Mystery isn’t that thrilled about giving up his patrolling, so he didn’t move into the catio right away. In the meantime, Meggy, Reggie and Karma spent a lot of time playing out there. The catio screens enclose a concrete slab porch, a few feet of sidewalk and a border with mulch and some plants. We can go straight out into the catio through a door near a litter box station inside.

No one had been in the catio at all for a few weeks because it’s cold outside (well, cold for us, anyway). Now, Mystery is in there in his little house recuperating.

Mystery had one of the worst weeks a cat could imagine.

First, he got hit by a car early one morning. The men working on the house across the street and the neighbor who loves him were there. He laid in the street for a few minutes but ran off before anyone could get to him. Later, he came for breakfast and UH didn’t notice anything wrong. In fact, the humans wouldn’t have known about the accident if our neighbor hadn’t written Robin on Facebook about it. She ran outside to find him, and he was very happy to be cuddled, but nothing seemed wrong at all. She did take him to the vet, and he was, indeed, no worse for the accident.

What got him down is a bite from another cat.

Some time between Wednesday dinner and Thursday breakfast, someone bit him on his back leg (the vet said, “You’ve got to run faster, buddy!”). UH called him for breakfast, and he didn’t come. Then she saw him in his house (Robin’s Dad sent the little green house with a heated pad for Christmas for the Garden Kitties.). She wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead, so she waited for Robin. Mystery did move his head, but he cried when Robin touched his back. The human’s feared the worst, so they called the vet as soon as the office opened, and they took Mystery there right away, house and all.

Once he was on the examining table, and moving around a bit, Robin noticed a furless patch on his back leg. Then the vet found the bite nearby. Mystery had a fever, too, and his leg was swollen. For all that, he got an antibiotic shot. (Turns out he weighs 13 and the tech said he’s “stout,” too).

Mystery was angry about all this and hissed and spit when the humans asked him to go in the carrier for the ride home.

He was just as mad that he got out of the carrier in an enclosed place. He checked it all out from one end to the other looking for ways to get out, I imagine. He found a place between the screen and the concrete and was briefly stuck there. I’m glad he trusts Robin, or he’d still be stuck in that spot. She asked him to get his front legs up on the porch (she’d seen him get that far). Then, she took hold of his armpits from behind his head and popped him out like a cork. A stout cork, indeed.

Eventually he crashed in his house. Robin and UH go out and hold his dish for him. He’ll eat if he doesn’t have to put weight on his leg to do it. He’s eating wet food and has had some kibbles and water too.

Robin and UH worked hard in the catio today to find a good way to plug the house in because it’s going to be chilly tonight. Mystery stayed in the little house and watched them with the ladder and tools. He’s been out once that Robin saw and has also moved around to different positions inside the house.

Thank goodness that he trusts the humans enough to let them take care of him. Our humans deserve our trust. They try really hard to help all of us flourish in our own way.

Meggy says, “I hope Mystery will stay in the catio where fast cars and cats can’t get him. I know Mom will build us another one to play in!”

Sometimes, Sparkle will let one of the humans touch her, but then she goes through long periods when no one gets to be closer to her than about four feet. Recently, she’s spent days away from our house, but the past week or so, she seems to have decided to spend more time in our garden.

So, today when Robin came home from work, she sat on the sidewalk outside with Mystery, and Sparkle came running from somewhere too. She came close enough to have her tail petted, and then her back, even. Sparkle rubbed on Robin’s knee, and then curled up right next to her thigh. She stayed there only briefly before she looked startled and moved about two feet away.

Robin treasures those few seconds when Sparkle let herself trust. She hopes some day to be able to meditate with Sparkle, like she meditates with me. Next time we have the windows open, I’m going to have to tell Sparkle that it’s really not that bad to get in close with these humans. Of course, it did take me three years to let down my guard a little bit, and I was living INSIDE.

1. When did you begin your blog?

I made my first blog post on March 15, 2009.

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?

My first post was about being mindful, and I wanted to share a feline perspective about causing less suffering to ourselves and others as we move through life.

3. Is your current purpose the same? If not, what’s different? If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?

Mostly, that’s still what I’m doing. I write about things that add pleasure to my life as well as those that reduce suffering. The thing I’ve done that most meets the goal is hosting art auctions to raise money for disaster relief for animals. I get to join with a community of like-minded folks to make things, enjoy the artwork of others, and do our little part to reduce the suffering of animals in particularly rough situations.

4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you? If the former, how often — and what techniques do you use to stick to it? If the latter, do you worry about… well, whatever you might worry about (e.g. losing traffic, losing momentum)?

I blog when my human isn’t completely overloaded with things others want her to do or getting her energy back from spending too much of it. I have a core group of pals who like to read my posts and follow what the kitties and humans in my house are doing. I’d like to share with them more regularly. I know they don’t forget about me while I’m not posting, but they get out of the habit of dropping by if I’m not saying anything new.

5. Are you generating income from your blog? If so, how (e.g. sponsor ads, affiliate relationships, spokesperson opportunities)? If not currently, do you hope to in the future — and how?

We don’t exactly make any income from my blog. The money we have raised in the auctions was ALL given to the organization we were supporting. Neither we nor the artists who donate their work profited from them. I have promised my human to do the best I can to help support our family. So far, the balance is still tipping her way. I keep trying to come up with new ideas. She met with some company representatives at BarkWorld Expo 2011, and we’re building relationships. You’ll hear from me soon about a product I’m getting ready to try with my human, for example. My human and I are going to be developing our art store. Lots of changes coming there, and we hope we’ll generate some income.

6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?

I like interacting with the community of people who love cats and care about cats who are in trouble. I also like the photos. My human is a pretty good photographer.

7. What do you like least?

I don’t like it when my human is too overwhelmed or tired to work with me here. I wish she could get her priorities straight.

8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2012?

Well, I already said we’re going to develop some business relationships and make changes in the art store. I hope we’ll have some art auctions but that they’ll be on behalf of animals in disasters that have already happened, rather than new ones. I’m thinking of letting Nutmeggy have a bigger role in the blog too, maybe even changing the name to include her. She’s way more interested in socializing than Karma is.

Everyone who expressed interest in anipal Secret Santa and sent along an address should have received a message today (Friday) including the name and address of your “Santee.” We used random.org to generate a random number list to sort us all to assign Santas. It was lots of fun!

If you didn’t get a message, let me know ASAP so I can send the info to you again.

If something has changed and you aren’t able to participate, I would like to know that soon too. It’s no big deal, things happen, and we have a backup strategy, so you won’t be letting anyone down if you need to bow out for any reason at all.

We are really happy that so many pals decided to join in this year! The nip pillow I received from Secret Santa last year is still my favorite toy.

For the first-time Santas…… The idea is to buy or make a present for the pet and send it for Christmas. Nothing too extravagant, but something that lets the pal know that we care. It would be great if the present could arrive by Christmas. You can remain secret, but we didn’t take a pledge or anything, so if you want to reveal your identity, that’s up to you.

I hope everybody has a good time getting ready for Christmas.

I use a Web trading service that charges $4.95 per trade and doesn’t have a minimum to get started. Robin sent a check for $300, and once the check cleared, we started trading (I need her to type in the symbols for the stocks and the numbers). I’ve made five trades, for a total of $24.75 in trading costs, and as I write on 20 November, we have $295.90 in our account. We had some setbacks, but we are more-or-less even in spite of those losses.

First, I let Robin sway me to buy stock in yoga products and a U.S. car manufacturer, neither of which went very well. We sold yoga but kept the cars for emotional reasons. Hers! The only place a car has ever taken me is the VET!

I then chose an organic food company and PetSmart. My five shares in Hain Celestial (HAIN on the stock ticker) are up almost 23 percent since the beginning of August. PetSmart (PETM on the ticker) has increased in value by 20 percent since August 23. PetSmart also paid a dividend on 11 November. We have one share and got 11 cents in dividend!

I’m trying to talk Robin into giving me a little more of her money to invest, but she tells me the world has to deal with its grease problem before I can have more dollars. I say it’s a simple fix. I’ll send Reggie and Petunia to lick it up. They both love grease!

Halloween, of course, brings thoughts of Christmas to mind (no, we didn’t forget about Thanksgiving!) and we got to thinking about how much we enjoyed Anipal Secret Santa last year. We got going a little late in the season last year, however, so we decided to get going on organizing Secret Santas for those who would like to participate this year.

I’ve been announcing on Twitter and getting good response.

I’ll list the participants here on this post, updating the list and the date, and will keep the addresses secure and only share them with your personal Secret Santa. From now on, when I want to talk to the group, I’ll add to this post and use #SecretSanta hashtag on Twitter.
I’ll be updating the list until November 24 and will send out Secret Santa assignments on November 25.

That gives Santas about a month to make or select a suitable gift that isn’t too extravagant for the pet and get it to the doorstep on or before Christmas!

I would like pals who sign up to participate to let me know if they are willing to post gifts anywhere (so far we have participants in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States) or if they would like a “Sant-ee” in their own country. I’ll do the best I can to match you up appropriately. Several of us found that ordering from a pet shop in the recipient’s country works really well to keep shipping costs manageable.

Remember, November 24 is the last day to sign up for Secret Santa!

Here’s the list of participants as of 0:00 November 25:

1. Boomiethecat
2. Katieboocat
3. Indykitty
4. Rumblepurr
5. ThePixelMoon
6. Cheriswan
7. Frankiemeow
8. LiluLuWhoT
9. SimoneleChat
10. WallaseKatt
11. Isagold
12. PetietheCat
13. PepperPom
14. Tipsy_Kat
15. CheshireK
16. NutmegTorby
17. DaneRay
18. HollieCatRocks
19. Prudence (@tildatoo)
20. Cathy Keisha
21. MariodaCat
22. BorisKitty
23. NulaTheCat
24. Pumpkinpuddy
25. TinyPearlCat
26. MizzBassie
27. Meow_Girls (Tipp
28. Meow_Girls (Penny)
29. primitivedog (Terujishi)
30. SeattleP
31. DashKitten
32. JennyRosePetal
33. Toki_Poki
34. EuripedesTheCat
35. Spookyshorty
36. Hemmingwayscat
37. Bdgrlaw
38. Skeeterthetabby
39. AnnieSparkles2
40. SnowyWestie
41. Smokey8
42. kittykitty_kkat
43. MaggieTKat
44. NikePurrfectCat
45. OllyTed

She went to workshops about using Hootsuite and making appropriate legal plans for us if something happens to her.  (Did she set up a trust for us yet? NO. Get hopping! Geez.)

She really liked the keynote addresses by the founder of Dogster and Catster, Victoria Stilwell and Jelena Woehr of Yahoo! You can read my articles in the Anipal Times for an overview of the Expo and a special focus on Victoria Stilwell’s talk. If you don’t know about her, she’s on TV in 50 countries to promote positive reinforcement training for companion animals.

Most of all the sessions at Bark World, Robin enjoyed the keynote about making pitches and the opportunity we had to make some pitches the next day. She met with some companies that sponsor bloggers, and we hope we’ll have the opportunity to work with some of them to tell you about the cool things that social entrepreneurs are doing for pets.

We are very glad that our Robin had fun hanging out with pals and their moms (mostly, although some doggie dads were there too). So many pals she met, like @EdnaAtNutro @AutmntheDoxie, @BigBoyBosco, @PepperPom, @BunnyJeanCook @Niqqi @CosmoHavanese and so many, many more nice doggies and people. No cats were in attendance, except we flat cats, of course. Don’t we look nice in the picture with Edna’s Panky (next to me) and Cheri?

We have the extra special pleasure of sharing a room with @tildatoo‘s mom. She is so nice! Prudence was the featured dog on Dogster right after Bark World, too!

We raised $435 to pledge for the project! Hurray! Hurray! and THANK YOU.

Now I need to tell you about a twist in the project’s fundraising plan. Kickstarter.com only funds a project if it makes the goal. BZTAT had established an ambitious funding goal for the kick-off of Okey’s Promise and didn’t quite make it. OUR support for Okey’s Promise is strong and we’re TOTALLY behind the project. We don’t need Kickstarter to make our donation. BZTAT set up a page to raise funds on ChipIn!

MaggieTKat’s mom has already made our donation for $435 on ChipIn!. We are so grateful to everyone for participating in the auction and especially for BZTAT’s commitment to keep both animals and kids safe.

This quilted wall hanging starts with a Laurel Burch panel to which Wanda added the holly and stars, quilting and an amazing amount of sparkly BEADS.

Parker and Maggie supervised the piecing and quilting. Parker especially likes to help with beading.

You can read all about the making of the quilt on Kruse Kats.

Maggie and Parker told me, “Our quilt features a center panel celebrating holidays and designed by Laurel Burch Artworks. We helped mom with this quilt, and we are really proud of each piece of fur on it. Mom appliquéd holly leaves and stars in the borders. The entire quilt surface is heavily quilted with clear, cotton, rayon, and metallic threads using free motion techniques. Hand beading was added to the surface design to highlight the bright primary and secondary colors. Our quilt is 30” x 32”, the perfect size for a choice spot for the holidays. Picture the quilt hanging in the entrance hallway greeting your guests, or maybe casually tossed on a table for all to admire.

The quilt has a sleeve for hanging and comes in its own protective cotton case.

Bidding opens at $25. Please post your bid as a comment and competing bids should be made in multiples of $5 or $10. Ready????

GO!

P.S. If you do not want to participate in the auction but want to contribute to the anipals’ pledge for Okey’s Promise, please contact me at cheshirekitten@sbcglobal.net. Or you can pledge directly on Okey’s Kickstarter.com page.

Bidding opens on this beaded bracelet at $5! The auction will be open from now until 2 pm CDT, only TWO HOURS to bid on the bracelet from Rain Flower Studio and help Okey’s Promise reach the goal. Just leave a comment with your bid and we’ll contact the winner with instructions for fulfilling the bid.

Ready? Set!

GO