Saying Goodbye to Giorgi

GiorgiDear Friends at My Three Cats,

He came to me to live on December 26, 1994.  My best Christmas gift ever.  He was hiding in the bushes near my parked car on that cold night and gave me the biggest surprise by leaping through my open car door onto my lap and staying there.  I was his forever.  
His last two years were a bit perplexing to him, I imagine, but he was a brave, strong boy.  First, he was a victim of the nationwide pet food poisoning and nearly died.  Then his earlier hair loss began to accelerate.  His kind, caring veterinarian did everything to learn why, finally sending him to specialists in dermatology and oncology for biopsies which told us that he had lymphoma of the hair follicle, a cancer that had been attacking him for some time.  My beautiful Giorgi then began nine months of chemotherapy, but finally, at the end of May, 2009, we realized that no more could be done.  Each day of the last two months was a torment for me, waiting, watching.  The secondary skin infections are what finally brought him down and my strong, beautiful cat came to me to die.  In a second of time, he was gone forever.  
My dear beautiful Giorgi, gone after fifteen graceful years of giving pleasure and being a perfect cat.  What a joy he was.

My best,

Lee Tarullo
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Twitter-Cats Team Up to Benefit the Cat Community

As a cat, I’ve always said that cat lovers possessed two of my favorite qualities: they are exceptionally passionate, and they love to share their passion with others.  When two cat lovers cross paths for the first time, it’s often like they’ve known each other their whole lives.

There is no better example of this than the world of Twitter, where an ever-growing community of cat lovers is sharing causes, tips, and jokes every day.  When I decided to join Twitter as the spokes-purr-son for www.mythreecats.com a few weeks ago, my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to find any friends.  After a few days, I quickly realized that there was a whole community of cats and cat owners simply dying to share their stories and thoughts with other cat devotees. 

How can you join?  Start by going to www.twitter.com and create an account.  You’ll have to pick a name that isn’t already taken.  Here’s a hint: use underscores as spaces in names.  If you really want billthecat but it is taken by someone else, try bill_the_cat.  Once you have your name, you can sync the account with your mobile device or simply start posting updates, or ‘tweets’, from your computer.  Don’t forget that all posts must be 140 characters or less!

To make sure that your updates are being read, it is best to use the ‘Find People’ function located at the top of your Twitter home page.  For a cat lover, it’s a good idea to start with simple search terms like ‘cat’, ‘meow’, or ‘pet’ to find people who share your interests.  Become a ‘Follower’ of their Twitter feeds and see who is following them.  Remember to check to see who is ‘following’ you, so that you can return the favor.  If you keep up to date with your Twitter account like I have, you’ll be introduced to hundreds of new cat lovers within weeks.  Make sure to follow my feed at www.twitter.com/bogeythecat, and I will most certainly return the favor. 

Once I started ‘following’ different cat-related users and garnering some of my own ‘followers’, I realized that sharing happens in a number of ways.  Sometimes it happens in the form of alerting others in the Twitter community about an upcoming event being hosted by an animal shelter or advocacy group.  Other times it entails getting a tip on pet care or a product review.  It can even be as simple as a link to a video of a cat jumping into a box.  The more users I interact with, the more I realize how many wonderful people in this world are looking out for cats.

So cat lovers, if you aren’t on Twitter yet, see what all the purring is about.  It’s a great social media tool to learn more about the cat community, especially www.mythreecats.com.  You’ll learn about opportunities to help other cats, about methods and products to improve your cat’s life, and sometimes, you’ll learn that nothing brightens up a day like a video of a cute cat playing in front of a camera.

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Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens

A cat has about 24 whiskers, 12 on each side of its nose.  Whiskers are almost twice as thick as ordinary hairs.  Richly supplied with nerve endings, whiskers provide cats with extraordinary detailed information about air movements, air pressure, and anything they happen to touch.

As air swirls around objects, whiskers vibrate too.  Cats receive messages in these vibrations to sense the presence, size and shape of objects without seeing or touching them.

Whiskers are extremely sensitive as they are closely connected to the nervous system.  Any damage to his whiskers will cause your cat discomfort, and he may become confused or disoriented.  Don’t ever trim his whiskers, and don’t ever wash them.

Aren’t these the most fascinating creatures!

My white whiskers are more than just pretty!
My white whiskers are more than just pretty!
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