The winners of Catster and Dogster’s Video Contest have been announced, and it is a bittersweet announcement. Lola is the Cat Video winner, and she takes home 100 zealies for her efforts.

Many of you know that Lola made her journey to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. It’s fitting that this video can help us remember her as a playful, Kung-Fu fighter … and a good girl.

Concatulations, Lola!

Hey evrybuddy, Skeezix heer.

A few yeers ago, my frend Mimi Lennox started a Blogblast for Peace movement, and it spawned a sub-movement of cats hoo join in and PURR FUR PEACE. We beleeve there is no more peaceful a sownd in the hole entire werld than the sownd of a purring cat. And if evry persun in the werld held a purring cat on his lap, we’d have peace evryware in abowt ten seconds flat.

Today is a Blogblast for Peace day, and as usual, lots of cats are pawtisipating, purring fur peace. My speshul frend Daisy the Curly Cat even rote a poem fur the occasion:

Through Cat Eyes
Coats of brown, black, white, or tabby
they are all the same to me
Our furs long, short, plush or curly
they are just coverings you see
Purebred diva or shelter rescue
we’re all one family
If a cat can make a difference,
then man can, too, surely
A world of peace and harmony
one day will come to be
~ by Daisy

Heer are sum of the others cats hoo are pawtisipating:

Keep purring fur peace, evrybuddy!

If you’re the type of cat who likes to mingle with the woofies, you might enjoy the big Block Pawty going on tomorrow from 11-5 PT on Dogster. It’s taking place in the following groups – and you don’t need to be a group member to join in the fun:

• Miss Dixie Monroe’s Dixieland
• Best Little Doghouse in Dogster
• Toby’s Tiny Paws Cruise Line

Dixieland is holding a dance contest (with real, live trophies), the Tiny Paws Cruise Line will have a kissing booth, and there will be bullriding in the Best Little Doghouse. There will be lots of other actiivities, including a scavenger hunt and a trivia contest.

At the end of the day, a name will be drawn from all of the pawticipants and the winner will get a big gift basket.

So, drop by all the groups tomorrow and have a great time!

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but at Catster you CAN get some free Feliway Wipes and $10 off the Feliway diffuser just by joining the Feliway® Felines Group on Catster. (Not a Catster member? Join now, it’s free!)

Is Feliway for you? Does your cat:

• Urinate on walls or furniture?
• Damage your furnishings by scratching?
• Act aggressively around other cats or pets?
• Fear home renovations or moving?

If so, find out how Comfort Zone® with Feliway® can help: Download the Comfort Zone® with Feliway® Reference Guide.

• To claim your free Feliway Wipes and your $10 discount off the Feliway diffuser, all you have to do is join the Feliway® Felines Group on Catster! If you’re not a member, it’s still super easy to get the deal – just add a cat on Catster (you’ll have to activate your account by clicking on a link in your inbox, and then upload a photo of your cat) and then you, too, can join the group and get the goods!

Hey evrybuddy, Skeezix heer. I hope at leest a few of yoo can identify with the kartoon above. It was created by Catster Raza as an ongoing project in Catster’s Cats and Pups in Cartoons Group. I caught up with Raza reesintly to find out more about this funny feline band of cartoonists:

Skeezix: How did the Cats and Pups in Cartoons groop get its start?
Raza: We started Drawing cartoons when LOKi started a group called…. actually I can’t remember what it was called but the name changed to Cats and Pups in Cartoons/movies.

Cats were writing stories, and we decided to join in with drawing cartoons. The first cartoon or should I say cat-toon was rolled off the drawing board on the 22nd Sept 2007. We based it on the furgang here and the interaction with Catster.

We aimed to draw one a week. Luckily, a few months later we were joined by Squirrel who contributed her excellent sense of humour and fun with her style. Which was great because we were very different. Then a few months later, we were joined by Wanda and Pooters. Again it was pawsome, it brought another way of doing cartoons, Pooters with her sweet stories about a cat and her adventures and Wanda with her wicked sense of humour with her imikimi cartoons.

Skeezix: Do yoo reely post a new cartoon evry singul week?
Raza: I think there has only been one week that was ever missed since we started drawing the cartoons. When I say we, I mean the group we call ourselves the Cartoons on Catster group and we post out to groups every week and also to the Cats and Pups in Cartoons / movies group,so if you miss any you can always catch them there.

We were so lucky the others joined in, as we ourselves haven’t posted in some time. Last year our main character (Mr D) went walk about and it was tricky to draw cartoons with out him being here. I think it’s been Wanda that has kept us all going with her cartoons every week. She’s the greatest.

I do hope everyfur enjoys the cartoons it’s actually the nice comments we receive that keep us drawing them as we just do it them for fun!

Skeezix: Well thanks for giving the Cat’s Meow that grate Easter cartoon, Raza, and fur taking time owt of yer bizzy day to talk to me!

And just a reeminder for yoo cats hoo are inclined to dress up for Easter: The Cat’s Meow is hosting an Easter Purrade on Sunday. Winner gits 50 zealies AND will by feechered on Snuzzy.com on Monday. Klik heer for deetales.

• Join Cats and Pups in Cartoons/movies for easy access to thare weekly cartoons.
• Buy LOKi’s book, “Best Friends No Matter What,” from Amazon or download it for free.

Catster Mom Wendy, who lives on “the only hill in Fargo,” has volunteered to provide temporary shelter for animals who aren’t allowed in the shelters provided for animal victims of the Fargo floods. Her first taker was Jasper the Rat (affectionately known by the felines in the house as “Lunch”). And no, that’s not Jasper in the photo above — just an example of interspecies bonding.

Wendy almost took in a pair of ferrets, but they were able to find housing. If you or someone you know in the Fargo area needs a temporary home for cats or caged animals (sorry, she’s not set up to accept dogs), leave a note in the comments, and I’ll put you in touch with her.

Skeezix was lucky enough to get a gift from Jake and Micah for Valentine’s Day. The packaging was an art piece in itself, and he promptly destroyed the lovely catnip-filled fortune cookies wrapped inside. But the best part of all is that Jake’s a Catster, and Jake and Micah are part of the Catster Marketplace.

So I was excited to see that as part of their ginormous toy giveaway week, Modern Cat is giving away a huge toy package from Jake and Micah that includes:

• Three-piece sushi set
• Pair of fortune cookies
• Two-piece wonton appetizer
• Catnip tea bag
• Italian catnip canoli

(Wo! My fingers got tired typing all those prizes!)

Go to Modern Cat to enter, then cross your paws and hope for the best! Good Luck!

PS: Even if you don’t win, J&M is running a 14% off special to celebrate Jake’s 14th birthday, so check it out!

• Modern Cat
• Jake and Micah
• Catster Marketplace
• Visit Jake on Catster

Hey evrybuddy, Skeezix heer. Back in December, the Cat’s Meow sponsored a contest in wich we gave away a free foto shoot by the San Francisco Bay Area’s #1 rated pet fotograffer, Mark Rogers. The winner of the contest was Finn, and I reesintly interviewed both Finn and da grate Mark Rogers to find owt how the foto seshun went, and to give all of our reeders a beehind-the-seens look at a sellebrity foto shoot!

Skeezix: Were yoo nervous at the prospect of being fotograft by the grate Mark Rogers?
Finn: Honestly, I wasn’t at all nervous about meeting Mark. I know he’s made you and Guido the talk of the town but I knew he was pretty excited to meet me so I played it cool, cool, cool.

Skeezix: Finn, yoo’ve never tried to hide yer feral past. Did yoo ever imagine, back win yoo were roaming the streets, that within a yeer yoo would be doing a foto shoot with sellebrity pet fotograffer Mark Rogers?
Finn: You know, Skeezix, I’ve been around the block in my short life – in off the streets, landing in the lap of luxury with everything I’ve ever wanted but no, I never imagined that I would meet and be photographed by the great Mark Rogers before I’m even a year old. Makes me wonder what I have to look forward to…maybe a stroll with you?

Skeezix: Finn, I am totally looking forward to taking a stroll with yoo for the Cat’s Meow’s Spring Strolling issue! Yoo know, I notist that yoo look very relaxed in yer fotos. Does modeling come natcherally to yoo?
Finn: I felt relaxed. I really do enjoy performing and once I’m on stage I just really get into whatever role I’m playing. I have a little stage fright right before I go on, I worry a little about my fetch routine – will I find the mouse right away, will I carry it in the most photogenic way, stuff like that, but then once the lights go down and a hush falls over the crowd, and I hear that camera shutter purring, well I know what I have to do and I am in the zone.

Skeezix: Well, I think the reezults speek fur themselves. Thanks, Finn, for taking time away frum yer bizzy skedule to chat with me. I’m sure thare’s a Cat Fancy centerfold in yer fyoocher.

And now, I have the pleazure of talking with Mark Rogers (right), da man behind the camera. Mark, what was it like working with Finn and his mom?
Mark: This was a really fun shoot. Both Finn and Jane are really relaxed and laid back so the chemistry was perfect. Finn is also very comfortable around a camera (which isn’t always the case) so I was able to get in really close with him.

Skeezix: Did Finn reqwire any coaxing to come out of his shell, or was he a natchural in front of the camera?
Mark: May I have cheese with that ham? Finn is a complete and utter natural. No coaxing required at all.

Skeezix: Mmmm, ham! There were so many grate shots from the seshun with Finn. Which is your favorite?
Mark: Hmmmm…always a tough one but probably the close-up shot of him with his purple mouse. I’ve met cats who fetch before but never quite like this — he literally retrieves that thing and drops it at your feet until you stop throwing it. I also like the way that shot catches his crossed eyes without making him look too silly.

Skeezix: Have you ever encountered a cat who just wouldn’t come out from under the bed for you?
Mark: Yes indeed. My brother-in-law’s cat, Filbert. He’s the guy in this photo:

I’ve met Filbert 7 or 8 times over the years and I don’t think I’ve ever actually touched him. With cats, the timidity can often make the shot. That one of Filbert is still among my all-time favorites.

Skeezix: That is a pawsome shot, Mark! During yer seshuns, do the pet owners get involved — do you have them help rangle and interact with the pets, or do you prefer that they leeve you and the model alone?
Mark: It really depends. Animals–especially dogs, not so much cats–act very differently when their owners are present. Sometimes this leads to better shots, sometimes it doesn’t. I tend to try for a combination so I get to spend some time alone with the animal and a bit with both them and the owner.

Skeezix: Well thanks agin fur offering this grate prize in owr Cat’s Meow contest. The shots yoo took of Finn are fenomenal! And thanks fur taking time owt of yer bizzy shooting skedule to chat with me about the shoot.

If yoo’d like to see Mark Rogers in akshun, chek this out. It’s a TV spot on his work with Pet Food Express’ “My Mutt” program, wich razes munneys for adopshun programs. The storey behind the mutt he’s shooting is vary hartwarming, and will leeve yoo reeching fur a box of Kleenex.

And chek owt theeze links!

• Finn’s Catster Page
• Mark Rogers Photography
• Mark’s Blog: Smile Like a Dog
• Finn’s Plum Critters Store

[PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Rogers Photography]

That was a lot for me to ponder.

It made me wunder how old I reely was. Cuz if Mr Echo was 32, I must be like 100 yeers old! Luckily, on Catster, I fownd a calculator to tell me how old I was. Sinse I’m an indoor cat (does going owt in the stroller make me an owtdoor cat?), my human age eqwivalent is also 32…. so me and Mr Echo are the same age! Weird, eh? I looked to see how old my howsemate Rocky reely is (he’ll almost 18), but the calculator duzn’t go up that high. I gess his age is “lucky to be alive.”

What’s YOUR age in cat yeers? Click heer to find owt.