Hi there to everyone and a very warm Spring welcome to all the newcomers who made it through the cat flap since the last issue went out.
Thanks to everyone who entered their cats’ ages in the poll on the Home Page. We have 5 senior cats over 20 and if the owners could please make themselves known to me I now need to find out which, of the 5, is the most senior Daily Mewser of All Time! All 5 participants will be interviewed and photos of them will be added in a future article. So please would those who entered their cats in the 20+ category, please email me on p.dewberry@ntlworld.com. Thank you.
The poll for this month is to find out if your cat is a south paw?? Does he favour his left (south paw) or right paw to eat, wash or touch things? Or is he ambidextrous (uses both paws equally)? Head on over to the Home Page, scroll down a smidge and you’ll see it there.
For some reason there was a glitch with the email address for both the book quiz and caption competition and many of you were getting error messages. This has now been rectified and the address given for both quizzes is operational. But if ever you get stuck, just use the usual email address: p.dewberry@ntlworld.com
I apologise for the inadvertent flurry of surplus Mewsletters you may have received last month. Sam and Ollie were in charge and Sam has such big paws that he hit the wrong keys and you were all sent a ‘test’ message as well as the proper Mewsletter. My apologies – you just can’t get the staff these days …
A massive ‘thank you’ to every one who has donated since the new look website went live in February. Your donations have helped with the day to day running of the website and in sending out the Mewsletter. It isn’t too late to donate – if you want to – just go to the home page and scroll down a little bit to the ‘Subscribe to our Mewsletter’ link – and you’ll see a donate button there. Using PayPal is very safe.
Before I go any further, I have some very sad news to tell you.
Serendipity ‘Dippi’ Duck, who began to write about her life with Willi Whizkas and Dumpty Roo (Dippi Duck’s Demon), passed away on Monday night, 22nd April, very suddenly. The residents of Tom Cat Towers are heartbroken.
Dippi was a very physically and mentally disabled Persian, who despite her severe difficulties lived a very full and loved life for the past three and a half years at Tom Cat Towers with Willi Whizkas and Dumpty Roo.
She especially loved her story being written; Dippi's Demon which is almost complete and has many fabulous photos for which she enjoyed posing. As a tribute to her the final chapters will be written and posted on The Daily Mews website in the near future.
*****
Some flea collars in France have been recalled because of the suggestion of potential risk for children having repeated skin contact with dogs or cats wearing them.
In the UK a new spot-on flea treatment – with bioactivation – is now available.
Products with bioactivation only become highly active when metabolically activated by enzymes in the flea. This means that there is minimal chemical exposure for treated pets, their families and homes. Such products not only kill adult fleas, which account for only 5% of the problem, but also help to control 95% of the ‘flea burden’ which is in the immediate environment of the pet, by killing all developing life stages.
These new products are available only from a vet or with a prescription from a veterinary surgeon. More information is available on www.bioactivation-in-fleas.co.uk.
*****
The BLUE CROSS is hoping that willing participants will stop and ‘paws’ on Friday 10th May for a fundraising ‘Tea Party.’ Last year an amazing £30,000 was raised for the animals in the care of the Blue Cross.
To order your free tea party host pack, visit www.bluecross.org.uk/teaparty. If you can’t host your own party there are many events throughout the country that you could get involved with – just see their website for details.
*****
I’m all in favour of micro-chipping pets (see The Night of the Orange Cyclone) below in Amazing Cats. Cyclone returned home after 9 years of being on the road, seeing who knows what, going who knows where. Another story came to light about a cat called Milo who had been missing for 7 ½ years from his UK home in Cambridge. He was thought to have been living wild before being taken in by a local cattery. He was reunited with his ecstatic owners after being identified by his micro-chip.
Another cause for celebration was that of Holly, a beautiful 4 year old tortoiseshell cat, who walked 200 miles from Daytona Beach to find her owners in West Palm Beach, Florida. Taking 2 months and crossing completely unknown terrain, navigating terribly busy roads and unfamiliar territory, she finally showed up at a neighbour’s house, in a very weakened state. Taken to a vet, she was identified by her micro-chip and reunited with her very happy owners who thought she was lost for sure.
*****
The weather in the UK has finally become spring like and the past few days we’ve been enjoying lovely long summery days. When I get up in the mornings, Sam and Ollie have been out in the garden first thing soaking up the rays before breakfast. It’s amazing what a little bit of sunshine does for our morale but I haven’t noticed before how much it alters the cats’ psyche. They do, genuinely, seem much happier. Have you noticed that with your cats and the different extremes of weather? Do let me know.
I’ve been having a lot of fun writing Ollie’s Diaries up into a format for publication. I haven’t decided yet whether to put them on Kindle, or have them as a downloadable eBook from the website, or try the conventional publishing route – complete with hundreds of rejection letters! If you haven’t already read his diaries, then please do – and then you can compare them to the book when it’s been published.
And please let me know what you think of them. Thank you!
Let’s get on with the Mews:
ARTICLES:
Debra J White has written another episode in the Cats of 40th Place saga which you can read on this link:
John Grafton has written another couple of great stories for you – in the first ‘You save the kitties that need saving the most . . . ‘ he tells us how little Max came into his life in a most terrifying way:
And how Riley tested his Human by setting fire to the cooker!
BOOK QUIZ:
The answers to last month’s book quiz are as follows:-
Tilly: the ugliest cat in the shelter by Celia Hammond
Tails are not for pulling by Elizabeth Verdick
Hamish McHamish of St Andrews by Susan McMullan.
Once again, Jared Kline from Belgium pipped others to the post with all 3 correct answers. Well done, Jared, a prize will be on its way shortly.
For this month’s quiz please click here:
CAPTION COMPETITION:
Last month only a few folk entered the competition but I was hard pressed to choose a winning caption because they were all quite good. In the end, though, Andrew Lane from Southampton, UK, won through with his pithy caption. See all the results here:
For this month’s caption, please click here:
Please don’t be put off from entering if you’ve won before. If you’re good and win again – great! But don’t worry and think you better not enter because you won last time.
CANINE CAPERS:
Will Perry, in Canada, has a tiny little Jack Russell called appropriately Jack. Jack lives alongside Holly who is huge by comparison. Holly wrote her version of events in the Perry household last month – now its Jack’s turn.
AMAZING CATS: (Cat Chat)
Mary Anne Miller has written an extraordinary story about her cat Cyclone who showed up one day in 2003 as a stray at her barn, and then disappeared for 9 years. He showed up again in 2012, thin, emaciated, and literally at death’s door. His story shows us, yet again, that cats are incredibly clever and intelligent and against all odds, they can find their way back to the ones who love them.
The Night of the Orange Cyclone
Since writing this in March, Mary Anne wrote to let me know that on the 3rd April, sadly Cyclone had to be put to sleep. His weight had dropped dramatically and cancer was suspected. What he’d been through in those 9 years that he was missing no one will ever know but he was brave and clever enough to find his way back to Mary Anne’s barn where he knew he’d get the help and love that he needed.
CAT CHAT:
Helen Dowd from Canada asks an interesting question – do animals go to heaven? She’s written an article giving her views and supports her theory with two quotes from other websites.
What do you think? Please write to me and let me know your views and I’ll mention some of them in the next Mewsletter or if there is a massive response I might collate them into another article.
Personally, I think that animals do have souls and therefore they will be in heaven with us. We know they have souls (although there are some churches that preach that they do not have souls) because they are sentient beings capable of feeling pain, loss, hunger, sadness, love and happiness. If they can feel all of those emotions then they must – in my opinion – have souls. But I’d be interested to hear your views.
One of my good friends, Marilyn Edwards, who wrote the wonderful Moon Cottage books,has written a beautifully moving account of life at Moon Cottage and what happened when the lovely Russian Blue Pushkin died, and Tarka, a new little kitten was taken in. My heart was in my mouth – and yours will be too – as you read.
Marilyn will sign copies of her beautifully illustrated children's book ‘Magnificat’ on publication day which is Saturday 1st June from 12 noon to 4pm. It’s at the Country Harvest on the A65 at Ingleton, LA6 3PE - Telephone: 015242 42223. Ingleton is set in the Yorkshire Dales so why not make a weekend out of it and see the most spectacular scenery as well! Do tell Marilyn you’re a Daily Mews subscriber when you see her as I’m sure she’d be delighted to meet a fellow feline friend from the Daily Mews family.
MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS:
The Mewsers’ Musings diarists have been über busy this month, putting paw to keyboard to keep us all entertained - the first of which is Dippi Duck:
Dippi: chapter 5
Dippi: chapter 6
Dippi: chapter 7
Dippi: chapter 8
Followed by her house ‘mate’ (and we use the term loosely):
Dumpty: the Saga Continues, Part 15
Dumpty: the Saga Continues, Part 16
Dumpty: the Saga Continues, Part 17
Dumpty: the Saga Continues, Part 18
Jimmy and his acerbic look at life talks about the things that he knows many other cats (and people, for that matter) wouldn’t talk about in polite society:
Jimmy: Globalled
Stormy has been busy yet again, looking after her food bowl attendants and enjoying snow and life in the fast lane:
Stormy: There’s snow business like snow business . . .
Stormy has her own Facebook page which you can see here: Stormyhere@Facebook.com. Be sure to check in with her and tell her you’re a Daily Mews subscriber and befriend her!!
NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM
It’s been a tough time for many people recently; Dippi Duck sadly passed away and it’s likely that it wasn’t her disabilities that caused her death but cancer. And poor Tymmy Fallon also sadly lost his battle to that most awful of diseases this month as did Cyclone. And dear sweet little Millie Briscoe finally lost her fight with her asthma and other illnesses – she fought long and hard but was too weak to carry on. Jack Stewart has written about Jimmy’s feline house mate, Milo, who went back to the Great Cat on New Year’s Eve 2012. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who’s suffered loss, whether recently or years gone by.
To all who fought so bravely, we salute you and know that you have found peace with the Great Cat. May your families find that peace in their hearts too, in time.
If you want to write a tribute to your cat then please just contact me in the usual way. Include a couple of good clear photos too.
Milo – A brave little lady
Tymmy Fallon – A brave little boy
PAULINE’S MEWSINGS:
Before I had the website, (pre-2002) I always had this as my heading for letters I wrote:
‘Lazypaws Guest House for Discerning Felines’ because of the number of different cats that found their way up the garden path, through the cat flap and finally partaking of the various bowls of cat food that awaited their delights in the kitchen.
Here’s the story of Maisie – who became Casey (KC) – who is the latest adventurer through the Daily Mews’ cat flap:
PET FIRST AID:
Diana Sichta has written about cats and plants this month and the importance of being careful with the plants you have in your garden. They may look nice but could be deadly to your feline or canine friend:
Well that about wraps it up for this month. Sorry it’s a bit later than I intended. I shall probably revert back to sending the Mewsletter out at the end of the month as I used to do. You know I like to receive your feedback; good, bad or indifferent, so please, do write and let me know what you think of the articles and the Mewsletter.
Take care, and we’ll see you next time
Pauline – Editor
Sam – Hearing Impaired Chief Sub Editor
Ollie – Assistant to the Hearing Impaired Chief Sub Editor and Grand Master of The Nap
Casey – Junior gofer until he learns the ropes at the Daily Mews office
A Morning Kiss
A morning kiss, a discreet touch of his nose landing somewhere on the middle of my face.
Because his long white whiskers tickled, I began every day laughing.
Janet F Faure