International Box Day 2011

Today is International Box Day.  It used to be International Cat in a Box Day since cats are known for usurping boxes to play in, but now it includes dogs or other furries in a box. We don't have a photo of Buddy in a box, but we do have one of him eating a box. 

This is Cotton back in March when the house was still cold. Jan emptied a box and Cotton decided it would make excellent lodging and moved into it for a week or two. So Jan put the hairy blankie Peggy made in the box for warmth and comfort.

Happy Int'l Box Day!

Percy and Bo Regards

Hey, Percy, here. While we're waiting for Jan to share a taste of whippie cream (as Puddles of 3 Doxies calls it), I thought I'd do a review on Bo Regards.

We're a little late with this, but we - I mean, Jan can't figure out how to hang the thing. The company hasn't helped with any ideas and the only person we can think of who might know the answer hasn't responded to our email.

Mark and Debbi Rath and Else Cunningham started Bo Regards to help pet owners prepare for an emergency, such as fire, weather or medical. Letting emergency personnel know there is a pet (or pets) in the house could save your pet's life. Many a pet has been lost when police and ambulance crew arrived and left a door open for the frightened animal to escape.  And pets often hide during a fire.

They sell Fire Safety Plaques to alert emergency personnel there are pets in the home. They come in burnished copper, burnished brass and burnished nickel.  You can also order a reflective sticker.

We thought these plaques a neat idea and chose burnished copper. However, when it arrived, we had - um, I mean, Jan had a problem figuring how to put it up. According to the site, "The plaque is designed to be easily mounted to the inside or outside of a wall or door; it can also be screwed onto the exterior of your home," so we - um, Jan figured it would be easy to install on a door or the gate of the dog pen.

But this is an O-L-D house and the only way it could be mounted on a door would be on the bottom half of either the front or back door. Well, who's going to notice it down there? If the holes were centered one top and one bottom instead of side to side, she might be able to hang it on the top half of a door, but she'd prefer not to try it.  Hanging it on the exterior wall is not an option since it would not endear us to the landlord.

So, dog pen gate it was. Except how does one hang a plaque on a chain link fence? She tried twists from bread bags but the plaque was too wide or not wide enough, depending on how one views the problem, to hang securely. It was impossible to secure it safely and any passerby could just help himself to the plaque by untying the twists - if a wind didn't blow it off first.

Sorry for the photo. The plaque is much nicer looking than this, but Jan had to stand under a shade tree looking into sunlight. Notice the twist ties? That's the tightest she could manage.

We think the plaque is a good idea; however, we would like to suggest to the company they offer more than one placement for the hanging holes. Surely there are other potential customers who would have a problem safely hanging the plaque on their own door or gate. Jan would have liked one hole in each of the four corners for the gate.

You can find fire safety tips and more information on these plaques by visiting Bo Regards, Inc.

At this time, the plaque couldn't help any of us since Jan couldn't hang it and it's sitting in its box.  So, if any of you are not handyhuman impaired and have a suggestion for how Jan could hang the plaque on the gate, let us know.  She knows there is something used to repair chain link fencing when any of the original "tiedowns" (?) break, but doesn't know what it's called or where it's sold.  She knows this much because Buddy found such a place in one of the old panels and tried to escape a while back.  Jan, a less than brilliant handyhuman, used shoelaces to hold the panel together until a nice man fixed it for her. 


We are not associated with Bo Regards and were not paid for this review, but a plaque was provided for testing.

Lulu, Lolly, Willyum and Molly

Hey, Buddy here, with some good and bad news..

We keep forgetting to mention our old friends Lulu and Lolly are blogging again after a time away. Unfortunately, it's now Lulu, Willyum & Molly and "angel" Lolly. We were aware Lolly was ill but hoped for a better outcome. We're sad for her loss. Her family misses her.

If you remember Lulu and Lolly, stop by their blog and say hello. If you've never met them before, stop by their blog and say hello, nice to meet you. We enjoy their posts and sense of humor. .   

It's a bit confusing, though, how they could ask for guppies for Christmas and Santa bring them puppies.  If Santa is getting senile, I will gladly volunteer to drop down chimneys to deliver packages if Jan will let me eat all the cookies and drink all the glasses of milk left for Santa.

Uh, Jan heard me mumbling as I type and yelled, NO WAY!  You can not have all that sugar and milk!  I can't imagine why she thinks they would give me diaree ... diarie ... the poops.

Our Gift to Jan

Hey, Cameron here. While Jan is busy elsewhere, I thought I'd borrow the computer to update you on yesterday's post. First, thanks to all our friends who sent a birthday message to Jan. She appreciated the nice messages, including the ones that hoped her desire for strawberries and whipped cream would be fulfilled. She was hopeful the Zoolatry girls would figure out a way to teleport some over here, but, alas, their teleport was down.

Our gift to her was that we were perfect furries for the day. Um, sort of perfect. Uh, maybe not quite. But we didn't ... Unfortunately we did .... Well, guess we should admit we were almost perfect furries yesterday. Jan was pleased with us, so maybe she didn't notice ... Never mind. We wouldn't want to bring anything she missed to her attention.

She did get to lunch with a friend earlier in the week. When the friend mentioned "birthday," the waitress returned to plop a hat on Jan's head. It was heavy! Can you guess what kind of restaurant they visited?

Yep, you guessed correctly - Chinese. :)

Sorry, I mean Mexican. I added the sunglasses so Jan won't get upset with me for posting her picture.

Jan walked to Ingles yesterday to buy a special food for Buddy. We hoped she would return with some whipped cream and strawberries, so we might have a taste of the cream. But she said they aren't in our budget, so she just came back with carrots and dog food. We were disappointed. We've never tasted whipped cream but other blogging furries say it's delicious.

Then Jan got a surprise. Her friend read our post yesterday and just before the booming storm hit, the friend's husband dropped off a special treat. In no time, Jan had her dinner prepared and barely waited long enough to snap a picture.

Yep, that's Jan's dinner. A plate with 3 thin slices of pound cake, fresh strawberries and whipped cream made with real cream. It looked a lot yummier in person but Jan was more interested in eating it than staging a photograph.

Since there's more in the fridge, we're hoping we'll each get a taste of the whipped cream today. Many thanks to the couple who provided the special "feast."

KC's birthday was Sunday too and her mom said she got a can of Evo's Duck Cat Food, which KC enjoyed but her mom thinks smells terrible. Maybe we should have gotten Jan a can for her birthday. It would be good protein. And surely she'd share that with us?

Have to run. The fridge door was just opened. I'm hoping Jan is planning a whipped cream snack for us.

Birthday Song

Last night a friend sent Jan an email message with a link to a lively tune sung by Sir Paul McCartney., so we thought we'd share it with you. If you haven't had your first cup of coffee yet, don't worry, this will wake you up.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

Jan said she doesn't want any fuss, just a strawberry and whipped cream dessert and a peaceful day. We couldn't buy her the dessert so we hope she'll settle for a day without squabbling, no sleeping in the traffic lane (doorways, walking path), and no complaining when she forgets to feed us breakfast until lunch time.

Have a peaceful Sunday too.

Update:  KC of Missy Blue Eyes blog and the CB also has a birthday today.  Thank you, KC, for this lovely card. We hope you have a fun day with lots of catnip and special treats.

Gremmy and Al

Hey, Merci here. I just remembered today is the Saturday blog hop. Jan told us yesterday it was Thursday, so we weren't prepared, but I found an interesting treat video for you today.

You won't see this around our house. Especially not with Buddy, the foodaholic, and Sam, another foodaholic. Sam chews his food before swallowing; Buddy just swallows. The only time we dogs share with the cats is when they steal our food as Jan is fixing our meals. The cats free feed, so let them eat cake! Uh, maybe I should say let them eat kibble.

This is Gremmy at 8 months of age sharing a dish of mashed potatoes with a Lab named Al. Gremmy is 75% jungle cat hybrid. Guess which one would eat all the potatoes if the human wasn't there?


If the video doesn't play, click here.

Happy Saturday.

Serious Thinking

We've been doing some serious thinking. We hope Jan is going to be around for a long time, but what will we do if she isn't? The bills will still come due. The funeral home will want a big deposit. Who will pay all the funeral expenses? More importantly, how will we pay for our food while we grieve? We do eat a lot, you know!

So we looked into life insurance for Jan and found a company online called BurialInsurance.org.

We're kind of new to this insurance thing, so we were intrigued by the types of insurance they sell: Funeral Insurance, Senior Life Insurance, Affordable Life Insurance, No Medical Exam Life Insurance, and Burial Insurance for Seniors.

We have a couple of questions for them. 1) Does Affordable Life Insurance mean we furries can insure Jan for whatever pocket change she drops on the floor and can't bend over to reach each month? 2) Why isn't there a category for Jan - insurance for the Forgetful and Creaky?

We checked on burial insurance by state and found in Georgia we could insure Jan even if she's 90 years old. We think she passed that age at least 240 years ago, but maybe they could make an exception. 

If you live in the United States and you or your loved one is a senior, you can check out resources for them at USA.gov.


In compliance with FTC guidelines for bloggers, as well as our policy of honesty to our readers, this is a sponsored post.

Farewell, Bubbles

We are sad to learn Bubbles' time has come and he has gone to the bridge. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in February. But no matter how one tries to prepare for the loss, it is always a shock. So we send his mom a hug from Jan, purrs and wags from us.

You can visit and leave a comment for Bubbles' family on his blog Random Drift. Feel free to use the graphic if you like.  It was designed by Zoolatry. .

R.I.P. Bubbles. Another blogging legend has passed away.

Cyndi and Bouncing Foxes

Hey, Cyndi here. We want to thank all who stopped by yesterday for Cotton's 12th birthday. It was very hot and humid, so she spent a quiet, sleepy day. 

We think it's much too hot to exert energy but we don't mind watching others having fun in the sun. Here are a couple of bouncing feral foxes playing on a trampoline.


If the video doesn't play,click here.

Yes, we know watching that wore you out and you're ready for a nap, but before you zzzzzz out, stop by Derry's & Sparkle's first.

Derry’s of Fuzzy Tales blog has a birthday today, June 24th, and they’re having a commentathon in support of Forever Home Cat Rescue in Oakville, Ontario. Web site The rescue blog is House of the Discarded.

It's Sparkle's birthday too and she'll make a donation for each comment to Cathouse on the Kings.

It's really nice of Derry and Sparkle to celebrate by sharing. We think it's such a neat idea. Leaving a comment is a donation to the shelter and it won't cost you anything other than a few moments to leave the comment.

Cotton is 12

Farewell, Auntie Stinkie

We are saddened to learn 19 year-old Auntie Stinkie from Dr. Tweetie's blog was helped to the bridge tonight. She was at home, surrounded by the family she chose to love her. How fortunate for all of them that she decided to move in and keep the other kitties in line.

You can read her story on Dr Tweety & da Fab 5's blog. It's quite heartwarming to know the last years of her life were spent with those who loved her greatly and fed her well.

We send hugs, purrs and wags to her family. We know they are hurting now.

Fathers and Joey

Happy Father's Day to all the dads.

And we're sorry, dads, as this would be more appropriate for Mother's Day but it's a bit late so we're going to share this today anyway.

Many of us don't live in an area where kangaroos are native so this is probably a first for many of you, as it was for us. Baby joey decided to experience a bigger world than she's used to but panics and runs back to mama.

We don't know why everyone is so surprised to see this reaction, with all those excited humans watching. They would probably have scared the adventure right out of us too. Except for Sam. He'd likely have done a few zoomie circles to show off first.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

Hope you all have a good day.  

Maria Goose Update

Hey, Merci here with today's news.

Well, actually there isn't any news. We've had more wind and rain, with more storms expected, so now the lawn will turn green again and the weeds will start growing even faster than they have been. This makes Jan very unhappy as she will have to be out every day waving a swing blade and muttering between pants. (Pants: Short labored intakes of breath with the mouth open.)

Thursday we posted on Maria the goose and her best friend Dominic. Today we have a follow-up video.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

What a surprise. Maria is actually Mario. But we're not well-acquainted with geese so we wouldn't have known that either. He just looks like a tasty snack to us.

Have a good weekend.

Rusty Intros Maria Goose

Hey, Rusty here. Please excuse me **crunch, crunch** if I eat and talk at the same time but Jan has just gotten around to feeding us. I don't know why she **crunch, crunch** thinks it's more important to walk with the dogs before breakfast. We could die of starvation while they're gone.

I've finished breakfast now. I tried to chew quietly, but I hope you didn't have your speakers turned up too loud.

Oh, okay, Cotton has just reminded me that Jan and the dogs don't get to eat first either. So maybe I'll forgive her. But she better not dawdle, or pass out from hunger, or trip over the sidewalk again. Cause next time she might have to crawl home and that would mean we'd have to wait much longer to eat.

I have an unusual video for you today. It's about a Toulouse goose named Maria and her best friend Dominic, a human. Maria is a very devoted friend.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

We had a bad thunderstorm last night, preceded by high winds. When Jan heard the noise, she thought it was a downpour. It wasn't, so she rushed the dogs outside for their last potty break of the night. Then she stood in the doorway and watched the wind blowing the trees and snapping off branches. The ones hitting the metal roof of the shed next door sounded like large branches but this morning she saw they had been pieces of branches. The dog pen was littered. Sam tried to help Jan pick up the twigs and small branches, but Jan kept taking them away from him before he could eat them. Spoiled his fun!

What really startled her was watching all kinds of small litter blowing down the street with a cloud of dust chasing it. Kind of like a debris parade for a minute.

Jan has been enjoying our break and working on other projects. We don't know why she's been busy working up a sweat. We've all been busy napping through it.

And I'm still racing past the dogs to get out the door before Jan can stop me. It's really fun to go outside, eat grass and survey the neighborhood from my personal domain - my cathouse. Jan claims it's a doghouse, but not a one of the dogs will enter it, and I've claimed it by putting my scent on the doorway, so it's my cathouse!

It's cooler today, but we're expecting more bad storms. If you're in the line of storms, be safe.

Cotton's PSA and Decision

Hey, I'm Cotton. Sorry, but I fell asleep while waiting to use the computer. And it's been a long wait, but Jan finally made a decision.

First though, a Public Service Announcement from Zoolatry. Ann has a very good post on why many blog readers would appreciate it if the the word verification found on many blogs would be disabled and why it can be a hardship for those with a disability. Jan has health problems that are affected by her computer time too and she has been glad to be spending more time away from the computer lately.

We can't speak for other blogs, such as Wordpress, but Blogger has been doing a terrific job of filtering out spam for quite a while now. It has become rare that a spam message gets through and has to be deleted from a post or that a good message ends up in with spam. But bloggers have to do their part. It's easy. Just go to comments in your dashboard (check them occasionally if you choose not to receive email notifications) and check/clear your spam folder.

An easy way to keep up with what is posted on your blog and what is not is to have Blogger send an email for each new comment. If the email asks whether permission to post or delete, that comment has not been posted, so you just delete it from the Blogger spam folder nest time you think of it. But you have to keep your email address current. Just go to -

Dashboard.
Comments.
Scroll down to "Comment Notification Email" and type in your email address.
Click Save Settings.

But before you save your settings, you might want to change "Who Can Comment" to only registered users. We used to allow anonymous comments because we have non-blogging friends, but since many spammers try to post a comment as Anonymous, we finally had to change the setting.

We understand why many of you use word verification but as Ann points out, there is also the problem of time, often having to do two or more verifications, as some are almost impossible to read. A big problem for us is that we have the slowest DSL and way too frequently, there is such a delay, we think our comment went through, but as we are already leaving the site we glimpse word verification appearing. So we either wasted our time making the comment or we have to go back and do it again.

We thank Zoolatry for her Disable for the Disabled graphic and for the post. We don't know that all of you will be able to disable word verification for one reason or another but we hope at least many of you can.

Our last post was to let you know where we were with our blog at the time, but so many left advice on what to do with stolen content, which was not the problem, so we took the post down.

We were trying to warn you about a site using hundreds or thousands of bloggers RSS feed posts to steal your traffic - not steal your post - to boost their own traffic in search engine rankings - and to get visitors to download a program. All bloggers should be doing a periodic Google search of your own blog name. Don't search for this company, as you will only increase their their "popularity," but if you see brokencontrollers.com/yourblog name, you might want to ask them to remove each of your posts and links from their site. Which they will do but you have to notice them and make the request.

Their are many reasons a blogger needs or wants a domain name. But we will never own JFF dot com again. It wasn't because Jan didn't try to pay them for the domain names. They just kept refusing to accept her payment.

As long as we keep posting on JFF, our old dot com will be following us and can be resold. Today it is owned by a foreign company and it's all ads. Tomorrow it could be purchased by a porn site. Jan really wants to end JFF so this can't ever happen, but she just doesn't have the time or energy to start over and try to build up a new blog, a new zazzle store, Twitter, and everything we're signed up with. And Jan has been busy trying to downsize as we might have to move.

Reluctantly and with trepidation, this blog stays open, but we're going to have to find a new heart for it.

Stop right here. And read the last line again. The way it was written, not the way you are expecting it to read. Please.