I’m Not Selfish, Mommy’s Being Mean

Hey? Is anypawdy out there? It’s me RaenaBelle. I’s got somethin’ to tell ya’. Mommy’s bein’ mean to us!!! Can you believe it?

 Raena laying on perch

 

 
RaenaBelle Mayce!!! Don’t tell peeps dat.

 Dezi sits on the floor in her typical pose

 

 

But it’s true sissy. I saw it with mines own eyes, I did. You might’a been sleepin’ but I was right there.

 

 

       Yeah Raena, me’s sure you were. Mommy purrays all day everyday and asks God to purrtect you from yourself and keep ya’ from getting’ hurt or breakin’ somethin’. So me has no doubt you were “right” there. So just what did you see?

 Raena checks out box

Sissy, I saw bunches of toys. I mean enuff to start our own toy store. All of ‘em fur us from da give away we won over at Three Chatty Cats. You know da one, da Honest Pet Products, where everythin’ is made from all natural stuffs. There’s all different kinds of toys even. And they smelled divine. Mommy layed ‘em all out and even got da flashy box after ‘em.

 Raena sniffs bag of toys

 

 

       Yes Raena, me saw all dat.

 Raena with her catty pillar

Ya’ did? Well I’s wasn’t sure, cuz you didn’t say anythin’ when all mommy gave us was one niptastic catty pillar. And she put everythin’ else away.

 Raena with toys

 

 

       Yeah me saw her Raena. And me heard her say dat she was gonna save some of those toys fur mes birthday, your spa day and maybe even Christmas. Mommy knows we’ll furget we even saw ‘em by then and dat we’ll be happy kitties when she brings one out.

But I’s wanted ‘em all right then.

 Raena with her catty pillar

 

 

 

       Yeah, me’s sure you did Raena. But dat’s very selfish. And besides, just how many toys can you actually play with at one time?

Well sissy, don’t you ‘member mines furst night here? I had never seen toys. And… (Raenas’ eyes get big remembering what she saw when placed on the floor)  MeOWWWwwwww I was runnin’ from one toy to another. So I can play with lots of toys at one time.

 Dezi sniffs the catty pillar

       Yeah Raena, me ‘members your furst night, and me ‘members you runnin’ in circles. It was really cute, and mommy and even me were happy dat you were havin’ a good time. Mommy even got a video of ya’. Ifin anypawdy missed it or ya’ just need a smile and a little chuckle, you can watch it here. But, there comes a time when you have to learn not to be selfish anymore and dat time is now. Don’t worry, mommy’ll give us da rest of those toys, just not today. Now, go play with your catty pillar. We were really blest and each got one of our own. And fur anypawdy wonderin’ ‘bout our a/c leak and da repairs of such, we have an update. Mommy did call da manager to demand a time fur da repairs. And da manager told mommy da maintenance man would be here Wednesday.

Yeah, but he wasn’t da one who showed up on Wednesday was he sissy?

 Pet Parade banner new

       (Dezi shakes head and rolls her eyes) No Raena, he wasn’t. Da manager showed up on Wednesday to tell mommy dat da rent was goin’ up again in October. We say again, cuz our rent just went up when we renewed our lease. She wanted mommy to initial da changes on our lease. Mommy reminded her dat we never got any notice of this increase, and this certainly isn’t 30 days notice. Then she purrceeded to tell mommy dat a a/c repairman would be here on Monday to fix da a/c. And she said, “It’s going to be messy.” Well duh!!! Did she want mommy to say furget ‘bout it then? Like leakin’ pipes and moldy carpet, floors and stuff ain’t messy. Yes, da woman’s an idiot. She has to be, right? Well at least da repairman should be qualified. MOL  Anyways, me needs to tell ya’ dat we’s joinin’ Rascal and Rocco and their pawsum co-hosts fur da Pet Parade. We hope you all have a pawsum weekend. 

 Dezi and RAena look out the front door from the same ledge on the Liberty cat tree

 No, me doesn’t have an ear in me’s chest or a forked tail, dat’s

little sis Raena beside me on da cat tree lookin’ out da

door. We be lookin’ fur sunshine.

 

 

Dezi: Vibrant Blue 

Raena: Navy Blue 

Till da next time………………………………..Be Blest!!!

 

 

 

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Deztinee and RaenaBelle

Honest Kitchen Wishes #ChewyInfluencer

Meowllo and welcome to toss up Wednesday. We’ve got somethin’ fishy fur ya’ today. Tabbies, are ya’ here? Anyways, as you all know we’s pawrt of da Chewy Influencer furmily and get to try new things every month to tell you all ‘bout. This month was no different and we’ve got some treats to meow ‘bout today. As most of ya’ know da trend in pet food is healthy, raw and freeze dried. And as most of ya’ know, mommy’s followin’ dat trend. Whatever is healthiest and bestest fur us, her girls, she wants us to have. So we were all excited to try da Honest Kitchen Wishes. Now dat doesn’t tell you anythin’ does it? Let me ‘splain.

 

Dezi lays in lap and takes a selfie

 

 

This is a sponsored post.We were compensated for giving our honest review of the Honest Kitchen Wishes. All opinions are our own unless otherwise stated. As always, we only tell the truth and bring products we think would be of interest to you our readers and friends.

 Chewy Logo

Da Honest Kitchen Wishes are 100% Icelandic haddock fillets fur cats and dogs. Yep, da really pawsum thing ‘bout these freeze dried and dehydrated treats is dat most of them are good fur both cats and dogs. So ifin you have a mixed household ya’ don’t have to buy separate treats or worry ‘bout Fluffy eatin’ Fidos’ treats, etc..

 Raena peaking out of a chewy box

       Who’s Fluffy and Fido, sissy? 

Raena, not yet. Those are just general names fur a cat and dog.

       Really sissy? We don’t know not one Fluffy or Fido.

 Honest Kitchen Wishes

Raena, knock it off. Ask those kinds of questions later. We’re postin’ our review. Anyways, let’s see what Chewy’s website has to say ‘bout The Honest Kitchen Wishes treats.

Key Benefits

  • Gourmet treats suitable for both cats and dogs

  • Made with just one pristine ingredient, great for pets with allergies

  • No fillers, by- products or GMO ingredients

  • Grain-free & Gluten-free makes it perfect for pets with sensitive stomachs

  • Made in a human food facility with 100% human-grade ingredients in the USA!

Now as they state there’s only one ingredient and dat is Haddock from Iceland. Iceland must have da lock on fishies cuz The Honest Kitchen has other treats from Iceland as well. But we tried da haddock, so let’s get on with da tastin’ and testin’.

 The Honest Kitchen Wishes treats

Furst me must tell ya’ dat they look kinda like a graham cracker. They’re these fairly large thick wafers. Mommy says they are easily broken into smaller pieces which is a good thing cuz you all know me’s delicate little mouthy likes small bites. Raena’s gonna be just like me, so mommy went ‘bout breakin’ up a fillet. (Takes a bite and starts to chew) Mmmm well, it tastes purretty good. It’s really fish strong, but it is a fish fillet after all. Dat bein’ said, me wouldn’t mind a bite or two every now and then, but this isn’t gonna be one of me favorites. It’s a little on da extra dry side and actually stuck to me’s tongue. check it out.

 Dezi eating treats

 

 

       They didn’t stick to mines tongue sissy. They wasn’t foolin’ me with dat fishy smell. I’s didn’t want to try it at all. Mommy must have chased me ‘round da house fur an hour with dat fillet in her hand. Hmmpht Didn’t she see da snub I’s had already given it? I’s picked up a piece with mines teefies and didn’t like what It felt like so I’s spit it right back out. Maybe ifin it had been shaved or somethin’. I’s don’t know, I just know I’s didn’t like it. I’s can give it a paw up fur only havin’ da one ingredient, and bein’ good fur both cats and dogs, but dat’s it.

 Raena refuses treats

Well Raena dat’s good enuff. Fanks. Me did think mommy looked funny chasin’ you ‘round and hollerin’, “Raena, c’mon, just try it. Raena, slow down. Come here and just try this yummy treat.” You know me doesn’t recall seein’ her try it at all, so how’s she ‘posed to know it’s yummy? Anyways, me gives The Honest Kitchen Wishes one paw up as well fur da one quality ingredient and bein’ good fur multi pet households. Mommy said she gave it a thumb up fur da same reasons. So, ifin you luv fish as much as da Tabbies, then you’ll purrobably luv these or one of da other pawsum treats you can find at Chewy.

 Raena refusing treats

Now ifin like us, ya’ don’t eat a lot of fish, don’t worry, Chewy has somethin’ fur everyone. And always speedy, free shippin’ on all orders of $49.00 or more and a flat rate of $4.95 fur all other orders. You can save a little extra by settin’ up an auto ship so you never run out of your anipals faves, and don’t worry, you can skip, cancel or delay anytime. We hear a lot of peeps say they wish they could only buy a few cans of somethin’ cuz they’re not sure their kitty or doggy will like it. Well you can shop Chewy with confidence, they have da bestest Customer Service online.

 Chewy blog hop badge

Well, we’re gonna wrap it up fur now. Now we purromissed we would post this and then well, mommy just furgot. Her brain just can’t always ‘member right. Anyways, Pauline from da Daily Mews is shavin’ her head off in support of those affected by cancer. She’s tryin’ to raise funds fur research as well, so check it out here. We’re linkin’ with da Chewy blog hop, so you can check out other reviews from this month. Gotta go now, time fur dat mid meownin’ nap. Have a pawsum day.

Dezi and Raena sleep on the lLiberty cat tree

Till da next time………………………………………..Be Blest!!!

 

 

 

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Deztinee and RaenaBelle

Service Cats: Discipline: Stop Countersurfing Kitty

Meowllo and welcome to Service Cats Monday. We’ve kinda been teasin’ you ‘bout todays posty all last week. Truth is today’s posty isn’t a fun one, but unfurtunately sometimes necessary. As with all our educational posts the following will be in human English. Ifin you’ve missed any of the posts in this series you can ketch up by clickin’ on the links at the end of this post. As always, we welcome your questions and thoughts, suggestions and ideas, so purrlease leave them in the comments or send us an email. We try to answer all questions, especially training questions as quickly as pawssible. We do like to answer trainin’ questions in our posts so that everypawdy can benefit from it. As with all our trainin’ postys, the tips, tricks and methods have been developed by mommy thru her many years of rescue, animal ownership and bein’ owned by kitties. And most purrtant, training is all about Repetition and Consistency. Well let’s get on with the trainin’.

 Dezi in harness laying on cat perch

Our sweet furiend Herman Tattlecat asked, “How do you teach kitty to stay off the counters, etc.?” We of course can expand this question to include all the negatives, and restate the question as, “How do you un-train bad behavior?” Mommy will tell you that it’s easier to train good behavior than to break bad behavior. Mommy’s never had a kitty that counter surfed the kitchen counters or sat on top of the fridge. She doesn’t allow it. Before we go on, we want to reiterate the importance of love and positive reinforcement. Hitting kitty IS NOT an effective training method!!! Drenching kitty with the water bottle or water gun Is Not an effective training method!!! To train, means to know your subject and understand their motivations. We are mommys children…but, we aren’t human and our brains don’t work like a humans’ brain. So mommy says you have to think like a cat and act like a cat to train a cat.   

 Raena laying on perch

So let’s start off by saying, Before you adopt a kitty, decide what kind of rules you want to implement. Do you want to allow kitty anywhere and everywhere? Or are there places you don’t want kitty to go? Stick to your decisions, and make sure everybody in the house is in on the plan. Remember, you have to be consistent for kitty to learn. Just because you don’t want kitty walking around on your kitchen counters doesn’t mean you’re abusing kitty or making him/her sad. You’re not depriving them of anything either, so long as you provide places they can get up on. And it doesn’t have to be the biggest and fanciest cat tree made. As most of you know we have a great cat tree; actually we have 2 great cat trees and a small perch. But, mommy could have never afforded them herself, and all the kitties before me never had a cat tree to climb on. We are so thankful for those who gave us our trees, but the point is, that they’re not necessary to make kitty happy.

 

It’s all well and good to tell you to never allow kitty to get on the counters in the first place, but not everybody is starting with a brand new kitten. You now have an adult cat that is jumping up and lounging on your kitchen counter, or sleeping on the refrigerator. Or maybe even walking all over the stove top, or even hanging from your curtains. Aaaaaaaaw  Isn’t kitty cute unrolling the toilet paper roll? It was soooooooo cute when they were kittens; you couldn’t get the camera/fone fast enough. Isn’t everything kittens do adorable? NO!!!

None of those behaviors are cute especially not when kitty weighs 10 – 20 pounds and is supposed to be an adult. Not when you want to prepare food, or need to avail yourself of the bathroom facilities. Not when kittys’ paws are tracking litter onto the table. And certainly not when the burner on the stove top has been turned on. So how and what do you do to train kitty not to do those things in the first place? Just say, “No!!!” Be firm and remove kitty if they get up there. Offer them an alternative. Remove the toilet paper from the roller. This step is only temporary, so don’t worry, you will be able to put it back as soon as kitty learns a firm No. Altho’ this applies to all stages of training, this paragraph is still a little more focused on the younger cat.

 Dezi sits on the bathroom counter

So, let’s suppose your kitty has been doing it so long you don’t remember when it started. What do you do now? Can kitty be trained to stay off these surfaces. Yes, absolutely. Altho’ mommy’s not had these issues, she has trained others kitties who did. So let’s look at mommys’ training kit and see what we have. First, training is repetitive and constant/ongoing. Second, don’t worry about what others think of you. You may need to look and be a little silly. You are after all only human. You are training a superior being, the cat. So let’s get to know and understand your subject. Cat mommy teaches and disciplines her kittens with hisses and bites. Littermates train each other with hisses and bites. Disputes between cats are often solved with intimidation, hisses and growls. So humans must become as cat like as possible for training purposes.

 

Let’s look at Intimidation. A cat who wants to intimidate another will puff themselves up in an attempt to look bigger and scarier. Obviously humans can’t puff up, so what can you do? Mommy has a move she calls her Space Danger move. She waves her hands in the air and repeats loudly, “Danger!!! Danger!!!” She says anyone old enough to remember Lost in Space will recognize this, for the rest of you, do a youtube search and check out the robot. Anyways, this will startle kitty and generally cause them to back away, get down, and/or remove themselves from the situation. Yes, you may look a little funny, but nobody/kitty gets hurt and it works. Initially your kitty may freeze. If this happens, remove kitty from the area. Once kitty has removed themselves/been removed or stopped the inappropriate behavior, remember to praise and love on them. If you have to remove kitty yourself, do it quickly and gently but Do Not hug or love on kitty until they have been put down in a more appropraite area. You don’t want to confuse kitty or reinforce bad behavior, so praise should only happen when kitty is where you want them to be, standing on their own.  

 Baby Dezi puffed up for intimidation

  Mommy had to go way back in da files to find us puffed up.

 

 

Now let’s look at Hissing. Let me tell you, no kitty has anything on our mommy when it comes to hissing. If you’ve ever listened to hissing kitties, there are variations of the hiss. From a nonchalant don’t touch me to a you’re dead. We kitties are very smart, and once we’ve been told No, we know when we’re doing wrong. That being said, if kitty jumps back on the counter and you’re in another room? No doubt kitty’s going to jump down and disappear before you can get to them and start your Space Danger move or remove kitty yourself. So what can you do to be consistent in training kitty to stay off the counters, etc.? Hiss. Yep, you read that right, hiss and say No, or Get down in a firm voice. You may have to hiss more than once, but you will eventually find the appropriate hiss for the occasion. And of course you need to head towards kitty to make sure they do get down or stop the behavior. And remember to praise and love kitty for their good behavior.

Dezi hissing and Baby Raena puffed up for inimidationMe’s givin’ a hissin’ example and Raena be puffin’ up.

 

We discussed biting in a previous post, so we won’t cover it again here. We will say that biting isn’t an appropriate method of training for these particular issues. Okay, we’ve covered what to do when you’re home with kitty, but what do you do when you’re not at home to keep an eye on kitty? We’re going to list some tips here that can work so long as they are used in conjunction with the hands on training listed above. Put “noise makers” on the edges of counters, shelves, fridge tops, etc.. Examples of such noise makers are:

  • Coin Filled aluminum cans

  • Coin filled plastic bottles

  • Crumpled Aluminum Foil

  • Whoopee Cushions

  • Large sqeaky toys

  • Parchment or Wax paper

For the coin filled items, we don’t mean full cans or bottles, just enough coins to rattle when shaken or dropped. They must be light enough for kitty to knock them over. Altho’ you can’t control what kitty does when no one’s home, DO NOT let kitty play with these training items. And by edge, we mean they should be balanced along the edges so that if kitty tried to jump up, the can or foil will immediately fall. Whoopee cushions and squeaky toys should be at the edge so that if kitty jumps up on them they will be startled by the noise and immediately jump back down. In recent years we have seen the development of air cans that spray kitty with air when they get close to it. This Is Not a method mommy likes or promotes.

 Dezi on the small brown tree looking up

Remember to provide kitty with appropriate toys and areas to jump on and/or play with. Always end discipline with love and praise. When removing kitty from a counter or other area, do it swiftly, but gently. Do Not hug on kitty until he/she is in an appropriate area and only after kitty has been set down. Mommy doesn’t like or promote cat trees, perches, or any other climbing apparatus near the kitchen or counters. This is too much temptation for kitty to step off of their tree and onto the counter, table, shelf, etc. Don’t set kitty up to fail. Before humans welcome a child into their home, they prepare the home and try to make it as safe as possible for the baby. The same should be done for the pets brought into your home.

 Raena plays with the track ball toy

We have shelves and small tables around the house. As long as they are filled with books or knick knacks, they’re off limits to us. But if a shelf is empty, mommy allows us to lay/sit on it. We’re allowed on the bathroom counters any time we want and have a small table in the living room for us along with the cat trees, perch and chair. We’re also allowed on the bed, shower chairs and cat steps. As long as kitty is provided with sufficient perches keeping them off counters should be an easy train. Remember to be consistent. Kitty wants rules and structure and lots of love.

 Dezi and Raena eating treats on the liberty cat tree

Well, guess we’ll wrap it up fur today. We hope this has helped ya’ll out. If you have any questions about today’s post or any other training post, purrlease let us know in the comments below as well as any other questions you might have. And yes, mommy has hissed in public. It works on children of the 2 legged variety as well. Don’t furget to click on the links below ifin you’ve missed any of our Service Cats Training posts, and have a pawsum day.

 

Service Cats

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/service-cat-what-to-look-for/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/service-cat-training-foundation/  

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/service-cats-how-to-train-kitty-to-massage-without-claws/ 

 https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/service-cats-smelling-disease/  

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/service-cats-do-you-need-one/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/service-cats-who-bears-the-cost/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/service-cats-housing-laws-and-exceptions/  

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/service-cats-accommodations-and-common-sense/  

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/08/15/service-cats-what-happens-when-the-handler-dies/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/service-cats-proper-training-methods/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/service-cats-proper-training-methods-part-2/  

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/service-cats-whats-the-easiest-task-to-train/ 

https://dezizworld.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/service-cats-getting-kitty-ready-for-an-outing/

Till the next time………………………………….Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Deztinee and RaenaBelle                

Blest Sunday Remember the Rescues

Meowllo and welcome to chaplain Dezi’s Blest Sunday. So we did some more meowin’ and talkin’ this week and decided dat Wednesdays and Furidays are just gonna stay Surprise/Toss up days. You’re not gonna know what you’ll see here till ya’ come by. MOL  Anyways, let’s get on with today. Furst we wanna thank whoever sent mommy da colorin’ page. She luvved it. Raena and me think she must have used every color they make fur dat kitty face. It stormed and raged all day yesfurday and was da purrfect thing to keep mommys’ mind busy since we couldn’t be on da catputer. Da thunder boomers seemed to get louder and more furequent last night, but me never hid out. Me did want a lot of extra luvvin’ from mommy, which she was more than happy to give. Me is so blest to have such a luvvin’ mommy.

 Dezi sits on bench

      

Cat face coloring page

 Mommy said Fank you fur da colorin’ page.

 

       Me too sissy. I’s not ‘fraid of da storms but they was sooooo loud last night dat even I’s got a little nervous. Even da rain seemed louder than normal. Fankfully mommy has room fur both of us on her lap. 

Oh Raena, what do you know ‘bout normal soundin’ rain? You’ve only been alive fur 5 months.

 Raena sitting in mommys lap

       Maybe sissy, but it’s rained a lot durin’ those 5 months.

You’re right Raena, it has rained a lot this summer. And now they say it’s fall. We even got a cold front move in this weekend. Not dat we felt it in da house. Fank catness fur air conditionin’ and fans. We wanted to show you a foto dat made mommy burst out laffin’. It’s blurry and da red eye taker outer didn’t take out all da red eye like it’s posed to, but we think most of ya’ will get a real chuckle lookin’ at it. Raena and me had been in da pawdee box room playin’ when we suddenly heard a sonic boom. Those happen a lot ‘round here, but we all still jump a little. Yep, even mommy. Anyways, Raena and me heard da sonic boom and well it caused us to immediately stop playin’ and meow out to mommy. Mommy knew we were together and so when we both called out to her, she got “nervous” and jumped up to come see what was goin’ on. And this foto shows what she saw when she got to da hallway. Fankfully she has long arms and could reach da camera, cuz once she appeared in da hallway and stopped, we came runnin’.

 Dezi and Raena sitting outside bathroom looking surprised.

       Well sissy she was laffin’ at us. I’s didn’t know what was so funny, but she laffed till she had water streamin’ down her face.

Yeah Raena, mommies can be emotional, specially ours.

 Raena sleeping in mommys lap

       Is dat why she luvs us so much sissy, cuz she’s emotional?

No Raena she luvs us just cuz. And cuz she’s emotional she shows us how much she luvs us all da time. We are really blest kitties to have a furever home and furever mommy dat luvs us so much. We have lots of amazin’ furiends dat we share our lives with and so much more. You know not all kitties have dat. This past week there was a day set aside to ‘member all those dat never make it outta shelters and into luvvin’ furever homes. They die never havin’ known luv and da warmth of a mommy or daddy holdin’ them tight and purromissin’ them dat they’ll never be alone again.

       Oh sissy, I’s not like to think ‘bout those things.

Yeah Raena, a lot of peeps don’t like to think ‘bout those kinds of things. But not thinkin’ ‘bout it doesn’t make it go away. Until we get everypawdy to think ‘bout it and make changes, kitties and doggies will continue to die scared and alone. We try to educate as many peeps as we can. And every day we purray fur all our furiends and all those less furtunate than us. And hopefully someday we won’t need shelters. Maybe someday, all anipals will have their own luvvin’ furever.

 Raena sleeping in mommys lap

       I’s sure hope so sissy. I’s think #RemeberMeThursday should be everyday till da whole world gets da message.

Yeah Raena me wishes da world would get da message too. Spay and neuter your pets, strays and feral colonies to help cut down on over-pawpulation and over crowded shelters. Children can witness the magic of birth by rentin’ a video. Educate, educate, educate. Havin’ babies doesn’t make a kitty calmer, more well adjusted or happier. Instead it increases da risk of health issues, cancers, spraying, behavioral purroblems and early deaths. We get so tired of hearin’ “I already have homes for the kittens.” Well ifin you don’t spay or neuter, da homes you found purrobably don’t either and someday those kittens will be havin’ babies too. And on and on and on. (Dezi wipes a tear from her eye and shakes and bows her head for a moment of silence) Well we better get outta here befur it starts stormin’ again.

 Dezi lays in lap and takes a selfie

We’s joinin’ da Kitties Blue fur Sunday Selfies. ‘Member to take a minute today and everyday to give thanks fur da blessings in your life. Fank you all fur your luv and support. We are so blest to know all of you. Hope you have a pawsumly blest day. 

 

 

Dezi: Vibrant Blue

Raena: Navy Blue

 

Till da next time……………………………………….Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Deztinee and RaenaBelle