I must cover her ears if this is said outloud: Kizzie is not a purebread. Regardless, she is Maine Coon all the way. She has the luxurious long coat, the lion's mane, those long tuffs of fur in her back feet, the boots on her lower back legs and, last but not least, the trademark big bushy tail. I read somewhere that Maine Coon's are a tail with a cat attached.

I had never owned a long haired cat before so I was not prepared for the maintenance they require. The first time I noticed she was matted I was taken by surprise. The mats were hidden underneath her long hair.  Being an inexperienced person, I went for the scissors. (Those of you who are in the know are probably now screaming "NO, NOT THE SCISSORS!") Being ever so careful not to cut her, I placed my fingers between her and the scissors and snipped off the first mat. She immediately darted away all twitchy and began to furiously lick herself. She ran to the back of the house where my daughter caught up with her and who yelled "MOM, LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THIS CAT!!!"

What I did not know then is that cats have very thin skin. No matter how careful you are, if the hair pulls, it takes the top layer of skin with it. This poor cat had a hole in her skin the size of a quarter and of course a big gaping red sore spot. Yes, I hang my head in shame to this day.

The lesson here is never, ever, use scissors to cut a cat's hair - especially mats. The experts - vets and groomers - will back me up on this. Forget you have scissors and consult with your veterinarian.  As for Miss Kizz, her troubles with mats do not end here. More to come ...

For now much love,
Nanny

Sunny with his own present from Grandma and Grandpa

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

I thought it would be fun to get my cats an early Christmas present. I found what I thought would be a fun toy for them - or so the box promised me. It is called "Teeter Totter Cat Actiity Center". When I got it home and opened the box I discovered it was in 16 pieces that I had to assemble. Oh no. Nanny doesn't do well with "assembly required". Of course, the instructions were about as clear as mud and the list of parts was wrong. It listed "tube sections (4 short and 1 long)" and I had 4 long and 1 short. It also listed a part "L - tube section (2 short)". There were none and also none indicated on the diagram.

I decided to forge ahead and attempt to put it together anyway. The big old fat cat (Kizzie) observed from a distance, perched on the back of the loveseat and the little boy (Sunny) layed on the table were I was working, patiently observing. I had to walk away from it a couple of times as my patience was wearing very thin. Kizz looked at me as if to say "well, as you know it is too far beneath my dignity to play with something like that so don't go all out on my account". Sunny remained relaxed in his comfortable vantage point on the table and I think he would say "good job, mom. Keep trying. I don't know what this is, but it must be something important."

After a while, I did manage to put it together fairly well. The last glitch was a piece that was supposed to slide across the center tube except for the bump that was on it about a 1/3 of the way across so the piece could not go to the middle. All righty then. It stays were it is! As little beads of sweat began to form across my forhead, I decided to leave well enough alone and put it down on the floor for the cats.  Can you guess what happened next?

Both of them jumped down and checked it out thoroughly, sniffed it all around, ignored all the little dangly balls and feathers and the teeter totter thingy with the marble in it and casually walked away. Neither of them has gone any where near it since.  They were supposed to be "mesmerized" by it but the only thing they were mesmerized by was me putting it together!

All's well that ends well though. A family member adopted 2 kittens from the local animal shelter last week and I plan to give it to her to take home for them. Maybe kittens would enjoy this toy more than my grown up cats?

So, lesson learned. No more fancy toys for Nanny's cats. I will stick to scrunched up paper balls thank you very much!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas with much joy and happiness!

Love,
Nanny

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Nanny is so excited. I received my first box of business cards yesterday and they look really good. I handed out quite a few of them and received positive feedback. There were some promises for referrals and some very positive feedback on my blog. I've also had a chance to test out the new boots and I must say they are awesome. They pass the most important criteria - fashion (check), then comfort (check) and last but not least warmth (double check).

A funny thing happened yesterday on my way to walk the dogs.  When I was waiting at the bus stop, two of the cutest old ladies I have every seen were making their way towards me, one carrying some shopping bags and the other pulling a little bundle buggy. The sidewalk was slippery in spots so they were being very careful. Even from a distance it was clear that this was team work. They were looking out for one another. As they came closer to where I was standing in the bus shelter they stopped and one of them pointed to me and exclaimed "Now that's how to dress for this weather!" She stood back a bit and then continued to make a detailed appraisal of what I was wearing.  "See, she is wearing those nice warm pants and those boots! Those boots are perfect! I used to have boots like that." (Honest, I couldn't make this stuff up.) She went on "She has a nice warm coat with the hood up and wool gloves. Perfect." Her friend seemed less interested in what I was wearing as she was in getting home. I thanked her for the compliment and they went on their way.

I guess the Universe had decided to give me a pat on the back that day. Who am I to question that?

Lots of Love,
Nanny McFur

Every year when my dad and step mom bring over the Christmas gifts they bring something for my cats. A little gift bag just for them with a tag that reads "To Kizzie and Sunny, Love Grandma and Grandpa". What a sweet thing to do! It says the cat's are special and part of the family.

Kizzie sniffs it out to see if there is food involved. You can show her a toy but she will stick her nose up in the air and walk away. No food. No Kizzie.  Sunny is not so interested in what is in the bag as he is in the bag itself. He carefully pokes through the crunchy tissue paper stuffed in the top to see if there is enough room for him and then he climbs inside.

The cats may not understand what it is all about but I do. It  is a really nice gesture and I always appreciate it.

How are your pets included in your Holiday traditions?
Love,
Nanny

Being a resident of Southern Ontario all my life, I can tell you that each and every year we are both shocked and offended by the onset of winter. Today it was minus 21C with the windshield in my little corner of the world (that's about minus 6F for my American friends) and it was dog walking day.
Nanny doesn't have a car so I travel by bus.  Luckily, there is a bus stop right outside my door.  However, the bus does not stop right outside the client's door so I have to walk 4 blocks from the bus stop to their home.

Because of our denial, Ontarians are also unprepared for winter weather and Nanny is no exception. I have three pairs of boots, all of which are perfectly suited to my driving days which meant only short jaunts from car to door. None of them are warm and comfortable enough for the 4 block walk there, the dog walk, and the 4 block return walk to stand and wait for the bus. My toes were so frozen they were actually hurting even though I was wearing fleece lined tights under my jeans (ahhhhh, the fleece lined tightsssss) and chenile socks over them.

Although they were enthuastic about going out, it really was too cold for the dogs as well. We were only out for about five minutes when poor little girl pup was lifting her back paw and not wanting to put it down (the dog - not Nanny) so we went inside to play for the rest of our visit.

I made it back the 4 blocks to the bus stop with the wind assaulting me as it blew like a gale-force wind tunnel straight at me all the way. It was then that I knew I had better stop at the mall and buy some warm walking boots - after all, I am a professional, right? No more sexy leather high heel boots for me ... well ... not on the job anyway.

So let this be a lesson to you, all you people who work outside - dress warmly and comfortably for cold weather! Oh wait, I was the only silly who had to learn that the hard way, wasn't I?

Until next time ...

Much love,
Nanny McFur

Have you ever wondered why, no matter how many times you straighten the angel on top of your tree, it always seems to sit crooked? Perhaps the following video can explain. This is also a cautionery tale.  I've written my comments below. What do you think?



Have a safe and happy holiday season,
Nanny McFur

It was a pleasure to have Simon with me this week. What a clever cat with a great disposition. I know his pet parents are glad they rescued him when he was kitten crying on their porch.

Nanny will be breaking from this segment for the holidays. Look for Spend the Week with Nanny to return in the new year.

Happy Holidays!
Love, Nanny McFur



What's up there?




Look at that sweet face




Mmmmm ... garlic bread




Kitty dreams



And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

When my son called me on my birthday, the fire alarm went off in his apartment building. He let me go and called me back later to say it had been a false alarm. It was very stressful for him and his fiance because they had to quickly decide how to evacuate their three cats. They put each one in their individual carriers but he said it was horrible having to decide which one to take care of first. This prompted me to do some research to see if there is any advice for pet owners on emergency preparedness for pets. The following is some useful information from Wiki-How:

How to Prepare an Emergency Plan For Your Pets

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

If you are like millions of animal owners nation wide, your pet is an important part of your household. The likelihood that you and your animals will survive an emergency such as a flood, tornado, or hurricane depends largely on emergency planning done today. Some of the things you can do to prepare for the unexpected are the same for any emergency. Whether you decide to stay put in an emergency or evacuate to a safer location, you will need to make plans in advance for your pets. Keep in mind that what's best for you is typically what's best for your animals.

Send me your pet pics and a bit of info for this week's Spend the Week with Nanny.

So comfy

4 year old Simon knows he is one lucky boy.  It was about 4 years ago in the late fall and on an unusually cold day with temperatures reaching minus 25C that his new pet parents heard him meowing on their porch. His mother was also with him. They knew they couldn't leave them out in the cold so they brought them inside. Simon was so cute and so lively that they decided to adopt him. Luckily, a neighbour decided to adopt the mother cat. Since that day Simon has been a full-fledged member of the family, sharing his new home with his sister and brother cats.

Watch for Simon this week on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz.

As always,
Love,
Nanny

A nice sunny spot

Annie and Eecheb are best buddies most of the time. Annie is the Queen of the house. What she says goes when it comes to what the 2 boy cats are doing. Annie is not a fan of the newest cat to join the family, Tobin Dax. Eecheb and Tobin get along quiet well, however Annie prefers to stay away from Tobin. The only time you will find Tobin and Annie beside one another is when they are sleeping, then everything goes out the window and they are best of friends.  Annie will be 5 on January 1, 2011 and is a rescue adopted from the SPCA when she was 6 months old.

Eecheb will be 7 on April 2, 2011. He loves peanut butter and chocolate, just like his mom and dad. When he was born he came out with a curly tail (just like a monkey) and a pretty decent overbite. The vet believes that his tail was probably broken either in his mothers womb, or when she gave birth to him and his siblings.
It was a pleasure having Eecheb and Annie take the virtual tour with me this week.

Love,
Nanny McFur



Eecheb's curly tail






Try to relax, Annie ;)



And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

This ought to put you in the mood for Holiday shopping!

Got a pet story to tell? Love to write? Guest pet bloggers are welcome to submit stories for my website. Click on the contact tab above and send me some info.

As always,
Love,
Nanny McFur

Who will be the next pet to "spend the week" with Nanny McFur? Send me some pics and info about your pet and they will have their own blog post and their picture will also be my profile pic on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz for the week. Click on the contact tab above. Hope to hear from you!

Love,
Nanny McFur