My Strange Addiction

I love rubbing cats' ears. I love it so much. I also like gently nibbling on cats' ears with my lips. Do you know what I mean? Please tell me you know what I mean.

Kitty Hearts Doggy! It's a Book Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and love is in the air! This time of year we celebrate all kinds of relationships -- even the loving, yet sometimes tumultuous, connections between cats and dogs. Jeremy Greenberg, author of hilarious titles such as Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed: And Other Heartwarming Letters from Kitty, has perfectly captured these unlikely connections in his adorable and witty book, Kitty Hearts Doggy.

The book profiles pussycat-pooch couples and asks each one how long they've been together and about the secrets that hold their relationships together. Then each one is allowed to share a few words from their viewpoint. Because both parties should get a say, right? Although I'm pretty certain cats usually get a little more say than their canine counterparts. 

Kitty Hearts Doggy is the perfect combination of cute and funny. It's appropriate for any age and I think makes a fabulous Valentine's Day gift for a loved one who is an animal lover. And who isn't an animal lover? Weird people, that's who.

Cosmo tries to hide the evidence of his kitty-canine-love curiosity.

Guess what? Catladyland has a copy of Kitty Hearts Doggy to give away to THREE lucky readers! 

Here's how it will go down:

• You must comment WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS and indicate interest in qualifying for the giveaway.
• The giveaway closes at 11:59pm CDT on Wednesday, February 5, 2014.
• Once contacted by email, you will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be drawn.
• Winners will be chosen via randomizer.org.

Good luck!

Thanks to BlogPaws, Cats Fight Over My Lap All Day!

My lap is prime real estate when I'm working during the day. Phoebe and Cosmo constantly battle for who gets to snuggle up with me. And if one of them is poised for a jump into my lap and sees the other has already claimed the space, all kinds of stink eye happens.

Just like this:

Hey, you know what doesn't stink? The opportunity to attend the BlogPaws conference in Las Vegas this May! This will be my 5th year attending and I can't imagine missing a year. In fact, one of the reasons I get to write all day, with cats fighting over my lap, is because of BlogPaws.

It's true! This very blog is what kicked off what has become a fruitful freelance writing career, which led to the publication of whiskerslist: the kitty classifieds last year! I've met most of my influential writing and blogging connections through BlogPaws. The choice to go to the conference was a turning point in my life as a blogger and writer!

Cat blogging ladies on awards night!

If you are a pet blogger, or want to become a pet blogger, I hope you will join us this year! BlogPaws always has the best speakers and the coolest hotels in fantastic locations! Thinking about how you'll fund the trip? Here are 13 suggestions for creative ways to get you to BlogPaws! And guess what else? When you register, you'll receive 10% off when you use this special code: BlogPaws2014-Angie-10.

I always make new friends at BlogPaws!

And I'm a BlogPaws Ambassador, so feel free to ask me anything about the conference! I'm happy to help! And please join the BlogPaws Community. There are great groups, loaded with friendly people who are of like mind! There's even a BlogPaws newbie group! Oh, and you can always join us on Twitter Tuesday night (except the third Tuesday) for #BlogPawsChat from 8-10 p.m. EST.

Did you catch all that? Hope to see you in Vegas!

I Love Finding Interesting Little "Presents"

I love finding cat toys in shoes. Last week I was passing through the entryway of our house and saw a bright pink mouse inside my daughter's shoe. I was completely tickled at the thought of one of our cats purposely dropping that mousie in the shoe. She'd probably carried it around for a while, howling to announce her "kill." And then she decided, "I'll leave this little present right here." I'm sure she was so proud of herself.

It's the little things, you know.

Speaking of presents, my friend Melissa Haas wrote a book called Catula: The Misadventures of Dracula's Cat. You guessed it -- it's about Dracula's cat. It's aimed at both kids and adults, but I'd probably target it more to older kids. It's witty, cute and available here.

My Cat is a Part of Living History

I have no recollection as to the origin of this hat, but it seems like someone in my family has always had one lying around. When I was young, my grandpa used to place a tiny sombrero on top of his hound-mix dog's giant head and take an entire roll of photos.

My family history is rich, I tell you.

For When Your Feet Are In Trouble

The other day I saw Cosmo sacked out on one of the cat beds. I had to laugh because his little black paw pads blended in perfectly with the paw-pad print on the bed. It's the perfect bed for if your feet are in trouble (you know, for walking across the kitchen counter or a human's face) and are trying to hide out somewhere.

Phoebe, Cubed

Phoebe loves the Catty Stacks cubes we set up beside the cat tree. In fact, she's claimed them as her own. She especially likes it when I play with her through the cubes. We're kind of cube-mates, except she looks way cuter sleeping inside those things than I do. Oh, and she's one of those cube-mates that steals my lunch.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Phoebe usually meows when she wants food, but sometimes she speaks volumes with only her looks.

Something is terribly wrong with this picture.

Phoebe uses her charms on my husband ... because she knows he's a complete sucka.

My Cats Sits Toddler-Style

Cosmo occasionally likes to sit in my lap, like a toddler. He especially enjoys this position when I'm doing my "business" in the bathroom. Other times, he'll sit for awhile when I'm just chilling on the sofa.

Here's my view of him sitting toddler-style. Of course, it's always a treat to see his fuzzy little "panties."

FYI: I am not sitting on the toilet.

My Cat Looks Like a Butler

When I come home, I have to walk up a small set of stairs to get to the main living area. Cosmo often waits at the top of the stairs for me. When he does this I laugh because he looks like a little butler waiting to serve me. The kick in the pants is that he's waiting for me to serve him.

Surprise Score!

There's a door to a storage closet in our family room. I opened that door the other day because I was looking for wrapping paper. I didn't find wrapping paper, but I did find several cat toys and a straw that had been batted under the door. Score!

A Good Cat Pic? Good Luck With That

I take a lot of cat photos. I don't have to tell you taking the perfect pic of a cat can be challenge of astronomical proportions. Out of a dozen or so, I'll probably nail one or two good ones. The rest look like this:

You want me to wear WHAT hat? Denied.

Talk to the tail.

Ain't nobody got time for this.

My Cat Won't Choose

Sometimes I like to give my cats a few choices of items and see which they choose. Then I take photos and they become part of a Catladyland or Catster post. I recently offered Cosmo three items for which he normally goes bananas. Do you think he was excited about the offerings? Not so much. Instead he looked at me like I'd gone completely off the deep end. Ungrateful cat. Or else overwhelmed by the awesome.

Really?

My Cat Makes Funny Sounds

I love it when I touch a sleeping Phoebe and she makes little squeaky noises. Does your cat do that too? I find it ridiculously adorable and totally humorous. My own little fuzzy squeak toy.

Somebody needs a squeaking, don't you think?

Sometimes I just can't stop squeaking her. Here's a little video I too -- the squeaks are very soft, hopefully can can hear them. There's a little speaker icon at the top left of the video. Make sure there's not an X on it -- if there is, just click it and you'll enable the sound. You see, I'm only telling you that because I left the X on and thought maybe the squeaks had never happened. Maybe I'd dreamed them.

Hold Everything and Bathe!

I love watching cats play. One of the things that makes me laugh the most is how they'll stop mid-play and just start cleaning themselves. Seriously, they could have bathed that exact part of their body minutes earlier, but something makes them stop and go at it again. What? Did you suddenly pick up some stray dust? Is your fur out of place? Cats are such little weirdos.

I threw a little fish toy at Phoebe this morning and she did just that. Little weirdo, indeed ... but a horribly cute one.

The Lap Dance

I spend most of my workday sitting at a desk, writing about cats. Cosmo spends most of his workday either in my lap or staring at me, waiting for an invitation to jump in my lap. This was him yesterday afternoon. Poor baby doesn't get enough attention ... HA!

Of Toys and Food

Do you find your cats' toys lying beside their food or water dishes? Or in some cases floating in the water dishes? Yeah, me too. It's funny -- I imagine them batting the toy around, and then deciding, "Hey, I'm hungry!"The toy beside Saffy's food dish has been there for days.

My Cats' Favorite Toy

In the evening, I usually pull out an interactive toy and try to get the cats to play -- and get some exercise -- for a little while. Da Bird (a simple feathered wand-toy made popular on My Cat from Hell) is my go-to because it seems to be the only toy to which all three of my cats will respond.

Cosmo is an all-out freak about Da Bird. He flies out of the woodwork when he senses the toy has made the scene. Phoebe shows curiosity and likes to jump for the feathers, although she seems to enjoy the stalking more than the getting. Saffy is our pudgy senior girl who really needs the exercise. She tends to go after the toy when I drag it on the floor. We call her "Paws of Lightening" because, although she's old and chunky, that girl's paws can move!

Last night I saw all three cats hanging out in the same area (shocker!) and decided to grab Da Bird. As usual, Cosmo was all over it. Phoebe watched from the bed and Saffy kind of ignored me -- no surprise there.

Do your cats have a favorite toy?

You can barely see the feathers, so I thought I'd save you some time with the arrow.

And the Winner Is ... My Cat!

I'll admit it: I'm kind of an entertainment junkie. I love movies, and would go to the theatre every single day if I had the opportunity. I don't watch a ton of TV, but definitely follow my favorite shows and have a pretty full DVR.

Needless to say, I was glued to the Golden Globe Awards last evening. My family loves all awards shows and we always make a big tadoo out of them. We used to have costume contests during the Oscars, in which we'd have to show up dressed in the theme of one of the nominated films -- the costumes were always surprises, and there were some good ones. This year we decided to get totally dressed to the nines on Oscar night. Hey -- life is supposed to be fun, and this is one way we enjoy our time together!

My cats are part of the family, and Phoebe was front and center during the Red Carpet show last night. She loves Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and was interested in watching Ryan Seacrest interview them. Maybe I'll make Phoebe a little tiara to wear on Oscar night. 

Tuxie-Shaped Stalker

When Cosmo is not sitting in my lap, he is doing this. 

My cat is a tuxie-shaped stalker.

Some Cool News and a Photo of Saffy with a Plastic Lid on Her Head

It's the weekend! Woo Hoo!!! We wanted to take this opportunity to share a few bits of news with you. For starters, Catladyland's Facebook page hit 300,000 this week! That's almost a third of a million! Holy cats, that's cool! Thanks to all of you for contributing to the fun we have every day on the good ol' Facebook.

Did you hear that Texts from Mittens has its own Twitter account now? That's right -- our pal Mitty finally took the leap to Twitterville and is currently hounding Judge Judy for a follow. Paws crossed he'll get his wish. In addition to Tweeting the new and flashback text message images, he's also personally Tweeting. Yes, this is your opportunity to chat with Mittens himself! Please note that nothing will change as far as Facebook goes -- you'll still see Mittens there every day. This is just an "in addition to." Ohhh ... also keep your eyes and ears peeled for Mittens merchandise. We polled you on the Facebook page last week, and there's definitely a desire!

Click here to access Mittens' Twitter page!

The price of my book, whiskerslist: the kitty classifieds, has been reduced this week on Amazon. It looks like they have a limited number left in stock before they will order more from the publisher. If you've been thinking about snagging a copy, now's the time to do it! And thank you to everyone who already has a copy and is enjoying it -- I love the comments and messages you've been sending me! Don't forget you -- um, your cat -- can create ads on the whiskerslist site, as well as comment on existing ads. How fun is that?

Click here to order whiskerslist.
Click here to access the whiskerlist site.

The BlogPaws conference is quickly approaching. This one will mark my fifth year in attendance! I'll tell you, it's well-worth the trip to connect with like-minded pet lovers, learn a ton about starting a blog -- or making your existing one even better, and have an absolute TON of fun! And since I'm an Ambassador, feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the conference -- I'm happy to help! 

And guess what? One of the cool things I get to do as an Ambassador is offer you a discount on the already deal of a registration fee. Here's how it works: When you check out, use the special code BlogPaws2014-Angie-10 and you'll receive 10% off the already-deal-of-a registration fee! 

Click here to register for BlogPaws.

And lastly, as promised, here is a photo of Saffy with a plastic red lid -- I mean hat --  on her head. Stacy and Glenn, this is especially for you, although I hope everyone enjoys the glory of The Lady in Red.

What I Saw at the Top of the Stairs

Yesterday I was walking upstairs to grab a snack and ran square into Cosmo at the top of the stairs. He looked like a little toll booth operator. Unfortunately, I didn't have any treat-shaped currency with me, but he still allowed me to pass -- with an IOU, of course. He's generous that way.

What's Happening Right This Second

Sometimes on the Catladyland Facebook page I'll ask readers what their cats are doing at that exact moment. It's always fun to hear about the shenanigans and lethargy that happens in other cat-lovin' homes. This morning I decided to take photos of what my cats were doing at exactly 6:30 a.m. Please note: This was after breakfast, otherwise the scenes would have been a little more "festive."

Phoebe, lying on my bed, eyes slowly dropping.

Cosmo, under the end table, eyes on FIRE!

Saffy, on her bed, ignoring me. Again.

So, what are your cats doing right this second?

Starting the Day With a Giant Mistake

Mistake #1: Thinking I can pour a cup of coffee before feeding the cats.

Intimidation Will Get You Nowhere ... This Time

I've mentioned that my cats rarely share the same space -- especially the girls. Phoebe harbors more than a little disdain for Saffy. You can imagine my interest when I looked over and saw Saffy and Cosmo sitting in one of the basement windows, with Phoebe boxed out. Pheebs wasn't amused, and gave Saff the old stare-down routine, which didn't work, by the way.

Score one for The Saffster, who's usually on the short end of every single stick ever.

No room at the inn.

Phoebe: "Move." Saffy: "No."

Sun Slivers Rule

I love how, no matter how dark it is in my house, the cats can find the smallest sliver of sunlight and position themselves inside of it. Today the temps are frigid in many parts of the country -- right this second the windchill here in Minnesota is -41° F -- and I may just be looking for a sliver on sun in which to bask. I sure as heck wouldn't look as cute as Phoebe, though. In fact, I'd probably look slightly ridiculous .. but seriously, when has that every stopped me? Try never.

There are Cat-Shaped Cinnamon Rolls in the Icebox

A lot of the U.S. is a giant icebox right now, and where I live in Minnesota is no exception. As I am typing this, my phone tells me it's -14° F actual, with a windchill of -31° F. That's pretty cold in my book. I'd assume it's pretty cold in anyone's book.

I'm going to take a cue from my cats and snuggle up today. I love it when they curl up so tightly that it's hard to even discern their body parts. They just look like sweet little cinnamon rolls. Mmmm ... cinnamon rolls.

My Cats Sort-Of Snuggle

I've previously mentioned my cats aren't snugglers. I wish they were because I love watching a couple of cats curled up together. Yesterday I caught Phoebe and Cosmo sort-of snuggling. This is about as close as they get, but I'll take it.

Do your cats snuggle?

Photobomb Cat Strikes again!

The other day we took down the Christmas decorations and, just like when we put them up, the nosy cats had to inspect every tub and climb inside every basket. Phoebe immediately claimed a gold holiday basket and I moved in my with camera to grab an adorable shot. Just at that moment, Cosmo decided to drop a huge photobomb. Phoebe was not amused.

Incoming photobomb!

Phoebe isn't great at hiding irritation

Finally, the perfect shot.

Sleep-Standing Cats are the Best

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is when cats fall asleep standing up. It's even better when they start weaving back and forth. Phoebe did the sleep-standing thing yesterday and -- lucky me -- I had my trusty camera handy.

Midnight Butt-Sniff: Denied!

Hope you were on the receiving end of lots of New Year's kisses (or butt sniffs) at midnight! Me? I was asleep around 10:00.