Still Doin' the Q, and Answering Questions at the Pet Fair!

Carbon's still doin' the Q, just like our friend Monty Q!  A few years ago, Carbon joined many of our fellow cat bloggers to honor Monty with a "Doin' the Q" contest!  It was a lot of fun.  This picture from yesterday shows that Carbon's still in fine form, even at almost 10 years old.

Tabby writes:

I had a blast at the NW Pet and Companion Fair on Saturday and yesterday!  I saw many of my friends and family, and met some new friends.  I even got a new outfit from WildChild!  Mommy and I did a stage presentation about feline-assisted therapy and how to get started in animal-assisted therapy.  Mommy talked about how she trained me, and I demostrated how calm I am (by falling asleep on stage!) and showed off how I hug when being carried.  It was really fun!

There was a not-so-fun part, though.  A husky bit me when we first got there on Saturday!  It actually was going to carry me off somewhere, with a not-good ending.  *shivers*  The owner, who was on the other end of the leash, was 3 feet away and looking the other way, not paying attention to the tugging on the leash.  Mommy was pushing me in my stroller, and the husky charged the stroller, grabbed me behind the shoulderblades, and lifted me up a few inches!  Mommy charged the dog with a "Drop it now!" command, which the dog luckily obeyed the first time!  I was not hurt physically, and the bite did not break the skin.  The lady's comment when Mommy Cai confronted her?  "I didn't think anyone would bring a cat to a dog show!"  Mommy Cai responded, "It's a pet fair!" and pointed to the sign.  The organizers went after the lady after Mommy made sure that her dog had the proper vaccinations.  I was ok after about a half hour of snuggling and being petted.

One lady who attended our presentation may want to adopt Autumn!  And, if that weren't enough of a highlight, Jennifer at Spot Magazine wants to interview us later on this year about our work in animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted activities!  Very cool!

Here's a video slideshow of our weekend!  We met up with Panther's Mommy Cai, Mommy Erin, Coriel, JJ, Erin's friend Amanda and her son Matthew, and Auntie Michelle McClintock and her brother on Saturday.  We also saw my birdie friend Athena from last year's fashion show!  On Sunday, we saw human Athena and her family, who are friends we know from Grammy's kitty blankets for the Humane Society for Southwest Washington.

Pet Fair!

Tabby writes:

I'm going to the pet fair today!!!  It's the NW Pet and Companion Fair, and I've gone with Mommy, Mommy Erin, and JJ for the last few years.  It's a lot of fun, and this year will be the best ever!  Mommy and I are going to do a stage presentation like we did last year.  We'll be doing that today and tomorrow, from 11:00 to 11:30 am on both days.  If you're in the area, we'd love to see you!  Last year, we met up with Mommy Erin's sister Anna and our Catster friend Bitu's mommy Michelle (and Michelle's brother).

Our talk is going to be on feline-assisted therapy.  I'll probably hang out on stage on a chair, like I did last year.  Since I did this last year, I probably won't want to dive for my carrier bag during the presentation, at least I hope I won't!  That was kind of embarrassing for me last year, but Mommy took it in stride and explained that it was my first time doing a presentation there.  We were also first on the schedule, so that made a difference.  This year, we have a reptile show before us one day and a training class before us the next, so I get to hang out in the audience and watch those before it's my turn.

After my presentation, I get to ride in my stroller and look at all the doggies, some kitties, and lots of humans.  There may be some other animals to sniff, but I'm not allowed to sniff the reptiles or the small animals.  Too much temptation, even though I only go after bugs and froggies!  I sure watch everything, though!  I'm really looking forward to it!

Therapy Cat Tales: NW Pet and Companion Fair 2014

Tabby writes:

I'm tired!!!  I was on an adventure yesterday and part of today!  Mommy and I did a talk/demonstration at the NW Pet and Companion Fair.  Well, Mommy did the talking and I sat on a chair and in my stroller and looked cute.  Does that count?  Everyone said it did.

We took a taxi over yesterday, but today Grandma drove us.  Nice!  I got to spend time with Grandma!  The taxi was fun, too, but I took a nap most of that ride because I was in my carrier.  When I ride with Grandma, I get to be on Mommy's lap, although still on harness and leash.

Yesterday, after we checked in, we went over to the stage to see where to check in there.  We finally found the people and got everything situated, but there were doggies on stage before us so I didn't check the stage out beforehand.  The doggies were demonstrating how to do clicker-training.  They already knew how to do it, though.  They were just showing off for the people.  I didn't think they were very interesting, but some of the dogs in the audience were paying attention.

Just as we were getting ready to go on stage, a lady asked someone else if she was named Mommy's name.  Mommy overheard her, and went to meet the lady.  She turned out to be our friend from Catster, Michelle!

Michelle and her brother are Bitu's purrents, and our family has known Bitu's family on Catster for years now!  It's always so nice to meet the people who belong to our online cat friends!  Mommy Erin's sister, Anna, took this picture on Michelle's iPad.  It was nice that Anna could come, too.  We ate lunch with Anna after our presentation and walked around the expo with her for a while.  She got her face painted like a cat, even!  Mommy was going to get her face painted, too, but there was too long a line.

We also did the fashion show/costume contest.  No, I didn't win anything, but that's fine.  There were a lot of dogs participating, but I wasn't the only non-canine entrant!  For once!!!  There was a bird named Athena, who blogs on tumblr, and a pig named Periwinkle, who has a Facebook page.  Athena and I didn't mind being right near each other!  Here's a slideshow of some of the costumes from the contest.

Personalize a photo slideshow

After the fashion show, we went around to more booths.  We got a huge bag of goodies from Pet Pros.  Thank you so much for all the yummy-looking food and treats!!!  Mommy had business cards made up for me, so she handed those out to the people we met and people who came to our presentations on both days.  I met a lot of new friends!  There were even people who want to know more about training their cats to be therapy cats like I am.  Plus, a few places that want us to visit people!

If you are one of the people we met at this event, feel free to contact us using the "PDX pride" profile link near the top of the right column on this blog or the message feature on my Facebook page.

This morning, we did our presentation again.  I was better about not sitting in my stroller the whole time.  I sat on a chair at the back of the stage, so Mommy picked the chair up and put it front-and-center.  Not what I had in mind, but that was ok for a while.  Then, I decided I wanted my stroller, which was off-stage.  I headed toward it, so Mommy picked that up and put me in it, then wheeled it to the middle of the stage and talked from behind it and the chair.  Everyone thought that was funny, but I was comfortable and was showing off that I had a safe space that I was trained to be in.  That was just fine with everyone!

The black cat that we saw last year was there again this year with her person.  Guess what?  Both of them want to be a feline-assisted therapy team, too!  They are going to meet us on Wednesday for our regular visit to H. to see what we do, and hopefully will get registered to visit different places, too!  Wouldn't that be cool?  Maybe we can even open up a Portland, OR, chapter of Love on a Leash!

Therapy Cat Tales from 9/18/2013

Tabby writes:

Arr, Mateys!  Ye be wonderin' what I have in store for you on this Meow Like a Pirate Day?  Ok, I'll drop the pirate accent and tell you!

Yesterday, Mommy took me visiting again.  She's also training Heimdall to be a therapy cat now, but he's only ridden the bus once so far.  I've ridden it tons of times!  Heimdall's not ready to go visiting to actual nursing homes yet, though.

I had a friend who wanted to come along once we left the house.  He met us at the bus stop and got on the bus with us, then hopped away.  Warning:  this may be scary for young kits!

Ready?

Yep, it was a grasshopper!  He flew onto my carrier bag and stayed there while we got on the bus, then hopped under a seat once my stroller was folded down.  I had fun watching him!  Do you see that he's smiling?

Mommy and I were both being silly in the morning, and the silliness continued for me once we got to H.  She had gotten some chai tea, but had finished it.  She was getting ready to throw the cup and sleeve in the trash when I decided I wanted the sleeve!

See?  I told you we were being silly!  I didn't wear my new fashion accessory for long, though, because it pushed the fur around my eyes back and felt funny.  It was fun to try on, anyway!

A few of our friends had passed away during the last month.  That's the downside to visiting where we do, and especially with only visiting once a month like we do now.  However, it also means that we get new friends to visit with, since the empty rooms fill up again.

One room had two people in it, a husband and wife, who had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary!  Wow!  Mommy wished them happy anniversary, and I snuggled with both of them while the humans talked.  They wanted to know all about my training, how long I'd been working as a therapy cat, and "my numbers", as the husband put it.  He meant my age, weight, etc., but couldn't think of how to say all of that together.  We knew what he meant, though, and that was a perfect way to say it!

I got to see my three favorite friends:  A.M, F., and R.  A.M. knows just how to scritch my chin in the right place and always makes me so relaxed that I simply melt in her lap!  I always climb from my stroller into her lap, then snuggle in her arms while she pets me and scritches my chin, closing my eyes in happiness and purring loudly for her.  When I visit F., I always hop out of my stroller and walk into his room on my own, with Mommy follwing holding my leash.  I sometimes need reminding that he's in his recliner instead of in bed, though.  He has a recliner like Daddy does, so I snuggle on his lap like I do with Daddy.  F. always tells me I'm the most beautiful kitty in the world!  R. loves to tell us stories about her kitty, who ate food out of a spoon and tried to catch birds by climbing out on the limb the bird feeder was on, crashing everything to the ground and running away.  No matter how many times we hear the story, it's always funny!  She calls me the same name as her kitty, but that doesn't bother me a bit.  I know she means me.  I just look so much like her kitty that she forgets my name and substitutes his.

After visiting at H. for a while, we went over to our new visiting place, C.  We've been visiting there for three months now.  We only have one regular, but then we ride the elevator back down to check if there are any other people who want visitors.

At C., there is one man who sits in a big chair in the lobby and greets everyone going out or coming in.  He always likes seeing me.  When Mommy was signing us in, I asked to hop onto the check-in counter.  All of a sudden, the man behind the counter looked up, and I was staring down at him!  "Oh, SNAP!" he said, in a very startled voice!  He then petted me and laughed.

I wanted to walk up the stairs in the lobby, but Mommy reminded me that she couldn't carry the stroller up all those stairs.  I still wanted to do the stairs, because I absolutely love stairs, so she said I could go up to the first landing!  Yay!  I walked up to the first landing, then walked back down.

We went to see the lady we visit each time, but she didn't have very long to visit with us this time.  She had to get a few things organized for her daughter-in-law, who was coming to visit her.  That's fine.  We went back to the lobby, and they told us that possibly some people on two other floors would like to see us.  We went to one of those floors, but no one on that floor wanted a visit.  We tried the other floor, and found a lady who wanted a visitor.  She was feeling very lonely, so having us come brightened up her whole day.  That's why we do this!

On the bus on the way home, we sat in between people who wanted to talk.  There was a man who is a published young-adult fiction author (M.T. Dreams), a lady who feeds and T-N-R's feral cats, and a lady who is interested in buying Mommy's newest book (Three Feral Kittens, just now published and available from Amazon.com).  We will be having a book launch party for Three Feral Kittens on October 12th.  It will be online, but we haven't decided on a time yet.

When we got back home, Mommy checked her e-mail and got some more exciting news!  She is on the mailing list for the NW Pet and Companion Fair that takes place every April.  She had contacted them about doing a talk about my training for their stage shows, and they accepted!  We don't know what time slot we'll be put in, but it will be fun no matter what!

NW Pet & Companion Fair 2013

Tabby writes:

It was so cold today when we left the house!  I didn't know where we were going, and why Mommy Erin and JJ were coming with us, but I was sure it wasn't to visit my friends at H.  It was the wrong day and the wrong time!  Mommy Erin held me for part of the time, because I was shivering.  I had my jacket on, plus a fleece blanket, but it was still cold.  Mommy didn't think it would be that cold this morning, and she wished she had had another blanket for me to wrap up in.

Mommy Erin keeping me warm.

I was fine once we got the the Expo Center, though, because it was warm inside.  There were a lot of doggies waiting in line to check in, so I got sniffed and licked.  That was ok with me, though.  Mommy signed a waiver that said if I clawed anyone she would take full responsibility, although that would never happen.  I'm too well-behaved to do that!  I said hi to the lady at the check-in table, who was wearing a cat shirt.  Then we went over to another table where JJ got to throw a small sample bag of dog food at a bowl.  Why didn't they have an eating contest instead of a throwing contest?  I guess they couldn't, for humans.  Anyway, he won a pin.  Then, we got to see the fluffy black girl-cat who looks like Carbon!  She rides around on her humans' shoulders and goes to the Doggie Dash every year as well.  It was my first time meeting her, although Mommy's been introduced to her before.  Mommy Erin held me up to touch noses with her while she was on her daddy's shoulders.  We touched noses, sniffed, then I got hissed at!  I didn't take offense at her doing that, though, just gave her a puzzled look and got back into my stroller.  Mommy, Mommy Erin, and the cat's daddy all laughed and said the black cat was just jealous.

Hissy black girl-cat

Besides the black cat, there were two other cats visiting the expo with their families.  They were both young kittens, so that's great for their socialization and experience to visit places so young!  One was just over a year old and had a jacket harness like I used to use.  He was riding on his mommy's shoulder, looking behind her wide-eyed at everything.  The other kitten was only a couple months old, if that, and was an orange tabby.  She didn't know what to make of people, let alone all the doggies, sounds, and activity, so she clung to her mommy and was very interested in everything.  Her nose was going a mile a minute!

We saw a lady who recognized me from seeing me on the MAX.  That was fun to be remembered on sight!  Also, a lady at the Dove Lewis booth remembered me from when I modeled at Boutiques Unleashed, and had just been telling someone about me!  Another lady at another booth is going to buy the Kindle version of my book to read to her new baby.

We talked with a few people about therapy cat work, but mainly I snuggled in my stroller while Mommy went around to the booths collecting information and seeing what there was to see.  Mommy Erin and JJ got to hold birds, but I couldn't go in that part so Mommy didn't get to do that.  We all went to see the wild animals and saw a bobcat in a kitty tree!  That's right:  it was in housecat furniture!  One man kept looking from me to the bobcat and back like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Bobcat (lynx) in a domestic cat tree

Mommy Erin and JJ got to hold a Patagonian Mara, also known as a cavy, and a miniature pig.  They even got their pictures taken with them!

Almost-Wordless Wednesday: Portland Pet Expo!

Tabby writes:

Last Saturday, I went to the Portland Pet Expo with Mommy, Erin, & JJ.  We had a blast!  I got to see lots of doggies and I also saw lizards and snakes!  Plus, there were a lot of people who wanted to say hi to me and pet me.  I stayed in my stroller most of the time, relaxing but watching everyone and everything.

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