Category Archives: cats

What’s a Linky and Why Does It Party?

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Hello Folks,

Alberto here in my official capacity as chief Spokespurrson for The Tribe of Five. This first post is just to say “Howdy” and to tell you that our passion and focus is fear free topics..for felines and their humans. 

Our feline tribe of five rescue cats
Stay tuned for a post about fear free harness and leash training. And bear with us as this is our first Linky Party. The Linky party link and info is noted below.

Your friend,

Alberto the Siamese from Feline Opines  


Welcome to the Pet Blogger Showcase! This is the place for you to show off your favorite family friendly pet related posts, find other great posts to read, show some love to other bloggers and maybe be featured on one of the host blogs.

Meet the Hosts Behind the Showcase

Pet Faves– Living the pet lover lifestyle

Heart Like A Dog– The good, the bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs

Felines Opines – The world from a feline point of view

Miss Molly Says- Pet product reviews, pet training, pet health, pet nutrition and all things pets!

Ruff Talk– Where dogs go to chat
About the Pet Blogger Showcase

Twice a month, On the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, you have the chance to link up one of your blog posts to the linky party link-up. Then visit 3 other blogs that joined the party and leave a meaningful comment. Feel free to share with your followers. Then each week the hosts will feature their favorite 3 posts from the previous Linky Party on the new party post. 

 Pet Blogger Showcase Rules

Share a pet related post, past or present, from your blog in the linky below. 
Family friendly posts only. (We love reading about other topics, but posts that are not pet related will be deleted.

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Spread the Love! Leave a quality comment(more than just a few words) on at least 3 other posts from the linky party. Tell them why you love their post, encourage them, share on social media.

Check back for the next linky party to see if you are featured on one of the hosts’ blogs.

Family friendly posts only. (We love reading about other topics, but posts that are not pet related will be deleted.

That’s it! No need to RSVP. No need to bring a covered dish. No need to add the linky to your post. No need to include a button. Just come join the party and PAWTY ON!

Walk This Way-Fear Free Leash & Harness Walking

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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Is Your Feline Ready?
Hello, Alberto here. My brother Oliver and I are quite interested in what goes on outside our house. There are little furry animals running around, large striped creatures who wear Alberto the rescue kitten with the purebred Siamese lookmasks and even big dog-like creatures that the humans call “coyotes”.  I would like to get in the middle of all this action but the humans are having none of it. They did note our restlessness though and a few weeks ago the female human came home with a black thing that had a long tail.

Now I would like to say to all my feline friends that this black thing might not be for you. I am the adventurous type. I never run from the vacuum monster and in fact, love to chase it. My brother Oliver is a lot more timid. When he hears the vacuum monster being wheeled out of its cave, he hightails it downstairs. Purrsonality is important and, as our home is always as fear free as possible, the humans decided I would be the first to try this harness and leash thing.

The Harness Thing
Alberto the Siamese cat walks on a harness and leashThe female human sat down on the floor, holding the black things. I’m always interested in new stuff and so I walked toward her. As soon as I got close I noticed that the black thing smelled great and I wanted to get closer. (I heard the human say she sprayed the black thing with something called “Safe Space” .)   After I sniffed a few minutes, the human reached out, pulled me toward her and slipped something around my neck. Before I could scamper away, she pulled something around my tummy and then snapped it into place. Everything happened quickly and before I knew it, she was standing up and the front door was open.

I took a few steps onto the porch and couldn’t believe my eyes and nose. What a magical place, birds were singing, the breeze was blowing and I could smell that other felines had come to my front porch.

Evidently I was standing too long, because the human picked me up and took me into the place she called ‘the garden”. Wow, what a place. Lots of green stuff to smell and as soon as I found a smell I liked I just rolled around in it. I was having a ball!Al the Siamese cat rolls around on the ground enjoying his harness and leash

 

I’m Wearing Your Harness Thing, Now What?
The human seemed to have a different agenda than I did. She tugged at the contraption I was wearing and I did not like it a bit. Evidently she wanted me to walk in a certain direction. I, on the other hand, had alternate plans. The harder she tugged, the more I rolled around in “the garden”. The long black thing that was attached to me and which she held in her hand kept getting shorter and shorter. She learned quickly that allowing me to implement my plan worked better than having to stop and unwrap the thing from around trees, bushes and plants. I think she learned that our little excursion  would have gone much easier on her had she allowed me to wander my way.

Relax and Smell The Roses
At some point the human realized that I was in charge of this little outing and I could
Alberto the Siamese cat enjoys the smell of the lavender in the garden as he walks on his leashsense she was relaxing (fear free applies to our humans too!) . She let me roam in “the garden” and as a reward, I decided to pose for her next to the cat planter. All the time I was out there, Oliver was sitting in the window, meowing and pacing. It looked like the little scaredy cat wanted to try this harness thing too.

 

Final Mewsings and the Human Speaks
Since the human took me for my first outing in “the garden”, I’ve had several more trips and enjoy this new activity very much. She did make the mistake of remaining outside with me when the male human arrived and opened the big  door that goes up and down that keeps the electronic monsters on wheels inside. This was NOT fun and I let her know quickly that little experience did nothing to further her fear free agenda!  AlbertoPose1

 

From the Human
After observing Oliver’s great distress at being left out of the adventure, I adjusted the harness (Oliver’s girth is much bigger than Alberto’s) and put it on Oliver. My experience with Alberto who is mellow and very compliant, allowed me enough practice so I could put the harness on Oliver much quicker. As you see from the photos, Oliver enjoyed himself thoroughly and I made sure that he wasn’t outside when the “big door” opened.  Also note, the first time I took Al out, I did not have his harness fixed correctly. If you look at the shots of Oliver with the harness you will see the corrrect way to use this harness (ah, live and learn).

OllieWalkiesComposite

 

Our Very Own Catio-Part 1

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Hello All,
1212010 003Tucker here. I am writing to tell you about the human’s latest attempt to enrich our lives and make us happy.  This weekend, a long box arrived which contained a catio.

I must go on record here, I do not think a catio is necessary for some of us. I am the Alpha in the Tribe of Five and have done supervised outdoor excursions just fine. Just because there were two little falling off the upstairs balcony incidents, does not mean that I need a catio to enjoy the great out of doors. And just because little Oliver went flying over the short wall in the living room to land downstairs does not necessarily mean that he needs a catio. (Well, maybe Oliver could use one but for those of us who are older and wiser, no catio is needed).

catio1But I digress. The humans opened the box. I sat on my favorite chair and supervised while Oliver and Alberto raced over to check things out. Those kittens are very “paws on” when it comes to a project.   As the humans attempted to extract the items from the box, the kittens carefully inspected everything.catio3

catio4The first thing we noticed was that the humans had received a box in a box, very cool and very thoughtful of the humans to order extra boxes!  This is a photo of the second box., which contained the catio item. Evidently the catio is called “Happy Habitat”, I’ll be the judge as to whether a tent is happy or a habitat. Frankly, I cannot see me squeezing all of my 16 pounds into anything small enough to fit in that box!

 

catio5The humans extracted a long bag from the second box. As you can see, Alberto is a bit perplexed as to how this can be happy or a habitat. Look at that long skinny bag, even the svelte and lanky Alberto would be hard pressed to fit into it. Humans, you may have wasted your money!

But then something interesting happened. The humans pulled a big black net-thing from that long skinny bag. Oliver was there catio6to inspect every inch of it and to help. of course.

 

The humans spent considerable time reading the paper that was sewn into the black bag. They pulled and tugged and mumbled  and then all of a sudden that flat, netting thing popped up into a big tent. The humans were rethinking their plan of setting up the Happy Habitat in the house. I must say, I was impressed that something that big came out of that skinny black bag!

The female human unzipped the door in the front and the kittens wasted no time in running in and inspecting the inside of the apparatus. They were quite intrigued and gave catio7it a paws up.  The humans then set themselves the task of removing the kittens and learning how to collapse the tent and fit it back in the skinny black bag. Although I love the humans, I have to say they were a bit slow in figuring it out. Finally, they saw the two (clearly marked with orange) tags where they were supposed to squeeze, when they squeezed, the whole thing folded up and all they had to do was wrap the netting around it to get it back in the narrow black bag.

Once the humans were confident in their ability to open and close the Happy Habitat. they took it out on the upstairs deck and popped it open. They then unzipped the door and invited us all to enter. Oliver and Al wasted no time in heading in and Lily joined them as well. I, on the other hand, had no interest in being in a tent with those three so I sauntered away back into the house.

Our upstairs deck isn’t tiny and that tent took up a lot of space which did make it roomy enough for three felines. I heard the human saying something about putting a bed and a carpet covered perch in there. Now, if they say they’ll be filling the habitat with snacks, I just might be persuaded to check it out.

This is the end of my first report, stay tuned for more and here’s a short video of Alberto, Oliver and Lily enjoying the great outdoors on our upstairs deck. Evidently the humans also ordered some sort of net tunnel that connects to the Habitat (like I’m going to squeeze myself through a tunnel, I think not!)

Until next time, your friend,
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Helping Lost Pets the Modern Way

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Hello Folks,
IMG_3782Lily here. I was sitting on the upstairs deck (safely) enjoying nature and feeling reflective. I’ve been watching the female human as she and her sister have been working on a project for about a year now that helps humans reunite pets with their people in our community.

We live in a place where there are predators (I”m not sure exactly what these are but I do know they are scary and the main reason why the humans do not let us outside without protection and supervision. It’s a dangerous place for lost dogs and cats so finding them quickly and getting them home quickly is important.

The strange thing is that the human doesn’t go outside to search under bushes and trees and along mountainsides. She (and many other humans) do this by pounding on their computer keys and sitting in front of their iPads and tablets.

Now I am a cat of many talents but I must say I don’t understand all this “social media” BoCoCritterFndrs_Logostuff but what I do know is that they have been able to help many pets in our community and assist our local Panhandle Animal Shelter. I have a bit of an issue with the name…they call it Bonner County Critter Finders. Critters? How about Fantastic Felines and Distinguished Dogs? Oh well, despite my issues with the name, I think they’re doing a good thing and I hope you have something like this in your community. And, if you don’t, I’m sure the female human would be happy to let you know how she got started.

Your Friend,
LilySignature.

 

 

 

BlogPaws Conference

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Hello Folks,
AlPressBoxAlberto here. As the official spokespurrson for the Kitty Cat Pawty and Oliver and Olive’s campaign I have also been named spokespurrson for this blog.  I am pleased to announce that the Tribe of Five (with the financial help of the humans) is sending the female human to the BlogPaws conference in Phoenix this month.

We’re excited because the human is giving away campaign buttons on Oliver’s behalf in conjunction with Olive’s human at Three Chatty Cats.

I will be receiving updates from the human while she’s at the conference and reporting on all the goings on.

OllieOliveBtnIn the meantime, get your button  (one button is given away each day and buttons will be handed out at the BlobPaws conference) and look for our human and Olive’s human at the conference (they’ll be wearing the Kitty Cat Pawty buttons.

Your friend and reporter,
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The Night Watch

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Hello Human’s,

Oliver here. I thought I’d take a break from my purrrlitical campaigning and share my more reflective side. The female human says this title is from a famous Rembrandt painting but I’ve never heard of that cat so I’m using it.



Your friend,

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An Important Purrresidential Announcement

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Hello Folks,
Alberto here,

AlPressBoxI am pleased to announce that I am bringing you this important purrrlitical announcement from the official campaign press box.

It is with great excitement that the Kitty Cat Pawty announces Oliver’s running mate, Olive.

Olive and her staff at Three Chatty Cats, bring a maturity and thoughtful platform that fits purrrfectly with Oliver’s campaign statements.

She has promised all her supporters that she will institute:

* An official Tortie day, and if elected, will organize a national “Tortie Tuesday” for every week.

*She promises to campaign and legislate for all homeless kitties and is interested in instituting more clicker training in shelters to help with this.
*She will also work to implement a mandatory tuna day – the actual day will be determined with her running mate, Oliver

CampaignBtn_2So folks, it’s official; and you heard it from the Kitty Cat Party official press secretary, in November, put your paw marks on the ballot for Oliver and Olive!

The catidates want to hear from their constituents, so please send us your comments and questions.

 

“We must vote for tuna, vote for catnip, vote for a brighter future for all cats.”.
Purresidential Catidate. Kitty Cat Pawty, Oliver