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!