Ms. Stella Speaks

RUSTY:  For various reasons, we haven't been able to do many cat interviews for a while, but we have one today.  So we are back - temporarily, at least.

MICAH:  Yes, we Funny Farmer Felines have interviewed the kitties from Ms. Stella O'Houligan's blog.  If you know her, you're aware she's fun and feisty.

CAMERON:  We just popped by her blog tonight (Thursday) and found Ms. Stella and her siblings have been on nursing duty. We hope their humans are getting well and have not been as big a nuisance to the nursing staff as Jan has been since her failed flight attempt. 

CYNDI:  We also hope if one of them has a knee injury, Marcus doesn't visit.  Jan finally got out to walk the other day.  Marcus was directly in front of Jan when he suddenly decided to u-turn and head home.  He and Jan were then moving forward at a fast clip in opposite directions, so he rammed his bulldog head into Jan's painful knee.  We think she should wear full body padding.

PERCY:  Stop by the ezine for cats, Mousebreath, to read their story, Ms. Stella, Miss Scraps, Miss Jack and Mr. Oliver.


The Pet Parade blog hop is hosted by Rascal and Roscoe.  It is co-hosted by Bionic Basil, Barking From the Bayou, Love is being owned by a husky, and us (Jan's Funny Farm).

Who is this week's Featured Favorite?  Check it out at Rascal & Rocco's. 

There are two parts to the blog hop - your blog url and social media, so be sure to sign up for both. 

When you link up with the blog hop, we encourage you to visit other participating blogs.

Chew For Sake of Chewing

BUDDY:  Merci, Sam and I got gypped this month.  The new chew toy is for Marcus.  We told him he should do his own post on it but he asked nicely for our help. 

MERCI:  Marcus is doing better about chewing up things he shouldn't but he still likes to chew, especially when he's hungry.  Come to think of it, he's always hungry!

SAM:  Jan brought the Nylabone DuraChew Dino Dog Toy made of nylon and chicken flavor to the back steps to take the pictures.  Marcus was busy playing his version of soccer so I checked it out for him.  This dinosaur is supposed to:

Last long

Raised, rounded nubs help clean teeth and control plaque and tartar

Engage and entertain

Discourage destructive chewing

SAM:  For comparison purposes, here is the well-worn chew bone Marcus has had for a few months.  It isn't the dental kind and we don't remember what company sold it.  He has sharp teeth so it doesn't have much of a bone shape any more but Marcus still likes it.

MERCI:  Jan is a bit disappointed in the size.  This one is supposed to be a large but there is no size marked on the packaging, just that it is for a dog up to 50 pounds.

BUDDY:  We're not sure how much Marcus weighs but he is at least 45 - 50 pounds.  Jan has watched him when he has it.  The directions state a non-edible chew toy must be big enough for the dog to chew from the side instead of up and down so he doesn't break a tooth.  Marcus has a problem holding it in place to chew on it, since one narrow end is in his mouth and he's trying to hold the other narrow end down with a paw.  Is this intentional so he can't exert enough pressure to break a tooth or is the chew toy too small?

MERCI:  Jan thinks it looks to be more my size (under 20 lbs.) but at my age chewing on something non-edible doesn't appeal to me. And surprisingly, non-edibles don't appeal to the ex-trash compactor Sam any more.  Otherwise, we would have had to order a

MARCUS:  Uh, hey guys, I do get to say something, don't I?  I know you guys are all older but I'm young and chewing for the sake of chewing still appeals.  And I'm a pit mix, so I have a big ... um, wider mouth than Merci and Buddy so I can just about hold the whole chew toy in my mouth if I want to. 

MARCUS:  Jan watches me carefully with it and puts it up when I'm "done" with it.  She "hides" it and I steal it so I can take it to bed with me.  It is my toy!  Sometimes I want to play tug with it but Jan won't play.  She says it is a chew toy only.

SAM:  I would like to point out Marcus' nose in the last two photos.  Do they look a bit strange to you? Well, that's the usual color of Marcus' nose - MUD!  He is such a soccer junkie, his nose is muddy from "kicking" the ball around with his nose.  Now that you know why he loves the color mud, we can resume his review.

BUDDY:  Nylabone also has non-edible chew toys for teething puppies.  Those should never be given to a dog with ANY permanent teeth. 

MERCI:  Marcus enjoys his new chew.  Believe me, it is no longer white and already has missing nubs.  We don't think it will be long before Jan will have to take it away from him. Yes, a larger one would undoubtedly have been better but Jan had no idea what to expect.

MARCUS:  If you have more than one dog, buy a Nylabone DuraChew Dental Chew Dino Chew Toy for the largest dog. If he is between sizes, buy the larger size.  And if your dog doesn't want his, you can mail it to me at the Funny Farm.

We would like to thank Chewy.com  for providing the sample chew toy for Marcus.  We were not paid for this review nor influenced in any way. 

BUDDY:  We have not been posting much the last weeks because of Jan's injuries, so we forgot today is blog hop day.  She is freezing but healing, however, walmart didn't have a sense of humor on sale Tuesday, so we're still searching for one.

Stop by Pepi Smart Dog and join the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

And stop by Ruckus the Eskie, Love is being owned by a husky, and Barking from the bayou for the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop.

Angel Pip Magnets

SAM:  Last month we won fourth place in the 500th post drawing at Angel Pip's and Ruby's.  We won two magnets from their Zazzle store. 

RUSTY:  They arrived at the end of January but a few days later Jan almost knocked herself out flying in an enclosed space.

CYNDI:  The flying was okay. It was the landing that was the problem. We've been kept busy waiting on her ever since.

MICAH:  And we do mean waiting.  She is slow as molasses so very little has been getting done around here.

"Nice dogs don't always finish first (or second or third), but they do finish eventually."

SAM:  This is the magnet for us dogs.  We're sharing it with the cats, but it's really our magnet. 

"The show must go on ... even when you forget your lines and can't find the stage."

MERCI:  We'll give you one guess who this one is for! Yes, you guessed correctly.  It's for Jan.  She is getting more forgetful.  We love the magnets.  Jan is going to put hers on the metal desk.  We want ours on the fridge.  Thank you, Angel Pip and Ruby, for the lovely magnets. 

BUDDY:  Ann from Zoolatry sent Jan this Valentine card showing the bump on her head but her two black eyes are covered.  Our internet provider had an outage Saturday and this is our first chance to post this.  It made Jan smile.

PERCY:  Friday's episode with Marcus and Merci yanking her about to get at the aggressive dog that was coming after them has really aggravated the pain in her face, neck and legs.  She can barely bend her knee to step into the shower again. 

CAMERON: That made 3 aggressive dog encounters in one week.  One direct attack and two close calls. We all seem to have lost our sense of humor during these last two weeks.  Do you think Walmart might have some on sale soon?

Vinegar and Hot Pepper

CYNDI:  We were not going to post until next week but Jan is on the warpath

CAMERON:  She sure is and we need to hide out somewhere until the storm blows over. 

RUSTY:  She's not angry with us but see that little dog in the photo?  Well, if he (or she) knows what is good for him, he'll hide out too.

MERCI:  We saw him Sunday evening on our first walk since Jan tried flying without a license and crash landed on the tv and stand.   He got confrontational, ran down the sidewalk and started across the street.  Jan kept yelling at him and he'd stop, then start.  Marcus and I turned Jan around and started back toward home before he left us alone.

MARCUS:  Today we were in the parking lot, well away from the road, when he suddenly appeared racing across the street challenging us again.  I almost made it out of my harness to chase him away but Jan got me back in it and made us keep going.  He followed us up the hill and would have kept coming if Jan hadn't kept yelling and then squirted him with water and vinegar.

PERCY:  Jan asked the woman who came out if that was her dog and she answered, "It's my friend's."  Jan told her to put the dog on the leash before she called the police.  The woman ignored her.  This was at top volume since they were on opposite sides of the street with her dog carrying on and our canine siblings straining to go after him.

BUDDY:  I'm too old for that kind of excitement any more, so I'm glad I wasn't there.  On the return trip, they cut through the parking lot again but the dog kept coming after them.  The woman was sitting on the porch step talking on a cell phone.  Jan said - okay, screamed -  there's a leash law, get the dog on a leash. The woman didn't even look up.

SAM:  So guess what Jan did?  If you guessed, she came home and called the police, you're wrong.  Even though she was in pain from being yanked around again, she came home, got her camera and hiked back.  The woman and kid were gone but the dog was sitting in the alley entrance.  Jan took a picture to show which house and to prove the dog is not leashed.

MICAH:  When she started to walk away, the dog started across the street after her.  She suddenly realized she had forgotten to bring the spray bottle with her.  But Jan can yell and that kept the dog across the street until she could pass it.

CAMERON:  That's when she really got angry!  That suicidal, aggressive little brown dog was deliberately left outside running loose where it could cause an auto accident running into the street or bite a human or animal.  It isn't the dog's fault.  It is the idiot owner's!

CYNDI:  She hates to report any animal, but when she came home, she sent the address with a photo of the house with the dog in the alley and a cropped picture of the dog to the local chief of police to pass on to animal control.

RUSTY:  And she said she had better never see that dog loose again because she is adding cayenne pepper to the vinegar and water.  Now you know why we're hiding out and being good.  We've heard cayenne pepper is HOT pepper.

Good Boy Marcus

Jan:

It is a rare occasion when I post to the Funny Farmer's blog, but today I wanted to tell you about how brave and good Marcus has been, as well as to let you know it will be a bit longer before we return.

Monday evening, almost exactly 7 days to the hour from when I took a flying leap into the TV and stand while sliding across the floor on my knees, I started to walk Marcus and Merci.  I wasn't paying attention and a neighborhood dog that had gotten loose was on top of us before I noticed him.  He went right for Marcus' head and a fight ensued.

I was terrified.  1) Marcus  2)  I am still healing from my fall and if my injured knees hit that concrete, it was  going to be serious.  Merci was trying to stay out of the way and I was yanked around as the dogs fought while screaming at the top of my lungs for help.  Just as I was about to go down, Marcus did his Houdini maneuver and popped out of his harness and into the street.

And then Marcus went after the other dog.  As he was chasing him across the lawn, the owners arrived.  Both dogs stopped running and Marcus trotted right back to me.  That was such a relief!  I didn't have the strength to chase him.  I was shaking so hard it took a while to get Marcus's harness back on him and get the dogs home.  I knew the dog and thought he'd had his shots in the fall but went back to verify it.

The owners were apologetic and both dogs are okay.  It was one of those freak things that happen - possibly because he was protecting his property.  Just the day before, we took our first walk in a week and ran into a loose little dog that thought he owned a whole block and threatened us until we turned back.

It took hours to come down from all that adrenalin pumping and it left me feeling like I was hit by a truck.  Again!  So I am taking some more time off from blogging to recover.

You can barely see it here but that small pink spot on Marcus' right eye (your left) is a small cut, which I washed and sprayed with Vetericyn and it is healing nicely.  Can't even see it now. The only other sign of "battle" is a knot on his head.  So he is fine and I am so very proud of him.

And my eyes are doing well.  You can actually see my blue eyes in this picture.  Last Tuesday no one in Dollar General or Walmart would even look at me.  Yesterday I was a "sensation" in Walmart.  The first woman to take a good look said, "I would certainly like to see the other party!"  Strangers stopped to ask if I am okay.  (Of course everyone thinks someone hit me.) Last Wednesday a relative of someone I know tripped on her way to the bathroom during the night and broke her shoulder, arm and hand.  I had a serious accident and walked away.  So, not only am I okay, I am blessed!

I might not be blogging regularly right now, but I am aware a number of other bloggers are having serious illnesses, accidents, sick animals or have lost a pet.  You folks are in my thoughts and prayers.

Beating Yourself Up

BUDDY:  We're just going to do a fast post today.  We'll show my handsome profile first, before the scary photo.

CYNDI:  Our Tuesday post Trip Fly Crash was a PSA (Public Service Announcement) to slow down when the phone rings.  Jan tends to rush because if it's someone from out of our small toll-free area, she can't afford to call them back. 

RUSTY:  But she won't be rushing any more.  People will just have to learn to leave a message and call her back if she doesn't answer.

PERCY:  Because this is Jan's face this morning, three days after the failed flight and crash landing on Monday evening. 

CAMERON:  She is so thankful because she just barely missed hitting her eyeball on the corner of the TV stand and we don't even want to think about that.

MERCI:  We dogs needed food so she had to got out in public Tuesday and then to a meeting, but she has been hiding out and resting since.

MICAH:  She's a bit excited today.  She is finally able to bend her leg enough to get her right sock off and, hopefully, raise the leg enough to get a shower. 

MARCUS:  We are totally not responsible!  We post this as a reminder that rushing can have painful consequences ... um, especially when you're old.  So slow down and let us youngsters be the ones to scurry.

SAM:  And in the theme of the post, we decided to include one of the cutest cat fights we've seen.  We wonder if this cat has figured out he's actually trying to beat up on himself.  Enjoy.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

Stop by Pepi Smart Dog and join the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

And stop by Ruckus the Eskie, Love is being owned by a husky, and Barking from the bayou for the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop.

Trip Fly Crash

MICAH:  Here, we'll show my handsome face before we scare you.  This is our public service warning to slow down and not try to do something God didn't create you to do.

MARCUS:  And this wasn't my fault either!

CYNDI:  No, it wasn't really your fault, but all of you male dogs were blocking Jan's walking space.

MERCI:  I was sleeping when the crime went down.

CAMERON:  Crime?  There was a crime?  Did anyone dial 9-1-1?

SAM:  There was no crime but this is what Jan's face looked like about half an hour after the failed flight attempt yesterday.

PERCY:  Yep, Jan doesn't usually have that big bump on her forehead.  We have told her and told her she can't fly without wings, but does she listen?  No!

BUDDY:  She was cleaning the bathroom when the phone rang and she dashed into the living room for the computer to turn down the Bill Gaither Homecoming music she likes to listen to when she cleans the house.  She says it lifts her spirits and energizes her. It took her to new heights - and a crash landing - yesterday.

RUSTY:  Have we mentioned before Jan is a klutz?  She tripped over one of our beds and flew across the room, landing on her knees and sliding across the floor taking the TV stand on wheels with her.  The stand stopped rolling when her eye and nose connected with the corner and her head knocked the big TV off the stand. 

PERCY:  And Jan complains we knock things over!

BUDDY:  This is Jan's face this morning. The other injuries are not quite as colorful yet.  I don't think we're going to be around too much for a few days.  She needs supervision and round the clock nursing. 

MARCUS:   Excuse me, but has anyone called Bill Gaither and let him know he caused a oneperson - TV pileup yesterday?  I've heard gospel music has soul but who knew it could be so dangerous?

Little Squirt Portrait

MARCUS:  Hey, look at that cute puppy portrait.  Is it someone we know?

PERCY:  You could say that.  Doesn't it look familiar? 

MARCUS:  Yes, it does, but I can't put my paw on it.  Who is it?

PERCY:  Look in the mirror.  No, never mind.  You were a little squirt then and don't look quite the same today.

MERCI:  Here's the photo that was used to make the portrait.  Do you recognize him now?

MARCUS:  Hey, that's me!  Did Jan paint it?

MERCI: You're joking!  Jan can't paint.  It was a present to us from Chewy. 

PERCY:  They sent 6" x  6" portraits to the bloggers who have been doing reviews for them.

MARCUS:  You mean they're bribing us?

MERCI:  No, no, not a bribe.  They have never asked us to do anything but to be honest in our review of a product.   

PERCY:  When we learned other bloggers were receiving portraits, we wondered how they were going to handle all of us Funny Farmers.  They picked you to represent us.

MERCI:  They think you're cute.  

MARCUS:  Wow, I'm representing the Funny Farmers. Who would have thought?

PERCY:  Definitely not us! 

FUNNY FARMERS:  Thank you, Chewy.  It's a great portrait. The photo doesn't do it justice. 

Dear Kitten Advice

BUDDY:    It's that time of year again.

MICAH:  What time is that?

CAMERON:  I think Buddy is referring to the time humans lose their minds.

MICAH:  Oh, I thought they do that every day.

BUDDY:  Ah, but not like they do on Super Bowl Sunday.

MICAH:  Oh, yes, today is when a bunch of guys fight over a ball and whenever someone gets possession of it, he gets chased down and tackled.

CAMERON:  It's sort of like Keep Away, but the humans take it seriously and can get pretty violent.

BUDDY:  A lot of humans like to go sit out in the cold and watch this, while others sit at home and party.

MICAH:  So we're having a party?  I haven't seen Jan bring home any party goodies.

CAMERON:  That's because Jan isn't a spots fan.

BUDDY:  I think you mean Jan isn't a sports fan.

CAMERON:  Yes, exactly.  So I don't think we're having a party.

MICAH:  That's too bad because it appears the humans in the video are weird but fun-loving.

BUDDY:  This week's Sunday Smile is the Dear Kitten Super Bowl video from Friskies. 


If the video doesn't play, click here.