Meowloween Saftey (Halloween 2014)

Piper says Happy Halloween witchees!

With Halloween just hours away, it is important to remember you should put away  your kitties when you are opening the front door for trick-or-treaters. That way, they can't scurry out the door while you are handing out candy to cute little ghosts, witches and the occasional cat.

At Sandpiper Cat Blog,  we take opening the front door very seriously. We rarely ever use the front door because we are worried about our cats getting outside, as they are strictly indoor cats. We even get into our house by going through the garage and laundry room. We call this the "air lock" because we wait for the garage door to be completely down before opening the door into the laundry room. Just like our cat May, Piper is able to jimmy open the laundry room door. Naughty girl!

Bobby says: Make sure all your black cats are put away safely!

For my family, it is crucial that we make sure our black cats, Henry, Bobby and PHolly, are away in the basement with the others. It would be really hard to see a black cat dart out the front door at nighttime, just as it would be hard for them to see a car going down the street.

Black cats have a connotation of bad luck, especially when one crosses your path. If we believed this myth, we wouldn't have three black cats. It is extremely important that all cats, especially black cats,  are firmly planted far away from the front door.

Halloween brings a lot of strange noises and strange people, and even the calmest cat can become frightened and disoriented if they get out. Just in case, make sure she has a collar and ID tag on at all times.

Feline Wellness: Our Cat Henry has Diabetes

I occasionally like to write posts on feline wellness, like this post I wrote in November 2011 about feline acne. We will do anything for our cats, to help them live long and healthy lives.

Henry in 2010 - blurry but one of my favorite Henry shots.

So when our ex-feral barn cat Vickie needed to have all of her teeth removed, it was done. Pearl and Piper needed dental cleanings, done. Henry has eye goo problems because he has blocked tear ducts, we clean them. Sabrina and Henry suffer from IBD (Irritable Bowl Disease) so we take care of that - Sabrina gets B12 shots each month. Sabrina tests positive for heart worm, everyone starts getting heart guard and Revolution. You see what I'm saying, if there is a problem, we do our best to fix it.

Henry in 2011

 So when our 8-year-old black cat Henry fell ill earlier this year, we took him to the vet right away. We had some sort of virus/bug run through the house and a few of the cats, including Henry, had diarrhea (lovely, right?). We had blood work done, and were able to clear the bug up. Problem solved, right? Well from the title you know there is more to the story.

So for the last few weeks, Henry hasn't been acting like himself. He normally sleeps with my dad, curled up on his head - but Henry hasn't been sleeping in their room recently. We noticed him laying around in places he doesn't typically nap. When we ran our hands down his body, we felt his spine more than usual. And to top it off, he has been drinking lots and eating a lot/always seems hungry. We knew we needed to take him to the vet to see what was up.

Monday May 6: Mom and I take Henry to the vet. Henry had gone down from 9.5 pounds to 8.5 pounds in the six weeks it had been since he had gone in for the diarrhea bug. That was concerning. Our vet didn't see anything physically wrong with him, but she had suspicions based on what we had told her about his symptoms.

My dad and Henry on the Feline Diabetes Management Board, learning all about diabetes in cats.

Tuesday May 7: Blood work comes back. Henry has diabetes! It was a surprise, even though we knew there must have been an underlying issue. But ok, we took a step back and figured out the next step to get him healthy. His blood sugar levels were in the 300s, when a normal range can be anywhere from 70-100/110 ish. We made an appointment for the next day, to learn about how to administer insulin.

Wednesday May 8: Mom, Dad, Henry and I all went to the vet. The vet tech taught us how to draw insulin out of the bottle into a needle syringe. We practiced using sterilized water and actually administering the water to Henry as practice. He didn't seem to mind, or frankly even notice. Though he would've rather been able to get down and explore!

I was amazed when I administered the sterilized water, how easily it felt to push down the needle plunger. I wasn't even sure it went in when I pushed it. It was literally so easy - which I found impossible to believe because I'm horrified of needles. I'm the kid who needs all the nurses and doctors to hold her down while she gets shots! So I was needless to say, skeptical as to whether I was going to be competent enough to administer the insulin to Henry.

Dad's blood sugar testing kit. Henry's levels were very high.

In addition to getting information about diabetes, how to administer insulin and actually getting Henry's insulin prescription for Levemir -- I learned about the signs we needed to watch for if his blood sugar got too low. Signs include vomiting, lethargy, wobbly/discordinated walking, etc. If this happens, you should feed the kitty and put Karo Syrup (it's like sugar - used in cooking - to raise the low blood sugar levels) on his gums. And of course, ultimately rush him to the emergency 24/7 vet. Which we fortunately live relatively close to.

Wednesday night after Henry (far right) had his first insulin dose.

Thursday May 9: We all carefully monitor Henry throughout the day. My dad got a blood sugar checking kit, but Henry very much dislikes having the lancet puncture his ear to draw up blood to test. After checking a few times, Henry is very sensitive about his ears and prefers right now to not have them touched (they are scabbed and obviously painful - it's like having your ear pierced/pricked). We are also feeding him when he is hungry, to help him gain weight. Henry is only 8.5 pounds, but he should be a 12 pound cat. I don't think he will ever be 12 pounds, but we are aiming for 10-11 hopefully! We have been giving him Insulin since Wednesday night.

My dad came home at 7 pm -- we are administering insulin at 7 am and 7 pm, perfect 12 hours spaced apart -- to feed the cats. We feed them and dad had me give Henry his night time insulin shot! And aside from having to adjust the amount of insulin I put in the syringe, it was easy. I didn't flinch giving Henry the Insulin, and he didn't seem to notice! Win-win!

Friday May 10: It's been a stressful couple of days, with everyone adjusting to closely monitoring Henry. We of course, are all worried about him. I'm not sure if he really knows he has diabetes, but I think he does notice he is getting a lot of attention! I administered his insulin shot again tonight, with no problem. I'm really proud of myself for facing my fear of needles and being able to give shots. If you had told me last week that I would be giving insulin shots, I would have laughed and would have said you were kidding! But now, I have something new to add to my cat ability resume >^..^<

I will definitely continue my feline wellness posts as well as post updates about Henry. I'm sure in the coming weeks I will continue to give insulin and learn more about diabetes in cats!

Friday night, Henry helps me study for finals.

The Creative Cat 2013 Calendar Review

Hi Readers!

I know it's been a little while, but I am back and with a really awesome review. I am a huge calendar addict - I love buying multiple wall calendars, little desk calendars, and pocket calendars. I always have a calendar hanging by my computer, a book calendar on my desk, and one in my purse. So, naturally when my friend Bernadette from The Creative Cat asked me to review her calendars, I was super excited.

The two calendar styles, journal (left) & wall (right). Photo used with permission from Bernadette Kazmarski.

Bernadette has two calendars (Compositions in Black and Green & In The Kitchen With Cookie). The calendars come in two styles - wall or journal. The calendars can be purchased here on Bernadette's The Creative Cat calendar post.

I received In the Kitchen with Cookie, in the wall style. This calendar is all about Bernadette's "adventures, misadventures and creative efforts of a certain tortoiseshell kitty in my kitchen". A really neat thing about the Cookie calendar, is it includes recipes for each month of the year. The recipe I am most looking forward to trying, is January's pound cake recipe (though the New York Cheesecake from November is also calling my name).

Cookie is curled up in bowls, in many of the pictures! Photo used with permission from Bernadette Kazmarski.

My favorite picture in the calendar is September 2013, because it has a picture of Cookie curled up in a one gallon pot - "one gallon of tortoiseshell ingenuity" as Bernadette puts it!

A wonderful charm of the calendar, is the blue checkerboard print that is the background for each month. Important holidays and lunar changes are included, as well as a space for notes -- and of course, small images of Cookie, in whatever bowl she has been napping in, for the month.

The two calendar styles, journal (left) & wall (right). Photo used with permission from Bernadette Kazmarski.

The next calendar is Compositions in Black and Green 2013. This calendar features Bernadette's fantastic five black cats! They are "frolicking in their mint green and white bathroom" throughout the calendar.

My favorite picture is Jelly Bean looking in the mirror, cockeyed and saying........"God I'm Cute", in January. My second favorite is March, featuring Mr. Sunshine, Jelly Bean and Giuseppe, with the front cat head turned asking, "May I see some ID?".

May I see some ID?  Photo used with permission from Bernadette Kazmarski.

April is a beautiful shot of black cats, water droplets and pink tongues -- you have to see for yourselves, it's squee worthy!

Bernadette's work is gorgeous, as you can see from her The Creative Cat page.

So if you're looking for an excellent calendar to store your daily plans, I encourage you to check out Bernadette's calendars, you won't be disappointed!

Receiving complimentary calendars did not influence my review.

Lucky Friday the 13th Cats

Black cats + Friday the 13th = A massive stereotype. Why is it that black cats always get a bad rap and an even worse connotation on Friday the 13th. Well here at Sandpiper Cat, we consider it lucky to come across a black cat on Friday the 13th! (and a calico too, because Piper is one).

Sabrina!

My lucky black cat

Lucky Piper

Piper and mommy (and Bean in the background!)

My Experience with Jason Wu for Target Post 1 of 3

Designer clothes don't really interest me. Mostly because I'm a high school student who couldn't afford a $100 tank top. But when I read Catsparella's Jason Wu Preview, I knew that I had to own all the cat pieces from his collection.

Catsparella's post was from January 11, and the collection didn't come out until February 5, so there was still a while to wait, and drool at the Youtube video featuring Milu, the black cat. The tag line was "Mischief is in the details" and the collection is inspired by Wu's cat muse Milu. This cat looks just like my little black kitty Sabrina. I knew owning the collection was fate.

And the fact that the collection is reasonably priced made it even more clear that it was destiny. The cat tote priced at $39.99, the cat scarf at $19.99 as well as the Milu tee shirt at $19.99.

The accessories page when the site launched the collection.

My original plan was to be at my Target at 8 am on February 5th when the collection launched, since my local Target was expecting to get the collection. Of course, I found myself reading the Target Style Facebook wall posts and learned that the collection would launch some time in the "early morning" which could mean 12 am and/or any time after that. So I figured, what the heck, I would stay up a little after midnight and see if I could buy anything.

Well after many waves of anxiety of missing the cat items, mutliple refreshes of the Target Style Facebook page and the Target website, I was able to buy two of the Milu totebags and two Milu scarves (one for me, one for my mom). It was 1:30 am, I was satisfied and went to bed and did not intend to go to Target in the morning.

I woke up at 11:30 am to read the posts from the early morning shoppers. I read that some people were in long lines, some were first in line, some Targets had barely anything from the collection, and some people were vultures (like the people in Miami) and bought all of the Jason Wu collection to sell on eBay for 300-500% marked up prices.

My mom had bought a few shirts online, and then headed off to our local Target to see if there was anything left. It turned out our Target sold out everything in five minutes, and there wasn't even the official Jason Wu display to showcase the item. My mom bought one shirt and headed home, defeated that she didn't get the Blue Floral Classic Flap Handbag, but glad that we had Milu items on the way.

Cream tie top!

Still reading the posts on the Target Style Facebook page, I became worried that my orders would be cancelled, as many people had posted. Fortunately, by Tuesday 2/7 all my orders had shipped.

Pretty wiped out on Tuesday

I even found myself at our other local Target on Tuesday 2/7 and was surprised at what I saw! Two Jason Wu displays, and they even had some clothes on them! Most of the clothes left were in the large, extra large or size 16 range. I was surprised that there were even clothes left at all, when they had sold out online. I didn't buy anything though.

UPS man coming to the house

The purchases!

Someone tried to snag my Wu!

So excited to have the bags.

And then on Thursday 2/9, my Milu scarves came in the mail! I came into the house screaming with glee! I tried it on and wore it for the rest of the day. I kept checking the UPS website to track the rest of my clothes and totebags and it turned out they were scheduled to arrive on Friday 2/10. And on Friday night, all the cat items were home safely with me!

This is post 1 of 3 of my Wu saga. Stay tuned for later posts this week!