Just Chillin'!

Hi everyone!  I decided it's time to check in and give you an update about the things happening at StreetCats.  First, I, Smokey the cat, was at the spa/hospital for a few days.  You know I haven't been well and I went for a checkup and to get a bath and massage.  My fur is so soft now that the human helpers are bugging me a bunch because they want to pet me.  And actually I don't have a lot of time for that or for writing blogs.  Napping and dining are my priorities!

So, what's happening here?  Actually the group of us is just chilling around here, waiting to be adopted.  There haven't been a lot of adoptions in the last few weeks and I know why.  It's because it's warm outside.  Just wait until it turns cold and all the humans want to be next to that fur that I mentioned above!  Then there'll be people streaming in here!  In the meantime, we're just hanging out waiting.  Make no mistake, we all want forever homes!!  But in the meantime, we are comfortable and dearly loved!

For instance, here's Beamer.  He likes to pretend he's nursing and these people let him do it, right?!  That's just how much they love hm!!

And while he isn't nursing and is just chilling he has a window to look out.  It's fun to watch the cats and people coming and going.

When the people do get ready to come and adopt us, we have all kinds of kitties to choose from.  We have lap cats like Sparkle.

We have shy kitties, playful kitties, kitties who like to talk and kitties who like to hide.  We have kitties of all colors!  And we have laid back kitties, like Boris, who went home several weeks ago.

So fall weather is here, folks, and we're here waiting for you . . . with our soft, warm, silky fur.  Hurry in, beat the rush!!

Nightmare!!

Last night I had a terrible dream!  This is sometimes called a nightmare or maybe even a night terror!!  I suspect that this dream was really a flashback from an earlier time, a time which my memory, in order to protect myself, has suppressed.  Here is what I dreamed.  There was a very young child being readied for bed and her mother told her to hold her arms over her head. And then with a sweet smile on her face, the mother said "skin the cat" as she pulled the child's shirt quickly over the child's head.

What??!!  If this is truly a memory of mine, and I believe it has to be, no wonder I'm not well!!  What kind of mother would say such a thing??!!  While I cannot answer that, I will leave you with a few more appropriate things to say about cats.  They were all said by very important people, as you will see, and are much more in touch with the rightful place of cats in the lives of humans.

My relationships with cats has saved me from a deadly, pervasive ignorance.  William S. Burroughs

Cats choose us; we don't own them.  Kristin Cast

Time spent with a cat is never wasted.  Colette and Sigmund Freud

What greater gift than the love of a cat?  Charles Dickens

How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.  Robert A. Heinlein

A cat has absolute emotional honesty; human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.  Ernest Hemingway

I have studied many philosophers and many cats.  The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.  Hippolytus Taine

If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.  Mark Twain

There.  That's better.  Cats rule!!  Smokey

We're a mystery!

I've been thinking a lot recently about how wonderful we kitties are, about how people adopt us from StreetCats and about how much they love us.  And guess what else I've been doing.  I've been reading poetry.  And I'm becoming a fan!  Do you know how many poems are written about cats??!!  So many!  Because people love us!!

So here is a poem.  It is by Jane Hirshfield.  She's famous!

A Small-Sized Mystery

Leave a door open long enough,
a cat will enter.
Leave food out, it will stay.
Soon, on cold nights,
you'll be saying "Excuse me"
if you want to get out of your chair.
But one thing you'll never hear from a cat
is "Excuse me."
Nor Einstein's famous theorem.
Nor "The quality of mercy is not strained."
In the dictionary of Cat, mercy is missing.
In this world where much is missing,
a cat fills only a cat-sized hole.
Yet your whole body turns toward it
again and again because it is there.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You!!!

Today I would like to talk to you about the importance of the arts in our society.  Because I want all my readers to support the arts!  The arts are very important . . . and they include movies.  Here are some of the things that the arts can do to help our society and our world.  They can improve attitudes, help us communicate effectively, be smarter and more innovative (which leads to prosperity, right?)!  Okay, got it?  Support the arts!!

And, more specifically, go to our movie!!  Seriously, our movie!!  I'm so excited about this that I can hardly even explain, but I'll try!!  I'm going to see if someone will take me to this movie so that I can be discovered and win an award and walk the red carpet!!  Can't you just see it?!  Beautiful gray me, on that red carpet!!

Okay, deep breath, let me tell you about this exciting event.  Soon, on 3/10/2017, the wonderful Circle Cinema, surely the smartest cinema in Tulsa, is going to show a film called Kedi.  Now this movie's stars, Oscar worthy without a doubt, are all furry.  And they all say MEOW!!  Yes, yes, yes, the stars of this movie are cats!!  Yes, you read correctly, CATS!!  Now these aren't pretend cats.  These are real cats who live on the streets of Istanbul and they are the STARS of this movie!  (Wow, I wonder if "meow" sounds the same in Turkish as it does in English??). Okay, did you get that, a movie starring real cats is coming soon to a Tulsa theater!!

Now if you think that's exciting, wait until you hear this part!!!  It is coming to Tulsa in cooperation with StreetCats!!  Yes, our very own StreetCats!  If you don't believe me, just call Clark Wiens, Circle co-founder and board president.  And if you need further verification, just talk to our president, Kathy Balsiger, our very own StreetCats president!  She can tell you because she is going to be speaking at the grand opening of the movie Kedi (the movie about cats) on  March 10, 2017, at Circle Cinema, 8 South Lewis Avenue, right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (Circle Cinema is a non-profit cinema so the proceeds will go to promoting more movies about CATS!)

I have no more time to talk about this now!!  I need to call Feline Specialties and get an appointment to get my hair done!  They'll do a mani/pedi, too!  Oh I just know I'm going to be discovered!  There will be movie stars and movie makers and popcorn and . . . .

January means staying warm!

Which do you think is the coldest month of the year?  Hi, this is Smokey, and I can tell you that I think it's January.  I've been around for a long time and I remember flowers blooming sometimes in February, so I vote January.  And that is why, I think, we at StreetCats had so many adoptions in December . . . because people needed mammals with fur to help keep them warm when January got here!!

You know it's not just our fur that enables us kitties to help keep our humans warm.  We're just naturally warm critters.  Our body temperature is 102 degrees so we're very useful in helping humans stay warm . . . that is if we're lap cats.  And think about this . . . we kitties have to use a lot of our energy (metabolism) to keep that high body temperature.  So maybe, just maybe, when we sit on your lap, it's not ONLY because we love you.  Maybe, just maybe, were using you!!  Oh my, could it be?!

Yep, we kitties, being the incredibly smart creatures that we are, know how to use fuel to help us heat our bodies!  That's why you might see us not only on a human's lap, but by a fireplace, on the hood of a car, or lying in the sun (our favorite!).  When we conserve our energy in this way then we have more energy for being the super hunters that we are!

I wonder why we have such high body temperatures.  Perhaps it's because our origins are in the deserts of the Middle East and we had to adjust to high temps.  I don't know the answers to all these hard questions, but here's one little thing I do know.  Newborn kittens have heat receptors on their faces.  Since they are born blind, with closed eyes, this enables them to locate their nearby mom and their food!  Smartness from the very beginning!

CAUTION!  Kitties, we don't actually feel pain from heat until it reaches 126 degrees!  So please be careful when you're lying close to that fireplace!  You could get burned before you even know what's happening!  That human lap or following the sun rays across the rug or bed might be a safer way to conserve energy!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

First, before I tell you what I've learned, I want to tell you something else I learned.  Hmmm.  I'm learning and learning!  Do you remember when I wrote about A Stitch in Time?  Oh wait, I should tell you that this is Smokey!  I'm blogging!  Okay, this is what I learned about A Stitch in Time.  It was started by the lady who started StreetCats.  Her name is Jodi Lorimer and she named the organization and the program!  So this is whom we should say thank you!!!  Thank you, Jodi!

Now on to what else I've learned.  First, the good.  Cats are absolutely awesome!!!  Even more than I realized!!!  Did you know that we're supernatural predators?  Well, I guess we're natural, but we're so good at it we seem supernatural.  We can see in ultraviolet and hear in ultrasound!  We can judge the height of a sound so accurately that we're going to catch any prey that makes even the slightest sound on our first try!  This is good because we're hyper carnivores . . . that means we must have meat!  I am so proud of how amazing we are . . . such wonderful hunters!  Beautiful, sleek, sly, graceful and very successful hunters!

Now here's the bad.  Lots of cats live outside and when they hunt they aren't careful about what they catch.  If it's meat they will catch it and eat it.  And this includes songbirds.  Pretty birds that make such pretty sounds.  There are people who love birds as much as my people love cats!  So when we catch their birds they get very sad.  Or mad.. This is bad!

And the ugly . . . and I do mean really ugly . . . the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers cats one of the 100 worst invasive species.  And no, I'm not kidding!  Invasive!!  And in Australia they blame us for the decline of the majority of their endangered species.  Some people want to irradicate us.  Irradicate!  Look it up!  I shudder just thinking of it!  Here is an example I read about.  In Key Largo, Florida there is a special little mouse called the Eastern Woodrat.  It's a cute little mouse with cute little eyes.  And it's endangered.  Because of, yep, cats!  The people there are trying so hard to save this little mouse!  They even raise them away from there and then turn them loose and then guess what.  We eat them!  And they've tried so hard to keep us kitties away!  But we are so smart (and so prolific!) that they can't control us!  Of course I'm not surprised, but yikes, this makes us a little unpopular.

So I've been thinking.  Could house cats with access to the outdoors be contributing to this bad and ugly?  Could these house cats be contributing to extinctions?  Sort of sad, huh?  Pretty good reason, maybe, to keep house cats in the house?  You can feed us our meat and we can hunt toys!!  I know I'm going to be up at night thinking about this.  People might have more reason to keep us inside than just to protect US, huh?!

How I Know What I Know

Hi, everyone.  This is Smokey.  Remember me?  Now the last time I wrote on this blog I told you about how many kittens there are . . . TOO MANY!  And I promised I would tell you what StreetCats is doing to help with the problem of too many kittens.  And a promise is a promise!  So here you go!

StreetCats has a program called A Stitch In Time.  If you think about it for a minute you'll get it.  "Stitch" refers to the stitches a cat gets when they have the surgery that keeps them from having kittens and "in time" means before they have kittens.  Clever, huh?!  I'm going to see if I can find out who made that up!  So anyway, if someone has a stray kitty or knows of a feral cat, they call our message line (918-298-0104) and leave their name and phone number.  Nice Lindsey calls them back and they get to choose between four vets that help us with this program.  We make a "voucher" for them and then they come to pick it up.  They pay us $20 for the voucher, make an appointment with the vet and take the kitty.  Then we pay the vet for the entire surgery as well as a rabies shot. Heck of a deal, huh?!  And if the kitty you're working with is wild, we will even loan you a trap to help you catch the kitty!  There are still too many kittens out there, but by golly StreetCats is trying to do our part in helping with the problem!  I'm proud!  And I sure do appreciate the people who use our vouchers to help control the kitty problem!!

Now I know someone out there is asking how I know about this.  I can just hear their snarky tone of voice, "How do YOU know?"  "You never even leave your special place!"  Well, here is how I know.  I listen!  And now I hear them saying, "You can't hear everything that goes on at StreetCats!"  Oh yes I can!  Did you know that cats can hear four to five times further than humans?  And that we can pinpoint the location of a sound within 6/100 of a second?  Just think about how fast that is!  We even hear at higher frequencies than dogs do!  And when we quickly locate a sound our ears can rotate 180 degrees to focus in on that sound.  And here's something else!  Each of our ears operates independently!  So if there is someone talking in my room and someone else talking in the office, I can listen to each conversation with a different ear!  Ha!  So you don't ever need to ask me again how I know something!!!  I heard!!

I found this cool picture of Vanna.  She used to do what I do, write the blog.  I wish I could have known her!  She liked to sit on laps and the volunteers miss her!!  But I know she is happy in her very own home.  So here's Vanna.  Check out those ears!!  And try not to be too jealous!  Cats are just special!!

Feline (and Human) Fun

King Adam here.  I am going to write this blog, but before I do I need to vent.  This blog was my idea . . . MINE!  I wanted to show you every single cat toy we have for sale in our shop.  That's exactly what I was going to do, one toy, bed or brush at a time.  Well, because I was so excited about MY idea, I guess the humans figured out what I was doing.  No, I KNOW they figured it out because the next thing I knew they had grabbed a camera and away they went.  They are such buttinskies!!

And before I knew it they were playing dress up!  I'm not kidding!  They put on Laurel Burch shirts and scarves and even opened a Laurel Burch umbrella?

That's Linda Duckworth and she plays with the things in the shop more than anyone else, but she wasn't the only one who was in on this takeover of MY idea!  She has a Laurel Burch purse on her shoulder, too, but since you can't really see it, they took a picture of just all the purses.  Yawn!  Boring!!

And do you see what's on top of all the purses?  A Laurel Burch hat!  No doubt these humans are out of control!  I could not wrest control from them!  They're maniacs!  They went around the shop taking pictures of all the human toys!

STOP!!!!

Well, finally I yelled (in meow form) loud enough that they agreed to show some cat toys.  But when you look at these pictures notice that the humans couldn't even really stay out of them!!  I bet that reflection is not an accident!  And human enthusiasm diminished, I think, when they were looking at cat toys!  Hmmm!

Okay, I have an idea.  I know everyone reading this blog loves their kitties and would like to see every single cat toy here, AS I HAD PLANNED!  So . . . just come to our shop and see for yourself!  You can find us at 6520 E. 60th St., right behind Charlie's Chicken.     Or here's another idea!  Come to Affair of the Heart at the Fairgrounds on July 15, 16 or 17!  Gosh, come all three days!  We'll be there and you can see all the toys then!  They'll no doubt bring the human toys, too.  That's just the way they are!  Feel free to ignore those!

Tremendous tabbies!

Well, there is no doubt about it!  Tabby cats are the very best cats ever!  Now, first of all, "tabby" is not a breed.  Some people think it is, but actually it is a pattern, a genetic pattern of stripes, swirls or dots in grey, brown, buff or orange.  Some people call us tiger cats, I guess because tigers have stripes, too.  And some people can't just call us all tabbies, they have to divide us up even further into classic tabby, mackerel tabby, spotted tabby or ticked tabby.  Really??  Mackerel?  Come on!  That's a fish!!

Now here is something really cool about tabbies.  We all have an M on our heads!  Isn't that neat?!  Some people say ALL of us have an M.  Others say almost all of us do.  Well, I can only tell you that I have never seen a tabby without an M so I'll go with the ALL version.

Now we have a tabby at StreetCats right now who agreed to model for me.  Her name is Marlo and she is a very sweet tabby.  Now this is not unusual.  We tabbies are known for the following qualities:  intelligence, cleverness, being amusing and warmly affectionate.  Ha!  Of course those are our qualities!!!  And I, as a tabby myself, am a shining example of all these qualities plus that of leadership!  Anyway, here is a picture of Marlo showing us the M on her head.

I have been asked many times about that M are our heads.  I could give you the scientific, genetic version of why we have it.  I totally understand it, of course, but you wouldn't, so I'll just skip that and get down to the legends.  Here is one.  The prophet Mohammed loved tabby cats and he had one that saved his life by killing a snake.  So he placed an M on the cat's head so that everyone would remember how much he loved cats and so that, in being reminded by the M, people would always respect us.  And the M has been there ever since.

 Another story involves a tabby cat who brought warmth and comfort to a shivering baby Jesus by cuddling up with him and purring.  Mary was so grateful that she put her initial on the cat's head.  And, again, it's been there ever since.  Those are nice stories, but the explanation that I heard that I like best is that it stands for Master of the Universe!  Yep, now that makes sense!!

 Now here's another picture of Marlo that shows you what kind of tabby she is. To me a tabby is a tabby, but people like to call this a ticked tabby, a brown ticked tabby to be specific. See how her stripes are sort of faded and covered by the little white ticking on her fur?   I think it makes her look a little dreamy! And that reminds me of another trait that people think we tabbies have. We're magical!! Yep, we are!  I know that on Halloween it's the black cats that our caretakers worry about.   But in the 16th century we were the favored cats of witches!   Of course we were!  Anyway, here's the picture of Marlo, the brown ticked tabby.  Do you like her necklace?  I think most ticked tabbies have a necklace like that.

Marlo is not the only tabby we have at StreetCats right now. So come visit us and see for yourself! And just to be sure you have a total understanding of just how tremendous tabbies are, here is a picture of the best tabby of them all . . . tabby and white, but still tabby. It's me, King Adam of StreetCats!!  Now I'm going to have to study my patterns to see just what kind of tabby I am.  It better not be mackerel!

How Is a Cat Like an Elephant?

They both have four legs, a tail and a trunk!  Ha ha!  Well, not the trunk!  They both have fur?  Hmm, I don't think you could ever call what an elephant has fur!!!  They both like hay!!  Right?!  Ha!  Elephants like vegetables and we cats, give us meat!!  Okay, people, this is not a riddle!!  How is a cat like an elephant??  Do you give up??  Yep, I can tell that you have totally given up!  Not so smart after all, are you??

It's our memories!!!  Duh!  I can't believe you didn't get it!!  Elephants remember things for a very long time, like even decades.  Now everyone thinks dogs are so smart.  Not so much.  When you are teaching a dog a trick there is a reason you have to get them to do it over and over and over.  It's because their short term memories are only about five minutes long.  Cats, on the other hand, have a short term memory of about 16 hours.  See, cats rule!!

Now, here is a very important thing you need to know.  A cat's memory is directly related to IF he benefits or is caused pain by the experience.  So if you set a cucumber down by a cat he is going to be pretty indifferent to it.  He may not remember the cucumber or you!  But if you put a bowl of tuna down, boy we're going to remember that!

Now I have one more important thing to teach you about cats, elephants and memory.  In a family of elephants it is most important that the matriarch of the group has a great memory because everyone follows her and she needs to remember where she's going.  Now at StreetCats of Tulsa there is only one cat whose memory is important and that is King Adam.  That's me!!  I am giving you this information because I think it is to your benefit to know that I WILL remember if you do things that make me happy or do things that make me mad.  I thought it only fair that I share this information before it is too late.  For you.  Just sayin'!

If you want something done right . . .

Yeah, yeah, yeah!  I know it's March!  Better late than never!  However, in this case, never might work just fine!  I decided that this year we would do that thing the humans do called "resolutions."  It seems they only do that when the yearly calendar changes and so they call it New Year's Resolutions. So late in December, 2015, I told the cats to, ASAP, get me their New Year's Resolutions, for 2016, of course.  Well, did they do it?!  What do you think?  As Mom said, if you want anything done right, you've got to do it yourself!  So here you go, my resolutions for some of the StreetCats cats!  Some of them are so obvious that I don't know why they couldn't do them by themselves!

Smokey told me she gave me hers, but I sure don't remember it!  Anyway Smokey resolves only to sleep on beds that match her collar.  Really?!  Is she auditioning for queen or something? 

 

Now Mary.  Mary, Mary, Mary!  Here she is sitting right beside the food!  Unfortunately this blog doesn't have sound.  If it did you would hear her yowling, yowling for her food!  Then after she's been fed she lies to the humans about that and starts all over again!  Zip it, Mary!  You're clearly not starving!  Wait patiently like I do.  If you just sit patiently near, or on, your tray they'll be there as quickly as they can!  Please note my example!  So . . . Mary resolves not to be quite so demanding!

 

Adam also resolves not to be so demanding, but this time it's about water.  I really don't think he's thirsty.  He just likes watching the humans do what he wants them to do.  Poor fellow can't turn on the water himself.

I, Brandi, do hereby resolve not to so often hide my light, er, eye makeup, under a bushel (or blanket) so often!  Let it shine, Brandi!  Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, Patch is young!  And curious!  Does he not know that curiosity can kill cats?  Not at StreetCats, of course, but he won't always be at StreetCats!  Okay, it's also not likely to kill him in one of our adoptive homes either, but it's still not going to hurt him to learn to keep his  nose out of others' business!  So Patch resolves to remember the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat."

Okay, you want me to make a resolution, too, right?  I, Truman, resolve to make a concentrated effort to get more sleep!  So night night!

Really?!

Okay, okay, I know it's been a while since you've heard from me.  There's a reason for that, and I'll get to that in a minute.  But before I complain . . . I mean talk . . . about that let me tell you that much has happened at StreetCats in the last few weeks.  For example, the gorgeous Cassie featured in the last Feline Friday post is gone!  Yep, gone to her forever home, just in time for Christmas!  Cats are coming and going so fast I barely meet them and poof, they're gone!  You'd almost think there was a court magician involved!  And I had been considering making Cassie my queen!  It's no wonder I have no court in my kingdom right now!  No one stays long enough to even be considered, much less appointed!

But I digress!  I was going to complain . . . I mean talk . . . about why you haven't heard from me in so long.  Now cats don't hibernate, but we do sleep a lot.  And while recovering from Christmas, we sleep a whole lot!  You get that, right?!  That after Christmas recovery period?  Some of us spend that time putting up our Christmas decorations and getting the house weatherized for the hard winter.  But others of us need several weeks to just sleep.  I mean really, how many of you still haven't put up your Christmas decorations yet?  Come on, raise your hands, it's nothing to be ashamed of!  I'm right there with you!

So this sets the stage for what's happening now.  Picture me sleeping peacefully on my throne or in my hidey hole, pretty much ignoring the daily activities at StreetCats (except eating time) when, wham!  It begins!  They are hauling things in and out of here like crazy, wonderful things that people have donated!  They are having meetings, putting labels on gift bags, making phone calls and talking about food, food, food!  "They" being the humans who like to hang out here.  Now this would be irritating at any time of the year!  But while I'm recovering from Christmases???  Couldn't they at least find a better time for this chaos?!  I mean why not My Furry Leprechaun?  Or My Furry Fire Cracker?!

Yes, it is that time of year again.  We're having My Furry Valentine!  Now this is not my first rodeo, so I wasn't surprised.  But this year our primary fundraiser even actually occurs on Valentine's Day!  Whoopee!  (That's sarcasm, by the way.)  Look what they made me do!

They made me do this and then didn't even put my picture on the invitation!  Something about the expression on my face.  What??!!  This is just what I look like.  Maybe I need to cut off someone's head!

Okay, I have to admit, it's a very nice event . . . a silent auction and appetizer and dessert tasting.  Cats don't like to go to such events, but I've seen pictures of the humans just having a ball there!  And I don't want YOU to miss it!  So here is the invitation again.  If you didn't get one in the mail, consider this your personal invite!  We want to see YOU there!  Bet you'll have fun!

Really??!!

"I could never volunteer here.  I just couldn't leave the cats here!"  I think if I hear this again I'm going to yowl!  I know that Lulu, Janie, and Vanna have talked about this!  Especially Janie!  She knew our humans were angels!  But here it is, the truth, one more time!

StreetCats is a good place to be!  No, it isn't our forever home, but it is not a bad place to live until that home is found!  Every day our people come.  They clean our space, they wash our litter boxes every day.  They give us fresh food and water in clean dishes every day.  Well, at times they are a little slow with this job, but they only need a gentle reminder.  Just sit on or beside your food tray and they'll remember.  This is what I do!

Now cleaning and feeding always comes first.  But when that is done then we kitties get a lot of love!  Laps are provided for those that want them.  The lap I'm going to show you is chubby enough to hold two kitties.  See?

And we provide laps in a variety of sizes!  If you play your cards right the person with the lap you choose might actually even share their yogurt with you!

And for kitties who are shy?  They get their very own private condos!  Here is Smokey in her house.  Her food, water and litter box are even left nearby so that she never has to go far if she gets scared.  But it rarely takes very long before even shy cats realize that this is a safe place!

And I haven't even talked about the Feline Specialties Spa where we get all the care we could possibly need!  And the toys!  Oh my gosh!

So please, come volunteer!  Yes, you will fall in love with us!  How could you not?!  But you'll know when you leave that we have been properly spoiled!  You'll miss us when we go to our very own homes!  But you'll kiss us good-bye and be happy for us!  And for the next needy cat who will come and take our spot until that kitty gets his home.  And you'll look back at our pictures and be happy for having known us.  😻

Heir Apparent

First, this is a very serious blog.  I have serious good news and serious bad news.  We will start with the serious bad news.  My Royal Photographer is injured and I had to take the pictures for this blog myself.  Oh dear!  Now it is important to note that this court photographer did not ask my permission to be injured and therefore not be able to come to StreetCats.  After much contemplation regarding consequences I have determined to pardon her this offense.  But if it happens again, off with her head!  Hurry back, Royal Photographer!

Now on to the serious good news.  I have expanded my court to include a prince, an heir to my throne.  I wasn't sure I would ever see a young cat who had the potential to be a King someday.  But by golly, here he is.  You may have noticed that I have beautiful markings, a qualification for being King.  Well. So does this kitten.  His name is Spangles and here he is!

And he meets ALL the other qualifications.  First, he is a healthy eater and will grow up to be big and strong.  Kings must be strong!

He understands what humans are for . . . massage therapy!

And the boy can play!

 

So henceforth this kitten will be known as Prince Spangles!  I will plan a huge celebration . . . as soon as I get a Royal Huge Celebration Planner!

I'll get by with a little help from my friend!

First I would like to let you know about my upcoming vacation plans.  Of all the suggestions I got (there were two) regarding where I should go, I have accepted the suggestion that I go to CATalina Island.  I still have many details to work out, but until I have all my plans made I shall go there in my mind.  So I close my eyes and see that all the bars serve saucers of milk, all the restaurants have huge selections of fresh fish (maybe even a songbird or two) and the lounging chairs around the pool (filled with those fresh fish, of course) are covered in cat hair!  So thank you, Linda Holland, for your wonderful suggestion!  Aaahhh!  I'm enjoying it already!

And, as you can probably tell, I'm feeling splendidly well this morning!  And why is that you might ask.  Well, it is all due to one very special human who has lifted my spirits more than you can imagine.  Now this lady may know more about StreetCats than even I, King Truman, know.  She is one of the people who originally founded StreetCats in 1997.  So it is easy to see why I have decided to make her my royal archivist, right?!  And she has held every position on the StreetCats board that there is to hold!  She is a very special person and she has taught me the importance of hard work and humility.  Does she sit back and expect others to do the hard work?  No!!  She comes in and cleans, she is a foster parent to many of our kitties, she works hard at our primary fundraiser, My Furry Valentine, and she does all this while serving as President of the Board of Directors of StreetCats.  Oh my!  Her name is Kathy Balsiger and here she is with one of our kitties, the wonderful Boo!

And she doesn't just like cats!  She likes people, too!  She babysits on an ongoing basis with her granddaughter, Hannah!  Now how she has time to do this I don't know!  But I heard Hannah call her Grandma and I know enough to know this signifies a very important relationship in the human world!!  I bet those two are going to be bonded forever!!  I'm so glad she's passing her love of cats on to Hannah!

The more astute of you readers may have sensed that since I became King of StreetCats I have been stressed and depressed.  It is just an overwhelming job!  But now I know Kathy is there for me and it is so helpful to know that I'm not alone.  After all, she is President so she does have some understanding of what being King might entail.  Well, recently she reached out to me and she told me that she understands and that she LOVES me!!  The smartest thing I ever did was to reach back to her and accept her offer of help!!  My life is going to be so different now with Kathy as my special friend!  So here's to you, Kathy Balsiger!  Thank you for all your help!  I love you, too!!!

I Can See Clearly Now

Well, not really.  I tend to navigate my world with my nose and my whiskers, but that's just a saying to let you know that I'm not depressed any more.  Oh I know that you didn't know that I was feeling down.  If you'd known you would have come running.  But I didn't tell anyone.  I'm telling you now that it was a little rough for a while.  I can just hear you saying, "Aaahhh, King Truman, what was wrong?"  So I'm going to tell you.

If there is anything harder than being the King of a bunch of cats and cat loving humans, it is being a totally powerless King.  I have had to come to accept that here at StreetCats I am only a figure head.  They let me be king, keep my throne clean and really they do provide for my every need.  But power?  I have none!  Remember Queen Scarlett, my queen for a day that I decided to make queen forever?  Gone.  And Sheriff Adam?  Gone.  Now cats come and go through this facility all the time.  They only live here until they're adopted.  Yes, yes, I know adoption is a good thing!  Really good!!  But it just happens without even a "by your leave" to the so-called King.  If that's not a reason to be depressed then I don't know what is!!  But I've got to stop talking about it or I'll get down, down, down again!

So what is causing me to see clearly now???  I've decided to take a trip!!!  And not just to the StreetCats spa either!  I'm going to take a real trip!  And I want you to help me decide where to go!  One friend told me that Kyoto, Japan, has the best Mexican restaurant in the world, so I did give that some thought.  But no, this vacation will be in one of our great United States.  Please send your recommendations to me as soon as possible so that I can begin planning!  If you've taken a trip recently, tell me all about it!  All options will be considered.  No wait, all but one.  I won't go to Hawaii!  Why?  Well, because Hawaii is very, very safe for cats.  Did you know that it's the only state that has always been rabies free?!  Pretty cool, huh?!  So why wouldn't I want to go there?  Because, in order to keep it safe, they have a very strict quarantine law!  Before going there I would have to be quarantined for a very long time.  Now I enjoy my own company more than anyone else's company.  But, even so, I might get a little lonely during quarantine.  So . . . send me your choice of which state I should visit.  And if you've been to Hawaii, bring me a lei!  🙀

There's a New Sheriff in Town

I am now going to demonstrate to you the kind of intelligence and cunning it takes to be a king.  Remember me telling you about how much Adam has been bugging me because he wants to be the court jester of StreetCats?  The boy has been on my heels constantly and just doesn't get the word NO!  And remember me telling you that I'm so tired of my subjects, both feline and human, bugging me with questions and requests and complaints, etc., etc?  Oh my gosh, my brilliance in solving both these problems at the same time amazes me!!!

So here's the deal.  I'm making Adam my sheriff!!  Okay, let me explain.  Adam will be an important official in my kingdom and will leave me alone about the court jester business.  This is a very positive thing because, quite frankly, I was beginning to think he was going to try to overthrow me and take my throne!  Now some might question my choice of him as sheriff because he has no claws on his front paws.  But the boy can bite and isn't afraid to use his teeth!

So here's the deal.  Yes, Adam will still be staying close to me . . . could find no way around that.  But he'll have his attention focused outward, discouraging any creature who wants to interrupt my meals or my naps.  Adam is happy and I'm no longer being badgered!  Brilliant!!!  So I hereby introduce Adam, Sheriff of StreetCats!

Now, as an additional demonstration of just how smart I am, I would like to tell you something that I bet you didn't know.  Of course humans recognize how superior cats are.  How could they not?!  And one of our most superior attributes is our whiskers.  We use our whiskers to navigate and man, that is so useful!  Well, humans thought they could copy us and in the 1950's they tried to put whiskers on cars.  No, I'm not kidding!  They called them "curb finders" or "curb feelers" and they were long, stiff wires installed low on the body of cars.  When a car got close to the curb these "whiskers" would make a loud noise so the driver would know he was close.  Well, you'll notice cars don't have "feelers" these days.  Give it up, humans!  You'll never be a match for felines!!!

Queen for a Day

All right, all right, all right!  For the sake of my sanity, just leave me alone!!  What is it about royalty?!  These cats are driving me crazy, wanting and expecting that I should do something!  When I get off my throne, it's pandemonium, with camera flashes going off and the fawning and purring over me!  And Adam just will not leave me alone!  I haven't given in to his insistence that he be made court jester.  I mean how unfunny would that be?!  But, in an effort to get a little peace and quiet, I have given in to his insistence that I should have a queen.

Okay,  if this will take a little pressure off, I have named Scarlett as my queen!  Got it?!  Now this is just a test run.  She is a quiet and, yes, pretty, cat so maybe she won't be too much trouble.  I wouldn't want to have to put her on trial to get rid of her so I'm making this clear from the start.  One day at a time!!

So here she is, Queen Scarlett . . . at least for today.  Doesn't she have pretty long black hair?  I prefer my black and white fur, but black is one of my favorite colors.  And I like it long like mine.  I hope they don't take her to the spa and let her ask for a shave!!  Yikes, I hadn't thought of that!  A shaved queen???  Now why, you might ask, would they shave the coat of such a beautiful feline as Scarlett?  Well, sometimes feline hair mats so badly that the only thing to do is shave it.  So if your kitty has long hair, please brush!  Sometimes they might have a skin ailment that requires a shave . . . or, Heaven forbid, an injury.  Sometimes our humans just think we're hot and uncomfortable.  Whatever the reason might be, it is best to have a professional cut our fur because our skin is VERY delicate!!!!

So okay, we now have King Truman and Queen Scarlett of StreetCats!

Now don't be getting any crazy ideas about a royal baby!!  We're helping to control,the pet population, remember?  Besides, the next member of my court is going to be an enforcer, a sheriff, to keep,the paparazzi away from me!!

NOT WITHOUT ME!!!

The humans that hang around here decided to have a party and once again I was left to wonder exactly what is the point of being King.  Did they asked me what I thought of this idea?  Did they ask for advice about how to accomplish this?  DID THEY ASK THE KING'S PERMISSION???  Well, guess.  Of course not!!  By the way, this party was a "surprise."  I guess that's just one more curious thing humans do.  Except, get this!  It was only a surprise to one person!  Everyone else knew!  There are some human things that I guess I'll just never understand!

So the poor lady who was not even told about this party was Nancy Adams.  She's been coming to visit me ever since I got here and she loves me!!  And not just because I'm the king!  Actually she's been hanging around StreetCats for nine years now!  Wow!!  The very best thing about Nancy is that she adopted two StreetCat kitties.  Their names are Millie and Tiny.  Now Nancy has had cats her entire life, but she says these two are the sweetest cats she has ever had in her family!  Well, of course!!  They are StreetCats cats!!

And guess what else she has done.  She helped Samantha Polen when our famous StreetCats cat nip pillows were developed.  She has knitted dish cloths for us to sell so that we would have money for helping get wild cats spayed or neutered!!  Now that is really special!  But most special of all is that she has made six quilts for StreetCats to raffle at My Furry Valentine.  That's our primary fund raiser and those quilts brought in several thousand dollars for all our kitties!  Now that is so special that I'm going to show you a picture of Nancy with one of her famous quilts!  They are so beautiful!

Now another thing humans like to do when they have a party is to eat cake.  Where two or more of those humans are gathered together, they will eat!  With gusto!  Let me show you the cake!

The colors are pretty cool, I think, and the choice of design, the cats, well that certainly couldn't be any better!!  I'm beginning to see the attraction of these parties, although I still don't get the surprise part of it!!

Now I know what you are thinking.  You're wondering where I was during this party.  Don't worry, there is no way I, the King of StreetCats, am going to let these humans just have the run of this place.  Take another look at the cake.  If you look closely, well maybe not even that closely, at the cake you will see the proof that I, King Truman, am not a king that can be run over.  So after I observed these shenanigans for a while, I decided to allow the party to continue.  And to communicate my approval, I put my stamp of approval on the cake.  In a couple of places!  Okay, I'll confess that having the party on my throne might not have met my approval, but I can be lenient.  Cary on humans!!

WE ARE NOT AMUSED!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I said I would appoint my court.  But being King is a lot of responsibility and I have to sleep a LOT in order to fulfill my obligations as ruler and protector of StreetCats.  But apparently I've been talking in my sleep or something because one afternoon I woke up from a nap to see Adam standing right in front of me doing this!

Well, you can imagine my reaction to this sight!  I about fell out of bed!  After regaining my composure I advised this rude cat to go someplace else to sleep!  Imagine my surprise when he told me he isn't sleepy, that he had heard I needed a court jester and he wanted to show me how big he can yawn and how entertaining it can be.

I barely got "go away kid, you bother me" out of my mouth before he urgently insisted I come with him to watch what else he could do.  Now he has to know how fortunate he is that I actually got up and followed him!  And oh what a fool I am!  I should be the court jester!  This is what he wanted to show me.

Are you kidding me?!  What's so amusing about that?  Cats, just like all creatures, prefer their water as fresh as possible.  And running water is fresher than water that's been sitting in a bowl.  Do you really think you're the first cat to figure this out, Adam?!  Maybe you are just so farsighted that you can't see the water in the bowl and that's why you learned to drink from the faucet.  In any case it does not qualify you to be court jester!

But Adam wasn't going to give up.  He had to give it one more shot!!  "Okay, okay, but look at my crooked foot!"  You have to admit that's funny!"  Different, yes.  Maybe just a little funny.

I'm sure it is as clear to you as it is to me that this cat is no court jester.  I doubt he could get a hyena to laugh!  But I didn't want him throwing a fit that I would have to deal with.  So I told him that I would need some time to consider this.  And I went back to my throne, also known as my bed.  And I'm thinking about it.  Pretty sure that position is still available.  Yep, pretty sure.