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A little drowsing cat is the image of perfect bliss! Cat Wisdom 101 by Layla Morgan Wilde
Farewell to Bootsie
Boots, aka Bootsie (May 30, 2009 – June 21, 2013)
Today I had to say farewell to my precious companion, Bootsie. She was missing for 14 hrs a couple of days ago and when she returned home she was very loving. Normally she would go right to her food bowl completely starved and scoff up a whole can of cat food. This night was different.
I heard her little bell attached to her collar and looked up happily to see her after being gone so long. She walked straight toward me and hopped onto the recliner where I was sitting and gingerly put her head in my lap. That is where she stayed for a couple of hours. When I got up to get ready for bed, she got down and meandered toward the bedroom. I heard her throwing up during the night and thought it was the usual hairball. The morning disclosed her on the bathroom rug where she sometimes loved to nap and I could tell she was really sick.
I immediately dressed and took her to the vet on my way to the hospital to visit my husband. Upon returning home later that afternoon, I stopped by to see how she was doing. She was dehydrated and still had not eaten any food. She was being given fluids to rehydrate her. I petted her and told her how much I missed and loved her but she was not very responsive. Not like her usual self anyway. She meowed but did not purr.
Upon my return home from the hospital today I stopped in for another visit. This was around noon for I had come home early. Never did I envision this would be the last time I would see her. She had to undergo surgery because of the appearance of a mass in her internal organs. There is a lot of complex long medical jargoneze that I cannot repeat, let alone spell. I did decipher that part of her intestines had literally died. It was a very unusual case according to the vet. At least she died peacefully and did not have to endure long time suffering.
Bootsie came to live with us four years ago after being abused and abandoned. She literally decided to live with us.
Hey, did you know
Cats actually choose you?
You don’t choose them
They stay because they want to
You may give one a loving home
No matter the time or season
He may just choose to go away
Without any rhyme or reason
It’s like virtual catnip—
Feline friends may elect to remain
If the home is inviting
Strongly attractive, not too mundane
Here today, gone tomorrow
A sad refrain so often misunderstood
Why did he choose to leave, not stay?
You did everything to make him feel good
It’s not what you did or didn’t do
Cats are finicky needless to say
With a mind and will of their own
The choice is theirs to leave or to stay
Thank you, precious Bootsie, for choosing to stay and bringing such joy into our lives! You will be deeply missed!
“With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?” —Fernand Mery (Veterinarian and wildlife writer, 1897–1984)
Touch of Catnip: Cat Beards
Day 16 finds us back in CCU/ICU but not without some laughter. During his most recent delirium, Jim actually told the nurses a joke. The slightest little hint of a smile warms my heart exponentially! Then, after visiting, I found this in my email…
Too funny…just too-o-o-o-o funny!
“The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats…”
Take 2: Two minutes of catnip, that is!
Get ready, grab your sides and ENJOY...
Laugh today for you do not know what tomorrow brings! That's life... ~catnipoflife
Just a quick little funny to end the day. Thank you, Alastair. Some are quite hilarious while others make you go “Aw-w-w-w! Poor thing!” I don’t like the one where the man tries to kick the cat
My faves are the cat climbing the wall and the one moving the ottoman. Priceless! Of course, the animal world is full of surprises for both man and beast! ENJOY!
Which is your favorite?
I YouTube compilation of dogs and cats to brighten your morning (or afternoon)
A Pet’s Prayer: Sweet Dreams
A Pet’s Prayer
Thank you, Lord, each day
For the victuals I am fed
Petting and brushing
And my soft, billowy bed
Thank you for the extra treats
Persistently when I’m good
Especially the catnip
Dusted along the faux wood
Thank you for safe keeping
As I scamper and play
Climbing trees, chasing bugs
During the night and day
Thank you for my humans
So loving and kind
Who clean up my messes
And don’t even mind
After all the thanks
I must surely add
I’m truly feline
For this I am glad
If I should die
And it seem unfair
Please let them know
I’m in Heaven’s care
To them you see
I am their child
They need to know
For me you smile
©2013 catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults
“If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat, they, too, would purr.”
—Martin Buxbaum (Author, photographer, artist and humorist, 1912–1991)
Sweet Dreams!
Kitten in the Snow
With winter comes days that chill right to the bone. Unlike our furry friends, we don our heavy coats, boots, woolen socks, mittens and scarves to ward off the bite of the frigid air. Of course, we know the soft fur of our little friends keeps them warm without the need for all the extra ‘gear’ but that does not necessarily mean they do not feel the cold.
BUT… does the cold inevitably keep them indoors? See the slideshow ‘Come play with me!’ after the poem!
Winter’s Berth
A mound of silky white fur
Amid cushions of bottle green
Reflects hues of icy blue
Off crystal dewdrops barely seen
Teeny tiny silver moons
Draping from hairy stems
Tickle a pink little nose
Like frosty pearlized gems
Stretching and yawning
Rising above home turf
Tiny paws reach forth
Scratching in winter’s earth
Within a few steps
Visions begin to blur
Chilly winter winds
Softly lift the long fur
Delicate hints of sunlight
Peeping through bleak gray skies
Grant fleeting moments of warmth
Around wide-open eyes
Suddenly through the bitterness
A little hand reaches down
“Nosy Nettie, why are you here
Among plumage turned gray brown?”
With a special purr-r-r
Ever so thankful to be found
The snow white fur ball
Bids farewell to the cold, cold ground
©2012 catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults
The purr from cat to man says, ‘You bring me happiness; I am at peace with you.’
—Barbara L. Diamond (Writer, n.d.)
Touch of Catnip: Come play with me!
Unusual Friendships
“Friendship is the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring all right out just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful friendly hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and, with a breath of comfort, blow the rest away.” ~Dianh Mulock Craik (1826-1887)
friendship
| affection, affinity, alliance, amity, attachment, benevolence, closeness, concord, familiarity, fondness, friendliness, good-fellowship, goodwill, harmony, intimacy, love, rapport, regard |
To me, there is a very strong word reflected in the quote that does not appear in the list of synonyms for friendship:
comfort
| abundance, alleviation, amenity, assuagement, bed of roses, cheer, cheerfulness, complacency, contentment, convenience, coziness, creature comforts, enjoyment, exhilaration, facility, gratification, happiness, luxury, opulence, peacefulness, pleasure, plenty, poise, quiet, relaxation, relief, repose, rest, restfulness, satisfaction, snugness, succor, sufficiency, warmth, well-being |
Do you see any synonym of comfort that does not lie within the boundaries of friendship? Where would we be without friends? The need to reach out to someone is ever present whether in times of happiness or despair. These are definitely the times and places where hugs are universal!
“Within friendship, there indeed abides comfort!”
If these pictures are true representations (never can tell with the capabilities of technology today), why is it humans have such difficulty coexisting?
SMILE!
Smiley faces, smiles within
Today is Monday
Let the smiles begin!
Smile today, tomorrow, too
Keep on smiling
The whole week through!
Smile! Smile! Smile!
Legend & claims resound
Takes more muscles to frown
Generation upon generation has passed along the saying “it takes less muscles to smile than to frown.” If this is true, then one might conclude smiling requires less muscles, thus burning less calories and thereby conserving energy. As with many things passed along through the ages and having been around so long, the cultural landscape of this saying has taken on wide interpretations and variances in recorded data. Let’s take a look and see if there are indeed supportive facts or is this simply a statement of fireside chatter?
Remember the game where a line of people stood along a wall, one person whispered a phrase or statement into the next person’s ear and that person whispered to the next person, and so on? It became a hit because the last person in the line had to repeat aloud an interpretation of what he/she heard and it rarely, if ever, sounded anything like it started! Sometimes it became so distorted it did not even make sense but it certainly brought on its share of smiles and laughter.
Keeping that scenario in mind think about the saying “it takes more muscles to smile, than to frown” but in the context of actual numbers, i.e., how many muscles it takes to smile vs. the number of muscles it takes to frown. As with the little game and because the saying is so widespread, the number of muscles to form both expressions has changed from telling to telling. Different people hear it differently and pass along supposedly the version they heard as absolute truth with absolute certainty…without a shadow of doubt!
From Snopes.com, here is a sampling of some ways this saying has been interpreted and passed along.
It takes 13 muscles to smile and 33 to frown. Why over work? (Washington Post, 5 December 1982)
It takes four muscles to smile, 20 to frown and roughly 317 to appear amused when a Celine Dion imitator, who happens to be a man, sings a song about, er, flatulence. (The Denver Post, 29 September 1998)
Don’t they know it is said you use 35 muscles to frown and four to smile. Don’t tire yourself! ([Queensland] Sunday Mail, 18 August 1991)
It takes 50 muscles to make a frown – but only 13 to produce a smile. (From a 1931 book)
To me, the best comes from the scientists. They conclude it takes 41 muscles to frown and 17 to smile. Makes you wonder…um-m-m-m?
Scientists have WAY too much time on their hands!
Frowning does use more muscles and as a result, burns more calories!
Conclusion: On a diet? SMILE more!
What are your plans for today? Will you fill the day with smiles or mope around feeling blue? Mondays ARE a new beginning!
Click Here: TOUCH of CATNIP
If you are not smiling by now, start dancing! Ever seen anyone frowning on a dance floor? Dance in the kitchen, dance down the hall, dance on your way to the bathroom! Dance! Get the picture? Dance & bring on the smiles!
catnipoflife 