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10/26/09
There is a gaping black hole in the Catster universe today as everyone’s best friend, Calvin, made his journey to the Rainbow Bridge this morning after a six-week fight with stomach cancer.
His arresting green eyes suggested an old soul of a cat, wise beyond our knowing and as loving, cuddly and affectionate a cat as you could ever hope to meet. He was the heart and soul of Catster, always there to help, to comfort, to make your day with his gentle good humor. We will long remember his pawmails which always closed with his signature “Knead On.”
His mom, Laura, was his second caretaker. His first was Laura’s aunt. She passed away, and the day after her funeral her husband loaded all of her cats in the car and took them to the pound. Hearing this, Laura went to the pound and “bought back” the four cats, one of whom was Calvin. Laura found homes for the other three and kept Calvin. She’s had him for the last seven years.
Calvin was 18, and leaves behind Samoa, Violet, Gleek, Sugar, and Newman. He joins Spunky, Autumn and Rocky at the Bridge. Please drop by his Catster page and leave a big hug for his family, especially his mom and pop, Laura and Ted.
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08/18/09
Recently, we commemorated the birthday of a dearly departed cat, my husband’s Balinese, Junior. Junior passed away nearly five years ago, and my husband was so consumed with grief over Junior’s death that he still cannot look at photos of Junior or talk about him. One of these years he’ll come around, and when he does, we can go through the memory book I created shortly after Junior left us.
I know how easy it is for memories to fade, so I put together a memory book that told Junior’s story in words and pictures. It wasn’t fancy, but it captured our life with Junior and will help us recall what a little clown he was, and how indelibly he left his mark on our hearts.
Why Create a Memory Book?
A memory book preserves your pet’s history in a keepsake format. Five years later, there are things I read in Junior’s book that I had already forgotten. As I thumb through his book, a little bit of him comes to life and comforts me.
It’s easy, when stricken with grief, to put off making a memory book of a departed pet. The days and months pass, and other priorities come into play, and before you know it, it’s buried under the pile of projects that never seems to get done. It need not be an onerous project, however. I’ll cover a couple of options that will practically create your book for you.
Where Do You Start?
If your cat has a blog or a Catster diary, that’s a purrfect place to start. You’ve got text and images to populate your book. There’s no better reason to start a cat blog or a Catster diary than to document your cat’s adventures for posterity. Imagine if your cat lives to be 20, what an amazing legacy she’ll leave behind!
So, with a little foresight and planning, it can be a quick and easy project that produces a stunning coffee table book. I’ve produced books using both Shutterfly and Blurb’s BookSmart software, and I’ll give you an overview of each.
Shutterfly
Shutterfly is geared more toward photo books. So if you want a photo scrapbook with captions, you might prefer this option — especially if you already have albums online at Shutterfly. They over a full range of choices from small informal flip-books to high end large-format leather-bound books.
Here’s a look at their interface:
You import your photos into the application, then drag the photos into the template. You pick your layout, backgrounds, and edges on the left. It’s fairly easy to use, but performance bogs down on big books. Shutterfly also offers the option of auto-filling the book, which will automate the process for you.
Blurb
Blurb produces stunning coffee-table books, with full-color dust jackets. The thing I love about Blurb is that you can import the contents of a blog (including photos) into the software, and it will populate the book with that content, then let you manipulate it as you desire.
The interface is shown above — it’s very similar to the Shutterfly layout. In the left panel, you have a menu of page layouts from which to choose. Below it are your photos and blog entries. The main pane displays the book as you are designing it. You can view in both edit or preview modes. Thumbnails of the pages of the book appear at the bottom below the main pane.
The biggest downside to Blurb is that it is desktop client software. So if you start your book on one computer — say, your desktop, you can’t log in and edit it from your laptop (theoretically you can transfer the files over, but it’s a hack that doesn’t work very well). Shutterfly’s application is web-based, so you can log in from any computer in the world to edit your book.
If you have a large blog (Skeezix has nearly 2000 posts on his blog), the import maxes out at about 400 posts, so you need to do a workaround.
Like Shutterfly, the Blurb application bogs down and gets buggy when the book exceeds about 70 or 80 pages. It will crash frequently, but it does save all the work when you crash. It’s frustrating, but you don’t lose any work.
Which Should I Use?
If you are importing from a blog, or will be incorporating a lot of text-based content, Blurb is a better choice. If you want the flexibility of editing your book from any computer and your content is mainly photographs, Shutterfly’s a better option for you.
Pricing
Both offer a full range of pricing options from budget-friendly to heirloom-quality. Blurb’s prices start at $4.95, and Shutterfly’s start at $12.99. Shutterfly’s PhotoBooks are now 20% off through September 1st.
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07/22/09
 In what has got to be the worst news I’ve delivered this year, it is with a heavy heart that I share with you the news that Sammy the Post Office Cat was hit by a car this week, sustaining injuries that required euthanasia.
Sammy was a popular story on The Cat’s Meow, inspiring readers to send him gifts and letters–and getting letters in return. One reader even took a detour on a road trip to visit Sammy. He will be greatly missed.
Here’s the story from WFSA News:
‘Sammy’ the cat killed by car
Posted: Jul 22, 2009 5:14 PM PDT Updated: Jul 22, 2009 7:21 PM PDT
Posted by: John Shryock
 NOTASULA, AL (WSFA) – Sad news to report on a local cat that captured national attention after being banished from his perch in the Notasulga Post Office.
‘Sammy’ the cat died Wednesday after being hit by a car. The orange kitty’s owner, Lorenz Porzig, confirmed the accident to WSFA 12 News.
Porzig said his now famous cat disappeared for several days late last week only to return Sunday. Sammy had a broken leg and was also said to have been missing his tail.
The vet who worked on Sammy said internal injuries were just too severe for a recovery. Porzig planned to pick up the cat’s body Thursday.
Sammy, unlike most animals, had his own mail box at the local post office, and people from all across the nation sent him letters and cat food. At last count residents of 49 states felt compelled to write.
 The feline’s rise to fame started when WSFA 12 News’ weekly segment County Road 12 profiled the down and out sunbather.
While Sammy’s owner lived right across the street from the post office Sammy himself was rarely home. Instead he enjoyed lounging in the window at the mail facility.
When a customer complained of cat allergies postal workers gave him the boot, only to suffer the wrath of many Notasulga residents who demanded their ‘post office cat’ be repatriated. Even former Auburn football coach Pat Dye weighed-in on the situation saying Sammy should’ve been allowed to stay inside.
Sammy was never allowed back inside, though he never really seemed to mind. He spent a good deal of time just outside the door licking his paws and keeping cool.
As late as a few weeks ago he’d even taken up residence next door at the tax preparer’s office where more shade could be found.
WSFA 12 News is planning to shoot a news story on Sammy Thursday for on-air coverage.
For those who’d like to send condolences, here’s his address:
Sammy the Post Office Cat
PO Box 173
Notasulga, Alabama 36866
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02/12/09
 Hey evrybuddy, Skeezix heer. Me and the Food Lady are in the process of creating a Scooter Tribute Book for Scooter’s mom and dad, and would like yoo to contribute your memories to it if yoo knew and loved Scooter as so many Catsters did. Evrycat and persun is invited to contribute. The book will be a hardbownd bookstore-qwality coffee table book, bownd with a durable library binding and printed on premium 100-pound silk-finish paper. It comes with a laminated 4-color dust jakkit. Yoo can see a book sample heer.
To submit an entry for the book, go to scootertribute.blogspot.com and follow the direkshuns at the top of the blog. Text and fotos only, pleeze. Thare are no reestrikshuns on length.
If yoo left a tribute in the comments field of the post for Scooter last week or contributed to the post, you can use that, or rite sumthing brand new if yoo like.
BTW, this is not a seekrit project, so you don’t have to tippytoe around and keep it a seekrit frum Scooter’s famly. Pleeze ask evrywun yoo know hoo was a frend of Scooter’s to pawtisipate. We will need about a minimum of 50 entries to make it a viable book projekt.
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02/05/09
 One of the most difficult aspects of participating in a vibrant cat community like Catster is experiencing the loss of cats you have come to love as if they were your own. The last month has been especially rough on me. A few weeks ago, one of my first online cat friends, Kalin, went the Rainbow Bridge at the age of nearly 19 after battling cancer, diabetes, and the encroachment of old age. I still can’t type Kalin’s name without tearing up. This week, another of my dearest online feline friends, Jake, was diagnosed with cancer. (He, too, went to the Bridge on Feb 5th.) I ache over living a continent away from Jake’s mom, unable to embrace her in a big warm hug.
 And so I felt suckerpunched when, minutes after hearing Jake’s diagnosis, I learned that 20-year-old Scooter, Catster extraordinaire, had taken a turn for the worse. She made her journey to the Rainbow Bridge today.
If you weren’t a purrsonal friend of Scooter, you may recognize her photo from her popular entries in the World’s Coolest Cat Show, or from an interview Skeezix did with her last Fall, or perhaps you remember when she was Catster’s Cat of the Day. For a cat who napped 23-1/2 hours a day, Scooter got a lot done. She was one of the founders of the Olde Furts group on Catster, a vital group that provides support and camaraderie for cats who don’t move quite as fast as they used to.  Scooter was always there with encouraging purrs and paw-holding as members grappled with age-related issues.
Or, you might know Scooter from last summer’s “Summer of Scooter” group, a self-proclaimed “Woodstock for Kitties,” a Festival of Peace, Love, Music, Catnip, Naps, Streaking and Chicken Baby Food. It just doesn’t get much better than that, although there were a whole lot more naps than streaking!
Raypod was especially close to Scooter, and his mom visited her in Albuquerque :
I tried all yesterday to write about my darling Scooter, but it’s hard to type when your paws are soaking wet.
Now that ain’t right! Because along with being sweet, sensitive, thoughtful and smart, Scooter was funny as hell! I laughed out loud every time I got one of her poop reports. They were so detailed (and frequent) that Coco’s Department of Homeland  Security made her a Poop Advisory Color System chart to keep track. For a while she sent us daily Monk-e-mails that made her look like one of The Jeffersons, sound like Dame Edna, and cause my Mom to blow coffee out of her nose at work.
Scooter fell asleep at parties, but she did know how to have fun. When my brother Mouse started his gallery, Mouseworks, she created some very original “earth art” by digging up corn kernels in her back yard. One of Baby’s first friends, Scooter co- founded Olde Furts with her. But it took Scooter to transform a cranky Meezers’ refuge into a source of hope and help, good humor and hugs for hundreds of Catster’s aging kits. Old age ain’t fur sissies, and Scooter was up to the task.
Sometimes I think of Scooter as Catster’s Princess Di, just a bit long in the tooth. Her skill, as her profile read, was love. Nobody didn’t love Scooter. And Scooter loved everyone back. Her gift, I think, was for seeing—not so much the best in everyone, although that was often the case, but rather for seeing just what made you, you. She was a great connoisseur. What else would a classy lady like Scootie be doing with a naughty boy like me? And a Democat at that?
Catster is a community built on intangibles: love, imagination, compassion and memory. So even as Scootie leaves the physical plane her spirit remains as one of the cornerstones of our community. But at this sad time we must also remember that these cats are beautiful avatars; what animates them, for all of us, what makes them what they are, is the people who love them in real time.
And for Scooter’s parents, life won’t be the same. No snoozing Scooter in the sunny window perched on her favorite sofa, not to sleepy to tell an interloper, “Hiss off.” No skinny Scooter teetering gamely along as she “walks the line” in her backyard, looking for lizards, daring that roadrunner to make another appearance. No Scootie, so silly in her baby buggy. Or lying on their legs at night.
Scooter was my entire family’s friend and my "secret fiancé." We loved her with all our hearts and will miss her every day—as will all her Catster friends. But it’s to Bonnie and Dean that we must send our love, our appreciation, and our most comforting purrs.
One of Scooter’s best friends, Daisy, remembers how she first met Scooter:
I met Scooter just before Valentine’s Day in 2006. I had been on Catster about 6 months and was just starting to know some cats. I don’t remember where I saw it, but Scooter posted that if you wanted a special Valentine from her to send her  your address. So I did. And one of my dearest friendships here on Catster was begun. The Valentine is still on our refrigerator.
Scooter has always been so helpful to me and Mom when we try to do fancy stuff on the computer. And she was so nice and helpful to other cats. My Mom went out to Albuquerque in October and got to meet Scooter in person. She said she was sweet and beautiful, just like she is on Catster. Scooter’s Dad gave us some special pictures of her that we will always cherish.
Scoodle … we love you and your parents so much. We are so sad that you have to leave us, but we will always remember your sweet face and your cute voice. Sending you hugs and purrs as you make your way to the Bridge.
Another Catster Superstar, Calvin, shared his memories of Scooter:
I’m all about my friend-girl, Scooter – Scootie Patootie.
I’m all about how she was my first Pal of the Week back in November of 2006.
I’m all about the way she helped me find my “U” friend, Ug, when I was making my alphabet of friends.
 I’m all about the cuddle bed her Mom made for me.
I’m all about when she told me her middle name was Calvin so she could be a Calvinette in my Cool Calvin Club.
I’m all about the way she took napping so seriously.
I’m all about the Olde Furts group she administered.
I’m all about the way she flirted with me, and told me we could date when she turned 21, and we didn’t have to wait until I turned 21.
I’m all about cougars.
I’m all about how she was my Pal of the Week again the first week in 2009.
I’m all about how she loved the orange boys.
I’m all about how she sounded like a sheep when she meowed.
I’m all about her smarts, her beauty, and her friendship.
I’m all about knowing we will all miss her so much.
I’m all about knowing she will be the Queen of the Rainbow Bridge, just like she is the Queen of Catster!
Knead On ~
Calvin
Cybil and her family shared her memories of Scooter:
Our family friendship with Scooter  began on June 19, 2005, Fathers Day, just 1 ½ months after she joined Catster. Scooter was kind enough to add Moses and I to her Diary entry that day. A small gesture that went a long way towards a timeless friendship.
3 ½ years, many laughs, tears, parties, and pmails later, we are filled with good memories of Scooter and her family. She’s been one lucky girl, relaxing outside with the Roadrunners and Plumbago, sneaking through the grass and walking the line. And that was just the outside stuff! Whether sleeping next to the computer in her heated bed, sleeping on moms legs or dads lap, she lived life in comfort. Her mom and dad have always been aware of the angel they had in Scooter. Her friends were the fortunate ones who were able to know it too.
Love you Scooter.
Cooter’s family will miss Scooter’s sisterly love:
What we can meow about dear S+Cooter is the same as many will meow: she is elegant, caring, helpful, thoughtful and adorably lovely.  She is one of my precious ’s’ girls and always will be.
My sisfur Sissy has proclaimed Scooter as her big sister for always being there for her with advice and sisterly love. The Olde Furts group brought them closer together and they spent many meowvelous moments together.
My little brother Luke was the first to ever pmail her in April of 2006. Since then he has been smitten, as many of us are… He loved her because she was fun & silly, and he admired her in every way.
S+Cooter always remembers our birthdays, she always has comforting meows and is always attentive in the Catster community. She was an angel on earth, and she will continue to be one at the bridge.
We love you!
whisker kisses, (S)Cooter
Scooter’s friend Edgar has fond memories of Scooter:
Scooter, your delicate, sooty paws walked across my heart one day and left an imprint that will stay there furrever. You have been so kind and gracious to me and my furmily.  When my sisfur, Emily Felicity, embarrassed herself in Olde Furts, you reached out to her to offer your wisdom and comfort.
You have laid your lovely paw on so many cats and touched their lives and their hearts. You saw how much we loved the Olde Furts and honored us by asking us to become administrators. You enchanted us with your beautiful pictures and videos, you amused us with your diaries and messages in the group. And I can honestly say… (no offense to any other meezers out there) you are the most beautiful meezer girl effur. I, and my furmily, will always love you dear Scooter.
Edgar wrote the following poem for Scooter, and she meowed about it in her diary:
Winter
Now, in the cold of Winter
We think back, with a happy sigh
To the Summer of Scooter
and long fur those days, gone by
We long fur those days in the sun,
When we celebrated Scooter, our furriend
And we all had so furry much fun
And we all wished that it neffur would end!
As we nap through the Winter, we dream
And in sleep it all becomes clear,
That the sun will on all of us beam
And our dear Scooter will always be here.
No matter the middle of Winter,
No matter the waning of light,
We forever and always have Scooter
Because in our hearts, she shines bright.
Like many Siamese, Scooter was a fighter, and we were hopeful that she’d rally from this latest setback. But it was time for her to be released from her frail body and make her way to join those we’ve loved before. We light her way to the Bridge with love, tears and happy memories, thankful to have known this very special, very generous soul.
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01/26/09
 Yesterday, employees and patrons of Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, Oregon gathered to remember Orlando (pictured at right), who passed away last week after a 15-year career as the bookstore’s cat.
Orlando was adopted around 1993 by retired Bloomsbury employee Marilyn Edwards. No one is certain of his breed and exact age, but he was named after Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando.”
Bookstore owner Karen Chapman remembers the time he scratched the top of a box of books, and damaged the book Women Who Love Dogs. “We were sure he was able to read.”
“He was a working cat. He had a job, and he knew what it was,” Chapman said. “He was a goodwill ambassador, he was a greeter.”
For many customers, like Bloomsbury regular Mary Anne Bergman, Orlando was a reason to stop by the store. “Every Friday we would go to Pangea and order salmon, and we would save Orlando a portion,” said Bergman. “We would go on the children’s bench and feed it to him.”
In later years, as his health declined, Orlando paid for his vet bills through the sales of postcards at the store. The photogenic cat knew when to strike a pose, and one photographer, Diana Standing, said, “He was just such a wise, sweet cat. That was a real special time for me.”
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01/05/09
President Bush’s family cat, India, has died at the age of 18 at the White House.
 Press secretary Sally McDonough said in a statement, “The president, Mrs. Bush, Barbara, and Jenna are deeply saddened by the passing of their cat India (”Willie”). India was a beloved member of the Bush family for almost two decades. She will be greatly missed.”
The black American shorthair was named after Texas Rangers player Ruben Sierra (whose nickname was “El Indio”) by Bush twin Barbara, when she was 9 years old. The family’s nickname for India was “Kitty,” although she also answered to “Willie.”
India’s favorite food was tuna-flavored kitty treats, and her favorite nap spot was under the bed.
[PHOTO CREDIT: 2nd photo: AFP]
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10/17/08
 On March 30, 1996, we were all riveted to the story of Scarlett, the mother cat who, kitten by kitten, rescued her litter from a raging inferno in Brooklyn, New York, before collapsing, unconscious. Adopted by a Brooklyn resident, Scarlett enjoyed 12 years of love, pampering and fame following her ordeal. This week she lost her battle with multiple illnesses. Here’s the whole story, courtesy of PR Newswire:
Back in 1996, Scarlett was tending to her kittens in an abandoned Brooklyn garage when a fire broke out. Having extinguished the blaze, firefighters sighted the mother cat, slowly carrying her four-week old kittens from the building. Badly scorched, her ears radically burned, she lined up her babies. With her eyes blistered from the inferno, she was seen touching each with her nose, to reassure herself that her litter of five had made it to safety. She then collapsed unconscious.
Firefighter David Giannelli transported the little feline family to North Shore Animal League America where the mother, who was named Scarlett, and her kittens, were treated. The weakest of the kittens died of a virus one month after the blaze. However, after three months of treatment and recovery, Scarlett and her surviving babies were ready for adoption.
In the flurry of worldwide media attention to the heroic feline mother and her family, the Animal League received more than 7,000 inquiries about adopting Scarlett and her brood. Ultimately, the kittens were adopted in pairs and Scarlett herself was adopted out to Karen Wellen , whose story of losing her own cat, shortly after an accident in which she herself was injured, struck a chord at the Animal League. Wellen said her experience made her a more compassionate individual, and, if ever she was to adopt another cat, she wanted to devote herself to one with special needs.
Once in Wellen’s care, Scarlett continued to be a media darling, capturing the attention of regional, national and international outlets as far away as Japan, and including the most powerful voices of CNN and Oprah Winfrey. She was the subject of numerous books and articles and appeared in the first aired segment of Animal Planet. She was even honored by Great Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Living in Wellen’s Brooklyn home, Scarlett was a cherished family member, given run of the house and abundant love. “She was the most precious and loving cat, and in our household, it was all about Scarlett,” said Wellen.
Scarlett, who required ongoing care as a result of her injuries, and who was diagnosed with a heart murmur during her recovery at the Animal League Veterinary Medical Center, became a Sponsor Pet, and the symbol of all the real and wonderful pets in the Animal League’s care. She was the guest of honor at the Animal League’s Christmas Tree Lighting and was a surprise for a little boy whose birthday wish was to meet her. The Animal League created an animal heroism award in her name and recently unveiled The Scarlett Room, an online site showcasing the animals in the organization’s Sponsor Program. This month, National Geographic Kids’ Magazine, circulated around the globe, honored Scarlett as one of its Ten Cool Cats.
North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization. For more information on its Sponsor Program visit www.AnimalLeague.org/Sponsor.
 There’s no better way to give Scarlett a final salute than to make a donation to the North Shore Animal League. Or better yet, consider adopting a special-needs cat.
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10/15/08
Last week, we talked about “Cat Guys” — because a New York Times column suggested that straight single men were now increasingly unashamed of proclaiming their love for cats. The jury’s still out on the validity of that claim, but what seems to hold true is that when Cat Grrls hook up with “I am not a cat person” guys, the men (selected for their natural gentleness, compassion and respect for living things) become Cat Guys, all the while protesting that they’re not. I asked for readers to submit some “Cat Guy” stories and boy, did you deliver!
The first one was from Trisha. Although she’s married to a Cat Guy, the subjects of her story are her father and Annie, the feline who insinuated herself into his life:
My dad is “not a cat guy.” I had Annie, a feral stray that found us, since I was 11. My dad objected to her in the beginning — well really the whole time — but at first he said she could sleep in the garage when it was cold, but definitely not in the house. Well, my mom would sneak her into my room at night until she pretty much just lived with us and my dad didn’t understand how it happened.
Annie took to my dad for some reason and couldn’t wait to go out with him on Saturdays and work on the cars; she’d hang out underneath with him, sit in the flowerbeds as he washed them – it was her favorite time and he enjoyed it too. On the nights when she didn’t want to come home and my mom and I calling for her fell on deaf ears -– all my dad had to do was give one “here kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty” and sure enough, she’d come running to him.
As Annie got older, he would of course complain to my mother and I about how much trouble she was, while he would fuss over making sure she got her outside time, get up endlessly to let her in and out and sit gently next to her on the couch to watch TV. If she happened to be in his spot, then he’d find another place to sit -– something I never even got. It taught me a lot in life about what to look for in a guy – because a guy who doesn’t like animals and doesn’t treat them well, probably won’t respect me much more than that. My husband adores our cats and would go to the ends of the Earth for them, probably even more so than I and they are my fur children.
Annie is being euthanized today, as she can’t really walk or take care of herself anymore – it was my dad who fought for the mobile vet to come out because Annie hates being in a car and her last moments with them shouldn’t be spent in a car. As much as he says he’d be relieved to let her go and not have to take care of her – I bet he’ll miss her even more and might even leave his warm spot on the couch open for a few days.
EPILOGUE:
My dad called me to say that he’s never getting another cat after Annie because he’s just not a cat person and while he liked Annie and would always take good care of her, he was just not that attached to her. I reminded him about how she was his buddy, and she trusted him and just always adored him.
He then went home to meet the vet who came to the house to help Annie to the bridge. My mom called me when she was gone and told me that she couldn’t bear to be with them when it happened, so she left it to my dad. She said that the vet told her my dad held Annie in his arms and stroked her to sleep as she drifted away. He even teared up – this from a man who didn’t shed a single tear when his mother died, prompting my mother to warn him that if he didn’t cry at least one tear when she died she would haunt him forever.
When they put her in the box to bury her in her favorite spot in the sun, my father said they should write something on the box and when my mom asked what, he replied “We love you always Annie.” Sounds exactly like something someone who is not attached would say, doesn’t it?
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