they have no intention of enforcing, yet they will do whatever it takes to stop caring humans from helping the animals the "lawkeepers" refuse to aid. If you're not familiar with Dogs Deserve Better and their campaign to unchain dogs, you're about to meet them. We are shocked and abhor the way some humans keep their animals in deplorable conditions -- intentionally! They refuse to allow anyone with a heart to help the animals. And they pervert the law to prosecute those who do.

February 6, 2010, Altoona, PA
Dog advocate charged with trespassing after providing straw to underweight dogs chained in freezing temps: Charges point to immediate need for stronger dog protection laws nationwide



February 6, 2010, Altoona, PA — Dog advocate Tamira Ci Thayne, founder and CEO of Dogs Deserve Better, a non-profit working solely on behalf of chained and penned dogs, spent the coldest night of the year sleepless despite being snug and warm in her bed.

The faces of dogs chained out in single-digit temperatures and sub-zero windchills haunted her, and she worried if these dogs would survive the night in their inadequate houses, many of which contained not even the single insulating element that could well save their lives: straw.

Determined to help local dogs, she rose early and, with another DDB volunteer, took straw, food, and water to some of the worse cases.

At 1492 Dulancey Drive in Lilly, Pennsylvania, Thayne spotted two skinny dogs with inadequate shelter, minimal straw, no food, and no water. She knocked on the door, and when no one answered she left a Dogs Deserve Better calendar and stuffed the doghouses with straw to save the dogs from immediate danger of death by freezing. She gave the dogs each a bone, food, and water. They shivered nonstop while they ate in the -11 degree wind chill.

The boxer mix had very short fur, a too-large doghouse with an opening as large as the dog, and every rib and bone in her back stood out starkly as she tried to decide whether to eat or run into her house for what little warmth it offered.

Current Pennsylvania law dictates that dogs must have access to"sustenance, drink, and sanitary shelter which will protect the animal against inclement weather and preserve the animal's body heat and keep it dry." Thayne knew the law was being broken, so she returned three days later to speak to the caretaker on behalf of the dogs.

Again, no one answered the door....Read More...

Thayne will be in district court on Main Street in Portage, Pennsylvania, at 9:30 a.m. on February 16, 2010 to defend against the bogus charges. She will be bringing photo and video evidence, and well as eye-witness testimony.

Thayne is asking all Pennsylvania residents to stand against this form of abuse by joining the coalition to Unchain Pennsylvania Dogs. The coalition seeks to pass HB1254, a bill setting time limits on chaining, and creating better conditions for Pennsylvania's dogs. Sign up today at Unchainpadogs.com.

Please visit the website at DogsDeserveBetter.org to learn more about dog chaining, the reasons it is cruel to dogs and dangerous to humans, and to find a local area representative.

See more photos and watch video of the dogs at the site: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/thaynetrespassing.html

Ban Bell Tags

We would like to show you what a good quality rabies tag looks like. However, we can't.

You see, Jan gets us 3 year rabies shots and you would think the tags would last 3 years. But whoever came up with the idea of a bell shaped tag should have to wear one in punishment. You know what a bell shape is. It has the wide lip at the bottom. All 3 bent above the lip. Merci's 3-year tag lasted 18 months before it broke, disappeared and had to be replaced.

First thing this morning, Jan found Buddy's tag on one of the dog beds. It's the one on the left, illegible and barely hanging together. He is due for another rabies shot in one month. If you notice Sam's tag on the right is still attached to his collar, but broken in half. Sam is not due for another shot until July of this year. What information is left on either tag is illegible.


The broken tag shredded Buddy's collar. Until today Jan couldn't replace the collar because it's too hard for her to get that S-hook thing attached. Now he has a new collar but no tag.


Jan says we dogs should learn to play gently, but we like to wrestle and play rough. Don't you think we should be able to play without worrying about our tags getting scratched or broken? Jan says we should have to pay to replace our own, but we say if the state makes us wear them, they should at least be able to withstand the wear and tear of everyday canine life.

After all, we're dogs. Just doing what dogs do.

Don't blame us. Just ban bell tags!

And don't forget to stop by Gracie's Super Bowl party. It's today! Her graphic is in our sidebar.

Catcerto

If you like mysteries, this was one for us. We published this yesterday Feb 5 at 10:21 PM. According to the post verification email Blogger sent. We had a few comments. However, when we just got online and came to our blog, there was no Cat Concerto post!!!!! Not even in a search. It didn't exist. But we have the email to prove it published and we don't think you can leave comments on it if it doesn't exist. Hmmmm.

Well, after more careful examination of the email, we found at the bottom: "Posted By Jan's Funny Farm to Jan's Funny Farm at 1/17/2010 07:10:00 PM." Oh, dear. We should never do anything late at night. By the time we finished last night, we had forgotten we had saved the link in an unpublished post. So we are republishing it, this time in February. Hopefully, under today's date. We apologize to any who came by and didn't find it. We really weren't hiding it. But we think we'll go hide for a while until our faces aren't red any more. :-)

And now for the original post.

We just have to post this video of Catcerto with the Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra, conductor and composer Mindaugas Piecaitis, playing "with" Nora the piano cat. It's fun.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

We were teary last night after we read the post on Talk With The Paws blog. Today's post is a bit more optimistic but our friends Jigsaw, Munchkin, Patches & Tigger can use some help. If any of you can possibly spare a dollar or two to help them, we know they would be grateful. It is not easy to admit you need help and many of us have been in need at some point. Prayers would be appreciated too.

Jazper Kitty

Many of you know Mo of Purrchance to Dream. He recently closed his store The Wren's Nest and unfortunately his store mascot has been unable to integrate with his housecats. So he has made the very hard decision to find Jazper kitty a home of his own. He is trying to do it with humor, but we don't think he's really laughing about it.

Isn't that a handsome face? You can read about Jaz on his own blog. http://tabbyjazper.blogspot.com/ His contact information is there. So if you live anywhere in or near the southeastern Michigan area and can possibly give Jaz a home, contact Mo.

Thank you, Rocky & Bear, for the tribute to Crystal. You are so good about remembering those who leave for the bridge. We are very sad that Deetz's family lost young Sharkie.

We have a Super Bowl Party invitation in our sidebar. Gracie has invited you and us to her place for an all day party Sunday, February 7. Be sure to put it on your calendar. And please remind us. You know how forgetful every one of us in this house are.

Sent with Love

We were all a bit teary yesterday when we received a package and a card in the mail. We didn't expect to hear anything more about Crystal, but he hasn't been forgotten.

Because Rusty is such a large cat, Jan makes him a bed every winter out of a rectangle clothes basket. He hasn't seemed very interested in it this year, preferring to squeeze himself into a dishpan bed. When Crystal couldn't leap any more, Jan made him "steps" to the washing machine where he would eat. The last week he couldn't climb, so Jan made him a bed in the basket. A big soft pillow and lots of bedding.

After Crystal died in the basket, Jan threw away all the bedding and made a new bed for Rusty. Cotton, who had never shown any interest in it before, climbed in and claimed it. It sits on the cold floor and Jan had thrown away the afghan used to keep it warm.

This is Cotton in her new bed a few hours ago.


This is the beautiful, thick blanket that came in the package yesterday. Jan laid it out on her bed to try to show you it's a good size and is covered with kitties on one side and is brown on the other (see lower right corner of picture). According to the note, Parker and her family -- Powder, Puff, Rudy, Diamond Doggy & their humans -- asked Hansel's mom to make a nice blanket in memory of Crystal. She put lots of love into it so our hearts would be filled with the joy that we are not alone -- which makes it doubly special. And she did this while she was going through the stress of Hansel's two broken hips and surgery.

The moment Jan unfolded it, Cyndi claimed it for her bath.


Jan then put it where the blanket is most needed, in the big bed on the cold floor. She left Cotton checking out Hansel, Tesla's & Benny's scent.


When she returned to take a picture of Cotton in her bed, this is what she found.

Yep, Rusty suddenly decided he likes his bed again. And poor Crystal was out in the cold. Literally. Looks like this is going to be a very popular bed now. Thank you, Parker & Hansel!

On the left is a shot of the card Parker's family sent after Crystal died and the one on the right is from Casper, Cleo Patches & their mom. (Sorry about the quality. Kind of dreary today and couldn't find a good spot to take a photo.) They are both lovely cards and we are going to save them. Thank you!



Again, we are grateful to each one of you for your kind words and deeds. We have all accepted Crystal's passing but we still cry for him.

Awards for Dogs in the Car

We have another Buddyism for you:

Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.~ Dave Barry

We dogs feel very strongly that we should always go with Jan in the car, in case she gets forgets where she is going and can't find her way home. ~ Buddy of Jan's Funny Farm

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

Cameron: Hey, I'm so excited.today that JFF is letting me introduce this post.. I got my first solo award from Angel & Kirby. Thank you so much. This is a nice surprise.

The rules of this award are to award it to five blogs which"show some love."
Like Angel & Kirby, I agree that all the blogs we follow speak love in volumes, so it's hard to pick just 5.
Khyra
The Meezers & Billy
Gracie
KC & the Sherwoods
Peggy's Place

Merci: Zoolatry's Maggy, Zoey & the ZH gave this award to all of us. What a talented group they are. And yet they're giving an award to us? Thank you!

"We would now like to present our new 2010 Shining Star Award to each of you.

Sent with our thanks... we enjoy your blogs, your kitties and woofies so very much."

Cotton: And we got the Sunshine Award from Puddin. Thank you for thinking of us and for remembering Crystal. We are supposed to pass this on to 10 blogs.

Alasandra, the cats & Fenris
Victor & Nina
Beau Beau & Angie
Brandi
Butchy & Snickers
Daisy & Harley
The Op Pack
Space Paws
Sammy & Andy
Sweet Praline