Spring means kitten season is in full swing! Catch up with The Critter Room and TinyKittens.

the_critter_room_note_cards_pk_of_10-horzGoodness, kitten season has kicked off in a big way as seen through the live cams of The Critter Room and TinyKittens.

“What are live kitten cams,” you say?

Foster Dad John Bartlett with Spock
Foster Dad John Bartlett with Spock

It’s a real world view of kittens being fostered by people dedicated to their welfare. The cams come complete with chat rooms so you can get to know your fellow cat lovers. It’s a great stress reliever, community builder and kitten classroom where viewers can learn all about the ups and downs of fostering kittens. Continue reading “Spring means kitten season is in full swing! Catch up with The Critter Room and TinyKittens.”

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It’s here! A scrapbook of your favorite kitten cam memories

box artI am pleased to present The Critter Room Memory Book  Volume One packed with all kinds of goodies! Within its 68 full color pages you will find:

  • tons of color photos from Foster Dad John, “Mr  Ripley” (James Petts) and Tam Woods  including closeups of your favorite kittens and mama cats. Lots of Facebook screen shots.
  • an interview with Foster Dad John by Connie of “Tails of Foster Kittens”
  • fan art by Cazul R, “Thorn” and Sandra Andreasen
  • kitten collages by Nicoya Grobman
  • fan fiction by Jill Pickford and Annie Staats
  • remembrances of Peter and Honey

This volume includes the following litters:

  • Hitchhiker Fosters
  • Ghostbuster Kittens
  • Pixar Fosters
  • AI Fosters

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There is something here for everyone, including Purrfect Pals.

purrfect palsPurrfect Pals, located in Arlington, WA is the no-kill cat shelter that sponsors The Critter Room. Your purchases will help Purrfect Pals find homes for deserving cats and kittens, including cats with medical conditions. Foster Dad John volunteers for the shelter; they provide him with the food, litter and veterinary care needed for each of his litters.

Purrfect Pals receives the entire royalty;
for every book sold, they receive $10.25.

With that in mind, consider what would happen if we were able to sell 1000 books. Think about that for a moment …

Purchase your copy here.

Meanwhile …

Just what is The Critter Room?

Are you a cat lover but have never heard of The Critter Room or Foster Dad John? Check out the live kitten cam on Livestream – I dare you to tear yourself away. Then check out The Critter Room Facebook page for more information on all the good work being done by Foster Dad John (John Barlett).

Then rush right back here and place your order!

People are benefiting from The Critter Room as much as cats and kittens.
Here are some examples:

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Take up the challenge!

Let’s look at the numbers …

With over 37,00 followers on Facebook and over 42,000 followers on Livestream, we should easily be able to sell 1000 books by October 1st, giving Purrfect Pals a donation of $10,350.

We depend upon you to spread the word.

Issuing the 1K / 10K Challenge

1000 books sold = $10,000 for Purrfect Pals. Let’s sell 1000 copies by October 1!
You can purchase your copy here.

If you prefer to purchase through Amazon and would like to donate extra to Purrfect Pals to make up the difference, here are the royalty payments from Amazon:

  • Amazon.com $6.36
  • Amazon Europe – For books printed in Great Britain £3.44
  • Amazon Europe – For books printed in continental Europe €4.32

Purrfect Pals accepts donations at bookkeeper@purrfectpals.org

My thanks to John Bartlett, the photographers, screen shot shooters, artists, writers, my proofreader and Connie Gabelein, Executive Director of Purrfect Pals for making this book possible and for making it a joy to put together. I have personally wanted a book I could pull out with my favorite kittens inside and now it is here!

Enjoy!

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Tweets of the Week: kayaks, scenery, cats, weather, birds … take your pick!

from http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/cat-helps-boy-express-his-emotions

In an effort to invite as many as I can to visit Be as One, I maintain an account on Twitter (and you can follow my tweets in the side bar – there’s a link where you can follow me). I’m following several interesting people and organizations and thought that on a regular basis, I would share interesting tweets and links with you.

Here are this week’s Tweets of the Week:

from http://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com

from Kenn Kaufman ‏@KennKaufman
Roger Tory Peterson artwork going up for auction soon. The background story

and from Wild Birds Unlimited ‏@WildBirdsUnlmtd
Funny bald Blue Jay – Wordless Wednesday – Don’t Speak with your Mouth Full

Click to Tweet & Share: Tweets of the Week: kayaks, scenery, cats, weather, birds … take your pick! http://wp.me/p2D9hg-92

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Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
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Seven Kittens show us what an ideal world can look like

at 2 months – Hank is looking up while the others sleep

What began as a romp watching cute kittens on a live cam morphed into something
much bigger.

It was something the UStream chat community, the foster family and the eventual new owners of the kittens could have hardly anticipated.

Seven kittens and their mother taught us showed us what a perfect world could look like.

The story behind “sevenkittens”

According to the information on the Ustream site known as “sevenkittens,” the kittens were born on June 7. The mother cat, Noodles, under a year old, was a hungry, pregnant stray taken in and fostered by a kind Pittsburgh, PA family.

Here is a video of the litter, one day old:

All are spoken for

As the family already has four cats of their own, Noodles and her litter were put up for adoption. I am happy to report that each kitten and Noodles too, have been adopted (in fact, Noodles will be going to her new home with one of her ginger sons).

3 weeks, after feeding at the “milk bar”

Breakdown of the family

There are five male gingers: three are orange, one is buff-colored and the fifth is nearly white. This kitten, dubbed “Runty” by the chat community, was, in fact, the runt of the litter.

The two females are tortis, one black and the other gray.

The best of care

The foster family has lavished great care on this litter, producing beautiful, healthy and socially adjusted kittens ready for their forever homes.

Gone viral

LiveCams of baby animals are popping up all over the place, from birds’ nests to litters of puppies and kittens.

Yet “sevenkittens” has managed an astonishing three million-plus views! This weekend those of us who have been following the litter with great interest will bid a fond farewell and shed more than few tears.

What was it about this litter of kittens that attracted over three million views?

  • Loki (Runty) at 8 weeks with the lucky lady he would soon go home with

    A compelling storyline. “Runty” (now known as Loki) stole the hearts of everyone who visited. We all rooted for him as he grew from an alarmingly small newborn to a sweet, healthy and magnificent looking boy-cat.

  • Supermom! Noodles’ care of seven rambunctious kittens, especially considering her youth, was extraordinary. When she wasn’t with her kittens, she was calling to them. She’d even play with them.
  • Variety. There was something for everyone in this litter from gingers to tortis, from sweet-tempered to rambunctious, glamorous girls and handsome boys.
  • at 2 months – Ramon (left) and the lovely Venus (right)

    Beautiful, peaceful images. The pictures of Noodles nursing her kittens soothed many a viewer who would check in during a stressful work day.

  • A viable, and international, community. Kittens are universal. Members of the chat community literally came from all over the world, chatting in many foreign languages. We had a common interest in mind – love for this cat family – and we got to know each other in the process.
  • A happy ending. Animal lovers know how many strays suffer and die prematurely. We’ve seen those disturbing ads from the Humane Society. This foster family lavished their attention and resources on Noodles and her kittens, sacrificing time, money and a bedroom in their home for them. It was a generous gesture very much appreciated by the whole community. And every kitten (plus the mother) are going to forever homes.

The kindness of strangers. A community pulling together around a common purpose. Scenes of perfect bliss with a mother and her children. And lots of love.

Sounds like a glimpse of a perfect world.

Thank you to the foster family for your generosity, for opening your home and sharing your story, for capturing the best highlights for us to look at again and again, and for Noodles and her children: Taco, Cosmo, Ramon, Hank, Spooky, Venus and most especially Loki.

The live Ustream will be up at least through this Friday, August 17. Highlights are available at the site. There are also videos available on YouTube at kittensseven.

I leave you with a slideshow chronicling the lives of this extraordinary litter. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you are a member of the chat community or are just interested, email me and I’ll send you all the pictures I’ve collected in a zip file.

Click to Tweet & Share: Seven Kittens show us what an ideal world can look like http://wp.me/p2D9hg-2Q

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Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
Read my other blog, Louisa May Alcott is My Passion