Win a Free Pet Portrait!

Lucy: It's been forever since I've posted on our blog. But since I am the Artsy Catsy spokesmodel, our CEO Rocky has asked me to make an important announcement ....

Hear ye, hear ye, all pet lovers! My human artist Suzanne has started her own blog, Artistic Pet Portraits, and she's kicking it off with a big contest! The first place winner will receive a FREE pet portrait ($225 value) and the second place winner will receive Artsy Catsy products personalized with your favorite photos!

You could be the lucky winner, so go enter the free pet portrait contest now!

Now, I must get back to my spokesmodel beauty sleep ...

Carnival of the Cats #292

Rocky: Welcome to Carnival of the Cats #292 and it's good to be back with all my friends to host the greatest cat show on Earth!

As you'll read in my Carnival submission, our human artist has been very ill and is facing surgery, so we've been spending most of our time taking care of her and getting her as healthy as possible before they start taking things out of her. I hope you'll send your very best purrs & purrayers to my mom for an easy and successful surgery!

And now, on with the show ....


On Furbaby Friday, Prince Henry illustrates how NOT to fold laundry and does a fine demonstration of the purpose of human laps at Texas Oasis.

Beautiful Catscha is thinking about the speed of light ... and, of course, birds ... at Elms in the Yard.

Bookaholic Kitty Munchkin beautifully demonstrates the importance of books at This, That & the Other Thing ...

What Am I? is the meaty subject presented at Blog d'Ellison. Is Hakuna chopped liver or a meatloaf?

Another decision must be made - is it Nosey or Edison? Well, duh! There's a World of Difference between the kitties at anniemiz.

Luna brings to the table the fine art of ... well, bringing oneself gorgeously to the table at CatSynth.

EEK! Arthur and Rosie are getting into the spirit of the season as they debate the presence of The Ghost at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Because her gray matter is on vacation, Maddie's Astute Commentary is very concise at StrangeRanger.

Gemini had a very Thankful Thursday, thanks to some primo nip from Mom Robyn along with some other goodies for her staff at The Cat Post Intelligencer.

Switch2Life brings us a series of animals having fun ... as they're meant to do! But wait - where are the kitties in the first series? There's a wild spotty kitty in the second series. And, aha! Just look at those kitties in the third series!

Don't miss Carnival of the Cats #293 next Sunday at
When Cats Attack

We're Still Here!

Rocky: In spite of appearances (or lack of them), we have not disappeared. My staff and I have been very preoccupied taking care of our sickly mom. She's having surgery on Dec. 2 to have at least 12 inches of her defective colon removed. I don't like the idea of having part of my mom removed! And I've been busy doing research on how to sneak into the hospital with her, because how can she possible heal without me curled up beside her purring her back to health?

I've also been busy helping her out around the house. Here I am hooking up the digital cable box for her. Some tasks just require too much technological expertise to delegate them to my staff!

Cry Out for Health Care Reform!

Rocky: I'm happy to report that my mom is feeling better. In fact, she felt good enough last week to go with my human artists Suzanne and Jenni to a rally for health care reform. Even with insurance, my mom is racking up medical bills and still facing surgery, and Suzanne has no health insurance at all.

When my mom's daughter Tiffany had serious spinal surgery in Italy, you know what it cost, including surgery, hospitalization, tons of expensive tests like CAT scans, doctor fees, etc.? Nothing! Here in the U.S. it would have cost a squillion dollars. And it was state-of-the-art care with no waiting, so don't believe all the lies you hear about European health care. They aren't true.

My human artist Jenni is also a musician, and I want to share with you a video of her performing her song "Cry Out." Jenni wrote the music and lyrics and created the video. It's going to be played at another health care rally next weekend.

Enjoy "Cry Out"and Jenni would love your feedback! We hope it inspires you to cry out for health care for all Americans. As Senator Kennedy said, it's a right, not a privilege.

Cry Out lyrics:

The world is wounded, its nations bleeding
And their ghosts remind us of all the blood we've shed
Their memory haunts us, like lurking shadows
Tell me, where'd the peace go and tell me do you care?
Do you care enough to ...

Cry out! Cry out!
Cry, cry, cry, cry
Cry out! Cry out!

May heaven help us and wake us from sleeping
Then cause every heart to share a common dream
Once common purpose and one single vision
Oh, in the name of God, let freedom reign.
If you really care, then ...

Cry out! Cry out!
Cry, cry, cry, cry
Cry out! Cry out!

Lay down your guns, give love a chance
Raise up your voice before the last grain falls through the hourglass!

Cry out! Cry out!
Cry, cry, cry, cry
Cry out! Cry out!

How can we deny all the truth that seeks us
When we're nailed to a cross that every soul must bare?
How many signs do we have to witness?
How many graves left to dig before we dare to ...

Cry out! Cry out!
Cry, cry, cry, cry
Cry out! Cry out!

Carnival of the Cats

Rocky: Welcome to Carnival of the Cats #286. And please accept my apology for the day's delay in presenting the Carnival to you ... all I can say is sometimes Artsy Catsy goes all Artsy Batsy!
Lots of videos in this week's Carnival ... and the first two up are which are more annoying, cats or dogs? (What? Cats annoying??) at Greg Laden's Blog.

Beauty abounds! This year’s Pere Lachaise cat, sunbathing on a gravestone in the world’s most-visited cemetery in Paris, France, is brought to you by The Poor Mouth.

Sunshine on our shoulders makes us happy! Pica is also working on her tan at LabKat.

Time to crunch some numbers: How much does a dog or cat really cost? Find out at The Digerati Life.

After that number crunching, you may need a lift. Don’t miss 23 pictures to help you through the day, brought to you buy Colors Magazine. And that they'll do, as you can see from just this one:

Silly Charlie offers a pictorial lesson about how to squeeze into a tiny cat tree house over at No Deep Thoughts.

And here's a video lesson: In Luna and Mouse, Luna teaches you exactly what to do with yes, a mouse, at CatSynth.

In The Bee, the Battle of the Bay Window and the Sill, Cosette gives an update on the multiple dramas unfolding at Hemi’sPhere.

In Still Life with Feather, Maddie proves at StrangeRanger that kitty pics and videos are not always on-demand!

Hop on board the Wienermobile! The Hams of the Werld Tour 2009 is in full swing at Life From a Cat’s Perspective. If these touring kitties eat another ham, they could start looking like pigs!

Now here's a soundtrack that may surprise you. Rush Limbaugh recorded a public service announcement for the Humane Society, talking about how he treasures his cat, Punkin ... brought to you by Vegetarian Star.

It’s that time of year again (itch, scratch) and you'll find some advice on avoiding counterfeit flea treatment products over at Flea Control Secrets .

And here's a list of quick & easy tips for removing pet hair from our homes, from Home Life Weekly. (Now why would we want to do that?)

One last video: I hope you'll all join Artsy Catsy in supporting human vet care reform and help make the world a better place. This original music video by one of my human artists will inspire you!

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Don't miss next week's Carnival of the Cats

hosted by Kashim, Othello & Salome

Mom Update

Rocky: I've been very lonely and worried about my human artist ...
I want to give all my friends a quick update but, first, let me thank you all so much for all your purrs and purrayers and good wishes. You brought many much-needed smiles to her face!

She left us for several days to see her doctor at Indiana University Hospital for a series of tests because he's worried that her c-diff infection hasn't cleared up. Then the doctor said he thinks she's going to need surgery to remove part of her colon. I don't know what that is, but I don't want him removing part of my mom! And, even worse, she's on such a strict diet that we hardly ever get any interesting table scraps!!

We're still waiting for the test results, so if you'd like to keep those purrs & purrayers coming, we sure could use them! And we could also use some bites of ham or hot dogs or roast beef or ice cream or pork chops or .... I mean, rice and toast and bananas just doesn't cut it with kitties!!

Beauty and the Beatles

Rocky: We wanted to start off the week with a song. This video is my mom's daughter Tiffany, who is an opera singer in Rome, Italy, singing John Lennon's lullaby "Goodnight" at a benefit for a children's hospital in Rome, where they performed the entire Beatles "White Album". Enjoy!



And here's more from the same concert:

"Hey Jude" in an Italian accent, with Tiffany and a children's choir singing backup ...


Here you can watch all the performances from the concert, including my namesake song, Rocky Raccoon!