Featured Furry: Serati

Mom has a new shelter love at Wayside Waifs! He is a domestic short hair kitty named Serati.

He's a very sweet kitty and loves to sit on a lap and be petted.

Serati is 3 1/2 years old and is quite playful. He played a long time by himself with his mousie, then played some more with Mom and a wand toy. He's also a talker. After play time, he took a little snooze in Mom's lap.

Doesn't Serati sound like the purrfect cat? If you're interested you'd better hurry! A cat like this will be snapped up quickly! Check him out at Wayside Waifs in Kansas City.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Administrative Professionals Day to the Best Office Assistant in the World

My Friend Daffy

Do you know my friend Daffy? She's a sweet little dog who lives in the middle of Kansas. I met her on Twitter through my sisfur, Dottie. She is warm and friendly and I'm so glad I met her. You can be her friend too! Just look her up-she's @NoCrybabyDoGs-and send her a follow request, you'll agree that she's pretty pawsome!


Daffy has some unexplained health issues. She has terrible shakes every time she goes to sleep. It has her mom really scared. Her V-E-T in the little town they live in doesn't know why this is happening. He says that Daffy needs to go see a V-E-T at Kansas State University's School of Veterinary Medicine. There they have more advanced technology to figure out what's going on with little Daffy's body.


There are some challenges to this though. First off, K-State is in Manhattan, a couple of hours away from where Daffy and her mom live. Daffy's mom isn't able to make that trip due to her own health problems. Second, a visit with a V-E-T at K-State and all the tests that will have to be done is going to cost a whole lot of money. Daffy and her mom have a pretty tight budget.


This is where Daffy's friends come in! There's an easy and fun way to help out. An organic dog treat bakery in Massachusetts, The Barker's Dozen, selected Daffy as their "Barker's Buddy" and in learning more about her story wanted to help her further. This month EVERY ORDER placed with The Barker's Dozen at http://shop.thebarkersdozen.com/ will help Daffy. The Barker's Dozen will donate 50% of the profits of every sale to Daffy so she can get to K-State. They're doing this through the end of April, so time is running out! You can also just donate to the Chip-In The Barker's Dozen set up for Daffy at: http://www.thebarkersdozen.com/wordpress/press/dollars-for-daffy-chipin-page/


If you can't give money or order dog treats, can you take the time to retweet the message? Spreading the word helps too! Just follow The Barker's Dozen on Twitter at @TheDailyBarker. Every day they tweet the fundraiser and you can retweet it to share the information. You can also share this blog post. It's not limited to Twitter, either! Spread the word on Facebook, via email, or at lunch with friends.


Daffy is a very special friend to us. She and her mom sent us a wonderful care package after the fire. Mom is going to get the chance to meet Daffy in person soon to thank them. Since Daffy's mom can't take her to Manhattan, Mom is going to take her! Yep, Mom is going to pick her up, deliver her to K-State, and take her home when it's all done.


It would mean a lot to me if you could help Daffy. She's a dear and trusted friend and I know how worried her mom is about her. Let's pull together to reach out to them.

Pet Emergency Kit

In my previous blog post about the fire, I mentioned the pet emergency kit Mom has for me. I was very grateful that Mom had made it for me because it had all kinds of stuff in it that I needed.


For this post, Mom did a video showing everything that she keeps in my emergency kit (except she left out the Greenies, I've since reminded her and she has added a bag to the kit!).


Take it away, Mom!

Here are the items you need in a pet emergency kit (for cats):

• Food (Dry & Wet)/Lid for cans/Spoon
• Water
• Bowls
• Treats
• Copies of medical records
• Pictures of your pet AND of you WITH your pet
• Blanket
• Toys
• Litter/Box/Scoop/Plastic liner
• Collar/Harness/Leash/Tags

Please, please, please have your human make a pet emergency kit for you! You just never know what might happen when you will need it. Remember to keep it in a handy location too!

Life Turned Upside Down

Hi there, Pals. It's been a long time since I've blogged, but there's a very good reason. Six weeks ago tomorrow our life was turned upside down. It seemed like a normal Thursday evening at home. Mom and I were sitting on our cool new loveseat with the laptop. We were talking on the phone with Grandma when Mom realized something wasn't right. She could hear a lot of commotion outside and thought it was the downstairs neighbor kids being rowdy again. Then she saw a police car come by our building with its lights on. Mom, being a cop, thought there was a crime occurring. She quickly got off the phone with Grandma and went out the door to see what was happening. She saw one of the downstairs neighbors and a man she didn't know. Mom said, "What's going on?"

"My floor is on fire!" the frantic neighbor girl said. Mom went right into action. She knocked on our three neighbors' doors on our level. Only one person was home, a lady with a little dog. Mom told her there was a fire and to get out of the building, then she came back to our apartment.

Mom grabbed my carrier from under the table and put me in it. She kept saying "Everything's okay, but we have to go." She went to the closet and got the pet emergency kit she has been planning on blogging about. She also grabbed the laptop from the loveseat and through it in its bag with its charger. Her phone was plugged in right there too, so she grabbed them and through them in the bag.

Mom had just bought some hay for Dottie, so she opened the bag and put the hay in Dottie's hay bucket. Mom then grabbed her prescriptions and through them in her purse. She took the hay bucket, pet emergency kit and computer bag and set them outside the door. When she did, she looked downstairs she saw a police officer-and he saw her too. He pointed at her, realizing there were people upstairs. Mom ran back in the apartment, knowing that the officer was going to come after her. She wanted her gun and badge with her, so she ran to her office to get them. That's when the officer came in yelling for her to get out and that there was nothing in the apartment worth dying for. Mom ran back to the living room and asked the officer, "Will you get my guinea pig?" As he picked up Dottie's cage, Mom grabbed me and her purse (plus all the stuff outside the door) and we all ran downstairs.

By this time the firemen were there trying to stop the fire from spreading. Mom put me and Dottie in the SUV where we would stay for a couple of hours. We were blocked in by a fire truck and had no choice but to stay and watch the devastation. Mom called our friend and neighbor Kathi (@CJLegendKitty's mom) and told her to come home. Dad heard the news from some other neighbors and he came home too.

Our apartment is in the very top left corner.

Mom was purraying very hard that they would get the fire put out soon. She really felt like they would save our apartment. That didn't happen though. The wind was blowing VERY hard that night and it was just too much for the firemen to get under control. It spread quickly to other parts of the building.

That's the deck I used to watch birdies from.

Soon, there was nothing left. Mama knew we had lost everything and we would have to start over the next day. But at least we were all together.

That night, we went to a hotel. It was my first time staying in a hotel! Mom had a blanket for me, a litter box, plus food and water. Things were very strange. Mom cried when she went to bed. I didn't like not being at home, so I slept on the bed between Mom and Dad.

The building was completely destroyed.

The next few days were very strange too. During the day, we went to a friend's apartment. I got to wander around there while Dottie stayed at the hotel. We stayed two nights at the hotel, then we moved into our new apartment. It was strange too. It smelled funny and there was no furniture.

Soon, friends started sending us care packages. I got lots of beds, treats, and toys to replace all the stuff I lost in the fire. It took a long time to get my scent on everything. About a week later, we finally got furniture and that made things seem more normal.

Mom and Dad are gone a lot still. They have to go shopping all the time to replace everything. Dad says they'll be done soon and they will be home more with me.

I'm doing good, though! Mom was very proud of me because I didn't have any accidents or anything during the upheaval. I was just happy to be with my family still! Mama is sad over some of the things we lost, but she knows how blessed we are that things worked out the way they did.

Me and the replacement NipDuck someone sent me.

Mom, Dad, me, and Dottie would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped us. Whether you sent us gifts, donated to the chip-in, checked on us to make sure we were okay or prayed for us, it was all appreciated. We never could have made it through without all of you!

136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Is In The Books!

Mom and Grandma finished watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night. The first group up on the second night of group judging was the Sporting Group. These dogs are the hunters' friends, the gun dogs. The emblem of the WKC is a Pointer, like Josh from Colorado. The group also contains the ever-popular Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever. There is another breed that is a favorite of Mom's, the Clumber Spaniel. She says that if Grandpa was a dog he'd be the Clumber Spaniel! Mom's pick to win the group was Max the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and Grandma went with the Spinone Italiano, Atticus. The winner was the Irish Setter, Emily. She had 15 puppies last May and still had a killer figure! MOL!

The next group was the Working Group. This group includes the Portuguese Water Dog, which is what Bo Obama is. The Tibetan Mastiff in the group, Major, served in his owners' wedding party earlier in the day-he gave away the bride! Imagine that, a wedding on Valentine's Day at Westminster. How fun! Mom chose the Doberman Pinscher, Fifi. She has her own Facebook page, The Fifinator. Grandma chose the Great Pyrenees, Raleigh who actually works as a livestock guardian for free-range chickens. Guess what? Mom finally picked a winner! Fifi went to the Best In Show judging!

The last group of the night was the Terrier Group. A new breed was part of this group this year: the Cesky Terrier represented by 7-year-old Brubeck. It also includes the Scottish Terrier that they described as "openly feels superior to its owner." I wonder if they're part cat! Mom almost picked the Colored Bull Terrier to win, but decided to go with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Daphne. Mom thought she had a great smile and liked the fact that Daphne loved to spend her time playing fetch with a special needs child. Grandma picked the Airedale Terrier, Dane. The winner was the Kerry Blue Terrier, Chelsey.

Best In Show judging is always exciting. Competing for the ribbon was the Wirehaired Dachshund, Pekingese, Dalmatian, German Shepherd Dog, Irish Setter, Doberman Pinscher and Kerry Blue Terrier. Mom was rooting for Fifi, the Dobie and Grandma thought Emily the Irish Setter was going to win. The winner turned out to be Malachy the Pekingese. Mom was shocked! She really thought Fifi had it in the bag.

Next year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be held February 11 & 12, 2013. I'll be watching, will you?

Mom Has Gone to the Dogs

What I'm about to say is shocking, especially to my kitty readers. My mom is a *whispers* dog person! I know, I know. How can that be? She doesn't even own a dog! She volunteers with cats, has owned more cats in her life than dogs and is the best cat-mom a kitty could ask for. Still, she loves dogs. So this time of year is like a holiday to her-it's Westminster time.


Yesterday was day one of the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Mom and Grandma have made a tradition of watching it together every year and when Mom moved away, that didn't change. She travels to Wichita to stay with Grandma for a few days and watch the dog show. It's their special "bonding time" I guess. *rolls eyes* They eat out, go shopping and then in the evenings they settle in for the doggie festivities. They have a great time oohing and ahhing over the dogs, then they each pick their favorite one to win.


Mom's favorite group is the hounds. Her heart dog was a sighthound, a borzoi named Oscar. Before that, she had another sighthound, a whippet named Crystal when she was growing up. She just has a thing for those skinny dogs.


This year there was a new breed in the hound group, the American English Coonhound. They said the breed is supposed to be kind and have a "houndy" expression. The lucky American English Coonhound to represent his breed in the group judging was named Gin. The whippet in the group was Chanel, who Mom recognized. She actually won the hound group two years ago. She was also gaga over the Ibizan Hound and the Petit Basset Griffon Vandeen or PBGV. She learned that there are less than 1000 Otterhounds in the world, which made her sad. She hates to think that any breed would become extinct. Her favorite to win, and Grandma's too, was the Borzoi. His name was Aiden and he gets to go to McDonald's after every show for a plain McDouble. Unfortunately, he didn't win, didn't even get in the top four. The winner of the hound group was the Wirehaired Dachshund named Cinders. The PBGV came in second and Chanel the whippet came in third.


Next was the Toy Group. This is probably Mom's least favorite group, but she still thinks the dogs are cute. She thought Andy the Silky Terrier was cool because he had attitude. They said he was into home remodeling-he chewed a pipe once and caused a flood! MOL! Mom's pick in this group was the Chinese Crested and Grandma's was the Italian Greyhound. Again, they were both wrong. The Pekingese, Malachy, won, but that bad boy Andy came in fourth!


The third group to show on the first night was the non-sporting group. This group had two new breeds this year. First was the Norwegian Lundehund. Mom fell in love with this breed. They have very flexible skeletons and six toes on each foot. This is because they used to hunt puffins and would climb rocks to get to them. The other new breed was the Xoloitzcuintli or Xolo for short. They are a hairless breed, which Mom really loves. The Xolo in the group was named Armani and was Mom's pick to win. Grandma's pick was the Tibetan Spaniel named Jackson, after Allen Jackson because he loves to sing. Mom was also kind of pulling for the Keeshond named Journey because she was from our city, Shawnee, KS! Again, they couldn't pick the winner. The Dalmatian named Ian won. A Dalmatian has never gone Best in Show, maybe this year it will happen!


The last group for the night was the herding group. My grandpa's dog, Yaz, belongs in this group. He's a Corgi mix. There are two Corgi breeds, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, which is the one with the tail and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi who doesn't have a tail. This group also saw a couple of new breeds. The Entelbucher Mountain Dog is a Swiss breed and the Finnish Lapphund. Mom and Grandma both picked the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Pilot to win, but they were wrong again. The German Shepherd Dog, Cappy won the herding group.


Tonight the last three groups will be judged: the sporting group, the working group and the terrier group. After that, Best in Show will be picked and that dog will become a star, just like Hickory the Scottish Deerhound did last year! (Mom whooped and hollered so loud when she won I could hear her all the way up here in KC!)