And the Winners Are...

Our 1st Annual Halloween Cats Photo Contest was a screeching success, but before we announce the winners, let me thank everyone who entered the contest. All the photos were wonderful, and it was very difficult to select the winners (especially when ALL cats are winners!). Our decisions were based on originality and cuteness, and even though all the photos made us smile, here are the winners that made us smile the most…

1st Place – DIVINA
2nd Place - SPIRIT
3rd Place - TUX & TWITCH
4th Place - MS. RIZZO

Con-cat-ulations to Divina, Spirit, Tux & Twitch, and Ms. Rizzo, and to their humans. And thanks to everyone for sharing their delightful Halloween Cats photos.

Back Home Again Damage Report 2010

Steve and his female (my humans) just returned from their vacation in France, and although they were only gone a little over a week, it felt like a lot longer. We missed them, (we being me and my housemates Bo Diddley and Piglet), but during their absence, we spent a collective 600 hours napping, so mostly, we missed them only in our dreams. And, as usual, we were able to con our pet sitter into giving us an overabundance of kitty treats. Still, when humans leave cats home alone for extended periods, they MUST pay, and Steve and his female are no exception. Here’s the teach-them-a-lesson-for-leaving-us damage report, and with three cats on the job, it’s massive (well, not quite as bad as the house in the photo above, but VERY extensive):

• 45 minutes of serious kitty scorn (we tried for an hour, but we couldn’t hold out any longer)
• 2 unraveled and finely-shredded rolls of toilet paper
• 2 “accidents” outside litter box
• 4 upended wastebaskets with contents batted around and scattered
• Extensive chewing on the leaves of three of the female’s favorite houseplants
• Houseplants used for… well, you know
• Dirt from houseplants plants kicked out onto carpet
• 1 kacked-up hairball on coffee table, with fallout spatter on the DVD remote
• 1 kacked-up hairball on the kitchen floor, from top-of-the refrigerator altitude
• 1 Ming Dynasty vase knocked over and broken
• All kitchen cupboards opened and edible contents consumed (or at least messily checked out)
• Bag of flour chewed open and spread around kitchen floor
• All DVR’d shows deleted and replaced with programming from Animal Planet and Comedy Central
• Ultra-shredding on arm of couch
• All books pushed out of the bookcase and onto the floor (except The World Is Your Litter Box and The World Is STILL Your Litter Box)
• Overwhelming smell of cat throughout the house
• Cat hair on everything

And one final thing… Steve and the female said they saw two very cute chats (that’s ‘cats’ in French) in Normandy, but none in Paris. They did, however, see a lot of chiens (that’s ‘dogs’ in French) in both places… la terreur, la terreur! I’ll have more about the chats and chiens of France in an upcoming post. And now that the teach-them-a-lesson-for-leaving-us-home-alone has been administered and the score has been settled, I admit that I'm glad my humans are home!

Home Alone... Again!

From Saturday, October 16th through Monday, October 25th, Steve and his female (my humans) are going on something called a vacation to a place called France. From what I understand, a vacation is where humans go off somewhere and do as little as possible (hey, wait a minute… that sounds very much like what we cats do all the time! Does that mean that cats are always on vacation?). And France (for you geographically-challenged kitties) is a country in Europe where cats are known as chats.

Anyway, what this means to moi, is that while Steve and the female are strolling around Par-ee and having a wonderful time, I’ll be left home alone. Well, not completely alone because my housemates Bo Diddley and Piglet will be here with me, and our pet sitter will be coming over to feed us and give us doses of love and attention. Still, when the humans go away…they must pay! And as all cats know (if you read the “How to Punish Your Human When They Leave You Home Alone” chapter in The World Is STILL Your Litter Box), I’m talking about destruction. Nothing on a nuclear scale, mind you… just enough household damage to let Steve and the female know that leaving us cats alone for an extended period was a VERY bad idea. And with Bo Diddley and Pig to help me, we should be able to wreck enough havoc to teach Steve and his female a lesson they shan’t soon forget!

Meanwhile, keep those photos coming for our Halloween Cats Photo Contest. We’ve received some great ones, but we want lots more! For contest info, including the email address where your photo should be sent, click here... or scroll down a couple posts. We’ll check them out and post them on our Facebook page when the happy couple returns from their vacation.

Until then, adieu mes amis et collegues chats!

In Defense of "Crazy" Cat Ladies

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, fellow cat, that humans are an endless source of amusement. Humans are just so much fun to manipulate, cajole and mess with, that we cats just can’t help ourselves… I know I certainly can’t. Yet, there’s one sadly abused and misunderstood group of humans that deserves some slack and possibly even a little extra kitty love. Yes, that’s right… I’m talkin’ about “crazy” cat ladies.

First, let me state that a human can never have too many cats… with two very important caveats. One is that all cats, no matter how many, be well-treated, well cared for and loved, and two, that the homestead is kept clean and doesn’t smell like… well, like cat. If you’re a human and can adhere to those simple rules, you are welcome (by my official decree) to have as many cats as you want… within reason, of course. You don’t want to take on more cats than you can comfortably accommodate and take care of properly. In other words, you don't want to become a cat hoarder.

Now secondly, I strongly object to the use of the word “crazy” to describe humans, especially women, who love their cats pretty much to the exclusion of all else. There’s nothing crazy about loving cats… in fact, if you ask me, it’s one of the major signs of sanity in humans. And, hey, if a person happens to be a little on the obsessed side about their feline companions, so what? Believe me, it’s better to be obsessed about cats than some of the other things humans get fixated on. Humans do many things that are genuinely wacky, but loving cats too much is not one of them.

So “crazy” cat ladies, if you get along with cats better than other people, so be it. If you want to be buried in cats while you sit on the couch and watch TV, more power to you! And if you can’t resist giving a good home to just one more cat in need, you are, in my estimation, an exceptional human being. Cat ladies rock!

Our 1st Annual Halloween Cats Photo Contest!

To celebrate Halloween (very possibly the most fun holiday of all!), we’re running our 1st Annual Halloween Cats Photo Contest. Woo-hoo! To enter and have a chance to win some fantastic prizes, all you have to do is take a Halloween-related photo of your kitty (or kitties) and email it to quasi@theworldisyourlitterbox.com. You can dress your kitty up in a costume, or simply take a photo of them next to a pumpkin or some other Halloweenie-type thing. Be creative, but don’t harm or embarrass your kitty for the sake of the photo! Be sure to include your name, the name of the cat in the photo, and a “snail mail” address. What could be easier?

The contest will have one grand prize winner and second, third and fourth place winners, to be determined by Team Quasi (that would be me, Steve and Steve’s female). We’ll be looking for cleverness and originality, but above all, cuteness. The grand prize winner will receive signed copies of my books, The World Is Your Litter Box and The World Is STILL Your Litter Box. The second, third and fourth place winners will receive fabulous items from the newly-opened The World Is Your Litter Box On-Line Shop. All photos will be posted in the “Halloween Cats” photo album on The World Is Your Litter Box Facebook page.

The contest will close at midnight (PDT) on Friday, October 29th, and the winners will be announced on Sunday the 31st… yes, that’s right… Halloween! So, good luck everyone. We can’t wait to see your photos!