Category: Updates

Raena plays with the flying toy

June Is Finally Over

Published on by Service Cats U.S.26 Comments

WooHoo!!! It’s finally Furiday!!!

Dezi lays on top of the liberty tree

What does dat mean sis Dezi?

It means it’s da end of da week and da start of da weekend Raena.

I still don’t know why you’re so excited sissy?.

(Dezi feeling a little perturbed looks over at Raena)

Cuz Raena, humans really luv weekends. Anyways, it doesn’t matter why, just be x’cited okay?!  

WooHoo sissy, WooHoo!!! (Raena says while wiping her paw across her face making sure no breakfast remains on her face fur)

 RaenaBelle site on the liberty tree

So, da manager was finally back in da office and mommy was able to turn in our lease recert. papers. But nuffin’ with this lady is ever dat easy. So what shoulda taken all of 2 minutes max, had mommy tied up fur almost an hour. And no, we haven’t signed da lease yet. She puts these sticky notes all over everythin’ dat says must be faxed to da office ( all proof of type papers). So mommy had to be sneaky with Social Security in order to have them fax her proof of income to da office back in May. Well yesfurday da manager says, she never got dat letter and can’t send our recert papers in till she gets it. Oh and da letter Social Security sends out every year dat says how much mommy’s gonna make each month isn’t good enuff, they have to have da one S.S. sends out now; so our recert papers aren’t complete.

Once they are, da manager will fax all dat paperwork off to da home office and they go over it and decide how much rent we pay and send it back here fur mommy to sign. In da meantime, da manager comes down today and gives mommy a 30 day notice dat our rent will increase to $572.00 next month. Hmmft, Mommy doesn’t even make dat much money a month, and da manager knows she’ll be gettin’ da letter from Social Security in a few days. ‘Course then she calls mommy from da office and asks fur da rent cuz she’s gonna go outta town till da 11th and wants to depawsit da check befur she leaves. Well we get paid on da 3rd. Usuallly ifin it’s on a holiday or da weekend, we get paid da Furiday befur. Dat’s usually, but there’s always da exception, so mommy is always sure to check befur payin’ anythin’ to make sure, cuz we can’t afford any fees. So, any purrayers you can spare dat our rent doesn’t go up and da rest of this mess goes smoothly would fur sure be purreciated.

Raena poses while playng with the flying toy

As most of ya’ know da manager doesn’t like mommy and has a doggy dat she lets run wild. Even tho’ there are leash laws and da lease says all pets must be on a leash. And da law even came out and gave her a warnin’ ‘bout leashin’ her dog and not tyin’ him/her out or lettin’ him/her roam freely. But she’s one of those peeps dat thinks da law and rules don’t apply to her, so she didn’t pay attention. Well, while she held mommy captive turnin’ in our recert. papers; she told mommy dat a coyote came ‘round da other meownin’ and got Molly while she was standin’ there watchin’. At da time we didn’t know who Molly was, but come to find out Molly is da managers dog. Well let me tell you, da lack of emotion makes mommy wonder how much of dat is true. Not dat we don’t have coyotes and other wildlife dat could easily take out any of da “pets” dat reside here. It’s just dat da whole complex woulda known da minute it happened ifin it had been one of us. And mommy would be a mess; and there would be a dead coyote or dead mommy one. Da manager was so matter of fact, you’d’a thought it was somethin’ she saw on teevee elebenty billion years ago.

 Dezi and Raena play with the PetSafe Flitter

Oh yeah, me almost furgot. Da hospital finally kicked Mr. W out and he came back home yesfurday. So mommy’s all ours again. No more trekkin’ up to play with and feed Buddy twice a day. Me’s thinkin’ we oughtta have a pawrty. But did Mr. W offur to pay mommy anythin’ fur da last 2 months she’s spent takin’ care of Buddy, checkin’ his mail, and getting’ his bills and checkbook to him at da hospital? Nope, not a dime. Even tho’ mommy kept tellin’ him he would have to pay anypawdy else and mommy gave Buddy special canned noms he never gets lessen she’s carin’ fur him. But, he did hire somepawdy to come clean his ‘pawrtment a couple times. We know cuz mommy had to let them in. Anyways, mommy told him, never again. He took advantage of her good will and luv of animals, and she just said next time he’d just have to fork over cash cuz her good will has dried up. MOL

 Dezi and Raena play with the fly toy

Whew, Dat’s a lot goin’ on. No wonder mommy has purrsonal summers. Me’s a little hot under da purrverbeal collar meself. MOL  Well bein’ Furiday dat means it’s also time fur da Pet Parade with Rascal and Rocco and all those super co hosts.  This is also Independence Day weekend here in da States. Since da 4th is on Monday dat means most of da fireworks will occur over da weekend. ‘Member to keep your pets inside durin’ this time and purrvide them a quiet place to escape all da festivities ifin they want. Booze ain’t on da approved drinkin’ list of your furries, so keep all dat to yourself and make sure any pawrty foods are appropriate. Or better yet, give your furry their own treats and foods along with purrlenty of fresh water. And purrlease, Don’t drink and drive or play with combustables (fireworks). How’d ya’ like me’s use of da big word there? Purretty good huh?

 Pet Parade banner new

Me’s gonna wrap it up now and see ‘bout getting’ me some nip. Come on Raena, mommy purromissed to take us fly fishin’ and get some fotos to enter in our Pawlympics event. Don’t furget to send us your “Fly Fishin” fotos. Check out our Pawlympics posty here fur details and da link fur all da Pawlympics events. There are some great ones.  

Raena plays with the flying toy
 

Check me out. I’s got da moves, huh?

 

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

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and RaenaBelle  

Raena with nip pouch

A Mewsy Blest Sunday

Published on by Service Cats U.S.47 Comments

Meowllo everypawdy and welcome to another Blest Sunday. Even tho’ we’ve been takin’ a few days off we didn’t wanna miss our Blest Sunday posty. Mommy says she’s gotten a lot accomplished and things should start to settle down fur us soon. Me will be so glad to get all this lease stuffs behind us, so we can go fur lots of leisurely strolls. You’ve purrobably noticed da new header and background fotos, and ifin ya’ follow our other social media sites, we’ve been updatin’ them as well. While we may not be ready to move sis Lexi to da side bar only, Raena is here to stay, and it’s only right dat she takes her place alongside me. 

 Dezi and Raena play

Anyways, this has been a pawsum week. Raena and me played our furst game of patty cake. Me patted too hard da furst time and Raena went flyin’ but she came right back and me learned to be more gentle with me’s pats. Of course we didn’t have any memory fur da camera’s so mommy didn’t get any fotos. But, fanks to uncle Mike, fellow cat scout Pete Hartley and furmily, awnty Susan Mullen, and an anonymous sender via amazon we have memory so both camera’s are charged and ready fur da next furst ‘tween Raena and me. And mommy keeps watchin’ fur another round of patty cake. She says it was adorable. Me doesn’t know what’s so excitin’ ‘bout us playin’, but mommy’s get x’cited over just about anythin’. Anyways, Fank ya’ll so much. Mommy does luv takin’ fotos of us and she really was sad dat she might miss some of Raena’s kittenhood.

Raena grabs at Dezi

 Mommy, make Raena quit pullin’ me’s tail.

Raena tried to catch Dezi

Speakin’ of Raena’s kittenhood, me told ya’ dat she had to go to da VET on Furiday fur her furst round of kitten vaccs and a recheck of her eye and nose; well all went well. Sort of. Dr. C went to give her da shot, and stead of pokin’ Raena, it spit out all over her furs. Yep, she’s so fluffy he missed her skin altogether and vaccinated her furs. Raena showed her disapproval by turnin’ and spittin’ at him. Me was purroud of her, but mommy told her dat wasn’t nice and dat she needed to behave ifin she wanted some of those yummy treats. Well a few minutes later da tech re-entered with a new syringe of medicines and Dr. C went in fur a second try. He got her dat time and she wasn’t da least bit happy ‘bout it. She’s on a L-Lysine supplement fur 10 days to hopefully clear up her eye and nose run. We would purreciate any purrayers you could spare as well. Anyways soon enuff they were all done and we were off.

(This was sis Lexi one week befur she left fur heaven. This past week Raena and me both have been playin’ with da same nip pouch, so we thought we’d show ya’ll a good nip toy never gets old.)

 

Mommy had picked up this bag of treats da last time we was at da VET fur me’s rabies shot and Raena luvved ‘em. So mommy had purromissed dat she would get another bag fur Raena after da VET visit. So off to Walmart we went to get treats. What are they you ask? Well they must be new cuz we hadn’t seen ‘em befur. But they’re called Delectables Juicy Treat. They come in several flavors and cost .50 cents a bag. There’s about 6 little chunks of moist meat purr package. Da meat and vitamin E supplement are da only ingredients, so mommy knows it’s good fur us. Me doesn’t care fur them much but Raena luvs them. So mommy gets me da freeze dried chicken breasts and Raena gets these.

Well we finally headed fur home. And fank catness too, cuz it was hot enuff to fry an egg on da sidewalk out there. When we got to our door we noticed a Chewy box waitin’ fur us. We hadn’t ordered anythin’ so we had no clue what it could be. After getting’ us inside and settled mommy opened da box to find it full of summer goodies fur her. Chewy had done sent mommy a thank you box. Me doesn’t know why mommy needs a fank you, after all us kitties do all da work and try all da foods and treats and toys and do all da posin’ fur fotos and…well, anyways, mommy sure did purreciate her Chewy box, and all kitten aside, me really purreciates Chewy fur thinkin’ ‘bout mommy too. She does a lot of work puttin’ together helpin’ with our review postys.

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Well after all dat excitement and overwhelmin’ heat, we all crahsed and slept like logs. Raena was back to her spastic and annoying self bright and early Caturday meownin’. So this past week was full of blessings. As always, we count all of you among da biggest of our blessings. Fank you all fur bein’ our furiends. We’re sendin’ big hugs and purrayers to and fur all of you. Don’t furget to take a moment today and everyday to give thanks fur da blessings in your life.  

Purrlease let us know what ya’ think ’bout our new background.

Is it too busy or just right?

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

 

 

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and RaenaBelle

Dezi prepares for attack while Raena hovers between scratchers

That’s Close Enough

Published on by Service Cats U.S.49 Comments

It’s finally Furiday. Me thought you would never get here. It’s been a crazy week ‘round here, what with da weather takin’ another turn early in da week with storms a purrlenty and then heatin’ up like a sauna. One day mommy was sittin’ in her chair when me looked over at her and she was drippin’ wet. Sure ‘nuff she was soaked from her head to her toes. And nope wasn’t cuz she had just got outta da shower, it was ‘nuffun’ more than just plain sweat. See mommy has these things she calls purrsonal summers. And let me tell ya’ she was havin’ one of those right then.

 Raena looks up sweetly from the brown cat tree

Now we signed up fur this purrogram with da ‘lectric company a few yars back dat was ‘posed to save us some money. And so far it has. We’re not sure how it happens, but we have saved a few green papers since bein’ in this purrogram. In da summer our a/c will pre cool da place and then at 2 o’clock when da rates go up, da a/c raises it’s coolin’ temp to around 79 to 80 degrees till 7 o’clock when purrices drop again. And da ‘lectric company gave us this real cool digital purrogrammable thermostat. You know da kind, set it and furget it? Well dat’s ‘zactly what we did, till da other day when mommy just couldn’t stand it anymore.

 Dezi and Raena watch each other from a few inches apart

Dezi prepares for attack while Raena hovers between scratchers

(Come on over Raena…You’s fixin’ to meet me’s Whacky Paw up close and purrsonal.)

 

She got up and said she didn’t care what they was chargin’ purr kw, she wasn’t gonna be sweatin’ in her own home. So mommy got up and went over to da thermostat and there it was, set fur 65 degrees and heat. Yep, da a/c wasn’t on at all. Dat ole thermostat had done switched us to heat. And da actual tempurrture in da house was 86 degrees. No wonder mommy was sweatin’. She was havin’ a bit of heat stroke with her own purrsonal summer. Mommy pushed some buttons and furinally got da air to blowin’ and went and took a cold shower.

What fun dat was.

 Raena plays with the Cat Dancer

Raena kept tryin’ to jump up on da side of da tub with me, but there’s nuffin’ to actually grab onto and she’s just too little to reach. She can’t jump on top of anythin’ in da bathroom right now. She’s started usin’ da big girl pawdee boxes but you should see her; she makes a runnin’ jump to get into ‘em. And once she’s inside you wouldn’t be able to see her ifin you weren’t standin’ up over her. Mommy says she’s growin’ like a weed but me will believe it when she doesn’t have to run and jump into da pawdee box.

 Raena plays with the Cat Dancer

Raena plays with the Cat Dancer

There’s been a few really cool give aways goin’ on ‘round da blogosphere lately and me’s been tryin’ to win some so me would have some new things fur me’s new sisfur when she arrived. Well me won dat really cool PetSafe Flitter toy from Cody and couldn’t wait fur Raena to arrive so we could open it up and play with it. Me luvs da PetSafe toys so me just knew Raena would too. And me was right, we had a blast playin’ last night. Fanks fur havin’ dat pawsum give away Cody.

 Dezi and Raena play with the PetSafe Flitter toy

Dezi rolls on the nip mat while Raena plays with the PetSafe Flitter toy

(I’s sharin’ mines nip mat wiff sis Dezi awnty Ellen. I’s a good girl, mommy says so.)

 

Anyways, we’ve been getting’ some really good questions ‘bout trainin’ a Service cat. While we plan to write ‘bout Raena’s trainin’ as we’re doin’ it, we thought we’d give an overview of trainin’ and what to look fur when choosin’ a Service cat to train ifin ya’ll are interested.? The overview nor our training posts will be comprehensive and in no way are they meant to be a training manual. We post them fur entertainment and education. Anypawdy dat tells you there aren’t any oopsies while trainin’ a Service animal is lyin’. Granted, you don’t reward da oopsies cuz ya’ don’t want them repeated, but they happen none da less.

 Raena plays with the Cat Dancer

Well me’s gonna go fur now. Da sun is shinin’ and me hopes to go fur a stroll. Mommy says she has a lot to do to finish up our lease recert. papers, but me knows she has to take a break every now and then. Me thought you might enjoy seein’ some of da foto mommy’s been takin’ while Raena and me get used to each other. She found da Cat Dancer toy and seems to luv it as much as me does. And she even shared her new “made with love” nip blanky from awnty Ellen. And it’s Furiday, so me’s joinin’ Rascal and Rocco fur da Pet Parade.

Pet Parade banner new

One last thing befur ya’ ask, Raena and me are doin’ good. Me’s not ready to swap spit, lick butts and cuddle. Fur now me thinks nose touchin’ is close enough. Me will keep you all updated. 

 Dezi hanging out on top of the Liberty Cat tree

Would you be interested in an overview post about picking and training Service cats? 

Do you have any specific questions you would like answered?

Do you (your human) have purrsonal summers? If so how do you get relief?

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

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and RaenaBelle  

Blest Sunday Announcement

Published on by Service Cats U.S.65 Comments

Meowllo everypawdy, me hopes you all had a pawsum weekend. We did a lot of nothin’. Last week was really busy and hot. Me got lots of sunshine just like da weather guesser said. Da storms are back now, and me actually hung out with mommy a bit this meownin’, thunder boomers and all. Anyways, all dat goin’ and doin’ last week was really stressful and exhaustin’ fur mommy, so when Caturday came we just crashed. But me did tell ya’ dat me had some big news to share with you all so we took a break from our break to paw in. 

 

Dezi watches the kitten from atop the cat tree

Drum roll purrlease…

Me finally has a new sisfur. Now me knows you all wanna see her and hear all ‘bout it. And ya’ wanna know her name and ya’ wanna know how we be getting’ along, right? Well…You’ll just have to wait till tomorrow fur all dat. Mommy wanted to have a little say ‘bout some things today, so me told her she could have a paragraph but no more. This is after all me’s bloggy and me’s Blest Sunday posty. Anyways, take it away mommy, but ‘member, keep it short; me has a few more things to say meself.  

Dezi looks opn as new kitty covered by a red bow sleeps
Hey you there. Who said you could sleep in me’s new cat bed?

Thank you darlin’. As Dezi says all the time, we are truly blest to have all of you in our lives. Since losing Lexi I have been a bit of a mess. And each day that Dezi grieved and had to try to help me by herself I felt guilty that I couldn’t help her or seem to get her help in the form of another kitty. I have always said any cat can be trained to be a Service cat, and I still believe that. But, if you don’t already have a bond with a cat then a kitten is the best choice because they are eager to learn. And they aren’t being taught tricks, they’re being taught how to help me continue to live independently. So our search for Dezi’s helper had only 2 prerequisites, we had to have a female and she had to be a kitten. Nothing else mattered. So each day I would make numerous calls to shelters, and rescues and to any online or printed ads I could find. During our search we “claimed” and applied for numerous kittens, but something would always happen. We lived too far out of the rescues’ adoptable area, we couldn’t afford the adoption fee, we were only adopting 1 and they required 2 when adopting kittens, the kittens were sick, and the worst, the kittens died. And then we found one. But, now we faced a moral dilemma because she was being sold by a backyard breeder. We in no way support these breeders, but they do exist. The State of Oklahoma is full of them.

So we posted our quandary and asked you our friends for advice. I’ve gone back and forth many times over whether or not to address the comments of that post, and well, here it is. After crying many tears I must say I expected much more compassion and understanding for our situation; especially since I was and am still reeling from the loss of Lexi. Since I need the assistance of my service cats everyday, we don’t have an unlimited amount of time to wait for the ‘right’ kitten to show up. And who’s to say the ‘right’ kitten isn’t one from a backyard breeder. The fact is those kittens have been born and now need a forever home just like the ones at shelters and rescues. And just because someone charges upwards of $1000.00 for their kittens doesn’t always make them or their kittens any better than backyard breeders. It’s supposed to, but things don’t always work like they should. And altho I knew I would have to pay an adoption fee, I don’t make anywhere close to a thousand dollars in a month and what I do make has to pay the bills and feed the kitties. Yet another reason I didn’t bother to check with breeders. Everybody calls it adoption these days no matter the charge. And make no mistake, in our part of the world at least, you’re buying that kitty or doggy from a rescue or shelter. With adoption fees ranging from $75.00 to $250.00, they’re not much less than most breeders in our area charge; who often get $250.00 to $450.00 for their “responsibly” bred purebreds. In the end, we prayed about it and saved the life of a beautiful female kitten. And you know what? She is the ‘right’ one for our family. We only hope that you all love her as much as we do. I’ll hush now and turn it back over to Dezi.  

 Dezi peeks over edge of cat tree at new kitten

Thanks mommy, but you took more than 1 paragraph there. Anyways, me’s gonna be innerducin’ me’s new sisfur to you all tomorrow so me hopes you will stop by fur a visit and welcome her to Blogville. We are so blest to have found her, are are grateful to all of you fur your luv, support and purayers. ‘Member to take a moment today and everyday to count your blessings. Today me’s gonna join da Kitties Blue fur Sunday Selfies. And don’t furget to enter me’s give away fur a pawsum new litter mat here. And me thought you might like to see some fotos of me carefully surveyin’ da newbie her furst night here. Now dat’s a lot of And’s ain’t it?. We’ll be ‘round to visit as soon as we can. Da lights have been flickerin’ but we’s hopin’ da power stays on and da innernet stays up.

 Dezi starts down the cat tree

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

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi