Easy Sunday-"Where's Cody?"

Blessing By E-Mail Service From Five Pet Place:Symbolic and Meaningful (A Guest Blog By Michael Ostrofsky)

My company Five Pet Place is doing something a little different to celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis, which is coming up on October 4th.

For those who aren't familiar with the Feast, it's where Blessing of the Animals services are held at churches around the world to celebrate the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, known as the Patron Saint of Animals.  The Feast was first added to church calendars in 1585.  Although the day of the Feast is October 4th, services themselves are usually held on the weekend immediately before or after it.

I decided to create a Blessing by E-Mail service for several reasons:

- It's something nice for people who love animals and the animals themselves.  

- It's a fun way to introduce Saint Francis to people who never heard of him.  

- It's easier for cats as the process of rounding cats up and taking them to church is extremely hard on them.  Since they're being placed in a carrier, they think it's a trip to the vet.  And there might be dogs around — so the whole ordeal is stressful.  This way, a cat can be blessed in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

- It's a great way to help the elderly and other shut ins participate.  So if you have a friend or relative like a parent or grandparent who would love to do something like this but can't, go ahead and sign up for the blessing yourself, then print it out and share it on the day of the Feast.

"Napa"

- Finally, Saint Francis means something to me.  Several years ago, my cat Napa was diagnosed with a terrible intestinal disease.  She was rapidly losing weight — and even though her vet was terrific — nothing seemed to be helping her.  An uncle, after hearing of her plight, sent me a Saint Francis medal, so I hung it on the wall by her bed.  Call it a coincidence, call it a miracle — but almost instantaneously her situation stabilized and she wound up living several more very happy and healthy years.  If this blessing can help an animal in need like Napa was — then we've done a little something to make the world a better place.

To receive a blessing, go to https://www.fivepetplace.com/signup/blessing  On the morning of October 4th, the day of the Feast, an e-mail sending the non-denominational blessing will be sent.  Rest assured, e-mail addresses provided for the blessing absolutely will not be sold to anyone or used to send ongoing marketing messages. 

That said, visitors to Five Pet Place are encouraged to take advantage of our other free services — such as our free monthly calendar and cat birthday e-cards.  Just look for the links to these services when signing up for the Blessing by E-Mail.

Thankful Thursday-"Zena"

Zena-photo courtesy of  http://theprincesstails.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/

NO, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. YES, that is a DOG! She is a special dog indeed! Meet Zena, the beautiful Tibetan Terrier from the blog:
The Princess Tails which is about how she is adjusting to life without her favorite doggy companion, Zac.

Zac was a friend of my Sheltie brother, Dakota and he was a special doggy. Sadly, Zac had to join my Grandpa Bobo at the Bridge a few weeks ago. Zena is coping with life the best she can. I, for one think she is doing a meowvelous job, but she still misses Zac terribly.

I was honored when Zena presented me, a kitty, with the:

Thank you Zena!!  It is a complete honor to accept this award from such a special doggy.   One of the requirements that accompanies this award is to thank the pawson in this case doggy, who gave it to you-- DONE! Link to their blog, DONE! Tell 7 things about yourself.

Because this award came from a doggy, I am going to devote my seven things to my life living with a doggy! Specifically, Dakota!

1) I bet you don't know that I was adopted about 9 weeks before Dakota came to live with us.

ME when I was a kitten!

2) When Dakota came to live with us there was no separating us into other rooms. Nope! Mom didn't believe in that. She did an internet search on how to introduce a dog to a resident cat, and read about putting a TINY bit of the same perfume on me, Dakota, Dad and herself!  When Mom and Dad brought Dakota home, they put his crate down on the floor and left the crate door shut for a bit. I circled and sniffed. I hissed once and only once! I never hissed at him again! Mostly cause Mom said "You're gonna get along dammit!" Kidding! Sort of! We were fast friends ever since!

3) Dakota can't eat my cat food or my toys, or get into my litter. Mom made sure that half of our condo was baby gated so that I could eat, play and poop in privacy.

4) I have never, ever tried to scratch Dakota with my talon-like claws. Believe me, he often gets on my nerves, but I deal with him in other ways. Brutal fighting isn't my style.  I would rather tease the daylights out of him in ways such as lounging on the opposite side of the baby gate, safe out of reach, taunting him with one of my favorite toys that he can't get to! That makes him crazy and my day is complete.

5) I like having Dakota as my brother because when Mom and Dad leave and are gone for what seems like furever, I have a companion. My brother.

6) Dakota and I make a great "tag-team" at meal time. I start whining which makes Dakota start to bark. We do this in the most annoying way possible which ensures that our food is given to us right away!


7) I don't sleep with my Mom or my Dad at night. I sleep in the same room as my brother. Why wouldn't I want to? After all we ARE brothers!! I have the BEST brother in the world and the fact that he is a doggy doesn't bother me one bit! He loves me and I love him. I am thankful to have him! Life wouldn't be the same for me without Dakota being in it.

So there ya have it! I wouldn't trade my life with my doggy brother for anything!

Now...I am supposed to pass this award on to I forget how many others and yep once again I am going to break the rules cause when I follow them I get in trouble. I don't know who has had this, and who hasn't, I think you are ALL lovely, so if you haven't received this award, please accept it from ME! I am thankful for each and every one of you and for Zena for presenting this award to a KITTY!

Love, Cody

Winner of the Tiniest Tiger Tote Bag and One More Surprise! "Semi-Wordy" Wednesday

Photo courtesy of  http://conservationcubclub.com

Our friends over at The Tiniest Tigers Conservation Club had a catabulous time at the Emmy's on Sunday night! Look at all of the cool people that they met!

Lou Ferrigno

Mayim Bialik

Tony Denison

Lesley-Ann Brandt


All photos courtesy of
http://conservationcubclub.com



A good time was had by all,
but you know what I love the most?

the SWAG!!

Bet you want to know who won

the give-away that I had

for  this bag!

The winner as chosen by www.random.org:

Ann from McGuffy's Reader!!

Wait til you receive this great bag!

You will love it!

My Mom received hers on Monday

and it is just fantastic!

(to those who didn't win

you can check out the bag here)

Ann, please email

your complete name

 and address

to Mom at

 cgittleman at mi dot rr dot com

Guess what? There is also an additional present that you will receive with this bag Ann, and it is from the ASPCA. It is:

A FLING-AMA-STRING!!

HOW COOL IS THAT?

BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!

I received a Fling-ama-string

that I can't use

so I picked a SECOND WINNER

OF A FLING-AMA-STRING ONLY

AND THE WINNER IS:

RACHEL SHUBIN

of 

http://sandpipercat.blogspot.com/

CONCATULATIONS

TO THE WINNERS!

THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

I was honored to pawticipate

in the Red Carpet Twitter Party

and the 

Emmy Red Carpet Cat Blog Tour!

With "Stars" in my eyes,

Cody

This and That Tuesday

Have YOU entered to win this

Kitty'scape tower?

Read about it here

Photo courtesy of  http://www.margsanimals.com/blogs/index.php/margspets/

Our dear friend Marg, over at Marg's Pets needs our help. As many of you know, Marg takes in and cares for MANY animals. Cats, dogs, donkeys etc. She also helps many of our furiends in the blog-o-sphere.

Now Marg needs OUR help. Her doggy, Jasmine is quite ill and Marg is having a hard time with the vet bills. It would be great if we all could help her out. Even if it is $1, every little bit helps, it all adds up and makes a difference! If you would like to help please visit Marg's blog right here, she has a Chip In on the right side bar. Thanks!

"Sammy" photo courtesy of  http://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com/

Today is Sammy from One Spoiled Cat

Mom's birthday!

Pussy foot on over and wish her a GREAT ONE!!!

"Kozmo" courtesy of  http://catfromhell.wordpress.com


Today is also
Kozmo
from Cat From Hell's  Birthday!!
Click here to wish him a happy day too!!

On to our "stuff"

Mom

and I are  trying to visit everyone,

 but we are super busy

 and will be for the next week or so!

Tonight begins the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur and we are busy getting ready for that, because we will be having company introoders in our home.

 Thursday evening Mom has been invited to attend an exclusive media only,  sneak preview of the new Tim Burton/Disney movie,  FRANKENWEENIE, (it will be in  theaters on OCTOBER 5TH). It  will be reviewed on  Dakota's blog on October 8th.

 Next week Mom will be in St.Louis for a couple of days attending the Passionate Pet Lovers:Purina Pet Food Summit (Mom is one of the bloggers on the Purina Cat Blog Panel and Purina is paying for their bloggers to attend), so she is pretty darned busy with all of the above and MANY other things!

Mom and I just wanted to let you know that if we aren't able to visit every one as often as usual in the coming week, we are sorry! We will do our best to visit as many of you as possible!

Have a great day!

Love, Cody and Mom

Kitty’scape™ Cat Tower Review and Enter to Win!

Oh my Cat my furiends! You are going to be happy that you stopped by today! I have been keeping something under my paw for a while now and it is finally time to spill the kibble!!

I was the lucky recipient of a Kitty'scape Cat Tower!  to review!

This is the same one that I received.
The photo is from Solvit Products
click here to visit the product page

Kitty'scape is

"A Whole New Way For Cats To Play"

It is "Versatile-Configurable-Expandable-Economical"

The model that I received was the Deluxe Model kit  and since I am more of a "Tree Dweller", mom decided to construct it more like the photo above.  It may also be reconfigured like this or however you choose!

Photo from Solvit Products

There is also a Basic Kit and an Intermediate Kit which you can read about here

as well as a number of other kits.

The box. Mom used this as a reference
when she put my Kitty'scape together

It came with complete instructions which were great
but Mom found it easier since she is more of a
visual person to just look at the box

Ok kitties I have to tell you when Mom opened the box and removed the parts, I had my doubts. At first, she did as well. As many of you know, Mom isn't the "handiest" person in the world, and ask my Dad? Um, noooo...he's even worse!

Mom completely amazed me! She amazed herself as well!

This was the beginning stage
of Mom assembling the Kitty'scape!
Not too shabby eh?

On the site it states that the Kitty'scape can be assembled in "minutes." For a "normal" person that would be 100% accurate. For someone with limited abilities such as my Mom, it was more like 120 minutes, which in my book is pretty darned good!

Here is my finished tower (but you can't see the bottom)

This is catabulous isn't it?
Mom added a comfy pad
that she had on one of the levels
In full disclosure, Mom's friend
helped her attach the top level

Now it was time for me to purrform my inspection of her construction and of the structure.

WANT ONE?

GUESS WHAT?

YOU CAN WIN!

(U.S. ONLY PLEASE)

Just complete the steps below via Rafflecopter,

 one winner will be announced Sunday, October 7th!

 Good luck!

THANK YOU Kitty’scape™

I couldn't be happier!

In full disclosure, we were sent one Kitty’scape™ Cat Tower to review and were offered one as a give-away. We were not compensated for this review. All opinions are strictly mine and Mom's!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A new season...

All American Pet Expo September 21-23 at the Suburban Collection Showplace, Novi, Michigan

"Everything New and Good For Your Pet!"

Friday 11am-8pm

Saturday 10am-8pm

Sunday 11am-8pm

Suburban Collection Showplace

46100 Grand River Ave., Novi

The 9th Annual Pet Expo will be produced for the first time by nationally recognized event producer, Steve Cantin and his team at All American Pet Expos!

There will be many new and fun additional attractions with an ultimate "World" themed experience, which will include separate sections for patrons to visit and gain knowledge about a wide variety of creature friends, including dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, fish and birds.

The Pet Expo is also a terrific shopping destination for every pet parent, featuring a huge variety of specialty pet products not generally found in retail stores. Here are just a couple of products that you will see at the Expo!

Grey Litter Robot with ramp
Click here to visit their website!

Kitty a go go click here to visit their website!

Rescue groups and Shelters for many varieties of family pets will also be represented. The event has a goal of facilitating 600 pet adoptions through the course of the weekend! The Mega Pet Adoption Sweepstakes offers all ticket holders and guests a chance to win a wide variety of fun, pet-related prizes, as well as a family weekend stay at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, MI. Details at www.aapetexpo.com

The AA Pet Expo is presented by All American Pet Resorts, Lakeshore,  Royal Oak and Roseville with new locations opening soon in Rochester and Plymouth.

Find us on Facebook by clicking here

Thankful Thursday- Celestial Kitties and Catnip Toys that benefit Winnie's Wish

Hi everyone! There are so many things that I am thankful for EVERY day but today I am super thankful for people like Andrea over at Celestial Kitties.

Visit Andrea, Leo and Star by clicking here

Why? One day in August we stopped by for Leo's birthday pawty and we learned about:
this super cool fundraiser:

Andrea was kind enough to organize this fundraiser to raise money for Chrystal  of Winnie's Wish as a thank you for all the wonderful work that she does to help furbabies who need furever homes.

Helping all of these babies can be expensive so Andrea began a fundraiser where if you donate a minimum of $15 you get FIVE really cool toys!

Mom loved this idea and decided to donate and LOOK at what happened when my toys arrived!

Speaking of PINK! Look!

Hey Katie!!! of Glogirly fame
Since you are into
all things Pepto-Bismol colored
I think you should have your
Mom spring for this for you!!!
Don't you need this for your THRONE?

All of you cool cats can get these great toys for yourself too! Don't let your Mom tell ya you already have too many. You know what, if you do, just donate these to kitties less fortunate than YOU or if you are a bloggin' kitty have your Mom or Dad or human or whatever it is you call them, give these out as PRIZES! You know, "pay it forward?" Just sayin'.....  click here to find out how to get yours!

So what are you waiting for? Get goin'!!

Also we would like to offer our deepest sympathy, our love and our prayers of strength and comfort to everyone at Zoolatry on the loss of dear Poppy Vic.

Love, Cody and "Mom"