Stressed Baby

I think Carmine can tell something's up.  He's not eating as much as he usually does and we haven't even moved yet.  This worries me a great deal!  Tonight, he only ate about half of his wet food.  I gave him the rest later, and thankfully he ate it, but I don't know if he will continue with that pattern or start to hardly eat anything after we move like he did this last time.

How can I get him to eat his wet food?  It's required for his FLUTD.  I know I can warm it up a bit in the microwave...so I might try that.  I'd put some tuna juice in it or something, but he's not allowed to have fish due to his FLUTD.

I'm going to plug in his Comfort Zone refill on our first trip over on Saturday so it can run for a couple of hours before he gets there.  Maybe that will help him a bit?

Does anyone have any other ideas how I can get him to eat?

Moving Day Very Soon!

I know I haven't been updating all that much lately and I apologize.  I just wanted to give you all a little update on stuff.

My move date has been moved up a week - which means I need to have everything packed and ready to go by Friday night/Saturday morning so we can move it all on Saturday.  You may not know this about me, but I suffer with moderate to severe chronic pain, so I definitely have to try and pace myself and take breaks when the pain gets to be too much.  I'm doing the best I can though.

It looks like my Internet stuff is at the local FedEx for me to pick up on Thursday when I go to sign my lease.  So, with any luck, I won't miss posting updates here after we move and we shouldn't get too far behind on visiting all of our great friends!! :)

If you would like to help us with the things we need for our new home, you can click here to see what we need.  Thank you so much again to those of you who have already been so generous and encouraging to me and my babies!

Anonymous Gift!

Today I got an amazing gift from someone!!!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! :)

Hopefully you all will forgive my bad photography here. 

It's a blanket for my bed!!! :)

And matching sheets!!

And some beautiful dishes!  Here's one of the bowls.

One of the coffee cups.

It was hard to get a picture of the saucer and plate so you could see the design.  It's really pretty, even prettier than I thought it looked on-line :)

There was no note, so I don't know who was so amazingly generous and kind.  But whoever you are, I really hope you know that I appreciate the gifts so so so much and your kindness and generosity has really touched me.  Thank you so much!!

I just hope that someday I can repay all the kindness I'm receiving by helping some of my furriends when they need it.

Words fail to express how much gratitude I have for all of this. <3 p="p">

Pet Bowls Recalled

We wanted to let everyone know that Petco has recalled three cat and dog food bowls due to an overseas manufacturer using stainless steel, which contained bits of radioactive cobalt-60.

The bowls being recalled are:

• SKU 1047477 - Has a 7-cup capacity and a 9-inch diameter.
• SKU 1386956 - Has a 3.5-cup capacity and a 9-inch diameter.
• SKU 1047493 - Has a 3.75-cup capacity and a 9.25-inch diameter.

You can find the SKU number on the label on the bottom or inside the bowl.  If you purchased one of these bowls between May 31 and June 20, 2012, it is recommended you take the bowl back to Petco for a refund.  

Jonathan Monken, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency stated, "These bowls do not pose an immediate health risk, but we always want to prevent unnecessary exposure to radiation."  Petco is reported as saying, "We don't know for certain how it got into our product, but we believe it came from scrap metal that had some cobalt-60 accidentally mixed in."  

The recalled bowls arrived in two shipping containers in the United States in late May or early June.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered the radiation in one of the shipping containers during a routine examination.  The second shipping container, however, made it through to Petco distribution centers.  Petco reports that they removed all of the bowls from their stores and put a hold on any further shipments from the manufacturer.  

If you have any questions regarding this recall, you may call Petco's customer service line: 877-738-6742.  

Source:

CatChannel: Cat Food Bowls Recalled

Want to help Fur Everywhere?  Please click here to find out how.

A Very Big Thank You to The Cat Guy!! :)

We want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to the Cat Guy at fourwhitepaws for sending us a present!!!!  We appreciate your kindness soooo much!!  The mom took pictures of us to share with you so you could see how happy your present made us :)

Apparently while I (the mom) was sleeping today, Carmine reallllllly wanted in the box!  It's reported that he was nudging, rubbing, and trying to tare it open, LOL!  He KNEW there was something good in there :)

Mama, what's in the box?!

A CATNIP NANNER!!!!!!!!!

Me loves my catnip!!  :)

Catnip, catnip!!

My catnip nanner, you can't have it!

Yeowww is Milita and Carmine's absolute *favorite* catnip!  They were soooo happy when those came out of the box!! :)

And Cosequin!  This will last my baby Carmine two and a half months since he only needs 1 capsule a day (since he weighs under 10 pounds).  Cosequin makes such a HUGE difference in his quality of life, so thank you soooo much!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to The Cat Guy at fourwhitepaws!!!  We will forever be thankful for your kindness!

If you haven't visited fourwhitepaws, we hope you will stop over at their bloggie and say hi!

Don't Forget to Vote!

There are only a few days left to vote in the Shine a Light on a Shelter Challenge.

The top 40 entries have been selected and it's time to vote on the shelter you think deserves to win a $10,000 grant from Purina ONE beyOnd and GOOD magazine.

You can read more about the contest in an earlier post on my blog here.  If you'd like to vote on a shelter, you can do so here.  Voting will end on Monday August 20 at 12pm PDT.

Please be sure to encourage all of your family and friends to vote for their favorite shelter as well.  :)  Do you have a favorite shelter you hope will receive the grant?




Want to help us get some much needed things for our new home?  Please click here to find out how to help.

Help Us Set Up Our New Home?

Mom has found us a new place to lives!!  We is excited and nervous about it all.  It is on a major bus line, which is good for Mom because she can't drives.  She told us the peoples in the office seem nice and we will have a good bit of room to run around.

We know mommy needs a lot of things for our new place, like kitchen stuffs.  Mom also wants to make sure we are taken good care of while we are in transition (because the first month at a new place is always the most expensive!).

We have started a wishlist of stuffs we could really use.  Or you could donate a green paper or two through mom's donate button on the side of our bloggie.  You can find our wishlist at Amazon.  With the "Find a Wishlist" option, search for: sierrakoester@yahoo.com.  It will come up with our wishlists.  The one we are using for things we need for the new place is called "New House Items."  Or you can access our wishlist by clicking here.

Mom is going to head to Good Will soon to see what they has for her there.  She is doing her best to make sure we is all comfortable and have what we needs on a tight budget.

We will understand if you cannot donate anything at this time.  We knows the economy is tough.  If you can't donate, could you send some purrs and prayers our way?

We will be more active on heres again soon; we miss visiting all our great friends!

Purrs and hugs,
Carmine and Milita

Happy World Cat Day! (A Little Late)

Technically this was yesterday, but we still wanted to celebrate!

Tell us....what is your favorite thing about cats?

Purrs, Prayers Needed Please

I was wondering if anyone has tried the Whisker City diffusers?  Are they really the same as the Comfort Zone/Feliway ones as the package claims?  If they are the same thing and just as effective, I may switch over to those - they are about $10 cheaper than Comfort Zone which adds up over time.  If they're not the same, though, I have no problem staying with the Comfort Zone as I know it works for my baby Carmine.

I know I really don't have the liberty to say much about my situation at this point, but we could use your purrs and prayers.  The apartment hunting is rough-going.  I've found a couple of places that always seem to have vacancies and don't get good reviews, but I must remember the goal is to find a secure, safe place for me and my babies for now.  If I need to live in one of these places for a while, I can handle it.

I don't want to be a burden to anyone by any means, but if you could spare purrs, prayers, nice words, a hug, that'd be nice.  I'm doing my best not to become discouraged.  Some days it's tougher than others.

Attend Doggie Date Night to Support the Hawaiian Humane Society

I think this is such a cute idea that I had to share it with everyone.  I wish our local Humane Society did things like this!

On August 18, 2012, you can go out and enjoy time with your dog to support the Hawaiian Humane Society.  You will be able to enjoy dinner with your dog from one of the local food trucks.  You and your furry friend will have a blast visiting the craft tables and businesses who will be selling both human and dog products.

If you have old papers and records you would like shredded, Shred-It will be on-site as well.  You can bring up to three (3) boxes of papers to shred to the event.  The company is asking for a $5 donation for each box you bring for shredding.  

Of course the Hawaiian Humane Society will be there, too.  The organization will be offering microchips and nail trimming for dogs for only $15 for both services or $10 for one service!

Everyone who attends the event will also have a chance to win a four-night stay at either the California Fremont or the Main Street Hotel in Los Vegas.  The prize package includes air fare, hotel, transportation to and from the airport, and meal coupon.  To enter the drawing, make a donation of $10 for one ticket.  You can purchase 5 tickets for $40.  The drawing will be held at 7pm and you must be present at the time of drawing in order to claim the prize.

Doggie Date Night will be held on August 18 from 3-8pm at Aloha Stadium.  All the proceeds from the event will go to support the Hawaiian Humane Society.  If you would like more information about this event, you can visit the Hawaiian Humane Society website here or call 356-2224.

Help Homeless Cats and Dogs Find New Forever Homes: ASPCA $100K Challenge

Fifty great dog and cat shelters have just started competing for more than $500,000 in grants from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) through this year's ASPCA Rachel Ray $100K Challenge.

The goal of the contest is for the competing shelters to get at least 300 more cats and dogs adopted this August, September, and October than were adopted in the same time-frame in 2011.  The grand prize of $100,000 will go to the shelter who is able to increase their adoption numbers the most from last year to this year.

In addition, the shelter who does the best job engaging the people in its community and the second place shelter will also receive $25,000 each from the ASPCA.  CatChannel also reports that shelters who do the best in each category will be eligible to receive grants worth $5.000 to $40,000.

Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA stated, "In this competition, everybody wins - especially the animals!"

Many of the participating organizations are holding events during the competition.  A few of the events taking place include:

• City of Bloomington Animal Shelter: ASPCA $100K Kickoff Adopt-A-Thon. This event will take place from August 1-5 at the City of Bloomington Animal Shelter located at 3410 S. Walnut, Bloomington, IN 47401.  The shelter will be open extended hours and reducing adoption fees during this time.  The shelter will be open from noon to 7pm from Wednesday to Saturday and from 1 to 4pm on Sunday.  All dog adoption fees will be reduced to $40 per dog and all cat adoption fees will be waived!
• Rainy Days at PHS: Located at 4022 Seaboard Court, Portsmouth, Virginia 23701, PHS will offer FREE adoptions from August 1 through October 31 on ANY DAY IT RAINS!!  As long as rain is falling when you begin your adoption process, you will have your cat or dog adoption fee waived. 
• Name Your Own Adoption Fee: Located at 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Novato, California 94949, the Marin Humane Society wants to adopt out 1,200 cats and dogs during the months of August, September, and October.  During the entire month of August, the Marin Humane Society is allowing pet adopters to name their own adoption fees for cats and dogs! 
• "Priceless" Cat Adoption Special: HALO Animal Rescue, a no-kill shelter, is offering waived adoption fees for all adult cats from August 1 through October 31, 2012.  Any cat one year old or older is eligible for waived adoption fees during this time.  HALO Animal Rescue is located at 5231 N 35th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85017.  You can also take advantage of the waived adoption fees on HALO Animal Rescue adult cats in Petco and PetSmart stores in the area.
• Halloween Spooktacular: Halloween Spooktacular will be held by the Bay Area Humane Society, located at 1830 Radisson St., Green Bay, Wisconsin 54302.  From October 24 through October 31, 2012, the adoption fee on any cat or dog containing orange and/or black fur will be reduced by half.  This reduction will apply to any cat or dog of any age at the main shelter and to any cat or dog of any age at the PetSmart adoption center located on Pilgrim Way.  

You can see a full list of the events shelters are using during the ASPCA Rachel Ray $100K Challenge by going here.  You can help homeless cats and dogs find good and loving forever homes by helping promote your local shelter's events. :)

Sources:

CatChannel: Shelters Vie for $500,000 in Dog and Cat Adoption Contest

ASPCA $100K Challenge: Events