Not the Pants Again...

We've been pretty busy around here lately, Mom doing all her film and social media work, Dad working on a movie and his scripts, and me making sure everyone was sufficiently alarmed about my ear bump to pay a reasonable amount attention to moi.

Now that things are settling down a little, and my ear seems to be OK, we're getting back to the important things - LIKE MY BLOG.

Most of you know that, aside from being handsome, gregarious and witty, I'm also a Special Needs pet.  You know... I wear pants. Yes, because they look cool, but also so I don't pee on the floor. Just sayin'.

Yep. Pants.

I know this is old hat to my pals, but I get new readers all the time, so every so often I have to 'splain the pants thing again.

This time, I'll let a recent article about me at VetStreet.com called The Things We Do for Love: "Our Cat Wears a Diaper" (written by Romeo the Cat's mom, Caroline Golan) tell the story.

This is my pic in the article.
Mom's name's spelled wrong (she's a "Kristin")
but they got mine right!  

Me and Mom have also revised my ABOUT ME page, with a lot more info... about, you know... me. So if you feel like killin' a few minutes and seeing if there's anything about me you don't know, or forgot about, go ahead and read that, too. That way, if you see my stand-in at the BlogPaws conference this summer, you can use him as a conversation starter and explain to somebody why he's wearing pants!

Cosmo & my stand-in at last year's BlogPaws

If you haven't registered for BlogPaws yet, cut & paste this code, and get 20% off! --> BlogPaws2012-Cokie 

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is baaack!

And I'm very thankful today that my crazy ear bump seems to be non-life-threatening, after all! I still have a bump on my ear, but we're pretty sure it was caused by a particularly rough ear scratching with my back foot and a sharp toenail. Mom is keeping my nails trimmed now - she'd sort of let them go to seed there for a long while. MOM...

Ear bump looking much less ominous

I think I just nicked it and it got infected, then I scratched it again, then again, and kept making it bleed and irritating it and aggravating it. I can't help it that it's the perfect distance and angle from my back foot!? Now it's all healed over and it's just... a bump. I can live with that.


Anyway... It's all good and it looks like me and my manpants will be around to keep you entertained for some time to come. ; )  Thanks again for the PawCircle and all the prayers and good wishes! I love you guys. 


What are you thankful for this week??


I'm not going to make this a blog-hop, since I'm posting so late, so just leave a comment with what you're thankful for this week. If you want to, you can write your own gratuity post and leave us the link!


 Cheers!
  Cokie
=^..^=

Wordless Wednesday

"NOSE-TO-NOSE" Pet Blogging Awards!!

BlogPaws just announced the 2012 BlogPaws "Nose-to-Nose" Social Media Pet Blogging Awards! And it's not JUST for traditional blogs, but includes "microbloggers" on Twitter and Facebook.  ; )

Nominations are open now! Start thinking about which blogs you love the most and nominate them HERE --> http://bit.ly/HWXq3 You can even nominate yourself. The nomination period closes on May 6th at 11:59pm MT, so don't wait too long!

This is NOT a popularity contest. Winners will be chosen by a panel of distinguished professionals on their expertise, creativity and performance in one or more of 12 specific award categories. 

Nose-to-Nose Award winners will be announced in a gala red carpet ceremony at the BlogPaws Conference in Salt Lake City on Saturday evening, June 23rd, 2012.
The ceremony be live streamed and free for everyone to watch, if you can't attend in person - but if you can, you'll totally want to attend in person! This whole BlogPaws Conference is going to be awesome! Register HERE now!

 

"Nose-to-Nose" Award Categories

1. Best Blog Design: judged on overall design elements of the blog homepage/landing page.
2. Best Blog Writing: judged on overall writing skill – is the message clear to the reader?
3. Best Humor Blog: judged on overall sense of humor – does it make us laugh?
4. Best Bark Blog: judged on the content as it applies to dogs and dog parents.
5. Best Meow Blog: judged on the content as it applies to cats and cat parents.
6. Best Wiggle Blog: judged on focus of blog toward non-traditional pets (i.e. ferrets, guinea pigs, chickens, etc).
7. Best New Blog: less than one year old, with good content and engagement.
8. Best Cause Blog: judged on message, purpose and results as demonstrated on the blog.
9. Best Video on a Blog: judged independently (one video per blog); is it well done, focused, creative and purposeful?
10. Best Photo on a Blog: judged independently (one photo per blog); is it well done, focused, creative and purposeful?
11. Best Facebook Design: judged on overall design of Facebook header and use of special Facebook page features.
12. Best Twitter Design: judged on overall design elements for Twitter profile background. 

Click HERE to submit a nomination and read the BlogPaws Official Rules and Regulations.

Good Luck!!

Cokie

=^..^=

A Cat's Last Will & Testament

Mom posted "A Dog's Last Will and Testament" on April 1st, shortly after our anipal friend @PetietheCat had passed away, leaving a wake of sadness in the community and  tremendous grieving in his home.

It was suggested I adapt the prose into the words of a Cat, which I have done, and present below. The words are mine, so they don't fit Petie perfectly, but they're closer than the dog one. I'm guessing Petie doesn't have a treasured catnip apple, for example.  ; ) 


Nonetheless, this is what I'd like to leave my Mom and Dad, and what I'm sure Petie would like to leave his... 

Petie

Click to Enlarge

That's my sweet Wynnie girl in the photo. 

We miss you, Princess!

Wordless Wednesday

Blog the Change for Animals!

"APRIL 15: BE, BLOG AND READ THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS! – Get the badge & spread the word! http://bit.ly/pO7dZp #BtC4A Come together to support people helping animals in need each 15th of January, April, July and October. Bloggers, write about a cause near and dear to your heart. Readers, share your comments and ideas."

I've been working the past several years to devote more of my time to working with animals, raising money for animal rescues and donating to individuals needing help caring for their own pets, raising awareness of animal related issues, and helping find fosters and homes for homeless pets.

I'm very proud and honored to be working as a Special Projects Manager for BlogPaws, which is doing so much for pet bloggers and rescues, pulling us together as a true community to effect change on a much larger scale than we could individually.

I'm excited to have my friends Eldad and Audrey Hagar from Hope for Paws coming to BlogPaws for the first time this year. They work for animals day in and day out, every day. Eldad will be giving a presentation on how he uses YouTube to raise awareness and evoke action to help homeless animals around the world. I blogged about them here last month.

If you've managed to NOT see any of Eldad's amazing (and I don't use that word lightly) extreme rescue videos, here's one, just to give you an idea of what he does and hopefully encourage you to come to BlogPaws, if for no other reason (and there are many good reasons) than to meet and get to know Eldad:

This particular dog in this video was rescued on Thanksgiving, and has recently had the pins removed from his leg. A Readers Digest contest Hope for Paws won paid for his surgeries. He's ready now for his forever home. Do you know where that might be?? You could change Little Will's life TODAY.

I'm making a new commitment today to share all of Eldad's videos, spreading the word and inspiring people to take some sort of action when they see animals who need our help. Don't just look away. Do something. Call someone. Change a life.

Kristin ~ & Cokie

Wordless Wednesday

Update: Stupid Ear Bump

So this is the deal, if you've been following... I had this thing on my ear that showed up out of nowhere. Mom freaked out. We REALLY try to avoid me going to the Vet, or having one come here because then I REALLY FREAK OUT. I'm 18 and Mom doesn't want me having a stroke because of an exam that may be for nothing harmful...

So we're waiting it out to see if it goes away with Neosporin.

It hasn't gone away, but it's reduced in size a little, and it's not dark red anymore, now it's pink, like the rest of my ear. So we're waiting.

Dad is POSITIVE it's nothing to worry about and will go away on its own. Mom still thinks it might need to be lanced or I might need oral antibiotics, but they're both pretty decided that they don't think it's a tumor, and the Vet is advising us via Mom's pics of my ear.

It's finally decent enough to show you a pic. I didn't want to gross anyone out earlier, but now it's just a big ol' pink bump on my dang ear. Not so scary looking. Mom's still not happy about it, though.

But I had a great time today - ran down the stairs into the courtyard, wandered around, ran back up again... I'm feelin' pretty fly for an old guy.

I'll let you know if there's anything to report...

Thanks, everybody!

Cokie

Pawcircle Update - Dateline: Saturday

Stop. Messing. With. My. Ear.

No news to report. Still waiting to see if Neosporin will have an effect on the scary bump on my ear, or if I need to go to the vet on Monday (See PawCircle Request  & PawCircle Update: Dateline Friday if  you need to catch up on the sitch.)


I'll have another Giveaway once Mom is done obsessing. Pepi says I'm not on his list, so I'm not getting too worked up about it, myself.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking that maybe I just need to get this puppy to chew this thing off my ear!

Have a great weekend everybody. Don't forget to watch Who Let The Dogs Out this morning on Animal Planet, and to join my bud @TillmanSkates (and me, if I wake up early enough) at his Twitter Viewing Pawty: #TillmanTV. The pawty's from 6-11am PDT. CLICK HERE to be eligible for the prize drawings he'll be doing all morning. 

Are the Puparazzi gone!?

Thanks for all the love!

Cokie

PawCircle Update - Dateline: Friday

Hi you guys.

Sorry for Mom going all hypochondriac on you guys. I have this thing on my ear and, while it does look scary, I don't think I'm ready for the RB just yet - MOM!?

I do appreciate the PawCircle Prayers and actually do ask that you keep me on your list through the weekend.

My vet, Dr. White, looked at the photo of my ear (I'll spare you the pic), and said that, while it does look like a mass, it *might* be something less ominous than one might fear. (She didn't say it exactly like that - I made it a little more fancy sounding. She really talks like a regular person.)

Dr. White - looking like a regular person
Hancock Park Veterinary Clinic
*HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*

So, rather than risk the emotional and physical trauma and drama of taking me to the vet - for all concerned, mostly me - Mom's going to treat my ear with Neosporin 3 times a day over the weekend, then see Dr. White on Monday if my ear's not getting better by then. 

So... Today I got ALL KINDS OF SNUGGLES from Mom. We even took 2 naps in her bed under the covers. 

Tonight Mom and Dad gave me a long (too long) warm bath, washed me all over, including my ear with the thing on it, then Mom put some of that goop on my ear. I'm still damp and scraggly from my bath but I do smell good.

Thank you so much again for all the prayers and good wishes, everybody. I'm gonna stay pawsitive! 

Love,
Cokie

Paw Circle Request

Cokie's mom here... Please put Cokie on your Prayer /PawCircle list today. I just discovered what appears to be a baby pea sized tumor on the outside of Cokie's ear. 

I can't imagine how it got there so fast. I couldn't possibly have missed it if it were there yesterday, as I'm always scrunching his ears and look at him closely when I wash his paws every morning before I put on his man pants. 

I noticed this from across the room today. Very obvious red bulbous growth of some kind. 

This is not good news, since in the last couple of years, under the best of circumstances, Cokie freaks out too much to even take him to the vet. We've had to have vets come to us and even that is traumatic - for them and for us.

Today we have no choice but to take him in though, and we're hoping that whatever it is, they can cut it off and be done with it.

I'm a very, very worried mama right now, though. 
Please picture Cokie vibrant and healthy! Thank you for your love and kind thoughts.
 

Ear looking fine on my birthday 3 weeks ago.

Thank you so much,
Kristin & Cokie

A Dog's Last Will & Testament

Audrey Hagar from Hope For Paws sent an email with the prose below, saying she'd received it as a text from her grandpa's iPhone! Simply wonderful.

I wrote up this post, but then decided to re-write it as "A Cat's Last Will & Testament." When I did that, I accidentally erased this one, so this is my meager attempt at rebuilding the post. Apologies.

Mom's first and only dog Marrakesh
A border collie. He lived to be 17.

A DOG'S LAST WILL & TESTAMENT
Before humans die, they write their Last Will & Testament, give their home and all they have to those they leave behind. If, with my paws, I could do the same, This is what I'd ask . . .

To a poor and lonely stray I'd give:
* My happy home.* My bowl & cozy bed, soft pillows and all my toys.
* The lap, which I loved so much
* The hand that stroked my fur & the sweet voice which spoke my name.

I'd will to the sad, scared shelter dog, the place I had in my human's loving heart, of which there seemed no bounds.

So when I die, please do not say, "I will never have a pet again, for the loss and pain is more than I can stand."

Instead, go find and unloved dog . . . one whose life has held no joy or hope and give My place to him.

This is the one thing I can give . . .

. . .The love I left behind.

--Author Unknown