Sad about Catster/Dogster

Sad. Very, very sad. Even though we're not on Dogster and Catster anymore, and haven't been for 3 years, the friendships forged there will last a lifetime. We met most of our FB friends there, many while running "Skylar's Restaurant". We've all shared the joys & sorrows, been there for each other during every trial possible when caring for lives of beings so dependent on us, and rejoiced in adoptions. Thankful for communities where these friendships will continue to thrive. For those on Catster & Dogster, please save your pages as soon as possible.

Trixi's diary from Dogster

Trixi writes:

As our family moves from Catster/Dogster to Cathugger, we are each publishing our previous diary entries here so that we will still have them and others can read them if they like.  These entries are mostly previous to the creation of "Furry Tails of the PDX pride", and are from earliest to latest, organized by cat (or dog, in this case).

I miss you.

November 10th 2006 11:46 pm

Trixie, it's been twenty years today since you died. I miss you so much! I still think of you as my sister, the only sister I ever had. I'm starting my own family now, of four fur kids and a soon-to-be-husband.

I remember how you were on the day we took you in to the vet for the last time. You were so sick, it hurt to look at you. Torn leg and scratched, bloody eye from trying to get the fleas away (you were allergic to them). Ear mites on top of the other things. Mom wasn't home when Dad and I came to get you, because she couldn't take the thought of seeing you leave. It was a Wednesday, and a school holiday for me because of Veteran's Day. Dad and I came and got you, and Dad had gotten you a whole bag of fresh green beans at the store. You gobbled them right up, your favorite! I cried, because I knew it was your last meal. I know you knew what was going to happen. I could see it in your eyes. You knew, and you were glad the suffering was going to end. You were 13 years old. Dad and I took you to Lieser for a run, and some rough-and-tumble play. We couldn't agree on who should play with you the most, because we both were going to miss you terribly.

We put you in the car with the seat down in back so you could ride with us, and you put your head down in between our seats in the front. Then, off we three went to the vet's. You walked in and sat down right by the counter, as you always did, and got a dog bone treat from the lady at the desk. One of my teachers, Mrs. Short, was there with her cat (for a regular appointment) and she came over and met you and gave Dad and me hugs. You, too, and you licked her back on her wrist. When your name was called, Dad and I went in with you and the vet took you with him to the back room. He came back with your collar and tags. Dad and I both cried so much that we couldn't leave for a few minutes, so we sat there in the office crying. Then we went out to the car and cried some more.

We still tell stories about you. I have one of my favorite pictures that Mom made into a magnet, on the fridge. It's from one of our many trips up to Mt. Hood, and we're coming back from filling your red plastic water bowl. I was about 5 or 6, so it was in the last two or three years of your life. We're looking at each other, probably talking, and you're smiling that doggy smile of yours that I loved.

Your people-puppy sister forever,

Karen. 

My birth family

December 22nd 2006 8:54 pm

I know you're not supposed to start out an autobiography with "I was born", but so what! :)
I was born on St. Patrick's Day 1973. My mom was a beautiful Golden Retriever, and my dad was an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. I had at least three siblings, one sister named Taffy who was all cream-colored, and one sister who was brown and white (typical Australian Shepherd) with different-colored eyes.
My first human family was really nice, but all the puppies were too much for them! I don't blame them; we were very rambunctious! They decided to adopt us out, and one of the first places they asked was the grocery store where they shopped: Grand Market in Vancouver, WA. Mom's human She took us to the store in a box and showed us off as soon as she could, and we met everyone! It was so exciting, and we got lots of pets and smiles and gave lots and lots of licks! One of the humans who worked at the store would always say hi to mom when she came with her people, and he said that he would ask his wife about getting a puppy when we were old enough.
When I was old enough to find a home of my own, the wife of the man at the store came to our house with one of her friends. Our She had just vacuumed, so I was hiding underneath the couch as far back to the wall as I could be. I hated that vacuum until the day I was died. The new Shes petted and played with all of us, and took Taffy and me in the car with them to a new house with a yard, trees, and a fence. The He met us at the door, and was quite surprised to see both Taffy and me. The Shes couldn't choose, so they surprised him with both of us. Neither of us had a name yet, but Taffy was named because of her fur coloration, and I was named "Trixie" after Trixie in the "Hi and Lois" cartoon strip.

Happy for Natalie puppy!!!

January 18th 2007 10:17 pm

My earth puppy friend Natalie got her new forever home today, and tomorrow's her 3-months woofday! What a great woofday present!!! Her first human mommy, Nancy, is going to keep her page on Dogster and keep everyone updated on how she's doing! WOOF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Dogster HQ!

January 21st 2007 10:31 am

Thank you, HQ, for the honor of being Featured Diary of the Day! WOOF!!!!!

Tristan's in the hospital!

January 27th 2007 4:38 pm

Our little 4-year-old human friend is in the hospital! Please bark a prayer for him. Updates are in the forums under "Get Well Soon" and on Cadillac and Boots' pages in their diaries.

Tagged!

June 7th 2007 1:27 am

1. I am a bridge doggy.
2. I lived in Vancouver, WA, USA, with my Mom, Dad, and human sister.
3. I understood English and Norwegian, and did my tricks in either language.
4. I herded ants, making them stay on the sidewalk by putting my paws down between them and the grass.
5. My favorite food was green beans, and I would do every trick I could think of to get them, without even being asked to!
6. My Dad knew my doggie mom, and I got to go on visits to see her and one of my sisters/littermates.
7. I lived to the ripe old age of 13!

The rules: Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Tagged dogs:
Bridget
Star
Coosa
Minuette
Rocko
Peanut
Harley 

I've got wings now!

July 19th 2007 3:30 pm

Thank you so much, Kadie, and the A-Team, for my new wings picture! I love it. :)

Embarrassing cake story

December 21st 2008 11:56 pm

This happened in Spring 1985.

When my human “people puppy”’s great-grandma died, human Mom baked a chocolate cake to bring along for the gathering after the funeral. I knew I wasn’t supposed to eat it, and I normally was very, very, very, VERY good about leaving things alone (even food alone) that were on the counter. But that smell of freshly-baked cake was just too delicious to resist! I didn’t even touch the counter, just stood on my hind legs and bit just the tiniest piece off the corner of the cake! My human mom came back in the room and saw what I’d done, and I got a talking to, while licking my lips. I was ashamed, but it was so good! Human mom cut around the cake where I’d bit off, frosted it with a little extra frosting at that corner, and took it anyway! 

Human mom vs. the cocker spaniels!

December 22nd 2008 12:06 am

Another time, I had gotten out to go play in the neighborhood, and human Mom went to look for me. Well, she found me alright, but I was surrounded by a pack (5 or 6) of cocker spaniels! Now, cockers are alright, as long as there’s only one or two of them, but they were nipping at me; this was too much and I wanted out of there! Mom saw my predicament, and went in screaming and kicking. It’s just a wonder she didn’t get bit! She was so afraid they’d bring me down that she went into the whole pack to save me!

It's my birthday!

March 17th 2009 9:10 am

It's my birthday today! I'm celebrating at the Bridge with my friends here, and watching my human grandma and my human uncle celebrate their birthdays on Earth. Sis and Dad are going to go out to dinner with Grandma and the family for birthdays tonight. For part of the drive to Grandma's house, Sis and Dad will probably tell "Trixie stories". That's their little tradition to keep my memory alive.

Happy Birthday to me and family!

March 17th 2010 2:54 am

Once again, it's my birthday! Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone! May the luck of the Irish be with you, even if you're not Irish. :)

Sis and Dad are celebrating Grandma's birthday tomorrow, but Sis will call her today and wish her a happy birthday. Same with Uncle Bill, who also shares today as a birthday.

When I was alive, I'd always get a bit of corned beef as a special treat on my birthday. I could smell it out, no matter how hard they tried to hide it! One time, I almost ate some foil because I was eating the beef out of the foil package, BOL!

Sis' cats do something I did, that makes her laugh every time. You know those trays from t.v. dinners? Well, that was a special treat for me. I'd get those after my people were done with them, usually from mac & cheese with spiced apples & green peas. I'd put my left paw in the spiced apple section and lick the tray clean on the other side. Then, I'd chase the tray around so that it was headed the opposite way and put my paw in the pea section and clean the rest of the tray. Then, of course, I'd lick my paw. I just LOVED those food trays! So do Sis' cats. Her husband puts the tray on the floor and they go crazy for it! 
 

Catster's changed hands!

Catster.com and Dogster.com have changed ownership!  They have been acquired by an advertising company:  Say:Media.  According to Say:Media's own website, under their "About" section, "advertising is content".

Now, we have no problem with advertising being the focus if you're trying to promote your own brand on a site.  It is also acceptable if you are writing a review and advertising the product that you're reviewing.  But does Say:Media do this?  No, it doesn't.  It sells banner ads and other ad placements to a variety of companies.

According to the Catster/Dogster TOS, at least at this date, they were supposed to inform the community of a potential acquisition or merger beforehand, not write a blog about it after it happened.  If you have set Catster's community page as your launch page, you wouldn't even see the blog telling you about the change unless you scroll all the way down to the very last entry on the right column!  Being sneaky about such an important decision so soon after the other uproar is NOT a smart business plan.

Any pictures, video, etc., that members upload to Catster and Dogster are (and has been, for as long as it's been around) licensed without fee to Catster/Dogster.  This means that Catster/Dogster can use your pictures/video/etc. for any purpose, except to sell them.  They can (and have, with a lot of pictures) use them in slideshows promoting Catster/Dogster; in advertising campaigns; and in additional sites owned by them, such as Snuzzy and Mrowr.  The acquisition means that now Say:Media can also do the same with your pictures.

Catster/Dogster has now changed to business principles that we do not condone, so our furmily will be leaving Catster/Dogster in a few weeks.  We will, of course, keep this blog up and running as usual.  In addition, we have created accounts on another cat community site, called Cathugger, that a fellow Catster has just started up.  We will be re-creating Chef Skylar's Open Restaurant on Cathugger, as well.

We hope that you will continue to drop by our blog here and visit us on Cathugger.  We love all our friends and don't want to lose track of anyone!  We'll continue to post everything here, and keep up diaries & photos.

Wordy Wednesday Public Service Announcement: Catster's sold out to Nutro!

Attn:  All Catster/Dogster members
Re:  Catster's new policy regarding advertisers


Catster HQ has been kenneling (temporarily taking offline) member pages that post links to recalls, update others on kenneling of friends' pages, inform others of poison food (by brand name, i.e. Nutro, or in general) that advertises on Catster/Dogster, and/or post testimonials of adverse reactions to poison food that is advertised on Catster/Dogster.

By the new community guidelines, you cannot post anything that could turn someone else away from an advertiser.  See the post that Dogster founder/Top Dog/Top Cat Ted R. wrote here.  Notice that all comments will be moderated first?  They're scared, and they have a right to be!

Catster Hazel Lucy, of the famous Tranquility Blankets and the Purr List, had her diary "cleaned up" (aka censored) by HQ for listing recalls and telling others plainly about Nutro's poison food.  She has also been put on warning that she may be kenneled if she keeps this up.

Other Catsters and a few Dogsters saw this and complained to HQ about it.  Over the weekend, many names on Catster were appended with "who loves Hazel Lucy".  Cats wrote diary entries about her, and some wrote about their experiences with poison food of various brands (mostly recalled).  One cat wrote about her doggie brother who ate Nutro after winning it in a Dogster-sponsored contest (free Nutro for a year).

Over the past day and a half, the diaries that were anti-poison food were either kenneled or put on notice, and many of the cats who had changed their names were either kenneled or warned as well.  Some of the cats who had commented on censored diaries were also kenneled for commenting and agreeing with what was posted.

Catster/Dogster has prohibited anyone from commenting there on what is going on, but many have been making the new policy known other places.  There is a group on Facebook for Concerned Catsters/Dogsters.  Some of us have been posting on our non-Catster blogs.  Many people have been using their FB status updates to keep others apprised of the situation as well.

Some Catsters/Dogsters are leaving because of this.  Some have chosen to stay but not participate as much.  Some have chosen to stay and defy the new rules.  So far, only a few e-mails have been answered, of the many sent to Ted R. about the whole situation.  None of the answers are good; most state that since advertisers pay the bills, they must be respected at all costs, and anyone who speaks out against them is defying the terms of service and will be kicked off the site.

User-friendly?  Community?  Definitely not!

Thankful that the protest on Catster is mostly done!

Wow!  It was a lot of work protesting the Nutro ads that were on the Vet Blog and are on Dogster, but we are setting down our picket signs for good now!  Go here if you hadn't known about the protest before this.

Here are some of the questions we asked, and Ted R.'s answers:

1.  Why was there silence for a while on this issue?
     We didn't know what exactly you (Dogster & Catster members) wanted of us, so it took us a while to figure that out.  Also, not many people wrote to me personally, originally.
2.  When are the ads coming down?
     The Nutro ads are coming off the Vet Blog at the end of June, and the contract for the rest of Dogster is up for them at the end of the year.
3.  Will there be healthier pet food ads coming soon?
     We are currently in talks with an excellent pet food company that uses human-grade ingredients.
4.  Some of us have written a list of nationally recognized pet food & product companies.  Would you please take them into consideration for future ads?
     I will personally make sure our sales staff reviews them and cross-references them with companies that advertise online.

All in all, we're pleased with how things went!  :)  Some pets are going to continue protesting through the end of the year, until the Nutro ads are off the whole Dogster/Catster site.  We're not, though.  We're going to get back to the fun part of being Catster members!  >^..^<

Say No to Nutro Ads on Catster!

Cats all over Catster, dogs on Dogster and purrents on Facebook are protesting Catster.com and Dogster.com's decision to serve advertisements for Nutro pet food on the Vet Blog.  Why?  Because Nutro has been involved in many major recalls, both involuntary and voluntary, during the last few years.  Some pets who have pages on the site have died from eating tainted Nutro food which was later recalled!  Still, the head of Dogster.com, Ted Rheingold, made the decision to take Nutro's money!

Ted R. and co. have issued a few statements, but no apologies and no promises.  The only explanation they have given was that Dogster.com users were in favor of the ads and that the company didn't think Catster.com users would read the Vet Blog.  We say that's a load of poop!  Nutro food killed both cats AND dogs!  Most Dogsters are against the Nutro ads, so why is Ted R. saying the exact opposite?

If you have a page on Catster or Dogster and would like to participate in the strike, tag a photo "no to nutro".  There are also threads in both the Plus forums and the regular forums on both Catster.com and Dogster.com.  We don't know how long the threads will continue to be open, as the Catster police are out in force deleting posts and diary entries which expose the ad campaign.  Protesters are determined to be heard, and are reposting two or three for every one that gets erased.  There is also a protest group on Catster/Dogster and one on Facebook.

Newsflash!

We just found Bentley, the doggie designer of the outfit Tabby will be wearing (and of my test shirt as well), on Dogster! His page is here!