Christmas Report

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. For my pals that don't celebrate it, I hope you had a great day and happy holidays.

It was the Debil Kittehs' first Christmas. They didn't think much of the presents, but they really liked the wrapping paper wilderness fort and have played in it for hours. Then napped in it for hours. Then played it in it again. We're now on Day 2 and they're back to napping in it.

Girl wasn't going to do presents for us this year because we really do have plenty of stuff. However, at the last minute she caved and got a few things. Normally she would buy things from our pals' stores like dogtoys.com, cattoys.com, or nipandbones.com. But she got stuff from Amazon this time because she gets free 2-day shipping and she left it til the last possible second.

Ein eats a lot and fast, so after careful research she got him this DogPause bowl

The cats (and the rest of us, because we share) got this fancy-schmancy fountain. Part of the reason she chose this one is because a) people seemed to really like it; b) it holds a lot of water which is good because we dogs drink a lot; c) she figured if we hated it, it's pretty enough she could use it as a water feature at her office.

And then for Wickie's sore joints, she got this special raised feeder. I think maybe Wickie was expecting treats or toys or something because she didn't seem very excited about it and I think it kind of hurt the Girl's feelings (Wickie got a shorter one than in the picture, of course)

What did I get? Well, I have lots of toys. And I get lots of treats. So instead of buying me something, we decided to use my Christmas budget for #pawpawty donations. But I did get lovely cards from a lot of pals and I did get a present or two from them. :)

So that is my official Christmas Report...Maximus Claus, over and out til next year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our furry family to yours!

Lucy

We need a little help here, pals. There is a sweet, gentle 10-year-old Samoyed named Lucy in the Salt Lake City area of Utah that needs a loving home. @BadAndy_KityKat's mom used to take care of her on occasion and would LOVE to keep her for good, but because of bad allergies and a tiny yard (and a few other things) she can't give Lucy a home no matter how much she'd like to. So instead, BadAndy and his mom are trying to do the next best thing and find Lucy a great home.

If you or anyone you know is interested in Lucy, please contact @BadAndy_KityKat or contact me via twitter (@BlindMaximus) and I will connect you with Andy. In the meantime, please blog/tweet about Lucy and get the word out there!

Santa's Naughty & Nice List

This holiday season, anipals make finding fun, unique gifts easier than ever! The list is pretty long but even if you're only "browsing" please please look at the whole list. Thanks! :)

Zazzle/Cafepress
http://www.zazzle.com/zackrabbit Get all your Cooking with Rabbits merchandise here, along with some of Zackary's "spicier" items! Watch out for his "carrot"!

http://www.zazzle.com/mattiedadog Home of Shibbering Cheetos paraphernalia and gifts supporting the MattieDog Foundation

http://www.zazzle.com/theoreticallyawesome because every jet-setting anipal should have his or her own shirt to get through airport security

http://www.zazzle.com/javathecat is where you can find all the past & present #pawpawty swag with profits going to the current #pawpawty charity

http://www.zazzle.com/boriskitty and http://www.cafepress.com/BorisRescued for your very own piece of BorisKitty!

http://www.cafepress.com/smpab the store for Winging Cat Rescue, "a licensed Rescue and a 501C3 non-profit organization that rely strictly on donations.We have rescued over 1200 Cats & kittens since our inception.100% of proceeds from Cafe Press products will go directly to Vetting & Sponsoring low-cost Spay Neuter Clinics."

http://www.zazzle.com/bohopets the place to get your JazzydaCat "norty step" merchandise designed by CokietheCat's mom!

http://www.cafepress.com/midgeshop All things MidgetheMutt!

http://www.zazzle.com/cheshirek products based on the book Please Send Money by Cheshire Kitten

Etsy
http://www.trinlayk.etsy.com from Megumi & Seimei: "We help our main human make fiber art, mostly plushies, but also purses, wearables, and stuff for dolls. mostly it's natural fibers like alpaca, wool, and of course there's almost always a little cat hair mixed in!"

http://HyperspaceHippo.etsy.com belongs to the mom of GromekCat and CapnPeanutZilla "It is just a hobby for her at this point, although she's wanting to expand it! Her sells jewelry and beaded bookmarks."

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Whskr @Whskr and her sidekick @DashKitten have a variety of things for sale including custom pet pendants

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NoCrybabyDoGs by Daffy's mom has a ton of cards and artwork to choose from! Custom orders too!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elineof I have one of Elineof & Berkeley's Woolly Teds; his brothers would make perfect presents that give smiles all year long.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/smilingfrogpets by CowtailChewToys has clothes, toys, and recycled toys too!

Jewelry
www.puppylovejewelry.com Puppy says, "I make handcrafted crystal and gemstone jewelry, sell crystals/stones alone for meditation, and will soon be carrying some handmade lip balms and candles :) (it is an ebay store, but all handmade things by me)"

http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com GeorgetheDuck's persons website full of crystals, stones, and great metaphysical jewelry

http://www.silkenpaw.net/cats/mizzbassie Not just jewelry...PET jewelry! Beautiful pieces by the lovely MizzBassie.

http://www.facebook.com/PurpleFroggyCreations Purple_Froggy sells jewelry to support her family

Art
http://bztat.com Pieces for charity, custom pet portraits AND gift certificates too! Painted lovingly by BrewskieButt's person Bztat.

http://pasikas.weebly.com these silk scarves painted by Pasikas are truly works of art!

www.zaziart.net for custom pet portraits

http://bohopets.com/ for pet portraits and Christmas cards by CokietheCat's mom

Stores
http://www.dougalsden.co.uk A store for our UK pals by our very own super sweet FrugalDougal!

http://www.nipandbones.com I hear BabyPatches tests and approves all the merchandise personally!

http://www.cattoys.com and http://www.dogtoys.com be sure to check out these sites by BorisKitty...even if it's just for the hot models!

http://www.petdogshop.info by Angela & Lucy

www.shop.bearmani.com by SnuffyNorton. Snuffy might already be overbooked for Christmas commissions, but his bears (and their clothes) make great gifts all year round! Cat toys too!

http://www.luandcoco.com for all your organic dog grooming essentials!

http://www.dogchowcookies.com/  this UK store offers hand-made dog snacks with care and simple fresh ingredients, with no preservatives especially for your Best Friend. All @dogchowcookies are fresh-baked with no added preservatives, chemicals, salt or sugar.



http://www.thesassytraveler.com/ the stylish luggage store belonging to BuzzLucas's mom

http://www.debandco.com/c-73-pets.aspx  "made by hand, given from the heart" cute ornaments and figurines from Crazy_Felix's mom

http://shop.ebay.com/motorpurrr/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340   Great deals on toys & hobbies at TinyPearlCat's mom's ebay store

This isn't really a "store", but http://www.teenysfriends.com/ (@TeenysFriends on twitter) has a great one-for-one toy program: buy a toy from them and they donate a toy to a needy dog too! It's a feel-good bargain all around!

Books
Precious has two books: "The Adventures of Precious the Dog: Precious and Lizie PLay Hide and Seek" and book two "The Adventures of Precious the Dog: Precious and the Rabbits Run and Hop." They can be purchased from her etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/imajackrussell or Amazon. Great gifts for little kids!

"Welcom to My Werld" by HenryandFriends. Be sure to check out the rave reviews!

"Summer at the Lake With Petie" by Pumpkinpuddy. Visit her blog for more info about the book and Duncan's Place, the charity benefiting from the book sales.

"Please Send Money" by CheshireK. I won this book as a pawpawty prize and it is cute and full of great pictures. It says on the back "Cheshire Kitten will use the proceeds of this book to feed all of his friends, both in the house and outside." You can get matching merchandise at http://www.zazzle.com/cheshirek

"The Zen of Max" by MaxtheQuiltCat a "memoir of great wisdom and many naps."

"Homer's Odyssey" the New York Times by HomerBlindCat's person Gwen Cooper

"Dozer the Destructor" written and illustrated by Houston Keys. A great kid's book about the responsibility of owning a pet. Dozer the Destructor matching merchandise available here.

Other/Charities 
I also want to include this link to the Anipal Times. Lexie put it together and is a nice compilation of some animal charities in the UK for anyone in or buying a gift for someone in the UK. :)

http://www.santapawsdrive.com is a virtual toy drive for shelter pets. Donate cash or gifts to help shelter animals have a merry Christmas.

http://michellescats.chipin.com/supplies-for-the-sanctuary is a small cat sanctuary operated by FuzzyMice from twitter


Alright, here's the list so far. If I've left anyone off, please let me know ASAP and I'll update this page.

A Request

I know many people don't even like thinking of Christmas when it's not even Thanksgiving yet (well, I guess my pals here in the States are the only ones) but I have a little request and I like to get things done at least somewhat on time...

There are a lot of anipals out there with stores-etsy, Zazzle, cafepress, etc. Some of these sales go to charity, some are the sole income for the humans involved, some are for fun.

So I thought it might be nice, as kind of a one-stop-shop, to do a blog post that lists ALL (okay, as many as possible) the anipal store sites so if other pals would like to buy from them for the holidays (or other occasions) everything is in one nice little place.

What I'd like from you is if you have a store or would like to nominate one, please leave the name & link in the comments OR you can email me at blindmaximus@gmail.com.

I'd like to have my post compiled & published by the first weekend in December...so let's get linking!

Lake With Petie

Some of you may have noticed the new widget to the right... That is a widget that makes it REALLY EASY for anipals to buy their very own copy of "Lake With Petie." @Pumpkinpuddy worked really hard putting this book together and all profits go to Duncan's Place cat sanctuary.

@Pumpkinpuddy originally set a goal of selling 100 books to help out Duncan's Place. Let's help a sweet pal reach her goal and help a great charity at the same time!

Pleasantly Surprised Update

Yesterday I told you all about my trip to Denver to the vet at VRCC (Veterinary Referral Center of Colorad0).

I'm just writing this quick update today...I told you how well I was treated there and how Girl was impressed with their customer service from her first phone convo with them.

They called today to check in. See how I was. To ask if Girl had any questions and "if you ever have any, ever, don't hesitate to call." AND: "Give the little guy a hug for us!"

WOW. We were IMPRESSED.

So while I hope my pals live forever and never get sick or injured, I have to say that for any of you in area, the care at VRCC is top notch. And they do lots of stuff there, not just eyeballs!

The Vet Trip That Wasn't

So as many of you know by now, I am blind. Hehe. My left eye has an implant but my right eye is 100% real. I had surgery when the eye was originally damaged that was supposed to save my sight but it just didn't. Recentlyish, the Girl kept thinking my eye looked like it was getting smaller. But very recentlyish, it didn't look like it was getting smaller, it was most definitely shrinking.

Girl, of course, freaked out and assumed the worst. She didn't want my anipals to assume the worst, though, so we kept it on the downlow. In the meantime, she googled some animal eye specialists (ophthalmologists). We weren't very pleased with the ophthalmologist we used before (well, not only can I not see when the doc said I would, he also didn't return Girl's calls post-op with some questions...not to mention that whole 'almost killing me' thing during the last surgery) so we had to start from scratch looking for a new doctor. We decided on the VRCC in Denver. Well, she did...I didn't see what the big deal was.

From the very first phone call making the appointment, Girl liked the VRCC better. Soooo yesterday we got in the Jeep and made the bazillion hour (7 hour, if you're paying attention) drive to Denver. I'm a pro when it comes to riding. Girl and her mom always marvel at what a great traveler I am. I sit in my little house and...snore. I mean, uh, meditate on philosophical principles. We stayed at the La Quinta because they seem to be the only hotel with a decent pet policy (we'd totally recommend it too-good room, decent price, no outrageous pet fees, very friendly staff).

So this morning, I dressed to the nines. I was betting there would be some hot nurses.


I surprised the Girl by loading up in my bag and looking quite ready to go. (She told me my outfit was adorable yet a bit excessive for the doctor's office.)

We got there a bit early which was good because that gave me time to check the peemail. On fake turf! I pooped on it just out of principle. (Girl picked it up of course. Hehe.)

There was no point in delaying. Time to go in.

We checked in, Girl signed some papers, then we sat & waited to be called in. That's when it hit me: we were at the V-E-T. I HATE the vet! I was not pleased and made it known that although I was sitting on Girl's lap, I was totally ignoring her.

We got called in and Girl told them about my shrinking/atrophying eyeball. Girl regrets not getting more pictures for my blog but she had other things on her mind, like whether or not I'd have to have surgery or if my eyeball was going to fall out. Dr. Chavkin tested my tears and looked at my eyes and said...

I'm fine! He explained that no, the Girl wasn't hallucinating, my eyeball had definitely shrunk. But the good news is that my eyeball had shrunk as much as it was going to; it wasn't going to get any worse, and I was producing tears (on the tear test! I'm not a crybaby!) and not having discharge or discomfort so there was no need to do ANYTHING!

Girl said, "This was better news than I dared hope for. I'd prepared for the worst, hoped for the best, but I never imagined we'd get this lucky."

So we left Denver this morning (sorry, Denver anipals, I didn't look you up, but I really wasn't there very long!) and after a zillion hour drive home made it back to home sweet home. First thing I did was pee on both the lawns. Ahhh...great to be home!

Give Small a Chance!

My pal @TeenysFriends (remember Teeny? Are you using your #TeenyIH4TH hashtag this week?) was tweeting about a contest on his blog a few days ago so I thought I'd give it a try and enter for fun...

And I won!

I was actually out of town when the winner was decided; imagine how excited I was to get home, check twitter, and see that I'd won the contest!

My prize arrived in a jiffy too!

I got three Cesar Bistro meals (I ate one here at work but will probably let my sisfur Wickie-sama eat the other two...she LOVES those things!), a cool Cesar plate, a nifty resealable bag of Cesar treats (mmm-I love treats!) and a shirt that says "Give Small a Chance." Girl's mom thought that was really funny and cute.

Here I am, checking out the goods:


Thanks again, Teeny!

Hashtags for Humanity (Pawmanity?)

Okay pals, this is very important. From now til October 24th, Iams will be watching Twitter for #BorisIH4TH and #TeenyIH4TH (Boris-Iams Home 4 The Holidays and Teeny-Iams Home for the Holidays). Use these hashtags for the next week and every time you do, Iams will donate 10 bowls of food to a participating shelter.

You can read more of the details at @BorisKitty's 4 Paws For A Cause blog and at @TeenysFriends Providing Toys for Needy Dogs blog.

I know a bunch of you chatterboxes get thrown into Twitter jail regularly...imagine how many hungry shelter anipals we can feed just by adding these hashtags #BorisIH4TH #TeenyIH4TH to our tweets!

Energy

I like to try keeping this blog fun and lighthearted, but today I'd like to talk about something that's been on my mind.

Energy. Positive thinking. Prayers.

As many of you know, my pal @BigBoyBosco has been having some very scary drama at his house. So we got together with the #Barkbusters crew and set up a "patrol" around Bosco's home while he slept. Even though this patrol was done entirely on Twitter, the bad guy stayed away! Could this be because we were patrolling with our good thoughts, our prayers, our intention? I would like to think so.

Without getting too involved in the theory of these things, I just want to emphasize the importance of focusing on the positive when we do #pawcircles or #Barkbusters or anything like that. Rather than focus on what's wrong with a situation, it's important to focus our energy on the result we want.

My friend Rumblepurr's brother Inigo is unwell right now. I know Rumble's blog has many readers and he has many friends on Twitter praying for Inigo. But what I'm asking today is that when we think of Inigo --or any other anipal or person we're sending wishes for-- we think of Inigo as happy and healthy. Try to stay away from thoughts of "poor sick Inigo" or worrying about the worst case scenario. Please please visualize only good thoughts for him, because that is what you want to happen, that is the energy you want to send.

On a somber note, I realize that some things do happen for a reason, even if we don't know what that reason may be, now or ever. Sometimes all the prayers in the world don't affect a change we can see but we shouldn't be discouraged. But if we are going to hope for the best for our pals I'd like for us to truly hope for the best rather than worrying about the worst.

Write a Post, Help A Dog!

Looking for a way to help a homeless dog? If you have a blog of any kind, simply write a post to help a dog from now through September 19 and Pedigree will donate a 20-pound bag of food to an animal shelter.


It's that simple.


Just include the bullets listed here, and add the direct link to your blog post to our Blog Hop below so we can all see how big an impact we are making!

• Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

• This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a "Fan" or "Likes" the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

• Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive through September 19, PEDIGREE will donate a bag of its new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It's simple: Write a post, help a dog.

• Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop to help raise awareness for the "Write a post, help a dog" effort.

Tell as many of your blogger friends as you can, so we can help even more dogs. And if you don't have a blog, please tweet about this using the hashtag #dogsrule, re-tweet this post, or share on Facebook to help spread the word even further!

Thank You

I have some of the best Twitter pals a dog could ask for! So many of you have done wonderful things for me, sent me thoughtful gifts, exchanged helpful emails... and I realize I don't do the best job of sounding grateful for all you do.

So I'm writing this post because I want to shout a big THANK YOU to all of you super pals. Whether it's sending a package that brightens my day, hauling me around Barkworld taking funny pictures, commenting on my blog posts or wishing me sweet dreams when I sign off Twitter at night, I appreciate everything you do!

Thank you for being my friends!

Camping

We went on a little camping vacation at our cabin in the mountains. We decided to go for a little hike...




J. Bear: Well, Maximus hiked. Bianca and I kind of "rode along."

Bianca: At the bottom of the hill, J. Bear tried to impress me with his tree-climbing skills.


J. Bear: Did it work?



J. Bear: We thought we'd take a little break before hiking back up. Too bad *someone* ahem, didn't think to pack a picnic lunch.
Bianca: I imagine The Girl neglected to pack lunch because we'd just had breakfast.
J. Bear: I don't see what just having breakfast has to do with anything.





Maximus: Here I am, hiking back up that hill. I don't really know why we hiked down it just to turn around and hike back up it, but whatever.


J. Bear: Dinner that night was chili with cheetos sprinkled on top.
Artie: SHIBBERING CHEETOS?
Bianca: No, Artie, just regular cheetos.
J. Bear: Um, Artie, I think that is my spoon you've got...

The next day...

J. Bear: Who's ready to go for a ride!
Artie: I'll drive!


J. Bear: What a peculiar landmark.
Maximus: The stick points North.
Bianca: Where's Artie?

J. Bear: Once again, it appears *someone* forgot to pack us a picnic...



Maximus is a professional adventurer.



This cow appears to be thinking, "What the hell is that in the sagebrush?"


Artie: WOW!
J. Bear: What do you suppose Artie's seeing through those binoculars?
Bianca: Nothing. The lens caps are on.
J. Bear: Well, I want to look!
Bianca: Go ahead. But I advise you take the lens caps off first...

Artie: Crikey! I don't know what it is, but it's HUGE!
J. Bear: Bianca! Bianca! Come look!
Bianca: Oh, that's alright. I have a feeling I know what you're looking at.


Maybe they were looking at the two bucks? Can you see them, the little pale dots in the picture below?


Artie: Hot dogs for dinner! Yay!
Bianca: And look, roasted marshmallows for dessert.
J. Bear: There are four marshmallows and three of us. So that means one a piece...
Artie: And two for me! *CHOMP*

After dinner we hung out on the deck for a bit...


If you're not a blind dog, this is the view from the deck:

Artie: Here, I'll read us a bedtime story!
J. Bear: But, Artie, it appears to be upside---
Bianca: *shh!* Oh, the Moomins, my favorite!


J. Bear: Sleeping by the camp stove isn't quite the same as sleeping by the campfire...
Artie: I like it! And I found this sleeping bag, so cozy and just my size!
J. Bear: Uh, Artie--
Bianca: Yes, it fits you wonderfully, Artie. Good night, boys!

J. Bear: All in all, it was a great camping trip, wasn't it, Bianca?
Bianca: Yes. It was wonderful.

Good Bye, Riley

This morning on Twitter @Ri_Guy's mom announced that Riley had gone over the Rainbow Bridge.

I had been following Riley's tweets and blog about the problems with his eye and had been praying for him and cheering him on when he got good news. Today came as a shock.

I know that Riley is in a better place and free from pain but I still feel heartbroken for his family. I know he will be missed more than words can say.

5 Questions

My pal @SpencerTeddy got asked some questions by @Kolo_Martin as part of a blog game...and now Spencer is asking me questions!

The rules of the game say I should answer these questions, make up five new ones, and ask them of five pals. I thought about it for some time and most of the pals I would pick have already been asked (from looking at other bloggers) so I think I will only do half of this game. What can I say, I'm a rule breaker!

Spencer asked me:

1. If you could meet someone famous who would it be?
I think I would meet @ZackRabbit!

2. What is your favorite cartoon?
Oh, we watch a lot of cartoons. So hard to pick a favorite. We like to watch He-Man and She-Ra.

3. If you were castaway on island what would you do?
I would probably sleep a lot. And cross my paws and hope they have wi-fi for my iPawd!

4. What is your favorite Twitter event?
Oh, I do love all pawties! Especially when the @ShibberingC play!

5. If you won the lottery what would you buy?
Mountains of treats and Play-N-Squeak toys! BOL!

If you are reading this and would like to play along, I've thought of some questions for you to answer. If you answer them, please leave a comment to let me know so I can read your post! :)

1) How did you get your name?
2) How do you feel about baths?
3) What is your favorite food?
4) If you could have any animal sibling, what would you pick?
5) On a scale of 1-10, 1 being "roses" and 10 being "kill you dead" how bad do your farts stink?

A Little Help From My Friends

This isn't something I do often because I know there are squillions of animals out there looking for good homes. But my friend needs help and it's the nature of friends to help each other out.

The owner of this beautiful girl Patty

has to relocate for his job and can't take her with him. She's an older dog, good with kids, and really needs a good home. Patty currently lives in Alabama. I would really appreciate my readers getting the word out; with a little help from my friends, I just know we can find this girl a nice home.

Any questions/suggestions/interest in adopting, please contact me or my pal @marshallsheldon.

Thanks, everyone!