Category: Educational
Blest Sunday: Dezi and Raena’s Top 10 Purrfect Gifts Guide for 2016
Hey, are ya’ll there? Actually, are ya’ here? It’s RaenaBelle, and we’ve got a real treat for all of you today. We’re going to post the Purrfect Gift Guide for 2016. Yep, that’s right. Ifin you were here Furiday, you know that sis Dezi and me had different ideas ‘bout what to call our guide. Well, we meowed about it yesfurday and came up with what we think is the purrfect name for our guide. Now, we’re not saying the other guides, especially those posted by our furiends aren’t great; we’re just saying there are some peeps and anipals that can’t afford items on those guide lists. Like us. So, we put our heads together and came up with gifts we think everybody and furry would like. Okay, so maybe there are a couple things that some of our furry feral furiends might not appreciate, but there’ll for sure be some things on our list that even they will like. You might have noticed that for the most part, I’s been writin’ in human English. Well that’s because we want all our furiends and followers to be able to read our guide. Right sissy?
That’s right Raena. We have put together the purrfect gift guide for peeps and anipals alike and we want everyone to choose at least a few things from our list. We know the posty looks long, but it’s a lot of fotos. Purrlease stay till the end, because we have a real surprise for all of you. So Raena, are you ready with your first gift?
I is sissy, sure enough. I’s want to start the list with a freebie but goodie.
1. A Big, Gigantic hold on with both arms, hands and paws HUGGY. No air hugs allowed. Only the real thing. You can hold on as long as you want. The longer the better, right?. 
I’s know, we have a few furiends who be a little on the feral side and won’t really like this one, but wait, there’ll be something for ya’ll too.
Kissy kiss mommy?!!
2. Pucker up and KISS the one(s) you love. 
Mommy kisses us all the time, and we love it. Again, No Air Kissing allowed. Well unless you’d get your face scratched off. In that case, we’re all for Blowing those anipals or peeps a kiss.
Kiss me mommy!!!
Oh sissy, I’s do love a big mommy kiss. That’s a great gift for our guide. And, another freebie. That brings me to the third gift on our list. And, even our more feral furiends will like this one.
3. Say I Love You from your heart.
Look into the eyes or face of your anipal or peep and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Us kitties will probably respond with a loving slow blink, doggies with a body shaking tail wag and peeps might actually say it back to you. And by the way, this is another freebie. It won’t cost you a cent.
I’s luvs you too mommy.
Me luvs you too mommy.
Oh Raena, that’s a great one. Me so loves it when mommy tells us she loves us. That goes well with mes next item on our gift guide.
4. Call, Email or Text your loved ones and let them know you’re thinking about them.
Say it even ifin ya’ get their voicemail. Sometimes a message from a furiend, can really make your day. Of course you could also send a snail mail card, but most of the time, we don’t even have money for a stamp, so calling, emailing or texting works better for us. Some of you travel and leave your anipals behind. We know your voice, and find it comforting, so calling up and telling us you love us lets us feel close to you.
Meowllo? I’s just called to say…
Oh sissy, at less than .50 cents or free that’s another great idea. I’s couldn’t imagine mommy leaving us behind, but I’s would sure love to hear her voice ifin she wasn’t with us. Mines next item is a biggy.
5. Clean Up. That’s right, help somebody by cleaning their house. Anipals, put your toys away in the toy box.
You know, there are housekeeping tasks that be really hard on mommy, and we’re having a lot of trouble finding a helper, so she would really appreciate somebody helping her out. And guess what? It’s another Freebie!!!
Let me help you mommy.
That’s a good one Raena. Me has another pawsum idea for our list.
6. Volunteer. Pick a day/days and head over to your local animal shelter and help clean cages, socialize kitties, walk dogs, or better yet, foster and/or adopt.
Oooooooooooooh sis Dezi, that’s a pawtastic gift. Anytime you can give to those less fortunate is a true gift of love. They could even volunteer at a spay/neuter clinic like mommy. Peeps could also take photos and share anipals on social media to help them find their furever homes.
Yep Raena. And they could even go through their toy boxes and donate any unused or gently used toys, beds, blankys, scratchers, outgrown collars/harnesses or food to the anipals in the shelter. Another freebie that takes advantage of your time and things you have around your house already.
Speaking of volunteering and time, I’s have another great gift idea sissy.
7. Visit a hospital or nursing home.
The holidays are really hard on a lot of peeps and anipals, and sometimes those in nursing homes get forgotten. Just a few minutes of your time can bring a smile to their faces and really make their days. Ifin any of you furries are calm in nature, the holidays is the one time of year when the rules get a little lax and even though you’re not a certified therapy anipal, you might still be able to visit. Purrlease check with the nursing home before you visit to find out the rules/policies.
You’re right Raena, that is a good one. You and mommy will be heading to the nursing home before long. They’re going to love you. So far we’ve got a lot of great gifts in our line up. But maybe, you want something tangible to put under the tree, right? So here’s the next item for your gift giving pleasure.
8. Write it down and Wrap it up. Grab a post it, old bill envelope, old receipt, or any piece of scrap paper, and write a little note telling the recipient to redeem it for a HUG, KISS, or Whatever. Get Creative and then wrap it in whatever you can find.
Gentlemen listen up, mommy says whatever you do, don’t wrap your note in a small ring box or “the blue box”. Ladies get too excited with expectation. Even the most loving woman can become a total stranger when she doesn’t find a/”that” ring inside. MOL As for wrapping paper, mommy’s used old calendar pages (picture side of course), newspapers, brown paper grocery bags, old manilla envelopes, and that packing paper that comes in chewy boxes makes great wrapping paper. And a box in a box in a box can add fun to your hand written gift.
That’s a great idea for peeps Dezi. I’s have one now for the furries.
9. Filled and Tied Old Sock. Filling: Newspaper, Packing Paper, Garden Grown fresh dried Catnip, Foil, Parchment Paper, Another Old Sock. Paper Items will make a fun crinkle toy, while Material Items will make a fun bite toy.
Good one Raena. Peeps might even check their pets toy boxes for old balls, toys and squeakers that we don’t play with anymore and stuff them down inside that sock. The possibilities are endless. Just use your imagination. And mommy says every sock drawer has a mismatched sock left over from the washer eating it’s pair. Hmmmmm Me didn’t know we had to feed the washer too. No wonder we don’t have any green papers. MOL Me has another item that’s a favorite for lots of kitties.
Oh Dezi this guide thing is so much fun.
You’re right Raena. Me’s glad we did it.
10. MILK JUG RING.
Oh sissy, that’s the cool piece of plastic that locks the lid on the bottle of milk, juice, vitamins and jugs of water.
Yep Raena, and they can be wrapped up and put under the tree or even hung on the tree for decoration.
Hmmm What’s this? This blonky doesn’t taste very good,
but it sure looks like fun.
Decorations? Speaking of trees sissy, I’s love our tree. The lights are so cool. They blink off and on, off and on. I’s loved them so much, I even tried to eat a few.
Me knows. Mommy says ifin you can’t behave she’ll have to take the tree down. So purrlease sissy, leave the tree alone. Let’s just watch the pretty lights flash.
I’s’ll try sissy, I’s promise. Anyways, we hope ya’ll liked our Top Ten Gift ideas. We know you’ll find at least one thing for everybody/furry on your list. Now…
Everybody come in real close. We wanna give you all our gifts to you.
(Dezi, Raena and mommy A gather together and grasp arms and pull each furiend and furry/furless furiend in for a Huge Hug and a Big Kiss. They then look into each friends eyes/face and…)
“We Love you soooooooooooo much. We are soooooooooooo grateful to have you in our lives. We want to say Thank You for being You. You mean so much to us that we can’t truly express it in human words.”
(Dezi and Raena each slow blink and purr to each furiend. While mommy A takes each by the hand and in true Southern Belle fashion, offers a curtsey in honor of their greatness and furiendship.)
I’s been learning so much about Christmas, and all the things that go with it. You’ll have to stay tuned for our letters to Santa. They’ll be coming up later this week. In the meantime, we’re joining the Kitties Blue for Sunday Selfies. And…
Till the next time………………………………….Be Blest!!!
Raena: Navy Blue
Dezi: Vibrant Blue
Luvs and Hugs and Kitty Kisses
RaenaBelle and Deztinee
Service Cats: Tumble and Fall Response
Meowllo everypawdy, come on in and take a seat. Get your favorite beverage, sit back and relax. it’s time fur another Service Cat Monday story. We didn’t get any questions last week, so we’ll be tellin’ an actual story ‘bout us. And yep, ya’ read dat right, today da story’ll be ‘bout us, Raena and me and of course mommy. We was gonna pick up where we left off last week, but mommy never lissens to me. Me told her we had purrlenty of stories to tell without her makin’ more, but…well, me’ll just tell ya’ ‘bout it. Ifin you’ve missed any posts in this series, purrlease click on da links at da bottom of this posty. As with all our Service Cat/Educational posts, da followin’ will be in human English. So let’s get to it.
It happened last night at dinner time and no, there are no photos. Ain’t that the way it always goes? Anyways, it had been dark and stormy all day yesterday and mommys arthritis was really acting up. She was hurting really bad and could barely get around. None of that is new. It’s pretty common actually, especially in the winter, and definitely now that her meds have been messed with. We’ve got to get the government outta medicine. Anyways, most of ya’ know we have a lot of “stuff”. Till the manager was finally told to leave mommy alone, she used to write us up all the time for being “cluttered”. Which of course isn’t any of her business and isn’t against the law. While there are a lot of reasons for our clutter, one is that mommy is a furniture walker.
Now a lot of you just said to yourselves, “A what? What’s a furniture walker?” So let me explain. Mommy, or any furniture walker for that matter, holds onto pieces of furniture, doors, walls, or tables to steady themselves when walking around. Me has told ya’ll that one of mommys problems is that she falls a lot. She often can’t feel her legs, feet and/or arms. Because this has been happening for so long, mommy has adjusted and can mostly make her extremities work anyways. Never the less, she still falls pretty regularly. Usually, she doesn’t get hurt too bad, because she’s learned to roll with it. But, when you add dizzy and an overload of pain to the mix then you get what we got last night at dinnertime.
Is dinner ready yet?
Mommy had been in the kitchen preparing our dinner plates and hollering for us to come up and get ready for dinner. Me was in the litter box and sis Raena was in the kitchen with mommy, so me wasn’t in any hurry. Me figured Raena could handle anything that might occur. The biggest thing that has happened during food prep is mommy dropping a plate and having to do a quick clean up. Yep, Raena could deal with that. Me finished up mes business and headed down the hall towards the kitchen just in time to see it all. Mommy had prepared our plates and was taking the bags of freeze dried noms back to their place on the external pantry shelf in the dining room by the front door. She only had one free hand, her left. Mommy’s a righty, by the way.
Mommy caught a glimpse of me and told me to come on down. Raena had taken her spot on the small brown cat tree that sits in the dining room; to continue to watch mommy. And then as if in slow motion, mommy got dizzy and lost her balance. She started reaching out and grasping at everything. That brown cat tree, her end table, a dining room chair. It didn’t matter what she grabbed. They all gave way and moved from their spots and provided mommy with no stability. Mommy dropped the bags of our noms and started grasping with her other hand as well. The brown cat tree just kept moving further away from mommy as did her end table and that dining room chair. After what seemed like forever…BOOM!!! Mommy finally hit the floor. As mommy fell, the cat tree had cut up her right arm. A fingernail got caught in the the carpeting and pulled back and broke off. Mommy landed, all sprawled out, backside to the floor. Her behind actually landed on a bag of our noms. She’s gonna have to order more, cuz they’re all crumbs now. Not sure what she hit her head on, but she’s gonna have a shiner for sure.
I’s luvs this toy.
Anyways, me ran down the hall to mommy and Raena flew over mommy towards the phone. Again, as if in slow motion, mommy laid there in total shock and began looking around. Mommy could feel something poking into her back, so she struggled to sit up. Me tried to get behind her to help push her up, but she had landed on one of our track and ball toys that was in mes way. Mommy finally sat up and hollered at Raena to leave the phone alone. Mommy said we didn’t need an ambulance. Mommy reached under herself and pulled out the bag of noms she had squished and started crying. Mommy told Raena and me how sorry she was that she had crushed our noms and promised she’d get us more. Then she apologized for breaking our track and ball toy. It was Raenas’ favorite. She looked around for something to hold onto to try to pull herself up. She could sort of feel her legs, but they were like jelly. Her cut arm was throbbing and she could feel pain everywhere. She noticed that Raena looked stressed and confused as she sat at mommys feet licking her toes.
Take dat you ole box you.
Everything that could have provided support for mommy had moved just out of reach. So she pulled her legs up and tried to push herself up with her hands. She told me to move out from behind her and told Raena to get on the Liberty tree beside her in the living room. Mommy was afraid she’d fall back down and didn’t want to fall on us. Finally mommy managed to push herself up. Then came the clean up as always. That’s the part mommy hates the most. Once everything was back in it’s place, mommy went back to the kitchen on her wobbly legs to get our dinner plates. That’s when mommy finally saw the blood dripping from her arm. She had a cut and scrape from her elbow just passed her wrist. Didn’t do her carpal tunnel any favors. She quickly cleaned up and brought our plates to our mat and called for us to come and eat. Raena and me sat at the edge of the living room watching and waiting for mommy to fall again. Thankfully, after she placed our plates on the mat, she sat down to look at her boo boos.
This brown tree in da dining room is just da right size
fur a kitten like me.
Well, the last thing Raena and me was interested in was eating dinner. We both jumped into mommys lap to give her some purr love. She’s gonna be okay, but she’s gonna be really sore for at least a few days. Mommy falls everyday, but the big ones like this, don’t happen that often. Mommy says that she gets hurt the most when she tries to fight the fall, and that’s exactly what she did last night. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we kitties can do when mommy falls. We can only be there to comfort her after it’s all over. Y, Raena even let mommy sleep in this morning.
Now me knows a lot of you are saying, “Well if you don’t do anything to stop your mommy from falling, how is this a story about Service Cats?” If you’ll remember, sis Raena’s first response was to head for the phone to call for help. See, we saw the blood before mommy did, and that’s a 911 event. Altho’ the blood wasn’t coming from mommys head and she was still conscious, which would mean we shouldn’t call for help. It’s okay tho’, Raena’s still learning and mommy’s proud of how she responded and that when told to leave the phone she immediately obeyed and took her spot beside mommy. Altho something was in the way, mes intentions were to help mommy sit up. And mes first response was to come to mommys aid instead of running to hide. Yes, mommy said she’s very proud of me as well. As we’ve said many times, it’s very important for a Service Cat to not only know their name, but to respond to it every time. Mommy says that she no longer has to “tell” us me everything, because we are me is able to assess the situation and determine the proper course of action to take. This happens because of our constant training and our bond with and concern for mommy.
I’s not leavin’ your side mommy. I’s’ll go wherever
you go.
So there ya’ have it. A brand new story ’bout us workin’ today. Raena did well, and is purroving she’s gonna be a great Service Cat. Reckon she’s not as droll as me once thought she was. Ifin ya’ have any questions ‘bout training or anything in general purrlease feel free to ask. We try to answer all questions in a timely manner. Due to mommys fall and subsequent injuries, we’re gonna be a bit slow fur at least da next few days, so purrlease bear with us.
Just let me have a little nappy furst.
Till da next time…………………………………………..Be Blest!!!
Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses
Deztinee and RaenaBelle
Service Cats
What to Look For Training Foundations Train Kitty to Massage
Smelling Disease Do You Need One Who Bears the Cost
Housing Laws and Exceptions Accommodations and Common Sense
When the Handler Dies Proper Training Methods Pt. 1 & Pt. 2
Easiest Task to Train Getting Kitty Ready for an Outing
Discipline: Stop Countersurfing Kitty Internal Disputes
Calling Emergency Help Just What is Kitty Capable of
Shad: Original Service Cat Harness or Vest Leash or Stroller
Dezi, the Wheelchair and the Chest Round & Round We Go
Service Cats: Round and Round We Go, Where We’ll Stop…
Welcome one and all, it’s Service Cat Monday. We know you’re all wondering ifin we got any questions or are we gonna tell another training story. Well, we didn’t get any questions, so we will be tellin’ another story ‘bout mes wheelchair training. Now a lot of you got a little giggle or laff from our last posty. Dat’s okay. Have yourself a big ole belly laff on us. It’s actually on me, but me doesn’t mind. Mommy says trainin’ is serious business, but:
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Ifin ya’ can’t have a little fun with it, then kitty will quickly get bored and lose interest.
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You never know exactly what kitty’s gonna do when trying to train them to do something totally foreign to them.
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Most kitties are afraid of moving chairs initially, so whatever their initial reaction, you can be assured it’s gonna be funny.
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And lastly, ifin ya’ can’t laff at yourself, then…well, so go on and have a laff on me.
As with all our educational postys da following will be written in human English. No kitty is ever harmed during wheelchair training. Ifin you’ve missed any of da posts in this series, you can ketch up by clicking on da links at da bottom of this posty.
Let’s first take another look at the wheelchair itself. There is a foot rest between the front wheels that sticks out further than anything else on the chair except the actual wheels. So when the chair hits anything, it’s actually the wheels, foot rest and mommys large ski sized feet that are in danger of getting banged up. This foot rest is made of metal, thus the main reason mommy attaches “bumper pads” foam pieces. Me wasn’t the first kitty mommy trained to drive the wheelchair, so she had already learned us kitties can’t drive using our paws. The joystick controller is pretty touchy and doesn’t take much pressure to move. When pushed forward, the chair goes forward, back, the chair goes back and left or right, to the left or right respectively. Anyways, like me said, mommy learned real quick that kitties can’t drive with their paws. So that led to our current method of mouth on joystick.
So, if you read last weeks post, you know mes first session was not very successful. But remember, training is all about repetition. So if at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again. And remember, that repetition must occur daily. Once training has begun, you can’t let a day go by that you don’t spend at least 15 minutes training the specific task. You may train more than 1 task a day, but they must be divided up into different training sessions. For most peeps, one task a day is enough. Another thing we didn’t say before is that you should never begin training tasks above and beyond normal kitty behavior until kitty knows and responds to their name. Mommy doesn’t allow anyone to call us “kitty kitty”. Mommys’ case manager has a really tough time with this one, and in response, we ignore her. We just don’t know who she’s talking too.
Anyways, mes first session was a bust. So the next day, mommy started all over again. Wheelchair positioned in the bedroom up against the bed facing the bathroom and the speed setting on low. Yep, a straight shot. All she had to get me to do is put mes mouth on the joystick and push forward. Easy peasy right? Well if you’ve ever trained a kitty, or any animal for that matter, you’d know nothing is ever that easy peasy. None the less, mommy sat down and began to call me. Of course me was already sitting at the bedroom door watching what mommy was doing. So me trotted over and rubbed against her overhanging toes, and she reached down and picked me up. Once on her lap, mommy began to pet me and coo about how smart me was and how much she loved me. Full on purr going, mommy positioned me onto her right leg with mes front paws on the right arm of the chair. All the while mommy was quietly and calmly telling me what to do next.
Mommy gently pushed mes head over to the joystick while holding me securely with her other hand. She then began to scritch mes chin till mes mouth opened. She then gently pushed mes mouth onto the joystick and said, “bite”. Me bit down and then started chewing at the joystick. Yep, me was a little over stimulated. So we sat there for a bit till me calmed down. No additional petting during this time, however mommy did continue to coo at me about how proud of me she was. When me finally calmed a bit, mommy started over. She repositioned me onto her right leg, front paws on the right arm and head over the control panel. No chin scritches needed, me automatically opened mes mouth and bit down on the joystick. Me could feel mommys energy and knew she was happy and proud of me.
She then gently pushed mes head forward. And…Nothing. We didn’t move an inch. Yep, while me was calming down, the wheelchair had turned itself off. It’s a battery saving thing the chair does. If there’s no activity for a couple of minutes, the chair will automatically turn off. Mes mouth was still on the joystick, so mommy couldn’t really see through mes head when she reached over with the other hand to turn the chair back on. She fumbled around feeling the buttons on the control panel and thinking she had landed on the power button, she pressed down. instead of the chair being powered up, she honked the horn. Me looked back at mommy who was still feeling around on the control panel. Finally getting the chair turned on, mommy positioned mes head again with one hand and held me on her lap with the other. She gently pushed mes head forward and…Nothing. The chair couldn’t move on the carpet on its lowest setting.
So, mommy felt around again for the speed button and finally gave it a push. By now, me thinks we’re playing a game, and me started pawing at mommys’ hand. Mommy patiently told me to stop and to “bite” the joystick again. Mommy then gently pushed mes head forward again. WooHoo We were on the move. Me could feel mommys’ excitement and me got so excited that me turned mes head to look at mommy while still biting the joystick. Remember me telling you earlier that whatever direction the joystick is pointed in is the direction the chair would go? Well we turned to the left and just kept turning. Round and Round we went in circles till all we could see was a spinning room. Yep, when me pawed at mommys’ hand earlier, me, or maybe mommy actually hit the speed button a few more times. Knowing this wasn’t what we were supposed to be doing, and because me was getting dizzy, me turned mes head forward again, and BOOM!!! Where’d that dresser come from, me questioned. Least that’s what mommy said the look on mes face said.
Hmmmmmmm Me had never seen the top of the dresser before. Look’it all those cool things me could play with. You guessed it, me jumped outta mommys lap and right onto the dresser hitting the joystick once again, and slamming the chair into the dresser once more. Yeah, there’s a reason me had never seen the top of the dresser before, it’s off limits to kitties. Mommy hollered for me to come back, but it was too late. Me was off and running. Me pushed an old jewelry box onto the floor and was off to investigate. Another training session over. Mommy says you have to know when to stop. If kittys’ attention isn’t focused on the task at hand, continuing to push will be fruitless. Sis Lexi joined me from her observation spot down the hall, in mes investigation.
When’s it gonna be mines turn to drive? I’s can already turn da chair on.
Well, me’s gonna wrap it up fur now. By now sis Lexi, had probably figgered she would never get any help. Me knows this, cuz now me’s in her pawsition and wonderin’ ifin Raena’s ever gonna calm down enuff fur mommy to train her on da wheelchair. Believe it or not, me does eventually learn to drive da wheelchair, but it wasn’t overnight or without much patience and a few bruises on mommys pawrt. So, stay tuned and lessen we get anymore training questions ‘tween now and next week, me will tell another of mes wheelchair training stories. In da meantime, don’t furget mes Gotchaday tomorrow and check out da pawsum Fanksgivin’ card Nellie made fur us. We’re wishing you all a pawsumly Blest Fanksgivin’.
Till da next time………………………………..Be Blest!!!
Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses
Deztinee and RaenaBelle
Service Cats U.S. 