Once Upon A Time

Today we are going lickity split to the winner of the pinkest ear contest because, well, I have a story to tell you.  Sooooo . . . the winner of the contest for the cat at StreetCats with the pinkest ears is . . . ME, VANNA!  I know, I know, you don't think that's fair, but darn it, I recused myself from softest fur, even though I was really the winner, and best eye makeup and fluffiest tail.  I mean, let's face it, if I didn't recuse myself I would win them all!  But this time I looked and looked all around StreetCats and I found one cat with sort of pink ears, but they were nothing like mine.  I'm telling you I had no choice.  See, here I am, pink ears and all!

Now most cats ears are pink on the inside, but mine are pink on the outside, too!  Surely you can see why it just couldn't be anyone but me!  Okay, now, moving right along . . . .

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago (so long ago that the volunteers can't even remember exactly how long ago it was, maybe five or six years!) there was a certain StreetCats volunteer named Samantha Polen.  She loved kitties so much that she was always looking on the internet for neat things for her kitties.  One day she saw some hand made pillows stuffed with catnip and she thought, "How cool is that?!  I bet StreetCats could make and sell those!"  So she contacted the woman who made the pillows and this woman said there was no way she could make them for StreetCats because she just didn't have time.  But she offered to teach Samantha how to make them.  And she did.

Well, then Samantha passed her knowledge on to others and the first person to actually sew the pillows was Nancy Adams.  Things have evolved over these many years, as they tend to do, and the pillows have gotten smaller than they originally were and the fabric being used has evolved in really cool, colorful, seasonal ways.  The current maker of the pillows is BJ Hynes and she is a genius at finding really neat fabric!  We appreciate her soooo much!!!!

Now I''m going to tell you what is inside the pillows and this is just even cooler than anything.  They are stuffed with organic catnip that comes all the way from Cape Cod!  That's somewhere over on the east coast.  I've never been there.  StreetCats buys it in bulk and uses it for the pillows and it is much more potent than the toys you buy at the regular stores.  It is combined with some cellulose to give it some texture just so the pillows won't get too yucky when we cats drool all over them.  Smart, huh?!

And StreetCats and the volunteers lived happily ever after and were so grateful that Samantha found and nurtured this great idea.  And Samantha still volunteers for StreetCats!  And it looks like, thanks to BJ Hynes, the catnip pillows will live on and on into the future!  The end.

Hey, that was sort of fun!  Maybe I'll tell you another story someday!

And why is it, you ask, that cats like catnip???  Well, I have no idea!  Not all cats like it as much as some, but when they do, well, they do!  The active ingredient in catnip is nepetalactone and when it gets in a susceptible feline's nose . . . well, he just act like a lunatic!  I don't know how else to explain it!  And guess what, nepetalactone is said to also be an effective mosquito and fly repellent!  That is a good reason for everyone to have a cat and for everyone to have catnip!  Right?  Right!!!  Okay, a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a picture of Samantha's cat Ryo playing with one of the pillows that can be purchased only at StreetCats of Tulsa!

See how much he loves it!  So all you feline fanciers, come on in to StreetCats and purchase the best catnip toy in Tulsa for your favorite cats!  We have a lot to choose from.  Hey, I can show you!

So okay, our next winner at StreetCats will be the cat with the best purr.  If I were still here I would for sure have to win that one, especially since my favorite place to purr is on a human lap!  But, probably because of that, I won't be here next week!  We know that, right?!  So stay tuned to hear which kitty at StreetCats has the best purr!