Well, here we are, another Service Cat Monday. Raena and me meowed ‘bout it and meowed at mommy a bit and we’ve decided to take a break today. With mommy not feelin’ well, our visitin’ has been limited, so we’re a bit behind. And ya’ know what? Tomorrow is the day of Love. Now the world celebrates this day with candies and flowers and it’s all ‘bout the couple kinda luv. We don’t have that here, so we’re gonna be celebratin’ a different luv, a pure luv. As most of ya’ know, we write an article fur the Daily Mews. Don’t furget to sign up and check out some of the other stories while you’re there. This month, we wrote ‘bout that different kind of love and we thought we’d share it with all of you.
As most of you know, we lost sis Lexi last year. She lost her battle with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) and went to heaven. It broke mommy’s heart and sis Lexi took a piece of mommy’s heart with her. It left mommy and me very angry. Not at sissy. We knew how tired she was and how weak she was. We could have never been angry with her, but we hated the disease that ravaged her. We were angry with God for taking her and letting her get sick in the first place. Mommy says all that’s normal; it’s part of grieving. Mommy also says we all experience loss at one time or another; it’s how we pick up the pieces and move on that matter. Let me first tell you all that we’re still picking up the pieces. However, as you know, we did get another kitty to train as mommy’s second Service Cat.
Here’s the thing. Nobody asked me what me thought. Me didn’t wanna be the big sisfur. Me didn’t wanna be the head Service Cat in charge, trainer of the new fluff ball, defender of mommy and all. It’s a lot of work. Just how did sissy do it? How did she manage it all without lifting a paw? She was the fiercest tigress on the planet. Everybody towed the line when she was around. We always knew we were safe with sissy on duty. And let me tell ya’, she was the bestest Service Cat ever. And me couldn’t have asked for a better sissy. She whooped little ole tyrannical me into shape in no time. How? Well, let me tell you.
Sis Lexi was pure L O V E, Love. Yep, you read that right. Mes sis Lexi loved mommy and me with her whole being. She never asked to be the big sisfur either, but things happened and there she was, having to not only share mommy and her toys with me, but teach me the ropes too. And she did. Sis Lexi could sense that mommy needed her, no matter where she was or what she was doing. It’s because she loved mommy so deeply. Mommy loved her just as much. And says, that a love like that needs no words. Sometimes mommy and sis Lexi would just look at each other and sissy would get up and go to sit in mommy’s lap and purr so loud the house shook. Okay, maybe the house didn’t shake, but it sounded good. Didn’t it? And trust me, sis Lexi could purr. It could very well have shook the house, it for sure shook the bed at night.
It’z about time da we got new batteriez fur da wheelchair
The video isn’t very good quality, but we thought you might like to
hear that purr and sis Lexi meow with mommy. You can
Bet you’re all wondering what the greatest lesson sis Lexi taught me was?. Sissy taught me how to love unconditionally and trust that mommy loved me the same way. Now, mommy and me communicate without saying a word. And that new sisfur me didn’t ask for? Well, me loves her too. Even tho’ she can be a pain in mes behind, me wants to be for her what sis Lexi was for me. Me wants Raena to know the kind of love that consumes you. Me wants her to never be afraid and to know that she’ll never be left behind or thrown away.
Mommy says Valentine ’s Day according to the world is a lovers’ holiday. And that’s all well and good, but since there are no lovers in our house, mommy says we celebrate the purest and rarest love of all. Unconditional Love. When all those around fail you, It’s your furry purrer that will always be there. No matter what comes our way, or what trials life may throw at us, we will endure and come out on the other side because we have love. We might still be picking up the pieces after losing sis Lexi; but we’re doing it with the love she left behind. Mommy says if more people took a lesson from the kitties book of love, this world would be a better place. We thank you all for sharing these little moments in our lives. And for those of you who think you’re alone…rest assured you’re not. We love you all and feel blest to have you in our lives. Love is the greatest gift you can ever give; and the greatest gift you’ll ever receive. Unconditional love is rare. When you find it, hold on tight. A true gift is given with no expectation of receiving anything in return. We purray you all know unconditional love in your lives.
Welcome to our very furst Blest Sunday of da Mew Year. Can you believe it? Another year has come and gone. Saying goodbye to 2016 was very bittersweet fur us. Last year brought us so much sadness and yet, so much joy. We all meowed and chatted ‘bout just what kind of posty we would make today. We’ve made some mew furiends this year and lost some old ones, so in da end we decided a look back was the way to go. Fasten your seatbelts and let’s zoom back to January of 2016. (This posty looks longer than it is, cuz we added lots of fotos fur your viewing purrleasure.)
Y This ain’t so bad after all.
What a fine time; sis Lexi was still with us. We don’t make resolutions in our house, so instead, me gave you all a challenge. With so many anipals awaitin’ their furevers, me challenged you to all share and do whatever you could to help more of those anipals than ever befur. We partnered with a shelter here in Oklahoma and shared adoptable kitties every week till the shelter was empty. That’s right, they actually went fur several weeks without any kitties needin’ furever homes. January wasn’t all work tho’. Mommy and me made mes furst pick up truck fur the annual Cat Scout Derby. Me didn’t win, but we did have a good time. Mommy fur sure isn’t crafty. MOL And we never could have known when we wrote ‘bout our pets grief that we would be facing that ourselves very soon.
I luvz minez mommy even more today
In February, sis Lexi was havin’ more bad days than good, and we started getting all sentimental and mushy. We celebrated our 2nd blogoversay; and just in time fur Valentine’s Day, sis Lexi wrote a thank you post to mommy. Me wrote mes thank you a couple of days later. And we got all educational and wrote a post telling you all about spay/neuter and vaccinations.
When March came blowing in, sis Lexi took a turn fur the worse. She couldn’t balance very well, and wouldn’t eat much. Ever the Service Cat tho’, she continued to do what she could to help mommy; giving her massages meowning and night. And on Wednesday March 9th, 2016, sis Lexi gave up the fight and went to heaven. Mommy was a mess; me was a mess, and we wrote another post onpets grieving. We ended the month explaining why mommy needs Service Cats.
Isn’t this just beautiful? Lexis’ furever resting spot that will sit on mommys desk.
April found us trying to figure out how to go on without sis Lexi. We began our search fur a new Service Cat to help me help mommy. Little did we know, that she hadn’t yet been born.
May came rushing in, and found us posting home made treat recipes. You can check out a couple of those treats here and here. And furinally on mommys’ birthday, May 27th, she got a lead on a new Service Cat in training. She had been born April 21, 2016. Sis Lexis’ birthday would have been the 29th.
So we waited with baited breath fur June to roll round. The day finally rolled around and mommy went to pick up mes new sisfur and helper. She was a little puff ball of pi_ _ and vinegar. A real spitfire, mommy called her. Of all the names mommy threw out, the little spitfire answered to Raena. Mommy had done a little research and thought that was purrfect. It’s a shortened form of Rahannan and means “New Beginnings”. We purrticipated in our furst Blogville Pawlympics, and turned Miserable Mondays into Service Cat Mondays. We plan to continue posting those Service Cat posts this year, so ifin you have any questions about Service cats or training cats, just let us know.
July came bounding in just like Raena. We continued our Service Cat Monday posts and Raena got to make her furst post all by herself. And she learned all about treats, catnip and giving reviews. She learned how to be a blogging cat.
August sped in and saw Raena saying goodbye to monthly VET visits where she got poked and prodded. Raena continued to grow and explore her new home. We continued with Service Cat Monday and also wrote about kitties teething. We ended out the month with a day of remembrance written by mommy for sis Lexi.
September 2016: Raena and me both got our furst Silvervine sticks. OMC Those things are outta this world. And we continued Service Cat Mondays, offering training tips for all kitties.
October was the month Raena had her “spa day”. We both got new harnesses and Raena learned to walk on a leash and go out in the stroller. We ended the month telling you about Shad, mommys’ furst Service Cat.
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Me couldn’t wait fur November to get here, it’s mes Birthday and Gotchaday month. What a time. Me got some great purresents and we finally had pizza. Raena got her furst nip nanner fur mes birthday. We also posted leash training tips in a Service Cat Monday post. And we were so blest to have received boxes fur mommy that included cleaning supplies fur all kinds of cleanin’, food and turkeys fur our holiday dinners.
Finally, December blew in and so did Christmas. OMC Were we ever blest!!! We got purresents, food and mommy food too. We received a couple more gifts over the weekend, that we still haven’t got fotos loaded fur. You know what else? All of you, our readers and furiends have been here fur us. We luv you all so very much!!!
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We’ve shared lots of sorrows this year, and also lots of joy. Some of us lost beloved family members, both furred and non furred, and some of us got new family members. The one thing we all have is the luv we share. 2016 was a roller coaster ride fur sure, but we wouldn’t have made it thru without all of you. Thank you all fur being our furiends, and sharing your lives, luv and support with us. The year was full of so much more, we just couldn’t list it all. We are indeed, Blest. ‘Member to take a minute today and everyday to give thanks fur the blessings in your lives. We’re joinin’ the Kitties Blue fur Sunday Selfies, and we hope you enjoyed our little slideshow with more Christmas fun. We can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll all be up to this year.
Hello everyone, mommy Audra here today. Can you believe Christmas is just a week away? For anyone who reads our blog regularly, you know that I don’t write posts often. I live for my girls, and they have so much to say. And when we started this journey into technology and social media, my “fears” of the all seeing intrusive internet, led me to speak through them. I quickly learned about Facebook pages and the girls’ personalities came to life. I knew we, especially Lexi, had a story to tell I just didn’t know if anyone was interested. Through the years I’d sent her story to cat publications, only to be disappointed by their lack of interest. Somehow, through the magic of the internet, we connected with people. Lexi touched peoples hearts, the way she had touched mine. When she introduced her sister Dezi to everyone, their story took on a life of its’ own. And out of that, DezizWorld was born. To keep this post from going on for days, I’m just hitting the highlights.
We garnered followers who quickly became friends. I remember the first person I ever spoke directly to in something other than the girls’ voice in a comment. We began to look forward to seeing and reading about our friends lives. And of course we always love seeing photos. Who could ever tire of seeing pictures of beautiful cats? And they’re all beautiful, aren’t they?.
I remember our first Christmas in social media. The kindness and generosity of those “strangers” now friends. Yet still, people we would probably never actually meet. I didn’t understand how people could be so loving?. For the first time in the girls’ lives, they actually had a Christmas with presents under the tree. And not the repurposed ones I’d dug out of the bottom of the toy box. They were so adorable. They almost didn’t know what to play with first.
And then, Lexi got sick. Again, it was you, our friends who reached out. It was you, our friends who helped and you, our friends who were there for us, when she died. In some ways, this year has flown by; and in others, it has been the longest and hardest year of my life. For those of you who don’t know, for the last 25 years, I had lost a cat every 5 years. It felt like a curse. When Dezi turned 6, we celebrated like never before. I took a deep breath for the first time in years. It was always the younger cat that left me. I never even thought there’d come a day when Lexi would be the one to go. I really mean that. I know how unrealistic that sounds, but it’s just the way it was. Anyways, you were all there for Dezi and me, and for that, we can’t say thank you enough. I’m still trying to pick up the pieces.
But life goes on. Soon Raena would join our family, and hopefully your hearts. You’ve all welcomed her, and for that I’m grateful. As some of you have noticed and emailed us about, Dezi’s personality has changed. When we started all this, we determined to always be truthful, good, bad or otherwise; and you can continue to expect the same. Dezi faced the same loss as me when Lexi died, and it did affect her personality. At least I can reason it all out, Dezi doesn’t truly understand everything that happened. With the addition of Raena and Dezi becoming the “big sister”, her personality has continued to shift. These are all things to be expected. I imagine she will continue to evolve as Raena continues to learn and grow. Dezi’s still that sweet beautiful kitty girl you’ve all come to know and love, she’s just trying to find her way in our new dynamics. Those of you who read our blog regularly will be here to see how it all plays out. We imagine our blog will continue to evolve as the girls’ personalities take shape.
We do hope you will continue to follow us in the coming years. I know today is Blest Sunday, and we’ve had a multitude of material blessings this week and want to say Thank you very much. But I wanted to take today to thank you all for the biggest blessing in our lives, You. Yes, it’s been a rough year for us, but we have been blest every day to be a part of this community. We pray for all of you daily. We share your joyful times and your sad times. Many of you have felt the pain of loss this year, and will be missing one or more of you family/furry family members this Christmas. I’m not here to offer you advice on how to cope as I’m still reeling myself. But I do want to remind you, to take a minute and give thanks; we are all Blest. As long as we’re all here for each other, we’re never alone.
We would also like to thank you all for your kind words and Christmas wishes and cards. Some of you may have already received our card, and some of you may have gotten it more than once. I apologize if you receive(d) multiple emails from us, this old belles’ memory isn’t what it used to be. lol The girls and I want to thank you all for everything. And we wish you all a very Merry and Blest Christmas.
Dezi & Raena: Don’t furget Sunday Selfies with the Kitties Blue mommy.
Well meow everypawdy. Here we are another week closer to mes Gotchaday, which is next Tuesday ifin you’re wonderin’. Anyways, it’s also Service Cat Monday. You know what dat means; it’s time fur another Service Cat trainin’ posty. We had a lot of great questions, and sure hope we’ve given everypawdy some helpful trainin’ tips these last few months. Ifin you’ve missed any post in da series, you can ketch up by clickin’ on da links at da bottom of this posty. We told ya’ last week dat we had reached da end of questions asked by you; and dat unless we got any more we would start tellin’ a few stories ‘bout mes trainin’. And, well, we didn’t get any questions this past week, so today you’re gonna hear ‘bout some of da fun dat occurs durin’ trainin’. As with all our educational posts da followin’ will be in human English speak. So let’s get started.
Mommy wanted me to remind you all that altho’ training should be taken seriously, you can still have a lot of fun. We thought we’d focus on wheelchair training today. Let me give ya’ a little information about electric wheelchairs; or at least the one we have. At the end of one of the arms is a control panel. Ours is on the right arm since mommy’s right handed. On this control panel is a joy stick, power button, horn and speed buttons. The other arm has a small pouch attached for things like keys, a phone, wallet, and/or treats. For the first few lessons, mommy usually has the chair already turned on, so all we have to focus on is the joy stick.
Me was purretty young when mommy first started mes training, but me still had very large furry paws. Mommy had learned while training sis Lexi and her then brofur Lucky, that the wheelchair needed some padding if she hoped to avoid damaging walls, doors and furniture. So mommy cut up some foam pieces and attached them to the arms and foot rest. And in the pouch she placed a bag of our favorite freeze dried chicken breast treats. Mommy tries to avoid first thing in the morning training because she can’t move everything (legs, arms, etc.). So one afternoon, mommy got all set for mes training session, and it went something like this.
Bigify to see teeth marks
Mommy sat down in the wheelchair that had been moved to the bedroom facing the bathroom. This is the shortest distnce and straightest line we have to drive. What could go wrong, right? Then she began calling for me to join her. Me was familiar with the wheelchair since it had been a part of mommys life from the day me came to live with her. So naturally me ran straight to mommy and jumped up in her lap. The newly attached foam had all mes attention. Me was sniffin’ each piece and even put the bitey on one of them. Of course that’s not what mommy had intended so, she gently moved me further into her lap and positioned me with mes head over the control panel where the joy stick resides. Mommy had already turned the power button on and turned the speed down to it’s lowest setting.
Mommy then gently pushed mes head over to the joy stick and tickled mes chin and nose so me would open mes mouth. And then she gently pushed mes open mouth down on the joy stick and said, “Bite”. Hmmmmm Really? Bite? Hasn’t mommy been telling me Not to Bite everything? And now she wants me to Bite? Whatever. Me bit down on the joy stick but nothing happened. Me wasn’t sure what was suppose to happen, but nothing did. So, me let go of the joy stick and started to turn to look at mommy. Well, while maneuvering meself to turn around, mes big ole furry kitty paw landed on the speed button. Of course neither mommy or me was aware of this until, mes other big ole furry paw pushed the joystick forward. Now mind you, all of this happened in just a few short seconds, not the slow motion it sounds like now. Anyways, what happened next is the very reason for those foam bumper pads mommy had attached to the chair earlier.
Me had one front paw and one back paw in mommys lap and one back paw on the arm of the chair and the other front paw pushing against the joy stick. And before mommy could even say mes name, we bolted across the room and ran right smack dab into the chest of drawers sitting next to the bathroom door. Yep, we ran right into that big ole chest. Me jutted forward and then back against mommy as we made an abrupt stop due to the size of the chest we had just hit. Mes eyes were as big as dinner plates and mommys dropped jaw was still over by the bed where we had started. Sis Lexi came running down the hall towards us from her spying place right around the corner. Me gathered meself together and jumped over the back of the chair and zoomed down the hall towards sis Lexi. Head on collision in the hallway. Once me made it to the end of the hall me sat down, looked around and started bathing meself as if me had planned it all. Me could hear mommy hollerin’ ‘bout how much she luvved me and how purroud of me she was, but me wasn’t ready fur any hugs and snuggles, so me stayed put. Gotta remember to reward our actions. Altho’ things didn’t go as planned, me had “driven” the chair.
Once mommy gathered her dropped jaw and moved the chair back into position, she began to call for me again. Sis Lexi had taken up a safe position on the bed to oversee mes training. Reluctantly me headed back down the hall towards mommy and the kitty killing wheelchair. Okay so maybe the chair didn’t kill any kitties and maybe no kitty was actually even harmed, but it sounded good didn’t it?. Anyways, me jumped on the bed with sis Lexi and meowed with her a bit. A frustrated mommy finally reached into the pouch and brought out the hidden bag of freeze dried chicken breast treats. Of course sis Lexi and me were both in her lap faster than that chair could move.
While mommy fumbled around opening the treat bag, sis Lexi and me clamored back and forth to see who would get the first treat. Of course during this time, both of us kept stepping all over the wheelchairs’ control panel turning the chair off and on, off and on, and honking the horn. And then of course the moment came when the stray paw pushed the joy stick. It could’ve been a stray butt too, but we’re sticking with the stray paw. It just so happened that the chair was on and again at full speed. Can you guess what happened next? Yep, away we went. The treat bag went flying and so did sis Lexi. Let me tell ya’, in her day, she sure did love her some treats. Mommy and me came to an abrupt halt when we hit the side of the bathtub. Mommy has seen it coming but all too fast to stop it. At least she was able to grab hold of me and held on tight so me didn’t get thrown into the bathtub. When we came to a stop, mommy looked at me and said, “This is why, you’re to calmly drive the wheelchair with your mouth Dezi, and not your paws.” At that moment me could care less what we were supposed to do. All me wanted was down and at those treats sis Lexi was now gobbling up.
It’s gonna be mines turn next.
Well, there ya’ have it, wheelchair driving 101. Fur all of you dat think we just magically know what to do da furst time, well, dat just ain’t true. After 2 crashes in less than an hour, mommy halted trainin’ fur da day. Oh we’d be at it again da day after and da day after dat. Cuz ‘member, trainin’ is all ‘bout repetition. We’re still takin’ questions, so ifin ya’ have somethin’ ya’ wanna know or hear ‘bout, just let us know. Ifin we don’t get any questions befur next week, we’ll pick up where we left off here. ‘Member to check out our purrevious Service Cat postys by clickin’ on da links below. Me’s gonna go see ‘bout getting’ some treats right now, so me hopes you all enjoyed readin’ mes story.
Service Cats U.S. 