Sleep-Away Camp

Hello kitties,
First, do NOT forget to vote for me (I am cat #4 because monday is the last day!)


Today was a very very event-full day for me because I gotted to go to the Sleep-Away camp! It was about 40 minutes of a drive from our house. I do not like the drive much so both my parents came with me and mommie held me on her lap the whole way there. I meowed a lot.


At the camp, I went in my stroller with the tops down and the children petted me. I wore my green camp hoodie but I took it off when it got warm out. Mommie wore a green sweater to match! There were children of all ages at the camp. I got to be petted by small children and also older children.

There was also another therapy pet there, a doggie named Duncan who is from our Therapy Group. And also, another therapy doggie named Abby who is a long-haired chihuaua from a town nearby. Abby was giving out trading cards to the children with her photo on them! I really want to get some of those for myself, so we talked to Uncle S. and he said we can do that if he gets a great camera to borrow. Also, Abby has a brother who is a Therapy Cat just like me! Abby's mom said that in Delta there are less than 200 therapy cats registered in the entire US. I think more of you kitties should become therapy cats.
I met a lot of different children who all told me some things about themselves, like what is their favorite animal and whether they like cats. Everyone liked cats, of course!
Then we went inside of the lodge and I explored in there, that was where the children were having "Journaling" class. There was a Giant Bear sitting there but it was Not Real.
The rest of the time, I was outside visiting with everyone. The children were going on a climbing wall and I thought this looked very cool. I stayed for 2 whole hours. I got a LOT of treats because mommie lets EVERY boy or girl who pets me give me a treat! I did not do any tricks though because there were lots of distractions being in the out-of-doors.

Then I got invited to a special group for young widows which meets every other Monday. They bring their children, and I will be visiting with the children during the therapy class. I think I could probably teach a therapy class (remember I have got a Harvard T-Shirt!) but for now I will just be playing with the children and letting them pet me. The next time is already this Monday! So I will be going. Mommie says first though that I need a B-A-T-H. Yuck!
I had a great time at the camp! I am definitely coming next year and Mommie says then we can maybe sleep-away because I will be a lot more older and mature.

Love,
Figaro

Hello kitties,

Yesterday afternoon I visitated my nursing home. I really like to visit the nursing home because everyone is very happy to see me there. Yesterday we spent an entire hour at the nursing home. First, we were in the main lobby and we saw some of the people. One lady kneew I was coming and even saved me some ham from her lunch!!! Woah. I was very flatterated. But I did not want to eat it because it was not the kind of temptashions I like to eat when I go to the nursing home.

I let everyone pet me. And also, I gave some people a high five. They really enjoyed that a lot.

Then, we went from room to room and saw some of the people who did not have energies to come out and see me. A lot of people were very very happy that I was there.

I rode in my stroller. In fact, I just laid down in there and mommie opened up the tops and front, and I watched all around when I got strollered down the hallways. I hung my paws off the front part to get some more relaxation even.

I do not have any photos because of confi-dentiality but I post a photo of my cousin Missy, who definitely DEFINITELY would never like to be a therapy cat. She is very shy. And kind of mean.

Tomorrow I head to the Sleep Away Camp! Stay tuned for my mancat Monday post all about it...


Love,

Figaro

Yesterday was a Mancat Monday

Hi kitties,
Yesterday for Mancat Monday I did a lot of things. In specifical, I was busy from about 5pm until all the way to 8:30 pm!!! I was practicing and visitating the entire time. First, mommie took me to grandparent's house where we had some dinner. I already ate at home though so I just explored around. We also took the kitty stroller, so then we went for a walk all around grandparents' neighborhood with mombean and grandma. Grandpa did not come with us because he was 'mbarrassed by our strollering!! Anyways, my granmda knows all the human children in the neighborhood so she introduced me to all of them! They all liked petting me. After that we got back home and chilled for a while. Then our Uncle S. called and we came over to his house because it is just across the street and hanged out there, because my dadbean was over there working on a computer. After that, we came home and I finally got to relax. I was really yaaawning a lot by the end of the night!
PS Don't forget to VOTE for me, I am #4 at the PetSmart Contest!
PPS Don't forget to check back in on Friday, Thursday afternoon we are visiting a Nursing Home!

Love,
Figaro

OH MY GAWSH!! I am a Walnut.

Hello Kitties!!! Something very eggsiting happened.

I got selected as a finalist for the PetSmart 2008 Just a Buck Photo Contest. There is only 10 kitties in the finalist category, and the one with the most votes by September 22 is going to be the next Just a Buck Star. The contest is based on the inspirational story about how I change people's lives and on my photo (yes I am VERY CUTE).

Please vote for me!!! GO HERE TO VOTE PS - VOTING IS NOW AVAILABLE! I AM CAT NUMBER 4

I have been a Sneak lately. Because of how smart I am, I learned how to open the back screen door and go outside for little walks in the woods behind our house. I did that last weekend and then I gotted chased by both of the parents all around the woods! Finally when they catched me they bringed me in and I had to have a bath to get rid of poison ivy and burrs. Poison ivy is not bad for kitties but if we touches humans then we can pass it on.

This weekend I also was a Sneak - I Sneaked out while daddy was mowing the lawn. But then I got caught right when I was doing a Big Sneak across the back porch and I had to go back inside. Now I am in trouble if the parents see me trying to open the door, because it is Unsafe to go outside for such sweet Therapy Cats like me in the town. Also I am learning how to open the cabinets - but I only do that if I think parents are not looking - since I am not allowed on the countertop!

My Second Nursing Home

This morning Mommie and I went to the Second Nursing home. But it was the first time that we were there. I really enjoyed it, and we scheduled me to go from now on in the first Thursday of every months in the evenings. I am excited about that.

We stayed for about 40 minutes. Here is what we did. First, we came and seen all the residents. This time not as many people came as to the First Nursing Home visit, but I see that they also did not announce me over any intercoms so this is probably why. But there were still a lot of people who came. First we went around the room and everyone petted me. Then we went around the room and anyone who wanted to gave me a Treat. I am sometimes a little bit eager about my Treats and I like to Nibble on fingers...so mommie was worried about that and made sure she held my mouth so I didn't participate in any Nibbling. However, I gave one of the residents a Very Small Nibble. I am not allowed to do that. She did not mind, but Mommie said I needs to work on this and she was Quite Worried.

Also, there were some birdies in the room I was in. So I kept looking over because I wanted to put the Bitey on them. They were in a cage. All the residents thinked it was funny I kept eyeing the Birdies like I would put some Bitey.

Then, of course I did some of my tricks. I did High Five and Sit Up and everyone liked it. At home I am also practicing Twirl and Pick Up, and I also did 1 very silly Twirl. It was not a very good Twirl...mommie said I need more Practice. But the residents liked it anyways. They even did some Clapping!

After that, I went to visit one of the residents in her room because she could not come out to see me. I sitted on her lap and she petted me. I think she liked me a lot. Then I made a little Hiss becuase I don't really like to go out of my stroller when I go on visits, so mommie put me away.

And that was the end of my visit. I telled everyone I will be back in 1 Month.

This is Me in my Free Times

Hello kitties,

Here is a photo of me in my free times napping with Veronica. We like to nap on these nice chair cushions that mommie boughted from IKEA (for only $4.99 eaches!)

I have a lot of very big therapy cat news. First of all, my camp is coming up the weekend of the 19th of September. I do not have a time set up yet but I will definitely be going. Second of all, the day after tomorrow I will be visiting a NEW nursing home where I have not been before, and a few weeks from now I will be going back to my First nursing home.
Now for some bigger meows. I have been invited to the special "READ FUR FUN" program at the library. This program is special because many small children come and practice reading to puppies. As usual I will be the very very first kitty who will participate in this program. It is not in a long time though - there are two dates scheduled and I will definitely be there - November 15th and December 13th. I will be riding in my kitty stroller.

Things are looking way way up for my therapy visitings!

Excited,

Figaro

My First Sleep-Away Camp

I am officially invited to the sleep-away camp! It is for an ENTIRE weekend. The coordinators said that mommie and I may have our own bunk bed for the weekend, reserved. However, Mommie said that we will only come for the day and we cannot sleep-away because I am still too small to be away from home at night, and the camp is only 30 minutes away from our house. I feel that this is kind of silly because I am a MANCAT.

In any case, I am very excited about this important job. It all got arranged today. This is a special camp for childrens who lost their loved humans. So I will be very important to comfort them with all my soft furs that they can pet.

The camp is going to be in September. I am very, very excited. We maked sure it does not interfere with my Nursing Home jobs which are also very important, but those are during the day. I think I will wear my special green hoodie. I think it is a good Camping hoodie. And of course I will be going in my Kitty Stroller.

Grief Counselor Therapy Cat

Hello Kitties,


My volunteering career is really taking off. I think pretty soon I will have a Job at least every week. I am very happy about this.

I am scheduled for two more Nursing Homes visits in September, in different Nursing Homes. My First Visit went very great, so I cannot wait for more visits.

And just today I have been invited to attend a special camp and be a Grief Counselor for childrens who has lost a loved human. I am very sad for these childrens and I think I will be able to provide some comfort for them since they can pet me and hug me and I will Purr. This special camp is in the middle of September.

I will also probably get to participate in the Grief Center that opens in our town very soon, and this will be for adult humans.

- Figaro

My First Therapy Cat Visit

Hello everyone,

Yesterday was my very, very first therapy cat visit. We went to the Nursing Home. It was very exciting and I will tell all the details. To get ready for the visit, I had to get a grooming. My mommie inspected my nails and cut them short and then I got FURMINATED. Look how many hairs came off of me onto the special furmination rug. Then it had to be vacuumed.
Then I had to put on my harness. It is a special harness for kitties. I usually wear it when I go out on my leash for walks, but today it was extra special because we had to put on the Delta Society ID tag on it. My sister Veronica sniffed me all over to make sure I am clean and gave me some lickings. Then we were finally ready to go.
First, we arrived at the Nursing Home. It was about 1o minutes drive from our house. I do not like drives but this one was okay because I was so happy to be going to get petted by so many nice people. We taked our stroller with us because it is my special visiting taxi.


When we got out of the car mommie got the stroller all ready and put me in it. Then we strollered over from the parking lot to the building. I have some pictures here of me outside in my stroller. Unfortunately we could not take any pictures of the people I visited because that is confi-dential. So you just have to see me in my stroller on the outside of the Nursing Home. You can see my ear felt itchy yesterday so I had it tucked back funny. I looked almost like my friend Mimmy who is a scottish fold on one side!


In order to be a therapy cat, you have to bring a photocopy of your most current vaccination records from the V-E-T, so we gave that to the receptionist. Then we sat down to wait because we were a little bit early in case we didn't find where it was.


Then on the intercom they announced "Figaro is going to be in the lobby in 15 minutes." I got very excited because they said my name over a LOUDSPEAKER. They said it again three more times and then finally they said "Figaro is in the lobby and you can visit with him for 30 minutes."


Then we went to the lobby and mommie opened up the tops of my stroller and picked me up. The residents all made a circle in the lobby and they were sitting in chairs and wheelchairs. I think there were 15-20 residents who were all very happy to see me. I like to be the center of attentions! Mommie held me up in the middle of the circle and told everyone that I am Figaro and that I am a special therapy cat who is one years of old. They wanted to know if I am a special breed and in fact I am from the shelter and I am an american domestic medium-long hair cat. That just means I am not any special breed but I like that because I am very cute no matter what. Then they asked if I am available for adoptions and Mommie said definitely NOT! Then she explained that I live with her in our house with my sister Veronica. A lot of people wanted to know if I liked being petted and Mommie said that I love it. She explained that I go in my stroller and if I am not being petted I meow. Then when she put the top up and nobody petted me for a minute of course I started meowing. The residents thinked this is funny, because I stopped meowing once my next visitor petted me!
Some people told me about the cats they had with them when they were little, which was good to hear about. And also they told me I am very soft and nice. Some people thought I was a girl and not a MANCAT but we explained I am a boy that is why my stroller is BLUE and my harness.

Then we strollered around with my open stroller to everyone in turns and everyone gotted to pet me one at a time. I liked being petted but I did not purr yet I think because I was a little nervous to be in a new spot. THEN after that we went in the center again with the stroller opened and I showed off my tricks! Mommie had me do "High Five" and "Sit Up". When I do "Sit Up" I look a little bit like a squirrel because of my furry tail. The residents all went "wooo". I was very good. Mommie was surprised thatI was willing to do my tricks since it was in a new place, but I felt very safe in my stroller. I am glad that I got it because at the beginning of the visit I got put on some laps and I did not like that so much since I made a very small Hiss. Then I went back to my stroller so from now on Mommie said I can just visit from my stroller.
After that, you can see we went back to the car and mommie put me down while she folded up the stroller. Here I am checking out what is under the car. Then AFTER that I got to go to great-grandma's house. Here is me relaxing at her place. She feeds me a LOT of goodies. Mommie left to make a grocery store errand and while she was gone great-grandma fed me lots of cheese and also milk. It was very delicious although Mommie told great-grandma probably not to feed me that stuff next time.


 

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