Weekend of Remembrance

We'd like to join with Three Tabby Cats in Vienna and other bloggers to light a candle in a weekend of remembrance for all the friends we've lost. Our handsome Crystal passed away January 2010 and there were others we lost before him, so we know how it is when they leave.

You can post this graphic in your sidebar or in a post, request they light a candle for you, and/or read more about this on Kashim, Othello & Salome's blog.

National Hairball Awareness Day

Hi, Percy here. Today is National Hairball Awareness Day so we have a fun ... interesting ... boring ... we have a related post.

We don't want to be mean but Jan is a flop at creating anything. So of course she agreed to make a Hairball Creature for today. It was simple. All she had to do was use the new FURminator on us kitties and make a creature from our fur. Simple, right? Ha!

She collected our fur in a bag and tried to make something. The next day she tried again and again. And this is what she made. (Don't laugh. **snicker** You'll hurt her feelings.)

See poor Sam over there with a "you're joking" look on his face, trying to distance himself from Jan's "art," as I go sauntering by and ... what is that???

Jan says it's supposed to be a cat or dog sitting on its butt. It has two front legs but no matter what she does, they just won't show in the picture.

Nope, it doesn't look any better close-up. It smells kind of familiar, though. Might I suggest it needs a grooming?

The first time Jan got up from the floor to download the photos onto the computer, she knocked over the metal background. It flattened her creature. She put its head and arms back on and sat it back up. The second time she got up, she knocked over the metal background and flattened it a second time. The third time she got up -- no, don't run ahead of me here. That time I flattened it with the metal background. Sorry, it was an accident. **snicker**

By then the creature's fur was a hard mass with no arms and a crooked head. So Jan combed out all the fur and separated it back into a loose mass. And then she decided to make the creature lay down and look pathetic.

Shaggy

This is Jan's submission. If any of you can figure out what it is, please clue us in. Even Jan has no idea what it's supposed to be, but its name is Shaggy.

Despite all the setbacks, Jan had some fun making this mess Fur Creature to help promote National Hairball Awareness Day 2011. Here are some FURminator tips on cats, hairballs and shedding.

Cast of creature contributors -
1) Cameron, 6-year old tuxedo, absolutely loves to be brushed, so he was the main contributor to the fur pile.
2) Cotton, a 12-year-old tortoiseshell.
3) Cyndi, a fluffy 7-year-old calico.
4) Percy, a handsome 6-year-old black & gray tabby.
5) Rusty, age 7, a long-hair ginger tabby. He supplied the eyes, ears and snout.

PeoplePets.com has posted a gallery of all 23 Fur Creatures here. Or you can access them here. Furminator will be featuring the photos throughout the day on their Facebook page.   (You can view their FB page even if you don't have an account by clicking on the link.  You just wouldn't be able to leave a comment.) There are some interesting fur creatures, so be sure to go see them all. There are some creative artists among bloggers.

Romeo will hold a drawing next week. The winner gets a $500 donation to their pet rescue of choice and second place gets to choose Romeo's May FURpower organization.

Merci on the Storms

Hi, Merci here with today's post.

We want to post this lovely graphic Zoolatry made for bloggers to post in their sidebar for those affected by the storms that raged through the midwest and southeast United States yesterday. There were super thunderstorms that spawned a lot of tornadoes and a number of folks in several states lost their lives.

There were several deaths not too far from us and a tornado that went through the northern part of our county, which isn't very far from where we are. Jan made us get off the computer early and pulled the plugs on the computer equipment. She did watch the television for news of the storm's arrival.

She finally went to bed and lay listening to the severe weather radio beeping and giving alerts. We went from a tornado watch to a tornado warning. And then shortly after midnight, we all heard the tornado sirens go off. They are really eerie at any hour!

The local radio station was off the air. Their tower is located right in the path of the worst of the storm but we heard news from what might have been Griffin. Nothing like sitting in the dark with lightning flashes illuminating the house and listening to this kind of talk:

"It will reach *** in 3 minutes. .***, you have 3 minutes to take cover. If you're in a mobile home, get out NOW!  ^^^ the storm will reach you in 20 minutes.  ### you're directly in the path and need to take cover."   (Jan was having a hard time remembering where these places are located.)

Well, there isn't much we can do. The two little closets and the bathroom are on the side that would take the brunt of the storm if it hit us so Jan moved into the kitchen and sat at the table watching the window with shadows of tree branches blowing in the wind.

I sat beside her. Not that I was afraid, mind you. She would pat me on the head and tell me I am a good girl and great company. Cotton is afraid of storms so she was hiding. The other kitties were ... somewhere. Buddy and Sam were found sprawled out across the bed. Sound asleep.

We were very fortunate, and we are sad for those who lost a loved one in these terrible storms. So we thought it appropriate to put Zoolatry's graphic in a regular post and to pray for those who were not so fortunate.

Oh, and we want to add Precious to our post. She is in desperate need of a home and her time is running out. Please go by Brian's Home blog and read about her. Perhaps you can help, at least pass on the word about her if you can't adopt her. Thanks.

Cotton Meets Can Do

Hi, Cotton here.

We have a happy video for you. It's hard to believe this peppy, happy Jack Russell, appropriately named "Can Do" (possibly spelled differently - Kandu or ...?) was turned in to be euthanized because he would never have any quality of life.

UPDATE: Aha, we were right!  When we originally found the story and video on this dog, all we knew was his name is "CanDo " but no spelling.  We prefer Kandu and we have finally found that this is the correct spelling.  **Breathes on paw and wipes on chest to congratulate self**

This video is called "One Brave Little Dog." Personally, we all think "One Bouncy Little Dog" would be a better title. He's got as much or more enthusiasm for life as a dog with four legs.


If the video doesn't play, click here.