Winter Safety for Pets

Cold winter weather can provide many hazards for your pet, especially outdoor friends and strays.  Be a responsible pet owner this year and follow these tips from Alley Cat Allies to keep your furry friend happy and healthy through the winter season.

Some additional tips that Zooey and Baseball wanted to add:

• Make sure outdoor pets have access to fresh water and don’t allow it to ice over.
• Feed them a little extra – staying warm when it’s cold out burns more calories.
• Make some roughneck homes.
• Keep pets indoors on particularly stormy, wet, rainy, or snowy days.
• Make sure all indoor/outdoor pets are brought inside over night.

Click Here to check out even more tips on winter safety from Alley Cat Allies, and make sure your friends stay safe and warm this winter!

Foster a Pet for The Holidays

Baseball was a very lucky kitten when Mom found him without a home in the middle of a cold November.  He was warm and cozy just in time for Thanksgiving, and by Christmas, he was growing steadily!

Unfortunately, not all animals are as lucky as Baseball was that night.  There are many out there who are still waiting for the love of a forever home.

But the folks at Petfinder.com are working with animal shelters and rescue organizations across the nation in order to get as many of these pets into foster homes as possible this holiday season!

What better gift to give this year, than hope and love to a fellow creature in need?

To find out what you can do to help, check out Petfinder.com for all the information you’ll need on how to foster, and to find a shelter near you.

Unable to take in another pet this year?  Pledge to tell at least one person about the program, and enter to win a new Bissell Pet Floor Vacuum, and a $250 donation to a shelter of your choice.

Now go help some furry friends! :)

Have you ever fostered a pet before?  Do you have any tips for someone who may be new to the process?

Our Outdoor Pals

The other day we told you that we made friends with some stray cats that were abandoned by our neighbors.  Mom gives them food and water every day, and we just made them some Roughneck Homes to shelter them for the winter!

Even though they’ve been our friends for several years now, we still can’t hang out with them whisker-to-whisker, because Mom says they might not have been given their vaccines, and that means they could make us sick!  Being sick doesn’t sound like very much fun, so we trust her.  Plus, she told us that soon she plans on taking them to get low-cost veterinarian care, so in the meantime we’re content to just sit and look at each other through the windows.

Although there are about 5 or 6 regulars that come by, the three that were left by our neighbors are the only ones who seem to have been someone’s pet at one time or another – which means they’re stray.  The others, like the one we named “Scar,” have probably never had a human owner – and that means they’re feral.

The 3 strays are our best friends, and we hang out with them a lot.  And even though it happens very rarely, they’ve actually let Mom pet them a couple of times!  Usually though they stay a “safe” distance away, which means they’re just barely out of arm’s reach.  But they really love it when mom talks to them, and they come running across the yard to say “hello” whenever she opens the garage door or pulls into the driveway. It seems like they might finally be starting to trust her more.  We sure hope so, we’ve lived with her for 6 years, and we know they don’t have anything to be afraid of!  In fact, she always has more love to share with another animal – even if it makes us kind of jealous sometimes!

We don’t have any pictures of our feral friends at the moment, but here are some photos Mom took of our three best friends:

From left to right: Tiger Lily, Cutie Pie & Sweet Pea

Tiger Lily

Cutie Pie

Giveaway Winner!

Hooray! It’s giveaway day!

What does that mean? It’s finally time to name the winner of our Snuggle Up and Read Giveaway! One lucky winner is about to receive an organic holiday themed baby blanket from Delano Designs Baby, and a copy of one of Baseball and Zooey’s books!

We asked Mom for a drumroll but I guess you can’t see those over the interwebs, so you’ll just have to believe us when we say that there is one….

Congratulations To:

Rose B.

Because she’s the lucky winner, Rose will get to pick her prize out of the three blankets shown, and our two books. Just in time for a long Thanksgiving weekend – we’re sure there’s a little one in Rose’s life who’s going to enjoy curling up with a new blanket and a book after a big family dinner!

Congratulations again Rose! And thanks to everyone who entered, what a fun giveaway! We certainly enjoyed it, anyways. And the good news is, there’s still a chance to win a copy of Zooey The AcroCat from GoodReads! Click here to visit the site and enter today.

We hope you all have a great weekend!

Snuggle Up and Read Giveaway!

The cold weather is finally starting to roll in in our little corner of the world, and we’ve decided to celebrate by participating in another giveaway!

Baseball and Zooey have teamed up with Delano Designs to encourage you to Snuggle Up and Read with a fun and cozy giveaway this November.  Enter any time between now and November 15th, and you could be one of the lucky winners of a holiday themed organic baby blanket from Delano Designs Baby, and a copy of one of Baseball and Zooey’s books!

To enter, just head on over to Delano Designs’ Facebook page to like, share, or retweet any photo in the Snuggle Up and Read album – enter as many times as you want, and the winner will get to choose their favorite blanket and book from those pictured. Don’t have a child in your life?  Enter anyway, and if you’re the winner we’ll donate the gift to a charity in your name!

Good luck!!!

Pets in Costume

Baseball and Zooey both grew out of the one pumpkin costume they had, so they won’t be getting dressed up to hand out candy to trick or treaters this year.  But lots of other cats and dogs will be!  In fact, it’s estimated that people will spend $370 million on Halloween costumes for their pets, in the United States alone!

Here are some cute examples of Halloween costumes for pets:

Will your pets be dressing up this Halloween?  What will their costumes be?

The Inspirational Marmalady

There are a lot of stories out there of animal abuse and neglect out there, and sometimes it can get rather depressing – but Baseball and Zooey think Marmalady’s story is a heart-warming reminder of strength and love.

Marmalady was found bedraggled and injured in an apartment complex parking lot. Apparently left for dead after being hit by a car, she was rescued by some kind folks who immediately took her to The Cat House on The Kings for help.  Unfortunately, there they discovered that one of her front legs was so badly injured that it needed to be amputated.

Photo Credit: The Cat House on The Kings

However, her story doesn’t end there!  Upon hearing of her plight, people from all over the country began donating money to provide the little orange tabby with all of the medical attention she would need to get better.

The operation was successful, and The Cat House on The Kings gave everyone daily updates on her progress from their facebook page.  This bright eyed little kitten stole the hearts of thousands as she persevered and learned to walk again.

Soon it was time for Marmalady (named for the orange of her coat) to find her furr-ever home.  The applications flooded in, as everyone had fallen in love with her charms. But even though Marmalady was going to be fine, she was now considered a special needs cat, which meant she needed to go to a home that could handle her needs. Luckily for Marmalady, a woman named Laura from Canada, had applied to be her mom.  Laura already had a few other dogs and cats to be Marmalady’s brothers and sisters, so she knew all about how to take care of animals.  Plus, she had a Catio – a screened in patio for the cats – so Marmalady could still enjoy the outdoors even though, with only three legs, she had to be an indoor-only cat now.

Photo Credit: Marmalady Lemieux

When she was finally ready to go home, Laura drove down to California, and Marmalady and her new mom made the drive back up to Canada!  It took a little while for Marmalady to warm up, but luckily she had her very own bedroom to hang out in until she felt safe enough to meet her new brothers and sisters and explore the house.

Today, Marmalady loves her new home, and Laura keeps everyone posted on her progress via Facebook.  Marmalady has 2,253 friends and counting!  It’s amazing to see the love and support that everyone has poured out to her.  She and her brothers and sisters love each other very much, and every day is a new adventure!  Marmalady never lets her handicap stop her, or dampen her spirit.  Now she has furr-friends from all over who post their pictures and tell her their stories.  She has become an inspiration to humans and animals everywhere!

Follow Marmalady on Facebook!

Photo Credit: Marmalady Lemieux

Related Post: The Cat House On The Kings

National Feral Cat Day

“U meen some catties has to lives in boxes insted of howses?”

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard about National Talk Like a Pirate Day (Y’aaaar Mateys!).  In fact, now there’s even an option on Facebook that allows you to change your language to Pirate.  What does that have to do with cats, you ask?

Well, honestly, not a whole lot.  But, it does go to show that if you dedicate a specific day to something, you can really get people talking – no pun intended!

And getting people talking can really create some long lasting changes.  Just ask the folks at Alley Cat Allies.  Over a decade ago, Alley Cat Allies got together to create the first national feral cat day in order to get people talking and promote the welfare of feral, stray, and abandoned animals

Today is the 11th annual National Feral Cat Day!

What can you do to get involved?  Head over to their website for more information and ways to donate.

Most importantly, always be sure to spay and neuter your pets!!

“Wel, if Baseball has a shu box then I gets the milk crates!”

Make a Difference – and Vote Cat!

It’s time to find out for once and for all – are Cats really better than Dogs?

Baseball and Zooey are pretty sure that’s the easiest question they’ve ever been asked…

Obviously the answer is cats!

This month, Purina.com is sponsoring the great debate, Cats vs. Dogs!  Who will you choose?  Click here to place your vote every day between now and November 8th, 2012, and animals won’t be the only winners!  For every vote, Purina will donate $1 to Pet Partners’ veteran programs, and you’ll be helping to make a difference in the lives of veterans everywhere.

Just remember…Cats rule and Dogs drool!

Global Cardboard Challenge

Last year, a story about a boy named Caine who had created an entire gaming arcade out of cardboard boxes in his father’s auto parts store went viral thanks to this video made by Nirvan Mullick:

This year, in honor of the anniversary of the Flash Mob that surprised Caine at his arcade, Caine, Nirvan, and many others got together to designate this Saturday, October 6th, a global day of play called The Cardboard Challenge.  To find out how you can participate, and help foster creativity in children everywhere, check out the follow-up video below, or stop by the official website at CainesArcade.com.

Caine’s story is an amazing testament to how the support of a single person can change the life of a child.

What are you up to this weekend?  Baseball and Zooey encourage you to get out there and PLAY!