So, here I sit in my favorite chair, trying to think what I can do to help Mom raise money for all those stray and feral cats she seems to like.  Mom says that when I sit in my chair, I look like a little human.  It is my favorite place to wile away the hours, in the wing chair in front of the fireplace.  Mom says if I had a pipe and a little hat, someone would mistake me for a little old man.  Mom thinks she is so funny.

But what can I do?  How can I make some money off of this handsome face of mine?  I can’t charge for “stud service” any more.  Mom is too big into the spay and neuter stuff and she made sure I was neutered many, many years ago.  So that blows that idea.

Perhaps, I could write a memoir of my eight years and my observations on how tiring humans can be–always running here and there.  Slow down, Mom, and come lounge with me in my chair.

That Romeo cat has made my life too complicated.  I just want to sit in my chair and cat nap, not try to think of money making schemes.  

Yours truly, the financial cat guru, Oswald P. Kitten, Esquire

Oswald thinks of money making schemes.

Keeping snuggly warm in the freshly dried towels

Okay, so I would just like to thank Aunt Bobbie for alerting Mom to this workaholic cat named Romeo who has his own blog and is on Twitter.  Now Mom thinks I should be doing something similar to raise money to help all the needy cats in our area.  I say, they can get jobs themselves and let me go back to napping. Gee whiz, don’t I have enough to do without trying to keep up with a cat with the obnoxiously sweet name of Romeo!!?

So, here is how it happened: Aunt Bobbie was reading The Columbus Dispatch yesterday and there was an article about Romeo and his human staff.  Romeo the do-gooder raises money for rescue groups through Twitter and via Romeo’s Blog, which just basically features tons of cute photos of this fluff muffin Romeo.  Granted, I don’t have that much hair, but I am still just as cute!

Romeo is a Persian cat (can we say high maintenance?) who came from a rescue group in Marysville that Mom once wrote an article about: The Forgotten Persian Rescue and Friends  In fact, Renee, who started The Forgotten had a lot to do with setting up many of the spay and neuter programs at the Union County Humane Society, which is where I came from. 

Romeo has over 6,000 followers on Twitter who get messages every day about what he is doing.  Let me explain a cat’s life to you so you won’t have to continue getting his updates if you are one of his Twitter friends: We eat.  We sleep.  We try to get Mom to give us treats each time she goes in the kitchen.  We sleep some more.  Some where in there we use the litter pan and try to get under Mom’s feet so she will fall and knock herself in the head and forget that she just fed us and feed us more! And that sums up the hectic day most cats lead.

But if you would like to check out the cat who has made my life less relaxing, go to www.romeothecat.com and read how Romeo wakes his human staff each morning.  I’ll tell you how I did it this morning:  I clawed my way through half of that fuzzy monkey on Mom’s head that she calls a hairdo.  Once she is bald it will be even easier to wake her with gentle, perfectly placed stabs with my claws.

I guess my days of cuddling in a warm dryer of freshly laundered towels are almost over.  Mom is all atwitter about this Twitter thing.  She is not as technologically hip as Romeo’s humans, though, so it may take her awhile to figure out how to get me involved with that.  So for a while longer, I’ll find a warm place to nap and hope the only “twittering” I hear will be from the birds outside the window.

Your humble, non-Twittering friend (so far), Oswald P. Kitten, Esquire

A new winery in Plain City, Eldchrist Winery, features not only wines made on the premises, but also two kitties who serve as the business’ feline mascots.

“B” and Mittens, two white kittens, who spend most of their time playing on the newly renovated patio or hanging out with the winery owners’ children, give the winery a charm that adds to the feeling of home at the 1863 farmhouse on State Route 736.  B, who was originally named Bianca until it was discovered she was a he and Mittens, a polydactyl, Hemingway kitty with extra front toes, were strays who actually got their vaccines and neuter surgeries through B and O. 

The winery just recently opened for tastings on Fridays from 6-9 pm and Saturdays from 3-8 pm.  B and Mittens are always hanging out, ready and willing to meet anyone who will give them a rub on the head. 

We think it is so nice when business owners are able to incorporate animals into their businesses and give a homeless kitty a new place to live.  So the next time you are in Plain City, stop by the winery at 8189 State Route 736 and meet B and Mittens, too.  To get more info on Eldchrist Winery, visit www.eldchrist.com

B and Mittens might also someday get the distinction of being featured on a wine label for the winery!!  They will be very famous kitties indeed when that happens.  What a turn around for them–from homeless to celebrities!!

B and Mittens hang out with Reed.

Dr. O'Keefe holds HBC

I stopped in to Riverside Drive Animal Care Center yesterday and Dr. O’Keefe happened to be around. When she saw me, she asked if B and O could help with a special needs kitty that she had nicknamed, HBC.  HBC originally stood for “Hit BY Car.”  A nice couple found the tiger tabby cat by the side of a busy road, stumbling around and acting traumatized. They thought he had been “Hit by a car.” So like any good samaritans, they rushed the cat to Riverside. After an initial investigative check up, Dr. O’Keefe decided that HBC had not been hit, but instead had a neurological condition due to having a type of larvae in his brain.  

Poor HBC, who is now Humphrey Bob Christenson, had vision and stability problems. He had problems walking and would stumble and fall.  With treatment for the larvae, Dr. O’Keefe has noticed significant changes in his movement and his vision.  She now thinks his sight has returned in one eye.  Dr. O’Keefe feels that with continued treatment, HBC will improve even more.  While he might not ever be completely normal, she feels he has a good chance of regaining much of what was lost due to the larvae.

Now here is the problem.  Dr. O’Keefe can’t keep HBC at Riverside forever.  She needs to find a quiet place for him to recover and has graciously offered to donate her services to give HBC vaccines and other medical care if someone will foster him or adopt him.

HBC is very docile and loving.  He wants nothing more than to be held and carried around sort of like a big stuffed toy.  When Dr. O’Keefe was holding him he just hung from her arms in a very contented manner.  He reminded me of the comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.”  Maybe the “H” could stand for “Hobbes” who was the stuffed tiger toy in the cartoon strip, who through Calvin’s love magically came to life.  HBC just needs love to return him to life, as well.

If you are interested in fostering or adopting HBC, please either contact us or Riverside at 614-766-1222.  Dr. O’Keefe has fallen in love with this big guy and wants to give him a chance after all he has been through.

HBC or "hit by car"