Secret PAWS 2011!!!

This is our morning of Secret Paws ... told like "Memento," in reverse order ... because darn Blogger screws up the order when downloading pictures. Our Paws, this year, were our furriends from Maryland at Mark's Mews: Ayla, Iza, an' Marley, an' their great food dood, The Big Thing!












Mom got our Secret Paws package about a week ago from the Man in the Brown Shorts (he's been at our house a whole bunch lately!), and she quickly stuck it under the ChristMaus tree in the living room without looking at the name of the sender 'cuz SHE wanted to be surprised, too!

We kept sneaking under the tree to check on our package to make sure that our Uncle James didn't take it with him when he an' Aunt Lori came to eat dinner last night.

Yep! It was still under the tree this morning when Mom FINALLY got up. I wanted to say in bed an' rest, so I didn't come out to the living room ... But Charmee an' Sparky Fuzzypants were there to snoopervise the retrieving of the package, the opening of the tape, and the PRESENTS inside the box!

But first, we had to check the address label to see WHO our Secret Paws were this ChristMaus: Lo, and behold, our presents came all the way from MARYLAND. We have some friends in Maryland whose bloggie we visit, so we weren't very surprised that our Secret Paws of 2011 were our furry good furriends, Ayla, Iza, Marley, and The Big Thing! If you haven't visited their bloggie, you should! You can find it at Mark's Mews. The Big Thing an' the kitties post efurry day, so there's aways something new going on! The Big Thing also takes many photos of his flowers an' the kitties exploring.

Mom was worried 'bout me, so she only signed the boys up for Secret Paws this year, but The Big Thing thoughtfully bought a present for me: Temptations for Kittens. Mom hadn't been able to find them for me locally, so it was Providence that The Big Thing thought of them and could find them at his Maryland PetSmart. They're chick-hen flavored an' just the right size for my little mouth. I wanna say a personal "thank you" to The Big Thing for this wonderful an' delicious gift!

As you can see from the photos, Charmee was in the packages helpin' to open them, but Sparky Fuzzypants preferred to watch from the safety of the La-Z-Boy.

Look at all of the fabulous stuff! An' it's in my favorite color of purple! There's mousies, an' a stocking of busy balls an' mousies, an' there's some Salmon Temptations an' some crunchies from Whisker Lickins, an' a nifty Kong with fev-vers an' a squishy, crunchy soft toy to bunnykick! Ooo ... an' MORE mousies! An' 'nip cigars with fev-vers, too!

An' The Big Thing even sent a present for Mom! She got some Godiva dark chocolate pearls that she says she loves! She's gonna take them with her to Portland tomorrow in case she needs some calming chocolate for the plane ride (she will!).

So, from sunny Sandy Eggo, we wanna send a huge and grateful "Thank You" to our dear furriends in Maryland at Mark's Mews. Thank you to Iza, Ayla, Marley, an' The Big Thing for all of the wonderful presents an' for making Secret Paws 2011 so PURPLE an' wonderful for us.

Smooches, head butts, and hugs!
DMM, Sparky Fuzzypants, Charmee, and mom, Jessica

A ChristMaus Message ...

It has been quite a trying year an' we here at "DaisyMae Maus and the Feline Americans" would like to thank efurryone for their purrs an' purrayers when we needed 'em the most! You all came through when Pumpkin went to the Bridge back in February an' when I was havin' my own health crisis this month. I am feeling much better today an' Mom is furry grateful that I made it 'til ChristMaus (an' she doesn't have to worry about me as much when she leaves us with our grandparents while she visits our fambly in Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington).

I wanna say "thank you" to all of our furriends an' readers out there in the blogosphere whom we've come to know and love this past five years. You are what makes blogging worth the time an' we're privileged to know many of you all from Facebook, too.

Happy ChristMaus to you all. Mom says that she'll see some of you at Blogpaws in June 2012 in Salt Lake City!

Love you all ... and to all a good night!
DMM, the Feline Americans (Sparky Fuzzypants an' Charmee), and Mom

DMM is feeling very poorly

UPDATE: As of Friday, DMM's v-e-t has reported that her gums have changed from "angry red" to a healthier "pink". She's responding well to the IV fluids, has eaten some of her food, has been given an antibiotic drip into her fluids, and has faithfully used her litterbox. Since the IV fluids have helped, I have agreed to let her stay at the v-e-t through the weekend and I'll pick up my expensive little patient on Monday afternoon.

Thank you for all the purrs and purrayers. Everything the blogosphere and FB have done for my Baby Girl has helped her to get better.

Jessica



DMM and the Feline Americans' mom here ...
DaisyMae is at the v-e-t and the news was not good ... Her teeth are covered in tartar and they won't give her anesthesia to do dental work because of her age (she's nearly 18) and her current health. She's lost a considerable amount of weight, is dehydrated, and is suffering from both kidney and liver failure. The protein level in her urine and bloodwork weren't favorable at the start.

She's been given IV fluids and a B-12 shot to help to stimulate her appetite. She has eaten a little bit of the food that they have her and has used her litter box. The v-e-t called twice in the last half hour to say that she's eaten more and is resting comfortably. The v-e-t is guarded in DaisyMae's case and doesn't want to provide false hope.

Earlier news from Grandma was that DMM won't make it to Christmas, but I want to give her at least until Saturday to let the IV fluids work for her. I'm selfishly not ready to give her up. She is, after all, my baby girl and the closest friend I have had in a very long time.

Facebook friends have been providing advice, positive karmic thoughts, virtual hugs, and compassionate support. I have said many times that the cat blogosphere is incredibly powerful. Please continue the purrs and purrayers for my Baby Girl so that I can love her for more time.

Charmee and Sparky Fuzzypants have been very subdued since I got home from work. I do believe that they understand the pink p-t-u and are searching for DaisyMae Maus. It's disquieting to watch them skulk about with their bellies on the floor ... They look rather haunted.

Thank you for reading.

Also, big thanks to NTM ... Mo aka Not the Mama ... for making this lovely graphic for my DaisyMae Maus

Gratefully,
Jessica

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to Feline American Mom! She's 44 years old ... absolutely ancient ... today.
DMM

November is DIABETES AWARENESS month!

It's time for the Blog Blast for Peace!

It's that time again to recommit to a world of peace, so kitties an' woofies (an' other household fambly members) should link paws an' purray for peace!
DONA NOBIS PACEM, efurryone! Let your peace globes fly!
DMM and the Feline Americans

Purrayers for Paula!

Our furriend, Truffle's, momma is worried 'bout cancer an' has to see a dermatologist about a scary lesion. We're offerin' up our purrs and purrayers that this lump/bump/lesion can be removed in its entirety without horrible affects. Good luck to Paula!
DMM, Sparky Fuzzypants, and Charmee
and Jessica, too

Avast ye lubbers!

Shiver me timbers! It's Meow Like a Pirate Day an' we're actually available to pawticipate! Arrrrrgh!

Mo Cats is Mo Better!

Mom has told the Feline Americans and me plenty of times that her life would be pretty empty without us ... an' we believe her. At the largest, the Feline Americans was ten (TEN?!?) members an' mealtimes were kinda crazy! Now, we're just three. We believe in "Mo Cats"! Life is far better bein' members of the Cat Blogosphere an' havin' brofurs to snuggle (and fight!) with.

Happy Weekend, efurryone!
It's nice to have the power back on ... 'cept with the power OFF, we got a day to spend with Mom thanks to her school district an' the cancelled classes for today!

Happy Mo Cats Day!
DMM

Hangin' out with our furriends at BlogPaws 2011!

The Food Lady, Skeezix's momma, graciously took us along to BlogPaws 2011 in Washington, DC. Even amidst a hurricane blowing Category One stormy winds, we still managed to visit the Vietnam Memorial to get our photos taken.



While at BlogPaws, we got to pose with (l to r): Mr. Emerson's momma, The Food Lady, an' Tyler's momma, Petcare Bev. We're havin' a marvelous time. Considering we're all adults an' there's a woofie at the table, too, it's surprising that there isn't more meowin' an' hissin', right?



We're heading home to sunny San Diego today an' avoiding the worst of the Hurricane Irene weather. Thanks for hosting us, efurryone!

DMM

Purrayers for Hurricane Irene pawticipants

We're keepin' our paws crossed for our furriends and fambly members who live on the East Coast an' are dealing with Hurricane Irene as it pounds their homes and douses 'em with rain (awww ... rain! We wish we had some to get rid of this horrible humidity!). Keep safe, efurryone! If the weather folks say "evacuate," you've gotta GO!
DMM

PeeSss: Thanks to the Zoolatry Girls for the graphics! They do a fabulous job!

World Cat Day!

In honor of World Cat Day, Mom is posting two of the photos that she took at Boomerangs on Caturday night when she met the Great Skeezix the Cat's Mom, the famous and wonderful Food Lady.


In this first photo, Sparky Fuzzypants, Charmee, and Skeezix are sitting on the table of the booth where Mom and the Food Lady ate their dinner. Bunches of people came by an' snapped out photos 'cuz we were in the presence of internet celebrities.



This is a photo taken atop the antique teak bar at Boomerangs. All of us were able to pose atop the bar an', if I do say so myself, we all looked pretty darn HOT!



From left to right: Skeezix the Cat, Charmee, Sparky Fuzzypants, ME, an' Mao in his very LOWD shirt.

We wanna say "thanks" to efurryone who came down to Sandy Eggo for the BlogHer conference.

A blast from the past: Charmee!

Hey efurryone!
Mom was working in the computer lab with her horrible ninth graders and she found this photo was lurking on the school's server. She'd been looking for it on dozens of cds and thought that Charmee's baby picture was lost ... But here it is!

Even back when he was just six weeks old, he was a biter! Look how he's attacking his Burt! He's getting ready to bunnykick him!

Charmee was so young in this photo that he didn't have his dark brown spots yet ... But you can certainly see his K-Mart tail! If you look carefully, you can see where he got the nickname "Nippies" ... Hee, hee!

Ugh ... School has started AGAIN!

Mom started her classes last Wednesday an' I want her HOME! I had only six weeks with Mom on her vacation, and while she didn't go anywhere an' spent lots of time with me, I didn't get enough. What's the deal with people? How come they hafta go day-hunting efurryday when they could spend time takin' naps with us?!? Nine weeks better go pretty quickly 'cuz I want my MOM!

Sparky Fuzzypants LOST?!?

Mom was freakin' out this morning when she couldn't find Feline American Sparky Fuzzypants anywhere in the house. Today is our new day with the garbage trucks an' recycling trucks. Grandad was helping to take out the trash an' swears that Sparky didn't escape while the door was open. Sparky is fast an' Grandad is not furry careful when he's around the door ... so where was Mr. Pants if he didn't make a run for it? No one knew ...

With Mom being who she is, she searched the whole house. She looked high an' low. She got out the canister of Temptations an' offered snacks to all of us. No Mr. Pants. Where could he be? He LOVES Temptations an' wouldn't miss the opportunity to have some.

Mom asked us where Mr. Pants was. He's not furry smart, but he's not the hiding type, either. No Mr. Pants ... Mom was starting to panic 'cuz she said that she saw a kitty who got sent to the Bridge by a car. That kitty was black an' Mr. Pants is stripy an' brown. That didn't stop Mom from panicking anyway.

Then Mom got smart an' remembered how Feline American Pumpkin hid under her bed when he was afraid of the cat sitter. Mom got a flashlight an' got down on the bedroom floor to look for Mr. Pants. And that goofus was under the bed yawning at Mom. She said, "Thank God!" When Sparky Fuzzypants heard her voice, he meowed at her an' came right out from under the bed like he'd been playing "Hide and Go Seek" and just got found!

When he came out to the living room to sit on the back of the recliner, I told him that he was a big furry stupid-head an' that WE had gotten some Temptations!

Dumb brofurs!
DMM

Today marks FIVE years that I've been blogging an' I totally would have forgotten if KC hadn't sent me a reminder! Wow! Such an important moment!

I wanna say "thanks" to efurryone who has been instrumental in the achievement of this milestone to include Skeezix the Cat who was the reason I started blogging in the first place!

Much love and meows!

DMM

Vote for my dad!

http://uniontrib.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?contestid=33665&pagetype=VOTING&SubmissionID=8917083

My brother is entered in this Fathers' Day contest and would like to win. Vote for #62: James Jepsen. You can vote one time a day from any computer, smart phone, iPad, etc.

Thanks!

We're sorta back

We've not been blogging 'cuz the ginormous bloo computer died about two weeks ago an' Mom had to bring her laptop from school. All of our photos are on zip drives an' since Mom's school let out for six weeks of summer today, we're hoping to be better at connecting with our furriends.
Not excuses, just explanations ...

DMM, et. al

AP practice test!

Mom's wakin' up early on a Caturday to administer a practice AP English Language test to her students before they take the real thing on May 11, 2011. We wanna go with her to keep her company 'cuz proctoring exams is furry boring (Mom would rather TAKE the test herself than watch people take 'em). There goes our sleepin' in! Sigh.

Start your purrin' ...

The Vienna cats, Kashem, Othello, and Salome, are honoring all of our furriends and family who "have gone before" or run off to the Bridge this year, with Rememberance Day. What a lovely gesture, 'cuz in addition to losing a plethora of furriends in the past year, we've also lost Feline American Cocoa Puff last May an' Pumpkin in February. That's too many to lose an' we miss 'em.

Also, please keep the good people of the Southeast of the United States in your purrayers as they battle some dastardly tornadoes an' rain. Our fambly has already evacuated to North Carolina from their new home in Alabama.



Zoolatry Girls have designed the banner to remind efurryone about the folks battling for their lives, homes, an' property. Let's purr for 'em!

Purrs for Eric & Flynn's Mum ...

Wordy Wednesday Challenge 2011

Hey efurryone! Once again, we're participatin' in the Zoolatry Girls' Wordy Wednesday Challenge.

Mom helped us to choose an appropriate word to describe our "mood" ... We're most definitely obstreperous ...

Win a FLAT PET from PetCare Bev!

You know us by now an' how we like to lend a paw (or some green papers) to help our furriends, so keep readin' to find out what we're doin' to help the kitty an' woofie community ... an' our woofy furriend Tyler's momma!

Our dear furriend, Bev, wants to spread the word 'bout a great organization near an' dear to her heart: Small Paws Rescue.

She says:
"Small Paws Rescue (www.SmallPawsRescue.org) brought Tyler (my sweet fluff boy) and me together. But even before Tyler, Small Paws has been important to me. Small Paws is a courageous group of 800 volunteers and 6,000 supporting global members. Over the past 12 years they’ve helped over 8,000 Bichons, Bichon blends, and dogs who have had a passing affiliation with a Bichon to find forever homes. Volunteers foster dogs in their homes across the United States. Small Paws Rescue embraces the philosophy of “no-kill” –- nearly all their donations go to pay vet bills. And the little fluffy dogs that Small Paws rescues usually come from horrible situations. So there’s always vet bills."

At her bloggie, Bev is focusing on Small Paws and she's doin' a giveaway at her hobby site called My Flat Pet where she has a cut-out, life-sized photo of Tyler that she takes to different places and photographs. The photos end up on My Flat Pet.

During the month of March, to encourage people to donate (and to increase the flat pet population), Bev is going to give away 4 flat pets. Also, Karen Nichols, the Catster blogger and the owner of Flat Skeezix, has also offered to create one of her amazing, personalized mixed media pet portraits to use as a give-away during the Flat Tyler Small Paws Fundraiser! This is an incredible prize worth $100.00! You can see some examples HERE. The pet portrait will be given away at the end of March.

MORE DETAILS!

Purrin' for KC!

Pumpkin went to the Bridge

We're furry sad because today our own Feline American Pumpkin had to be helped to the Bridge. His diabetes hadn't been furry stabilized this month an' he kept crashing. This morning, his blood glucose was low an' he had to have some Karo syrup. He went to the v-e-t this afternoon when his organs started failing. The Banfield v-e-t said that it was time ...

We'll miss our boy of orinch: William Jefferson Pumpkin.

Godspeed, dood. 'Til we meet again ...

Pablo has gone to the Bridge ...

Our dear furriend Pablo has gone to the Bridge an' we'll miss him terribly. You can leave your condolences at Pablo.

Grandma an' Charmee's bite update

Mom an' Grandad went to the hospital right after Mom arrived back in Sandy Eggo ... Mom was worried 'bout Grandma 'cuz Grandma had to stay in the hospital for FOUR days an' had surgery on her thumb to suck out the poison from Charmee's bitey. Grandma has a bunch of black stitches on her thumb an' her entire hand is wrapped in gauze.

It turns out that Grandma takes on most of the responsibility for the bitey 'cuz she'd been makin' laps for Charmee an' then gettin' up to do stuff. She'd done that a bunch of times an' Charmee had been tryin' to get his beauty sleep, but couldn't. He was fed up an' told her so by bitin' her HARD on the thumb. Grandma was apologetic to Charmee an' her forgave her for bein' wiggly. Essentially, he'd been trying to tell her to stay put.

So Grandma is recuperatin' at home an' Charmee's been catchin' up on his sleep. Things are gettin' back to normal (Mom goes back to school tomorrow). Grandma gets her stitches out in a couple of days. Sigh.

DMM

Uh, oh ...

While Mom is visiting her auntie, uncle, an' some cousins in the Pacific Northwest, Grandma an' Grandad are watching us. I've, of course, been on my very best behavior ... I've even been forgiving 'bout my missed gotcha day ... But Charmee has been BAD! Today he bit Grandma on the thumb an' made it bleed an' swell up! Grandma is in the HOSPITAL for observation. Mom's gonna be pretty upset with Charmee, so he'd better get his story together before Mom gets home on Thursday!
DMM