Bitsy

Here is how Bitsey looked in comparison to a regular sized cat (who looked a bit - no pun intended) like her on CNN. Wow, CNN, can my meomy get ME on CNN. My grandparents live in Florida in the winter - that is not far from Atlanta after all.

Bitsy, the World's Smallest Kitty

I read this account of Bitsy on several sites that meomy showed me. Here is what they say:

Bitsy is so tiny, she only weighs 1.5 pounds, stands 6.5 inches tall and measures 18 and 3/4 inches from tail to nose. Auriette Lindsey of Pensacola, Florida who’s the owner of Bitsy is trying to find out whether Bitsy could make it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Smallest Cat. People will never change. Exploiting poor animals for owner’s profit will always take priority.

Auriette Lindsey told WEAR-TV that she’s trying to get Bitsy in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Smallest Cat, but their officials want to see the video and pictures of how the cat is measured to make sure they are no misrepresented figures. Auriette Lindsey insists that Bitsy was born of normal sized cat and the rest of the litter was normal sized as well.

Current holder of the World’s Smallest Cat lives in Louisiana and is heavier than Bitsy, but shorter. Guinness Book of World Records officials should declare who the World’s Smallest Cat in 6 weeks.

There is a video of Bitsy on Youtube:
It's found here Bitsy on Youtube

My thoughts are worrisome about this. Meomy tells or reads to me about cats and kittens called munchkins which she says are cats raised because they are small but often have many health problems and humans often make a lot of money selling them. Imagine selling a poor cat because she or he is small. That in itself is cruel I think. The only munchkins of any note should be from the Wizard of Oz and they are fiction and not even feline. (Plus Dorothy as I recall had a dog, a good dog but a dog, lol)

So, please, while I think this makes for a newsworthy tale, it also Bitsy might have medical problems and may come from one of these backyard breeders who specialize in deliberately creating small cats! We are made to come as we are - not like some toy one can choose for size.

Thanks for listening. Sometimes, I get up on my paws and just have to say stuff like this! I hope Bitsy is an exception and that she will be just fine! And oh, I would not mine having some of MY videos up there. (Hint to my meomy!)

Socks the Cat Dies!

Rest in Peace, Socks

Another of my feline favourites has died. Socks, the former cat of the Clinton family, was euthanized yesterday morning.

Socks's caretaker, Betty Currie, broke the news yesterday afternoon. The cat had been suffering from jaw cancer and seemed unable to get up after collapsing in his litter box yesterday morning.

"He wouldn't eat for two days," Currie told SoMdNews.com. "This morning, when I got up, he didn't get up [too] like he normally would." Given the cat's deteriorating condition, Currie consulted a vet, who agreed that it was probably time to put Socks to sleep.

The Clintons adopted Socks for their daughter, Chelsea, while Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, and brought him to the White House in 1993. The black-and-white kitty was a familiar sight throughout the Clinton administration -- in which Currie served as the president's personal secretary -- and had been living with Currie in Hollywood, Md., since Clinton left office in 2001.

In a joint statement, Bill and Hillary Clinton said Socks had brought their family much happiness, and thanked "our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."

Socks would have turned 20 this spring. Currie said she plans to have the former First Pet cremated.

While he had a good and long life and it sounds like Berrt Currie was good to him, why would a family desert their kitty - for politics. My meomy would never do that and grumbles about it. I don't blame her. We kitties do not likemocing that much!

Little baby Meezer in Oregon needs Home

I have just watched the cutest video of a baby meezer name Willy Wonka- one who badly needs a home. Right now, he is with a very kind and caring woman who trapped her and helped her - fed her and brought her to the vet even though she herself has her own needs. A real Saint in my view and I bet in the eyes of all those cats and kitties she gives assistance to. They must adore her.

I know she has my vote for Cat Humanitarian of the Year in North America. So many volunteers who work at centers do so with lots of help and mega publicity. This wonderful woman - Strayer - as she is known on her blog - tells it the way it is but oh my, she cares so much for us cats that I love her and do not even know her.

Here is a video on You Tube made by the kind woman (His angel I say) of this baby Siamese. I am lobbying Meomy to adopt him. I'd love to have him here. I want a new baby brother!!

I am curious about Willy's name. Did Strayr read the Chocolate factory to him or did she decided he is a Chocolate Point Siamese and this needs to be called a name that has a reference to chocolate? I am a Seal Point and to me, Willy looks like that too but he could have some Chocolate points. He is sooooo cute!!!! Mommy, please- can we go to Oregon??? Please, I'll yowl all night until she lets us go get Willy. Willy deserves to be spoiled and share my stroller - even if it is pink. I'd even let meomy paint it maybe a different colour for him. We took a vote and ZuZu (my Blue Point sister and I) want Willy to be our brother. If only he was not so far away. I have never been to Oregon - just to Florida. Se,, this is our chance! That way - Strayer will see how much ZuZyu and I would ,love Willy. We;d never let meomy leave us home while she gets to travel to Oregon.

I will start filling in the adoption form now. I am a good big sister - even though I am just past being a teenager. See, ready for kitten sitting and teaching him FUN things (Shhhhhhh, ZuZu, don't tell Strayer that!) We have a nice big house, lots of cat toys, great food and my meomy even makes cat food. She should start a business but she's already busy at the hospital helping sick kids. I am A Therapy cat - certified and everything - and I bet Willy would pass that too. f course someone with the name Willy Wonka HAS to be a therapy cat. The children on the oncology unit wold love him!!!

He can share our bedroom - and he can even have some of my sweaters. See,, I'll share! I have to set an example for ZuZu. Please, meomy and Strayer!!!!!

Here is the video - made by Strayer. She has more cats too - all in good condition thanks to her quiet but caring , compassionate and truly selfless and competent does not even begin to explain it. She is not merely a "cat lady". She is a cat Saviour in a place where they really need her. I know she is not a Republican (But neither am I if I lived in the US) but remember when the guy that's the President now - his father had this saying about "A Thousand Points of Light". Well... half of the 1,000 should go to Strayer. The other 500 should go to the people who do help her - even that mama cat who saved her kittens for Strayer. That's an inspiring and touching story and I won't tel you, You have to read her blog to find out. it is found
here  :   Opens in a new Window

Have fun reading it and all about her other good deeds.

Halifax Delays Bylaw

The Halifax City Council has delayed debating the proposed bylaw posted here last week. It seems the city officials need more time to take into account all the concerns (ie complaints) raised by cat lovers at the meeting last Tuesday. Now, Council will meet September 25, my meomy's birthday, to hold another public meeting.

She says she hopes her birthday gift is significant change to this law which would result in the death of so many cats who are unlucky enough to ot have a good home. Cross your paws or if you live in Halifax, write your city councillor or better yet, attend the meeting.

Moushu, a Hemingway or pterodactyl (extra toes) Siamese is available for adoption at the Quspamsis Animal Shelter. She is so cute! She can be found here but I bet she won't be there long. I hope anyway!! She also has siblings the same age who also need good homes!

Haligonians Upset with Proposed Cat Bylaw

An abandoned cat at the Halifax SPCA. This proposed law will not help this cat or others!

Here are some articles regarding the proposed Halifax Cat Bylaw:

The view from the CBC

Reporting from the Halifax Daily News


Cat bylaw has residents’ dander up
Waste of time, money, council told, and told at meeting
By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter | 2:18 PM

ADVERTISEMENT

Halifax city hall has more important issues to tackle than cat registration and controls, regional councillors were told over and over on Tuesday night.

Thirty-five people spoke during an almost three-hour session at regional council’s regular meeting.

More than 80 per cent of them told councillors they had issues with the city’s proposed cat bylaw.

"It’s an irresponsible and ridiculous way to spend my tax dollars," Laura Dobson of Dartmouth said after learning from Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley that the city now spends about $1 million on animal control, split between staffing and shelter.

The bylaw would hike those costs considerably, she said.

"And if there is that sort of resource available in HRM, let’s have more police, more firemen, more frequent garbage pickup and better public transit," Ms. Dobson said.

Some of the speakers told councillors they might consider paying a cat registration fee if the revenues went back into programs like Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR).

Indeed, Hubley veterinarian Dr. Hugh Chisholm encouraged council to help fund such a program using the $1 million the city would have to spend on a new shelter to accommodate an influx of strays and unclaimed cats if the bylaw is adopted.

Otherwise, cat registration would only make people "very, very angry," he said.

"I think it was Trudeau who said the nation has no business in people’s bedrooms. I think maybe the municipality has no business in cat owners’ homes if those cats are indoors."

Recently, a number of groups have lobbied city hall to implement a TNR program to trap feral cats and return them, sterilized, to their community.

That’s because the bylaw contains a clause dealing with roaming cats on private property.

The proposed legislation says anyone could trap a cat that crosses their property and take it to a shelter. If the animal was not claimed, the shelter could house it, adopt it out or euthanize it.

"Feral cats rounded up under this bylaw will not be adopted out as happy little pets to happy little homes," Bridget Curran of Fairview warned. "They will be exterminated because they will be unadoptable.

"Roaming family pets rounded up under this bylaw and not claimed within three days will also be exterminated because there aren’t enough homes for cats in shelters in adoption programs at the present time."

An Armdale man said the bylaw puts felines at risk because people can’t be expected to keep cats confined to one yard.

"You can’t stop them from roaming," he said. "You’re not going to tell them what to do."

But that’s exactly what one Dartmouth woman, who lives next door to a de facto cat shelter, wants council to do.

"We’ve been living in a litter box," Corinne Gritten of Dartmouth told council of the almost two dozen cats who wander around her neighbourhood.

Every day, her property is under siege by her neighbour’s cats, which leave feces, urine and glandular spray all over her garden.

"It makes it beyond disgusting."

A few people came to the council meeting Tuesday night to voice their concerns over a clause dealing with dogs who give the impression of threatening passersby.

If an animal control officer or shelter keeper gave the word about a "threatening dog" — even if there had been no attack — then the animal could be destroyed without contacting the owner.

Many dogs might growl or appear threatening when they are frightened, Janet Chernin told the group.

She asked council to consider giving only vets the right to euthanize an animal.

A handful of owners of lizards, iguanas and pythons also came forward Tuesday night, concerned that there is no grandfather clause that would give owners of certain exotic pets the right to keep their pet.

The proposed bylaw states that anyone — like the about 200 Burmese python owners out there in the municipality — who owns certain pets would have to turn them over to the city within 90 days so that appropriate placements could be made.

"Prohibiting these animals would create a challenge for shelters," longtime reptile owner Neil Meister of Timberlea said.

So many people spoke at the public hearing that councillors ran out of time to debate the merits of the proposed bylaw.

Instead, the meeting was adjourned until next Tuesday when staffers are expected to return with a supplementary report on some of the key issues raised by members of the public.

( apugsley@herald.ca)

Halifax has new bylaw for cats!!!

My meomy asked me to post this. Halifax- where we live - has a new bylaw for kitties. It does not affect us too much because I have a leash and a backyard that is already made just for me but so many cats do not. Their people let them roam and unfortunately, there are bad peple who do not like cats and do terrible things to them. This new law would allow neighbours to bring kitties to the pound (It makes my paws shake to think of it!) and does not help feral cats at all.

My meomy says this is a law that does not help kitties with no home. It only hurts them . She likes what one woman wrote in a local newspaper and I am reposting that here. Thanks to her!!!

This picture is of a feral kitten that managed to get out of the tree and will hopefully get a new home. If you know of any, call the people in the article.

Readers can see the actual bylaw
here

Tabby tally not popular

By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter | 5:22 AM



REGISTERING HALIFAX’S estimated 225,000 cats is not the right route for the city to take, says a volunteer with a cat rescue organization.

"Leave the cats the way they are. It’s not practical, it’s not enforceable and frankly, from a taxpayer’s point of view . . . it doesn’t work," Allison Chubbs said in a recent interview.

The member of Pierre’s Alley Cats Society plans to speak out against cat registration at a public hearing Tuesday night at city hall.

The hearing is on the proposed Bylaw A-300, Respecting Animals, but most people refer to it as "the cat bylaw."

That’s because regional councillors have debated for years a plan to introduce controls on cats, and tomorrow night’s public hearing marks the first time that council has moved past the planning stages.

It all started in the spring of 2004, when Coun. Jim Smith received several complaints about a property full of cats in his Albro Lake-Harbourview district.

Since then, councillors have chewed over issues like trying to restrict the number of cats and dogs allowed in one home or banning the feeding of ducks and other birds all over the municipality.

While neither of those made it into the proposed bylaw, a few other contentious ideas did.

And councillors expect to get an earful when members of the public get their five minutes at the mike.

"It’s going to be a long evening," Coun. Gloria McCluskey (Dartmouth Centre) predicted in an interview.

She’s guessing the biggest issue will be a proposed shelter to care for the stray and unregistered cats "because the SPCA couldn’t care for them all."

The shelter is necessary because the bylaw — as it’s written — permits homeowners to trap cats who cross over onto their property.

Cat owners have three days to claim their pets — and hand over a pocketful of fees.

But stray, and unregistered, unclaimed cats won’t be as lucky.

They’ll be housed at the shelter and adopted out — if a home can be found.

That’s the same outdated thinking that saw the SPCA plan a wide-scale program to destroy stray cats in the Myrtle Street area of Dartmouth, says Ms. Chubbs. While that program was canned after public outcry, Ms. Chubbs says it’s time for city officials to start charting another course for stray cats.

"The quick fix, which satisfies the neighbour or deals with the nuisance complaint, is going to be to take all of them and put them all down," she said in an interview.

"But expect the same number to be back next year."

Instead, she would like to see the city introduce a trap, neuter and release program for colonies of strays.

"Instead of animal control going out and killing all of these animals, maybe they could have a vet clinic instead. Those are more viable options and they actually are long-term options," she said.

That’s where Pierre’s Alley Cats Society comes in. Named for a petty officer who has been successfully carrying out such a program at Halifax’s naval dockyards, the group has been trying to help control the population of the Myrtle Street cats.

"We’re here to give them some quality of life and make a difference, hopefully," she said.

Undertaking a trap-neuter-release program "makes a tonne of sense," says another regional councillor.

"It would minimize us having to do anything else," Coun. Steve Adams (Spryfield-Herring Cove) said in an interview.

Ms. McCluskey agrees killing the animals is not the answer.

"I’m not in favour of euthanizing cats, but sometimes they’re ill and have to be," she said.

Part of the problem is that stray cat colonies can harm the neighbourhoods they adopt.

"There’s a little playground there on Pine Street, and I’ve had (city crews) go in twice to clean it up because of the cats from Myrtle Street," she said.

"They’ve been in there using the sand and the pebbles for a litter box," she said.

Another councillor says the only way to effect change is to ensure that funds are in place.

"Cat licensing actually makes sense," Coun. Andrew Younger (East Dartmouth-The Lakes) said in an interview. "People are asking us for spay and neuter programs and adoption programs, and you have to have the revenue source to do it."

Although he acknowledges that council receives a lot of ribbing over its handling of cat-related issues, he says changes are necessary.

"I don’t think cats are the No.1 issue facing the municipality at the moment, but we are dealing with the bylaw on Tuesday night, so let’s deal with it in the appropriate way."

He also points to an oversight in the proposed bylaw, which proposes every lawbreaker pay a $222 fine.

He would like to see tiered fines.

"Obviously, the fine for a dog biting somebody has got to be different than a dog running at large in a park."


’Leave the cats the way they are. It’s not practical, it’s not enforceable and frankly, from a taxpayer’s point of view . . . it doesn’t work.’
allison chubbsPierre’s Alley Cats Society volunteer

Respect Your Cat Day

Today - March 28, is respect Your Cat day. My meomy bought me lots of toys and cooked me lobster and shrimp. I hope all you other cats were so lucky! I'll share any with any kitty who finds our doorstep!

No Kill Shelter Needs Homes for Cats!!!

This is an urgent story about a kill shelter in St. Helen's, Oregon where many cats need homes quickly. Read more about this story here.

Morgan and many more Siamese need Homes

I have a good life - meezers and other friends to play with, a part time job with kiddies that I love and can help - but some cats are in a shelter and need a forever home. Many are found and rescued but some are given up by their humans (Why I do not know, that baffles me - how can they be part of the family of their people can easily just hand them over to strangers!!!) but here is Morgan, just one of many at Siamese Rescue, a wonderful group who does excellent work.

Morgan is beautiful and intelligent and loves to play - as one can tell from her boa. Like my meomy, her favourite colour seems to be blue. Siamese rescue can be found in several parts of the US and they have a unique program called the Meezer Express that "ferries" kitties to their new people. Please help Morgan and the others. If you can't adopt a kitty just now, they always need help with money or food or other useful items. They have a wish list - just like the Sears Catalogue.

There have every kind of meezer - blue point, seal pioints like me, lynx points, tabbies and even some other cats - a Bengal or others - who managed to sneak in to the program. You have to love them!!!!

Tainted Food Claims More Cats and Dogs

Sadly, more kitties and dogs have died from the Canadian company Menugroup's tainted food. As a kitty, I cannot believe the country I live in does not regulate the food we eat. I know we are carnivores and eat meat and need certain nutrients but it is so sad when something like this happens and no one seems to urge legislation for better labels and safety in cat food!

Here are the latest stories:

http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=6287461

Please watch pets closely if your pet has eaten any of the food on the recall list. Like this kitty named Truffles, who went to for a vet visit after her human discovered about this bad food.

Meanwhile, in Cape Cod (Edgartown to be exact), four kitties are doing better after seeing the vet after they ate the wrong kind of food! This story is outlined here

Tainted Food Claims More Cats and Dogs

Sadly, more kitties and dogs have died from the Canadian company Menugroup's tainted food. As a kitty, I cannot believe the country I live in does not regulate the food we eat. I know we are carnivores and eat meat and need certain nutrients but it is so sad when something like this happens and no one seems to urge legislation for better labels and safety in cat food!

Here are the latest stories:


Tainted Food Claims More Kitties