Our BlogPaws Story!

It's already Tuesday! We wish Teri had been energetic enough to write about our BlogPaws experience on Sunday when we got back home...but it was such a nice day outside that she worked out in the yard!

So we'll try to remember the highlights of our 3 days of Peace & Music (No... that was Woodstock! We weren't there, hahameow!).

We got to go to school (aka sessions) and learn about Leveraging Niche Blogging (Cats like hiding in niches, don't they?!) and Reach, Relevance, Design & Presentation (we can reach, with claws sometimes) and about Social Media (Tweeting and Purring at the same time, hahameow!).

And we listened to 2 guys called Big Ant and Joe P, from Rescue Ink...they looked like they knew how to help animals cuz they were big and strong!

Fortunately, we got to relax back in our hotel room while Teri went and watched a Dog Movie (Yawwwwn) and then went out to dinner with our friends, CHo Meir of Coffee, Cats n' Yarn and Sue and David of The Furry Bambinos. So, we didn't get to meet Flat Panda!

We listened to the Covered in Cat Hair lady, Robin, talking about traffic (we are indoor kitties so we didn't know anything about rush hour, hahameow!) and then we learned from the Petfinder and Embrace Pet Insurance ladies, Jane and Laura, how to ask people if we could be guests (guest bloggers, that is...we wouldn't want to wear out our welcome!).

And Deesko (Disco's stand in) got to meet BlogPaws co-founder, Tom Collins, and the famous Dr V of Pawcurious! And he got to hang out in the bar, too!

And Teri and her friends must have had a few Niptinis, cuz they got silly and took some Hurricane Irene photos...take a look!

Teri said she didn't take many notes, and we all know how furgetful old humans can be, but she said she came home remembering some of what she learned and with great memories of making new friends and spending time with those we had met before! That feeling of camaraderie and a shared goal of Being the Change has us... Reelin' from the Feelin', MeWowZa!!

As you can see from the photos, part of the fun is being silly, full of Pet Love of any species--dog, cat, ferret, G Piigs! We collected scads of business cards and had lots of photos taken of our cute selves, and Teri said it will take a while to write back to everyone we met!

So over the next few weeks, look on our blog for more BlogPaws news and photos we find as we visit everyone we met! Oh...our purrsonalized swag bags were prized by both cat and dog and ferret and guinea pig, as the thank you notes we have received tell us!

The next BlogPaws will be held in Salt Lake City in June 2012 and we plan on going, making it an annual part of our vacation. Of course, since Teri will have to fly to this one, she will only take one of us as she doesn' want anyone to have to fly in cargo...We will all be vying for the job...and may the best cat win, hahameow!

And for our furriends that are on Facebook, too...Disco asked Teri to remind you to visit us there and 'Like' us there, too...

"Like Disco (and friends) on Facebook"

Frootbat Friday

Featuring Xerxes, one of Furrydance's extended family. Very elegant, isn't he?! Some Cornish Rex have thick, wavy coats...Some are almost as naked as a Sphynx... but they all have the same wonderful 'interactive' personalities...isn't his face full of 'character'?!

BlogPaws...A gathering of pet bloggers for networking, learning & fun!

We made it to BlogPaws! 

Yeah, we know...it was only an hours drive away, but getting outta the house with 99% of the 'to-do' list done is an accomplishment (remember, we weren't permitted to 'help' pack...).

We got to the hotel around 2pm and got settled in and dug through the BlogPaws Swag...they must have had 'Wag" on their minds, cuz most of the swag was of the Doggie persuasion...

Then Disco and Coco went out schmoozing. Brighton stayed back in the room, burrowed under the comforter...

Teri took a few photos, of old friends and new...

And then Brighton got to go the the Opening Reception.

He met a ferret (and he said he is sorry he hissed and spat) and he and Teri chatted up the vendors and bloggers we follow but had never met.

Our friend, Carol of Coffee, Cats 'n Yarn helped Teri pass out the swag bags they made and passed business cards out and collected quite a few, too.

They got to meet Skeezix FL (and got a cute T-shirt!), Zee & Zoey's servant, Sebastian of Sew Doggie Style, and Preston of Preston Speaks...and many more bloggy friends!

Then everyone said their goodnights and Teri came back to our room and we helped her with this post (not really...we were really tired from the socializing, so we napped...)

And this was just Day 1...tomorrow the seminars start and we need to get our rest, so we'll sign off for now and post more mews tomorrow!

Thankful Thursday...

I truly am thankful for the cats in my life...over the years, many have graced me with their presence, each one leaving love behind when they say farewell...

Recently, the cat blogosphere has lost kitties that each of us were fortunate enough to make their acquaintance, and they, too, left love behind when they went to the bridge....

Today, on Thankful Thursday, I will hug my cats and kiss their forehead and listen to their purrs and feel blessed...

Wordless (Not) 'n (Decoy Disco's) Whisker Hump Wednesday

Teri is a little behind the power curve as far as preparations for us leaving for BlogPaws tomorrow. Swag bags are done, cat accoutrement loaded in the car (litterbox, litter, scoop, ziploc poo bags, food, blankies, toys, stroller).


But we aren't packed or bathed yet. And Teri has to do her nails still...we hope she doesn't start snapping at us if we want to help her pack, hahameow!


Since three of us are going to attend BlogPaws, she said she is going to skip the "How to Make a Flat" seminar...although she said Flats are probably a lot easier to travel with, since they don't eat or need a litter box, hahameow!


We are so looking forward to 'living it up' at the sumptuous hotel that BlogPaws is being held at. We will be posting mews and photos every day, so you can see what we are up to...how fun!


No swimming for us, but we might hang out poolside and sip Niptinis...


And we hear we even get a movie night (butter on our popcorn, pleeze)...It's the premiere of the Disney movie, Scary Buddies!

It's a dog flick, but for popcorn, we'll sit through anything! Hope if there's any cats in it, that they are smart and sassy, just like us!

But, in those places where us live cats might not be permitted...she is going to bring along a friend that will join us.

We are sure you all know about Decoy, Papua Piig's body double (hahameow). We hope Mr Piig thinks that 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', and that he will grin when he meets Disco's Decoy!

Oh...and the picture above...I think it can also fill in for our 'Whisker Hump Wednesday' pix...what do you think?

Frootbat Friday

...I just love it when the sun shines through their ears, making them almost transparent!

This hand man cat is Altarnun, fondly called Al by his family. He lives in Pittsburgh PA and you might remember him from a recent post where he and his kid were watching Cat TV...

http://furrydancecats.blogspot.com/2011/05/mancat-monday.html

Black Cat Appreciation Day

While currently no black cats reside at Curlz and Swirlz...we have had quite a few little black kittens have been born at Furrydance Cattery. These three brothers were born to Kely Bray, Coco's mom.

Jolly Mon lives in New Hampshire with a great couple and another CRex from us, Radar lives in Florida and also another CRex from us! And Totti is one of the two kittens that I have sadly lost track of in all my years of breeding, because their family divorced and I tried all the contact numbers and references on their adoption application and have been unable to find out anything about where they are now...

You might say they don't really look black, but because of their thin coats and being able to see their skin, they look different than other black cats, in more ways than one, hahameow!

Whisker Hump Wednesday

In honor of the original Mancat, Kismet, who sported the most ginormous Whisker Humps, we wanted to honor the passing of this great cat with our first Whisker Hump Wednesday post.


All lesser man cats (and swooning lady cats) admired Kismet's whisker humps, and all we can do is try our best to emulate his persona by posting our images with our best attempts at humpiness (No, not the X-Rated kind, although Kismet, like Skeezix, had urjes, too).

Disco NoFurNo says his whisker humps pale in comparision, but he will not let a Wednesday pass without thinking of Kismet and working on exercising his lovely man cat humps...

Our Purrsonal Review of the Smart Scoop Litter Box!

As promised, here is our review of the Smart Scoop Litter Box, that we were testing out for The Happy Litter Box, an informative, helpful blog that talks all about litter box issues with cats and ways to try and resolve them.


As many of our followers know, Teri used to breed Cornish Rex and part of her contract was that she would take one of the kitties she bred back for any reason if someone wanted to give it up. She did that with 6 or 8 kitties and most often because of urinating outside the litter box. It is the most common reason cats are surrendered to shelters or dumped outside.

Teri has tried almost every box on the market, from various Booda Boxes (round is hard to scoop!) to plastic tubs used to make concrete in (that was suggested to her by a rescue group) and we still have one down in the basement and it's nice and large but Teri wished they came in some other color than black, hahameow! We probably use that box more than any other one in the house!


When Disco began peeing in the bathroom sink, she bought all new open litter boxes, as the behaviorists recommend. She didn't realize one of the good side effects of having open boxes was that they were faster to scoop, with no lids to fiddle with. Her (and our) favorite for the past 4 years has been a Rubbermaid High Sided Litter pan but it's no longer being made.


Having used a Litter Maid a number of years ago and not being pleased with how cumbersome it was; how hard it was to clean with all the 'tracks' and gears that collected litter, we thought the Smart Scoop looked simpler in that respect, but am not sure we would have sent Teri out to buy one without hearing from other cats and humans about what they thought about it.



The Smart Scoop was pretty easy to set up and Teri liked the fact that disposing of the 'waste' looked simple and efficient and didn't mean tossing out a plastic tray each time--wasteful and not good for the landfills, either.

The behaviorists recommend having one more litterbox than number of cats, but we have 5 boxes for 5 cats and Teri scoops them an average of 3 x a day. As you can see from the photo below, she set up The Smart Scoop right across from one of our usual boxes and she used the same litter as in all the other boxes, Cats Pride Natural Clumping Litter.


At first, we cats were more interested in the 'mechanics' of the box, as you will see in the video below. But it only took us a day or so to start using both boxes, although we still might use the regular box a little more often.




Disco has a habit of peeing right at the end of the old style boxes (next to the lower lip or 'exit) which is harder to scoop without the clump crumbling a little. Funny, but in the Smart Scoop, he pees on the side closest to the 'mat' and the scooping tines have the same problem as Teri does when manually scooping, hahameow!


The Smart Scoop did a good job of scooping otherwise and as the scooping doesn't happen for 15 minutes after a cat 'leaves a deposit', Teri often missed the scooping action. But she did catch it a few times and while the motor sounds like it's carrying a heavy load, it never had a problem with being unable to scoop or stop running or any problems like that.


She remembered when she used the Litter Maid, that some of us where having diarrhea issues at the time and the wide plastic tines of the Litter Maid model at that time caused her to cuss and complain about how hard it was to clean. Even though we are all 'firm' now, she thinks the Smart Scoop would be a lot easier to clean if problems like that showed up again...

Would she buy 4 more of these boxes? Maybe one at a time, as they are a little spendy. But she can say for certain, she would not buy another Litter Maid. Teri said she did like the fact that she knew that one box was always free of clumps and it might make a kitty who didn't like to use a box with another cats 'leavings' in it happier, too. Fortunately, that isn't an issue with our current household of cats...


So, we would give The Smart Scoop a score of 5 out of 5--it's open, no cover; it's easy to maintain (according to Teri); us cats used it as much as our regular box next to it; it 'accepted' the litter us cats were used to, and it freed Teri up to pay more attention to us! What's not to like?! We hope our review was helpful and informative!