Hi there and a huge warm welcome to all the new subscribers who made their way through the Daily Mews cat flap.

 I just want to say a humongous thank you to the hundreds of you who wrote emails of condolence on the death Ollie last month. I can’t believe it’s been a month because time seemed to stand still. Like Garfield before him, Ollie was a vital part of the Daily Mews website and it’s been really difficult motivating myself to carry on, to be honest. 

But Sam and Casey need me and I’ve been doing my best to continue revamping Ollie’s Diaries for hopeful publication, plus I’m working on a new project which I’m keeping under wraps for the time being. ‘All in good time, my precious.’ (Gollum: Lord of the Rings)

Ollie would have been 11 on 1st August and a couple of people have already sent me birthday cards or e-greetings for my own birthday which is Sunday week (18th). Thank you.

Here in the UK we’ve experienced at least 5 weeks of almost unbroken sunshine (punctuated with a few massive thunder storms and a couple of torrential downpours – come on! This is the UK we’re talking about! Our summers wouldn’t be summer without some torrential downpours!) But it’s been nice to flit about in the garden in shorts and tee shirts (loads of sun cream factor 50) and to see the cats enjoying basking in the sun, feeling the warmth of its rays on their fur. 

On with the Mews:

Can I just remind you to support Emma Milne (TV vet) who is taking part in a 300 lengths (7.5km) swimming marathon on 5th September for the Animal Welfare Foundation: go to

www.justgiving.com/emma-milne300 .

Veronica in Spain has asked for my help to save the cats in her village:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-save-abandoned-cats-in-spain

The homepage message this month is Changing dynamics which you can see on this link:

Changing dynamics

ARTICLES

John Grafton has written another humorous tale this month entitled ‘Never trust a cat in a tree …‘ 

You can draw your own conclusions as to what the subject matter is but it’s a great read.

Never trust a cat in a tree

CAT CHAT

A friend of mine from Twitter writes letters to his cat, Janit. Often hilarious, I asked if he would write something for the website; bless him, he’s written a piece which you’ll love. Do sign up to receive his fortnightly missives to the long suffering Janit:

Dear Janit

I know a number of you (as I do) feed cats that come to your door. These cats often do have homes but they’re caught short in between meals from their own Meal Attendants. But the less lucky ones don’t have homes and making the rounds getting food where they can helps to keep them going. Gerald Schiffhorst wrote to tell me of the 3 black cats that call at his ‘Florida Feline Café’.

The Florida Feline Café  

CHARITIES AND RESCUE CENTRES

For some time now, I’m in receipt a booklet in the post detailing the fundraising events of this particular shelter with pages of cats and dogs that are in need of new families. Like all shelters they rely heavily on donations from the public. Do help where you can, please.

Newcastle dog and cat shelter

FELINE FITNESS

Here’s an interesting little video on gum disease in cats:

Dental care

No one likes to think about worms but they are a fact of life with our pets. So read this next item written by vet Joe Inglis on how to keep your cat worm free.

Watch out for worms

KITTY BITS:

Recently a friend wrote to say her cat had gone missing and she was beside herself with guilt and worry. Amazingly, two weeks after Roly had disappeared he was found in the next village, apparently none the worse for ware, despite not having his medication for epilepsy. He was much thinner and taken to the vet where he was given a thorough examination.

This next piece appeared in an issue of Your Cat magazine last year and addresses what you should do if your cat goes missing.

5 things to do if your cat goes missing

A short while ago I ran a poll (with a disappointing response) which asked which paw your cat preferred to use. Here’s an article you may like to read with a couple of simple tasks for your cat in order for you to decide whether he or she is a leftie or a rightie.

Which paw?

Another poll I ran a while back was looking for the oldest feline subscriber to the Daily Mews. There was a tie with Chloe in Canada and Jimmy in the UK both coming in at 23 years of age. I asked them some questions which they’ve graciously responded to and you can see the results here:

Chloe

Jimmy

MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS

Dippi continues to enthral as her diaries detail her life at Tom Cat Towers with Willi Whizkas as her devoted slave.

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Jimmy, having moved house once again, seems to have a lot on his mind this time. Be warned: stand behind a fire guard!

Now we know who the lunatics are

Dumpty Roo (her Royal Snootiness) has written more from her memoirs:

The Saga Continues: Part 27

The Saga Continues – Part 28

The Saga Continues – Part 29

The Saga Continues – Part 30

Stormy still isn’t well enough to write for the good folk who subscribe to the Mewsletter and we here at the Daily Mews would like to wish her a quick and long lasting recovery.

NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM:

As most of you know, Ollie was run over and killed on Monday 8th July and writing a tribute to him was quite hard to do, for various reasons. But here it is and I hope I’ve done him proud.

Ollie

I created a tribute page to Ollie and Arlene Sphikas kindly sent me a photo of Ollie surrounded by angels at Rainbow Bridge (thank you, Arlene). Also thanks go to Carolyn Waterson, Gary and Laura Dumm, Jack Stewart, and Margy Ohring who sent poems or their thoughts and you can see them here on this link:

Tributes to Ollie

If you would like to write a tribute to Ollie, please send it to me at the usual address: p.dewberry@ntlworld.com Thank you again to everyone who wrote to me, or telephoned me.

And that just about wraps it up for this month. If you’ve sent me something and it hasn’t appeared here, please write to me again. I haven’t been ‘functioning’ properly but I’ll try harder from now on!

Take care, and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Until next time

Pauline – editor in chief
Sam – hearing impaired assistant to the editor in chief
Casey – general gofer and assistant to the assistant to the editor in chief

 

 

 

 

One Cat is Company

"One cat is company.
Two cats are a conspiracy. 
Three cats is an attempted takeover.
Four or more cats is a complete coup!"

Shona Steele (Australia)

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