Where did May go?????

Hello all my furr guardians, how did the month of May treat you? I can't believe how fast the month flew by, and it's going to be June in a few short days!!!!! Did you receive any good Mothers Day gifts for your furr kids? I personally didn't, but Blackjack made sure to wish me a happy day, and that's a great gift in my eyes. :o)

Your loyal pet sitters had one heck of a busy month, and welcome all our new furr kids and guardians. We had a great time at the 13th Street Cat Rescues annual open house, and was very pleased with the turnout! Hershey the chocolate lab kept everyone entertained weaving in and out of all the attendees with her favorite tennis ball in her mouth with eyes beaming with hope that someone would take the slobber injected ball and play with her. Our dear Coco was in his run because he's not as well behaved as his Sister Hershey, but everyone made their way out there to say hello to him.

I was looking at one of my favorite sites, (http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/) and after watching their informational video, (for the millionth time) checked out some of the other information that was mentioned. These are really, REALLY cool sites and ones that I think anyone who is a furr guardian or for that matter just an animal lover should be made aware of.

freekibblekat.com such a great idea, and can you believe it that a 12 YEAR OLD founded it!!! This is her story...

"Mimi Ausland, a 12 year old girl from Bend, Oregon, wanted to help feed the hungry animals at her local animal shelter. "There are 10's of thousands of dogs and cats in animal shelters across the country, all needing to be fed a good meal". Say hello to freekibble.com and freekibblekat.com!

Freekibble.com's primary mission is to provide good, healthy food to dogs and cats to those shelters who are working so hard to see that none of them go hungry - they need our help. In addition to providing free kibble to the Humane Society of Central Oregon, we've added 13 new shelters to the program (from Oregon to Florida!) and plan to expand the program to many more! Thanks to everyone for supporting freekibble by playing the trivia game - every piece of kibble counts!

We're happy to say that we're partnering with Castor and Pollux to feed these hungry dogs and cats a very high quality, all natural kibble - a very decent dinner! We also want to make it easy and fun for you to help provide free kibble by playing Meow Trivia - and we hope you learn a few interesting things about dogs and cats along the way. Thanks and enjoy!"

So, basically you go to http://www.freekibblekat.com/, (for cats) or http://www.freekibble.com/, (for dogs) and answer their daily trivia question. This is a daily question, and right or wrong they will still donate 10 pieces of kibble to animal shelters. It takes like one second and you can sign up for daily trivia reminders. I'm always thrilled when children take an active interest in helping out our furr friends, good for you Mimi!

The next site which I found very cool and wonderful is http://www.goodsearch.com/. The following info is edited due to the amount, but it should give you a good understanding what this site is all about.

"We all have a cause we care about - whether it's finding a cure for cancer, saving the environment, finding homes for abandoned pets or so many other worthwhile endeavors. But what we don't all have is the time or money to support these efforts as much as we'd like. So, what if we could raise money for our favorite charities and schools by doing something we do every day - searching the Internet?

GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of it's revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it's powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers - the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!

In 2007, GoodSearch was expanded to include GoodShop, an online shipping mall of world-class merchants dedicated to helping fund worthy causes across the country. Each purchase made via the GoodShop mall results in a donation to the user's designated charity or school - averaging approximately 3% of the sale, but going up to 20% or even more."

How totally cool is that! I mean, most of us are on the computer all day long looking up information, shopping, chatting, and we could be using it to help our beloved furr kids, (or any other charity of course).

The weather is getting WARM outside and I wanted to make sure that you have some tips on keeping your furr kids safe and healthy during the scorching summer months:

• Always have a supply of cool, fresh water available for pets.
• Add a few ice cubes to a dish of water for a cool, refreshing treat.
• When on the go, keep a water bottle filled with cold, fresh water for your pet.
• Wait 30 - 60 minutes after meals before taking a pet for its run.
• Walk your dog in grass or keep pavement walks brief. Sensitive paws can quickly burn on hot asphalt; consider paw protectors such as shoes or booties.
• No doggy days at the beach! During extremely hot temperatures, your pet would prefer shade to sunshine. Excessive panting, raspy breath and discolored gums are signs of heatstroke. To treat, get the animal in a shady place, cool it with wet towels and call a veterinarian.
• NEVER leave your animal in a vehicle! Even with the windows open, the temperature in a parked vehicle can reach more than 100 degrees in a matter of minutes.
• Coolant/antifreeze leaks are sweet tasting and attractive to animals. But drinking coolant can be fatal. Use animal-friendly propylene glycol coolant rather than ethylene glycol in your vehicles. Never let your pet drink out of strange puddles.

HELP ON YELP...many of you use Yelp in reviewing local eateries, business, etc, but did you know that your loyal petsitters are on Yelp, and would LOVE more happy reviews! If you're a Yelp, (or Angies List) user please leave a review for us...your furr kids would want you too! :o)

I thought I'd leave you with a "little Nomi" the adorable Yorkie that I'm fortunate enough to visit with twice a week. Until next time, hug your furr kids for me, Nanny Katy, Nanny Chandel, Nanny Allison, Nanny Stacy, Nanny Jennifer and Nanny Maria and we thank you for being part of our family.

Sad month

Hello all my furr guardians, I hope this post finds you all very well. You know, you're probably really tired of hearing me apologize for the delay in getting up a new post, but I feel that this time it is totally warranted. WOW, over a month has past...needless to say I'm very embarrassed by this and really have no excuse besides the fact that it was tax month and I was in an accounting frenzy! Uuuuuugh, taxes...the ONE bad thing about being in business for yourself...at least it only comes once a year!

Besides the tax horror, this was a very sad month, (well April) for your loyal pet sitter having lost three of my furr kids. My lovely Boy Smush who has a video on one of my past blogs moved back to Los Angeles with his guardians...I'm broken hearted since I have been watching him since he was a tiny pup, (see photo). Yes, it was a teared filled last visit which intensified when I opened the gift from his guardians and it was a beautiful full color picture of him in a lovely frame. I wish there was a clause in my contract that restricts my furr guardians from moving away...or at least gives me visitation rights, (one week out of every summer?) but since that's not going to happen I had to say goodbye to my Smushie Wushie, Smushtah Wooshtah, Mushie Mushie, Little Licker, Mushta Mush and it was awful! Not only was it horrible losing my Smush Boy, but I adored his guardians and will totally miss them too. I was lucky enough to be able to get together with his furr Mom for some coffee, (well tea) the day before they left, but it was still sad. I wish Smush and his furr guardians all the luck in the world, and hope the pop by every now and then to say hi.

This was also a sad month for losing two more of my furr kids, and unfortunately not from a move. My furr kid Sidney passed away in April after a very long life with his furr guardian. Sidney was a wonderful quirky Boy who always entertained me! After our visit he would wait for a treat while I wrote his guardian a note and if I took too long he would make this strange sneezing noise! He also wouldn't walk on certain surfaces, so he would jump over the entrance to their elevator, and jump over rail road tracks. He totally hated the rain, and I would have to leave my umbrella outside so he didn't see it, (he knew umbrella = rain). He would always be upstairs on his guardians bed when I would show up, and it was always fun to hear the "thump" after I called him, and then the "thump, thump, thump" and he jolted down the stairs to meet me. He was such a wonderful old Boy and I was lucky enough to be his friend till the very end.

My girl Maya also passed away in April, and FAR too soon for this sweet wonderful girl. She was the funniest Bully Bull I have ever met, and kept me laughing while she rolled around on her back while her big Bulldog lips flapped around. She was SUCH a bulldog...she wasn't thrilled about leaving the comforts of her own chair, and when she didn't want to walk...she didn't walk! I'm telling you, although she was probably only around 40 pounds it was ALL muscle and she was strong! Her guardian loved her SO much and so did Katy and myself, (we were both nannies for Maya). She will always live in our memories as our My-oh-my, myaloo, and maya-angeloooo, and maya-looinski. This was such a shock to hear since Maya was only 5 years old, so make sure you give your furr kids a big hug and kiss every chance you get.
WOW, what a complete buzz kill this blog is! I'm so sorry! I just wanted to make sure to mention these friends of mine and how much I will miss them all! We really become part of your family and truly care about your furr kids so much, and when they "leave" it really effects us quite a lot.

Well, let's try to lighten the mood a bit shall we and nothing lightens the mood like the topic of SHOPPING! This is kind of an exciting thing that I'm planning on launching! My Cousin and his wife own a couple of super awesome doggy boutiques in Healdsburg and Saint Helena, and during our recent visit out there I came across some REALLY cool, very unique items in their store! So, I am going to start featuring about 3 to 4 original items on my website that you can purchase for your furr kids! I have never seen these items in any other store, and when I saw them I actually said "this is the coolest thing I have ever seen". So, hopefully within a month or so you will be able to shop for some unique items that will make all your furr guardian friends will be green with envy!

The next shopping item is something that is near and dear to not only my heart, but the majority of my family, (my Sister, Dad, Brother-in-law, and of course my Husband). I have decided to offer a line of items designed by San Jose State University Art Students. This is in the works now, and we should be offering everything from t-shirts to skate board decks. All of the designs will feature a pet related topic, but it could be anything from a dog collar to a cat dish...who knows, I am giving them the freedom to use their creativity and surprise me! I'm not sure exactly when this will be up and running, but keep an eye out for it.

As most of you have probably noticed I have stopped sending out my newsletter. Although this is heartbreaking for me, and many of you have expressed your sadness on this decision, it was one of necessity. For one, I am trying to reduce my footprint and since my furr guardian count is expanding I was using a lot of paper. So, I tried signing up for Constant Contact, (the e-newsletter service) and I'm telling you, you have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out! So, I will try to keep up with my blogs to let you know all the new news with us. I apologize for the disappointment that some of you have experienced.

One of my wonderful furr guardians sent me the link to the Best of Silicon Valley, and although there isn't a pet section focused on "pet care" it would be awesome if all of my furr guardians could vote for us in the "best pet daycare" section. I know that we're not really a pet daycare, however since there isn't a best pet sitting category I feel it's completely appropriate to nominate us. Maybe next year they will have an actual pet sitting category...who knows.

Anyway, I guess that is all for now...I promise that I will be much more diligent on getting my postings up and apologize again for the delay. Give all your furr kids a big smooch and hug for us and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!