Beware of the Cats custom static cling decal

I can't wait to get my new "Beware of the Cats" static cling decal! It's huge (12" x 18"), and my intention is to put it on our storm door. It's useful for visitors who may not know that we have cats, so they don't accidentally let them out, and I think it's really cute. But then, I'm biased, 'cause I'm their mommy. What do you think?

I'm getting this delightful custom static cling decal thanks to the good folks at Signazon. They contacted me and asked if I'd like to review one of their products. They make all kinds of signs and banners. While I was looking at all the options they offer, I saw the static cling decals and that's when inspiration struck! I just love these photos of Petra and Kali in their devil hats. The color's a bit off on Kali's and the hat looks more pink than red, but it's the same hat. Can you tell where Petra's horn got cut off in the corner and I "reshaped" it? Thank goodness for Photoshop.

I saved the poster as a layered pdf, so it will have a clear background when it's printed. That way we can look through it a bit when we're seeing who's at the door, plus we can get light in through it. The watermarks are on there just for putting on this blog, of course. I created the file at 300dpi, very high resolution, so it will print without a lot of jaggies or image loss. I can't wait to see it for real.

It was very easy to upload the design to the Signazon site, although I did hit one snag. Once the image uploads to the site, it shows you a "proof" -- and guess what? it squashed the image down to fit 12" high and 18" wide, instead of like a vertical poster. Oops! I went back to my pdf, turned it on its side and resaved it, and the next time it came out perfectly. It does take a few minutes to upload such a large, high-res file to the website, but probably not more than 10 minutes (I was multi-tasking and didn't note the exact amount of time).

I'll post again when I get the real thing in hand, and I'll include photos of it on the door. It'll be interesting to see what Petra and Kali think of themselves. I think Kali will be afraid and Petra will try to attack it. We'll see.

In the meantime, check out all the different kinds of products that Signazon offers. They have yard signs, banners, magentic signs, of course the static cling decals, and something called a "magic" sign that's a type of fabric with an adhesive you can use indoors or outdoors and move it around as needed. Very cool.

Great Finds for Cat Lovers

Hauspanther is one of my favorite websites for cat stuff. I mean stuff for cats as well as cat-related stuff. That's their logo on the left. Stylish, isn't it?

I love the name, too. Wish I'd thought of it first! Hauspanther.com used to be ModernCat. My impression is that it was started to feature modern, trendy, good-looking furniture for cats. Things for cats to climb on and sleep in and play with. It also has clothes and jewelry that cat-lovers can wear or give as gifts, and artwork that cat lovers can hang on their walls. Plus, they have useable, necessary things like pretty bowls for cat food, and stands to put the bowls in, and fancy carriers for going to the vet.

I get the Hauspanther newsletter, and sometimes I almost dread opening it, because I want this stuff, and I usually can't afford it. Like, look at this Trixie Activity Center (below right). The tabby-and-white cat pictured is very like our cats Remy and Indy. I would love to get this for our cats. As I write this, it's $37.49 from Amazon and shipping is free. Still, that's a bag of the expensive cat food they eat or a flat of Indy's special diet canned food. Please don't think my cats are deprived. They have lots of toys. Still, it would be fun to watch them explore something new.

I'd also love to decorate their walls with more cat art. I have some cat art, like a painting I did in a class going on 30 years ago, and two pencil sketches of cats playing with tiny space ships. Have I mentioned our house has solid concrete block walls? Yes, even on the inside. So hanging pictures is a lot more complicated than in a normal house. If I could easily hang pictures, I'd love to add this Jenny Parks illustration of cats as the 11 incarnations of the title character from the TV series Doctor Who. It's such a cute idea.

I discovered all these things and more on Hauspanther.


Even if you can't afford to buy the fancy cat things featured at Hauspanther, it's still fun to see what's out there. Plus, they have giveaways just about every week, so you can try your luck at winning some of this cool cat gear. If you love cats, you should definitely check it out.

Important PSA on Catnip Dangers!

This public service announcement should be seen by every cat and cat parent. Stop the cycle of abuse!

CATNIP: EGRESS TO OBLIVION

Seriously, the CrazyKittyDad stumbled across this short film and said, "You have to see this." I laughed out loud several times. I recognized many of the good trip/bad trip reactions from seeing them in my own cats!

This short film really captures the feel of the old warning educational films made in the '60s and '70s. Filmmaker Jason Willis debuted it at the Sundance Film Festival this week. I'm looking forward to checking out some of his other work.

CrazyKittyChick has a new Dyson vacuum!

I love my new Dyson vacuum cleaner. It's a DC24 multi-floor, and I bought on Black Friday.

I have used it at least four times since then. Now, you have to understand, CrazyKittyChick is not crazy about housework, so plugging in the vacuum four times in 10 days is probably a record for me.

Dyson, how do I love thee?

The DC24 is not just a vacuum cleaner. It's a transformer. The view you see at left is when the vacuum is at rest. The handle extends a couple of feet to make it easy to maneuver. You can also unplug the handle, flip it around, and hook it onto a flexi-tube that allows you to get under furniture, and behind things. It also allows you to reach the ceiling to clean the corners and the ceiling fans. It has a brushy attachment, that is also a sort of "scoop" attachment on its other setting.

It doesn't use bags; you just empty the canister. It's a small canister, so I have to empty it quite frequently, but that's just because up to now, I haven't vacuumed very often. I think that if and when I ever get caught up, like the entire house is finally clean, the maintenance wouldn't be so bad.

Also, it has two filters that can be washed and reused over and over again. Amazing!

"Years ago," eh?

My husband looked at the Dyson display in one of the stores over the weekend, and he spotted a Dyson DC33, which has a canister probably three times the size of the DC24, and the retail price on both is the same.

"Why didn't you get the one with the bigger canister?" he asked.

"A couple of stores did have the DC33 on sale Black Friday," I said, "But I went to the Dyson website and asked which vacuums are recommended for pets and allergies. The DC24 came up; the DC33 did not."

Now, upon review, the DC24 has two models - the Animal, which comes with special attachments for getting pet hair out of upholstery; and the Multi-Floor, which is the same vacuum, but without the special attachment. I have the latter.

Still, the DC24 being smaller is really easy to maneuver, and it's not too big a pain to empty the canister every few minutes.

If you hate vacuuming, try a Dyson. It may change your mind.

Poor Remy is a Frankenkitty

Last Friday morning, I was giving Remy and Trickster their pills and morning snack when I noticed two wounds on Remy's back foot. Tim said he'd been fine the night before; Remy always sits on the arm of the couch next to Tim while he watches a DVD. I hadn't noticed anything on Thursday night either; I got in from work about 11:30pm and gave everyone some dry food. We have storage tubs stair-stepped around their room, and Remy had jumped up to the top level - pretty much my eye level, so I'm sure I would have noticed a bloody wound.

Conveniently, I was on the night shift again Friday, so I bundled Remy into a carrier and took him to the vet. He confirmed that Remy appeared to have caught his foot on something sharp, and he said it was bad enough that he needed stitches. When I got home, I looked everywhere I could think of, around all his favorite spots, thinking I would see a bit of skin or hair, or spots of blood, or something to indicate how he'd hurt himself.

Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

Tim picked him up when he got off work at 5pm, and he looked around some more. Then we both moved things around and looked on Saturday. Now it's Monday, and we still haven't figured it out. ::sigh:: We'd both feel better if we knew the hazard was taken care of.

"Great. Now she's taking pictures, too."

On Friday, as soon as Tim got home, he dressed Remy in the Bloody Wound Hat. You know, the plastic cone that's supposed to keep a cat or dog from picking at stitches or over-cleaning wounds. On Saturday morning, I saw that our cone was too short, and indeed Remy was able to reach his foot. Darn it! So, while I kept an eye on Remy and stopped him every time he reached for his foot, Tim went to at least four stores looking for a bigger E-collar.

Aside: Do you know why those plastic cones are called E-collars? It's short for Elizabethan collar, because it calls to mind the wide, stiff lace ruffs worn around the neck in the time of the first Queen Elizabeth.

Tim said the raw area looked larger on Saturday evening than he remembered from Friday. If Remy was licking it all night, then he probably took off some of the hair around it, which was short anyway, because they shaved the area before stitching him up.

Saturday night it looked very raw.

We talked about me taking him back to the vet this morning, just to have it checked out, but I think we have done this every time someone has had to have stitches for something, and it's always fine. Even when Mah-mah started sloughing off skin after her cancer surgery, it wasn't in the first couple of days and it was pretty obvious something was wrong.

I took new photos today, and asked Tim to come look at them side by side on the computer, but he declined. He said if it looked better to me, that's fine. I'm just concerned about dragging Remy into the vet for nothing.

How it looks on Monday.

He's been resting all morning, which is best. At least he'll only have to be alone for three or four hours today. Tomorrow, I'm back to my normal shift, but at least I can come home at lunch and check on him for a few minutes.

The stitches should be able to come out in about two weeks, so he may not have to be a Frankenkitty or an Elizabethan noble for Halloween, just the sweet kitty he is.