Taking the Pet Blogger Challenge!

 
This is the first year we've participated in the Pet Blogger Challenge, and we're glad to have had input from many of you over the last year and few years that we've had this blog.

Here are our answers for the 2016 Pet Blogger Challenge:

1. How long have you been blogging? And, for anyone who is visiting for the first time, please give a quick description of the subject of your blog.

 We've been blogging for about 9 years now.  We first started blogging in our diaries on Catster, then created "Furry Tails of the PDX Pride" after a few years when we realized that cat blogging was a "thing".  We blog about our daily lives around the house, which animal visitors we get in our backyard, the feral cats who come by, and Tabby's tales of being an animal-assisted therapy volunteer with Mommy at a nursing home once a month.

2. What is the one thing that you accomplished during 2015, either on your blog or because of it, that made you most proud?

 Because of Tabby's therapy cat tales series, she and Mommy were speakers for the second time at the NW Pet and Companion Fair (a pet expo).  They talked about/demonstrated how to be a therapy cat team and what training is necessary.

3. Which of your blog posts was your favorite this year and why? (Please include a link.)

We have two favorite posts:  one that shows how smart the ferals are and another that shows what Tabby does when she's out and about.  The first one, about ferals Tigress and Little Niss, shows how Tigress treats Niss as her own kitten, even though she never had kittens of her own.  The second, about Tabby, details a typical visit and reactions when she's doing her therapy cat work.

4. A common theme from last year’s challenge was that many of us wanted to increase the size of our audiences. Whether or not we intend to monetize our blogs, it seems we’d all like to reach more people. It feels good to know that we’re connecting with others, sharing a laugh or supporting a cause, and it’s motivating to see those numbers grow! What is one thing you’ve done in the past year that has brought more traffic to your blog?

We did the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the first time this year.  It's not specific to pet blogs, so it brought a varied new audience.  We found some blogs from it that we really liked, too!  Plus, we were blogging every day, so it was a good routine.

5. Which of your blog posts got the most traffic this year? Why do you think it was so popular? (Please include a link.)

Our birthday posts when they came around were high-traffic ones, but we really don't know what made Daddy's Lawnmower Monster so irresistible!  It got 321 views!

6. What is one blog that you read religiously – other than your own – and what makes you such a devoted reader? (Please include a link.)

We love reading SparkleCat, featuring Summer and also Glogirly.  We love the photography and the stories behind the photos!

7. What resources do you rely on to enhance your technical, writing, photography, social media, or other skills that improve your blog?

Mommy uses Picasa to edit the photos she takes of us, and we use NetworkedBlogs to post directly to Mommy's Facebook page (and sometimes Tabby's) as well as let our readers know when we have new posts.

8. What is the best piece of advice you can offer other bloggers?

Write from the heart.  If you don't like what you write, redo it until you like it.  Other people's opinions don't matter as much as your own, so do what you love.

9. What is your vision for your blog in 2016? Do you have specific goals?

Our goals for our blog for 2016 are the same as the last few years':  chronicling our year in words and photos!

10. You have the attention of the pet blogging community – is there one blogging challenge you’d like help with, or one aspect of your blog that you’d like input on?

We would like to know what you like best and don't like about our blog, and what was the most surprising thing we wrote about in the last year.

Sherbet's Sunday and Portland Cat Blogger Meetup

Sherbet writes:

Hello, everyone.  Yes, I know it's now technically Monday, but I wanted to show pictures of myself enjoying my surroundings.  These are my new digs.  What do you think?  When the Mommy-person met with other cat bloggers last weekend, she told them about my hiding under the bed.  Mom Carole from the Colehaus Cats is very experienced with working with ferals, and had some great suggestions, so the Mommy-person and the Daddy-person rearranged my room.  The bed is gone, so no more hiding under it.  Instead, I have two choices for hiding-boxes.

I was hiding under the Daddy-person's dresser, until he discovered that I was also going to the bathroom under there.  Now it's blocked off so I can't even squeeze under.

These are my choices for box-caves.  I like the bigger one the best.  Both box-caves have towels in them for comfort (and in case I do anything in them).  Plus, my food and water are nearby.

I still get my choice of litter boxes, in the same place they were before everything changed around.  There isn't room to move one of them to another location in the house right now, so the other cats have their usual box in the bathroom that the humans are scooping even more than usual (since everyone else is using it now).  I'm using the box in the corner.

Well?  What do you think?  It will take me a while longer to get used to it, but I've already blinked in response to questions about food and water.  I've also walked over to give the closed door a few sniffs and look at the other cats through the space under the door.  They want to play paws and play tails under the door, but I'm not ready for that yet.  Thanks, Mom Carole, for giving the Mommy-person this idea!

Here are some pictures from the Portland Cat Bloggers Meetup that the Mommy-person went to.  Mom Janiss and Summer from Sparklecat, featuring Summer were participating in a cat show, so the Mommy-person, Mom Carole, and Mom Lori from the Cory Cat Blog all met them.  They walked around the cat show together, visited with Mom Janiss, met the gorgeous Summer, then went to dinner.  Summer entertained in the hotel room after dinner (and a bit before dinner).  A very fun evening!

Sleepy Summer, after a long day at the cat show!

Did someone say treats?  I heard the treat bag!

Posing with Flat Tabby, because real Tabby couldn't come along.

Dinnertime back at the hotel room while the humans talked.

What was that?  Mom Carole let Summer play with a toy.

Showing off for all of us on her favorite hotel room chair!

Two lovely ladies:  Summer and Mom Janiss.

Summer being silly with a gift from Mom Carole of the Colehaus Cats.

Mommy's Annual Purrrrrrformance Review!

The PDX pride writes:

First of all, thank you to Zoolatry for sending out the purrformance review form. Now, on to the good stuff!

Review of Mommy, also known as Karen Thompson.
Date: 11/08/2009
Reviewed by: Rori, Skylar, Carbon, Tabby, Starla, and the Trailer Kitties.

1. Quantity of Output
The quantity of output varies from day to day. She could do better, as most weeks we only get two or three posts. We'll give her two paws on this one.

2. Quality of Output
We're very happy with the quality of our blog! It tells the story of most of the happenings around here, including each of us inside kitties, the outside kitties (Trailer Kitties), and our fosters (now former fosters). Each of us gets a chance to meow about what's important in our lives. We'll give her four paws on this one.

3. Client Pawticipation
We get some comments on our blog, which is really good. We love reading the comments! She also just put up a Facebook page for Tabby that will chronicle just her modeling and therapy cat work. You can see that here. However, we don't get that much time to visit our friends in the Cat Blogosphere. In fact, we haven't been to see our other cat friends' blogs for over two months now! So she's been very lax on that! We'll give her two swats on this one.

4. Pawticipation (Part II)
We have been able to pawticipate in most of the Cat Blogosphere special events since we joined, and so we're very happy about that! We'll give her four paws on this one.

5. Client Satisfaction
Everyone who comments seems to like our blog. We sometimes get differing opinions, but that's part of the fun of a blog! We love to discuss things! We'll give her four paws on this one.

6. Overall Rating & Suggestions for Improvement
Mommy's overall rating is 2.8 paws. She could improve a lot by just letting us visit our friends' bloggies! We also need to post every day or almost every day.

We love you anyway, Mommy!

-- Rori, Skylar, Carbon, Tabby, Starla, Shadow, Grey Kitty, and all the rest of the PDX pride.

World Cat Day 2009

Let us all celebrate ~ World Cat Day.

Celebrate kitties in your own special way.

Those here and near, and those now above,

all the kitties so dear, all the kitties we love.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

During the last year, we've had so many cats & kittens come and go through the household, and some stay to become forever friends with us. So, this World Cat Day, we are celebrating connections: with our friends in the CB who have read, shared, and commented on the trials and tribulations of Little Bit & her kittens and the joys of every new visitor to the Trailer Kitties' food bowl; with our fosters and former fosters; and between those of us who are the resident cats.

Boo-Boo Kitty's family have all gotten homes this year except for herself (dumped in Troutdale), Little Bit (still adoptable), Squishy (still adoptable), and Little Guy (still adoptable). Smokey is doing great with her new family after moving to their new apartment a few weeks ago. Boo & Michelle are having a blast with their teenage sister and brother, and their new mom loves "the girls". Kai is traveling everywhere with his new mommy and sleeping in her purse so she won't forget to bring him along. Cloud is still getting used to his new home, but loves his new mommy so much that he climbs up into the bed to snuggle with her every night. Starla, Little Bit's cousin, is having a hard time adjusting to her new forever home with us, but she is now playing with her kitten-cousins. Everyone is either fixed or going to be fixed, so this family's story now has a happy ending. All the adoptees found homes through ads placed on Craigslist plus links to their Catster pages, and we hope that the three who need homes will find them that way too.

Our lady of the house, Lydia, left us last October, just before her 9th birthday. Our "permanent foster", Sara Princess Kitty, followed in January. Mommy wrote the hub article "Cats who have Owned Me" in honor of all of us in the household, plus the two angels.

Trailer Kitty Tux came back home in June, possums and raccoons came by and had their pictures taken, and life in the back yard continued. The ferals come and go, drop by when they need supplemental food and human semi-contact. The neighborhood cats come around and bring their friends. Moms of all species bring their babies to the porch bowl and teach them manners and how to get along well with the rest of the crowd. Mommy wrote "The Joys and Perils of a Feral Cat Caretaker" in honor of them all.

Then there are those of us who are the current inside residents: Rori, Skylar, Carbon, Tabby, and Starla. Mommy and Daddy take good care of us and we are their babies. We also care for them. Skylar snuggles with Daddy just like his sister Lydia used to. Rori is now big kitty of the household and watches out for everyone. Carbon still gets into everything, but has become a snuggle kitty, sitting with Mommy every day for at least a half hour and sometimes even sitting with Daddy. Tabby has an important job as a therapy cat for a nursing home, and models in her spare time. Starla was mentioned above, and spends most of her time underneath the dresser. She comes out to go potty and play with Little Guy & Squishy, but she has her food and water bowls under the dresser plus a ball to play with. It's a self-imposed "fortress of solitude" where she can defend herself from all comers (namely Tabby). She also sometimes comes out to snuggle with Daddy when he gets home from work.

It does our hearts and souls good to know that when we write something, it is read, and when you write something, we can read it and share in a little bit of your life as well.

Thank you all for being our friends!

Mommy started a new bloggie

Mommy started a new bloggie called the Frugal Feline. It's about saving money on cat essentials and finding good deals on new, interesting, chic, and cool products for cats and their people. If this sounds like something you want to read about, you can click here.