Stuff on Sunday

Rocky: Still no pictures because our new flashy thing won't be here until early next week. (I tried to scan myself, but for some reason the scanner lid wouldn't close over my slim and svelte self!)

It's a sleepy Sunday here, because on top of everything else that's happened this week, my mom got an emergency call from her daughter Tiffany in Italy late last night. Yesterday afternoon Tiffany cut her finger trying to open a walnut with a knife and had to go to the emergency room, where they closed the cut and gave her a tetanus shot. (We're getting Tiffany a nutcracker for Christmas!)

A few hours later, she had a reaction to the tetanus shot and suddenly got really sick with a dangerously high fever and terrible muscle pain all over her body. So my mom was on and off the phone with Tiffany for a long time, and then we all stayed up most of the night fussing and worrying. We tried really hard to purr a couple of degrees of Tiffany's temperature to Moki, who really needs them ... and we think it worked because Moki is feeling better today, and Tiffany's fever is down and she feels a bit better, too. Ah, the miraculous power of the purr!

Speaking of Moki, we've extended the Crazy Cat Lady raffle to help with his vet bills until tomorrow at midnight, so if you haven't bought a ticket ($2), you still have time!

Finally Friday

Rocky: I am SO glad it's finally Friday! We spent Thanksgiving Day giving thanks that nothing else has gone wrong this week!

First, you'll notice there's no picture of me in this post. That's because my human artist broke our flashy thing this week! I need to choose the winner of our Crazy Cat Lady necklace and earrings raffle for Moki, but there's no flashy thing to provide quality control! I ordered a new flashy, and as soon as it arrives I'll select a winner ... so you still have time to buy tickets.

Also, we need some purrs and purrayers for our neighbor and good friend Kay, who my mom had to rush to the hospital Tuesday. Kay has some serious 100% heart blockages and only one of them could be repaired with a stent. She might get to come home today, but has to go back to the hospital for more procedures soon. Kay is a wonderful cat and woofie lover / artist who has started to assist me with some of our beading. My mom has been spending lots of time at the hospital with her and she's very worried about our friend.

Our good friend Lois needs some purrs, too. She has been in cancer treatment for several years now and finally had to go off medical leave because her former company closed down. First she found out that her Cobra medical insurance will cost her almost $1,000 green papers a month, and she only gets $1,300 green papers a month from disability. Then the very next day, she found out that she may have metastases in her lungs. She gets Herceptin and other intravenous treatments for her bones every month that cost more than $7,000 each, and now she may have to go back on chemotherapy, too. We think this is awful that her insurance company could do this to her and we're all purring & purraying very hard for a solution, if you'd like to join us.

And my mom could use a few purrs, too. Right before the holiday my Almost Dad Jim decided he could find a better family than Artsy Catsy, and he had the nerve to tell this to my poor mom in an E MAIL! Grrrrrrrrr!! Mom says that's the least of our worries right now, but I really, really, really want to put the bitey on that guy.

My biggest wish right now is that all my blogging friends had a much better Thanksgiving week than we've had!

Carnival of the Cats #245

Carnival Barker Rocky: Ladiezzzzz and gentlemen ... step right up to see the greatest traveling cat show on earth! ....

Our first attraction is a real treat! Puddy has gone crazy at A Byootiful Life … crazy for Temptations!

Speaking of treats, there is one snazzy-looking pussycat over at Blog d’Ellisson. You don’t want to miss Her Ebon Splendor.

Behold the beauty of Tiny as art imitates life imitates art at sisu.

And Tamir at Friends Furever has become a proud member of the Gorgeous Gingers. Congratulations, Tamir!

Some seriously cute kitten blogging is happening at Bloggg ... "Come visit me NAOW!!"

Don't doodle around! Go learn all about the perfect First Dog at Katie's Kitties. The Obamas are considering a Labradoodle (or would that be an Obamadoodle?)

Then go feast your eyes on some purrfectly wonderful kittypics at Elms in the Yard ...

On Fierce Fighter Day at Manx Mnews, Abby purred a beautiful tribute song to those who came before.

China Cat also fondly remembers those Fierce Fighters who came before ...

And The Poor Mouth pays tribute to Oscar, Robyn's predecessor as alpha cat at Hope Cottages.

Eric and Flynn pay a lovely tribute to the kitties who came before and brought so much happiness into their mum's and dad's lives.

Kashim and Othello are remembering their angel brother Paul.

And Mr. Milky guest hosted Fierce Fighter Day here at Artsy Catsy.

Naughty and Luna are houseguests at the Cat Realm … and they’re asking for your vote!

It's fair weather at Texas Oasis, where Blueberry continues the Tour de Chairs and soaks up some passive solar heat.

Elsewhere, the weather outside is frightful! But Phoebe gives us an important lesson on how to be a cozy cat on a snowy day.

Samantha and Mr. Tigger are freezing over at Life from a Cat's Perspective.

At The Catboys Realm, Kashim and Othello are weathering the first snow of the year by taste-testing pumpkin bread and snuggling in bed.

And Edison settles in for an afternoon snooze at anniemiz. What a long shelf life he has! ...

Even though it's only November, Perfectly Parker and her family are already missing their deck.

Only November? That means it's holiday season! Tristan at Tabbylicious says, “Turkey Day is coming and looky! Looky! I caught me a turkey!” Go check it out and take a Turkey Trivia Quiz.

And at Cat Whisperer, Timmy (who was named for Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol) is asking, “Is it Christmas yet?”

At Willow's Cat Blog, Sadie Katie won the Halloween Dress Up your Squillion contest and had a Fun Friday opening her contest presents.

Carnival of the Cats is not only fun and games but education, too. At The Pets Central, you can learn about caring for your cats’ teeth, or what to ask before bringing home a kitten, or get info about cat care web sites or basic cat health care.

At iinfidel, Cece spent the week in some serious inspecting and more inspecting of the housepainting.

And at Mind of Mog, there are nosekisses, wordless wonders and tummies, too!

Luna is still in exile in the CatSynth FEMA Trailer, but as you can see is doing quite well ...
Read the Weekend PersePHONY Report at Jack of All Shades and Shadows ... wild human fingers are running rampant!

And don't miss the story of two lovely and lovable ferals at House of Chaos.

At StrangeRanger, the good news is that Ivy is doing well ... but Maddie is attacking the papparazzi!

Carnival Notice:

Rocky: Phew! I've been very busy getting ready for Carnival of the Cats, coming to Artsy Catsy tomorrow ...

And my human artists are no help at all. First, they gave both their computers a virus or something and they wouldn't work all day. Now they're getting ready to leave town tomorrow for my Grandpa Bob's birthday party.

So here's the deal: I may have to do this week's Carnival of the Cats in installments. If you've already sent me your post, or if you get it to me tonight, it will be included in Part 1, scheduled to be posted on time tomorrow. But if you don't send it until tomorrow, it will have to go in Part 2, to be posted after the humans return home tomorrow night.

Everything would be SO much easier without humans ... well, except for stinky goodness, Temptations, scritches, litter pan cleaning ... so, okay, I guess humans aren't all bad!

You can submit your post here, or email it to carnivalofthecats (at) gmail (dot) com.

Fierce Fighter Day

Mr. Milky: Today is Fierce Fighter Day, sponsored by Whiskers & Purrs, to honor of all those Who Came Before who fought illnesses or other struggles. Since I fought successfully against my recent struggles, Artsy Catsy asked me host Fierce Fighter Day for them.

You may remember when I first found my way to Artsy Catsy, starving and begging for food and medical care ...

But then Artsy Catsy and all my loving new friends from the Cat Blogosphere saw me through infections and surgeries and a stroke and fed me and loved me ... and here I am last night when my Artsy Catsy mom and Jim came out to kittysit me in my new furever home while my new DadStan is out of town ... Hey! Jim! I know I'm getting a little plump, but must we flaunt it?? ...

Ah, yes, snuggles are definitely in order after that disgraceful display ... There were many, many Fierce Fighters who came before at Artsy Catsy, but even though I didn't get to meet them, three of them were extra special ...

Millard was my Artsy Catsy mom's very special siamese girlkitty who lived with her for almost 23 years before she struggled two years with kidney failure and had to be helped to the Bridge in 1999 ...

And Gizmo was a rescued girlkitty who lived with my Artsy Catsy mom for 19 years before she was helped to the Bridge because of cancer in her eye and sinuses, just two weeks after Millard crossed over ...My mom is convinced it was because she missed Millard, because they loved each other so much ...And then there was Hooter, the sweetest tortie girlkitty in the world. Hooter lived with my Artsy Catsy mom for almost 20 years. She struggled with diabetes for 3 years and finally had to be helped to the Bridge in 2002 when it could no longer be controlled ...

Don't you think Hooter looks like KC?

And a special word: all of us Artsy Catsy want to honor Moki today - one of the Fiercest Fighters we've ever known. Remember, for a few more days you can help with Moki's enormous vet bills and maybe win Artsy Catsy's original Crazy Cat Lady jewelry in our Raffle to Help Moki.

Finally, we want to honor all the magnificent kitties and beans in the Cat Blogosphere who do so much to help all the Fierce Fighters win their battles. We love you all so much!!

Raffle for Moki!

Rocky: Phew! Lots of stuff is going on here. First, Callie seems better this morning, so we think your purrs & purrayers are working! The main problem she's having now is with her claws filed down, she keeps falling down when she tries to jump on the furniture. She has to stay separated from the rest of us for a few days, so she's staying in my mom's bedroom. My mom has moved her computer in there and has put chairs beside the desk, the bed, and all the other furniture so Callie can jump up safely. I'll sure be glad when I can go back in there and sleep with my mom, too!

Next, our good friend Moki is still having serious health problems and his vet bills are already more than $700, with more to come. Right now 20% of every purchase you make from Artsy Catsy's Gallery goes to Moki and Criz Cats, but we want to do more to help Moki, so we're raffling one of my mom's hand-beaded Crazy Cat Lady necklaces and earrings. We haven't put these up for sale yet, so if you win this one, you'll be the proud owner of the original Artsy Catsy Crazy Cat Lady!

You can purchase your Crazy Cat Lady raffle tickets at Artsy Catsy Gallery, and 100% of the proceeds will given to Moki.

Next, I'm getting ready to host Carnival of the Cats this Sunday ... ... but I'd like to ask a favor. My human artists are going out of town Sunday to their father's (my Grandpa Bob) 79th. birthday party, and we want to get the Carnival ready Saturday night, so if you could get your Carnival posts to me as early as possible, that would be great! You can submit your posts here.

I want to thank you so much for all your purrs & purrayers for Grandpa Bob since August. He has finished his radiation therapy for prostate cancer and came through it with no difficulties. At the end of this month he has followup tests, but he says he's positive the radiation worked and his tests results will be good, because he feels fine! YAY!

Oh, and here's what else is up: My mom is kittysitting with Mr. Milky the rest of this week while his new DadStan is out of town. She's going out to his new home twice a day to feed him and visit with him, so you'll be hearing lots from Mr. Milky the next few days! Maybe I can get him to help me with Carnival of the Cats!