Please Vote for My Soft Kitty

UPDATE: VOTING IS OVER.*

That's me, singing "Soft Kitty" to my cat Kali. She is not amused. I taped this at about 1:30 Thursday morning. See, I'd just found out about The Big Bang Theory Soft Kitty Contest over at CBS.com, and I really needed to get some sleep, and there wouldn't be any time in the morning and entries had to be submitted by 2pm, while I was still at work.

Sheldon, Penny and Leonard

Have you seen The Big Bang Theory? It's about these four friends, who are nerdy physicists, and they make lots of science fiction movie-comic book comments that I can relate to. It's hilarious. Anyway, in one episode, one of the nerdy guys, Sheldon, is sick, and the normal girl next door, Penny, is roped into taking care of him, and he asks her to sing to him, a song his mother used to sing to him when he was sick, "Soft Kitty." He proceeds to teach her the song and makes her sing it to him over and over. It's come up in at least a couple of other episodes, too; at this point, we've seen all of seasons 1 & 2 on DVD, and we're watching some of season 4 at CBS.com.

So, somehow I totally miss seeing the contest on the CBS website until hours before the deadline to enter. I grabbed my Flip Mino and tried to round up a cat to sit in my lap. I'm a terrible mommy and Kali is my favorite, so I really wanted it to be her. She sat at one end of the couch on the floor, and I sat on the other end and cajoled her. I sang "Soft Kitty" and her eyes drooped sleepily.

"Yes," I said, "That would be so perfect, Kali, if you would just sit in my lap!" I reached for her and she flinched like I was the mean overseer at the orphanage in Oliver! I reached for her again, and she leaped up onto the back of the couch. "Good enough, Kali. Just sit there." And that's how this video was made.


In a perfect world, I would have had more time. I could have put on make-up and worn something nice instead of wrapping a blanket around my nightgown. My husband would have held the camera. I could have set up something cute, like waiting for all the cats to fall asleep on the couch, getting a more accommodating one to sit on my lap and purr while I sang. Then I would have set the cat beside me, stood up and said, "I'll be right back, don't take my spot," and of course, the cat would have taken over my spot the instant I left.

I should say, in case you haven't seen the show, that Sheldon is very particular, almost OCD, about his spot on the couch. It freaks him out if anyone else sits there. So, that would have been really cute, and then I would have come up with a better title for the video, too. See, it said "caption" instead of "title" and I was tired, and then after I submitted the video and laid down to sleep, it came to me that I should have given the video a really cute physics kind of name, like the titles of the episodes of the show. Something like "The Trickster Tachyon" (Trickster's a good lap cat) or "The Kali Corollary." Alas.

Is the video my best work. No, but I hope you'll vote for me anyway. I really love The Big Bang Theory, and the prize is a trip to L.A. and a chance to visit the set. Yes, it's very geeky of me, but that's what The Big Bang Theory is all about.  To vote, all you have to do is type in the verification code on the left side of the screen and click VOTE NOW FOR THIS VIDEO.

The first round of voting ended January 13, and unfortunately for me, I was not a finalist.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for my video!

Kick that Scratching Habit

Actually, this isn't about stopping your cat from scratching at all. It's about redirecting them from furniture and doorframes to appropriate cat furniture.

Cornell University's Veterinary College has prepared a series of short videos about cats and scratching. Titled Managing Destructive Scratching Behavior, the videos cover why cats scratch, how to choose the right scratching post, and proper claw maintenance. Each video is only a couple of minutes long, and they offer some useful tips. Although, they did not explain how to get your cat to sit still for the clippers; the cat they used is definitely not normal. Or, maybe mine are the abnormal ones. Hmmm.

Welcome to My World

My cats are in tune with Stanley. When they think it's time for mommy to go to bed (or more like, time for mommy to give them their midnight snack), they climb under the desk, play with the power cables, climb on the desk, and try to help me type faster.



What do your cats do to get your attention?

Make Your Own Cat Furniture

Cat furniture is expensive, and it can also take up a lot of room. Who wouldn't love to give their cat(s) one of those huge climbing tree-scratching post-condo toys? Money and available space may make that prohibitive.

Here's a great idea that doesn't take up much room. It's a project posted on IKEA Hackers, a website devoted to the re-purposing of IKEA products.

Grace in Philadephia used black and red Lack shelves to make a series of "stepping stones" on her wall. She adhered non-skid shelf paper to the shelves, so the cat wouldn't slip jumping from one to the other. The cat can sit on the small shelves or use them as steps to climb up to the wider shelf above the door.

You can find complete instructions and another photo at IKEA Hackers.

Have you made your own cat furniture? Please share your space- and money-saving tips here at Crazy Kitty Chick.

Lucky Cats

On New Year's Day I always think about good fortune. That's mainly because my Pap-pa, Hoyt Cook, always said that for every black-eyed pea you eat on New Year's Day, you'll receive a dollar in the coming year. I figure it's worth more now. After all, the website Dollar Times says that a 1934 dollar, adjusted for inflation, will buy $16.36 cents worth of stuff today. Or maybe $16.36 today will buy a dollar's worth of stuff. That's more like it.

Anyway, that's why I eat a lot of black-eyed peas on New Year's Day and think about good fortune while I'm doing it.

Cats are associated with good luck, too. If you live in the U.S., you may have heard that a black cat crossing your path is bad luck, but in Britain, that's good luck; it meant that the witch or her animal familiar didn't have a grudge with you. One story has it that the first King Charles had a black cat that he loved dearly and considered his good luck charm. When the cat died, he mourned its loss, saying his luck had run out, and the next day he was arrested.

In Russia, blue cats are thought to be lucky, and bringing a cat along when you move into a new home is said to bring good fortune. In Canada, tricolor cats (aka tortoiseshell-and-white) are considered good luck. Calico cats like Misha (right) are a type of tortoiseshell cat.

In China, any old ugly cat is considered lucky. Since cats are considered food in China, a cat that manages to survive into old age would certainly be lucky.

In some parts of Europe, a cat who enters a house of its own free will is said to bring good luck with it. Buddhists traditionally believed that dark-colored cats attracted gold and light-colored cats attracted silver. In Japan, calico cats are good luck, and the Maneki Niko (left), a tricolor cat depicted with its paw raised in welcome, is said to attract good luck and money.

Whether you believe in these myths and superstitions or not, cat lovers know that at the heart of all these stories you find the good luck that comes from having a cat share your life, bringing laughter, joy, and happiness to their human families.