Monday, March 18, 2024
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The Creative Cat is a Petties 2014 Finalist!

four black cats with computer
The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse are waiting for your votes.

Thank you to everyone who nominated us! We are a finalist for Best Cat Blog! Now vote for The Creative Cat each day until July 31 to donate $1,000 to the Homeless Cat Management Team!

There are so many blogs out there and I know many of the blogs and their authors, so I know the competition was tough. I’m flattered you find what you read here worthy of taking the time to nominate this site for an award to help win a $1,000 cash grant for HCMT. This isn’t just about me winning an award for The Creative Cat, though that would be splendid. This is more about helping me and The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse donate money to help stop the overpopulation of cats by helping to pay for a TNR/spay-neuter clinic by the Homeless Cat Management Team.

In practical terms, $1,000 is:

Two-thirds of the cost of a “free” clinic serving up to 100 cats.

Free clinics are free for colony caretakers but still cost money in materials. Each clinic costs about $1,500, and winning this would nearly pay for another clinic.

Emergency surgeries and veterinary care for the cats and kittens we rescue.

All the cats and kittens in the rescue, including those pulled from the street when we receive calls, emails and texts about ill and injured cats or abandoned kittens, can receive care at the clinic, and emergency surgeries and critical care are the most expensive but save hundreds of lives each year.

Food and litter for foster homes, colony caretakers and cats in care at the clinic.

At any given time between now and November, 50 to 100 kittens and their mothers will be in foster care. Kittens and nursing moms, especially rescued nursing moms, need a healthy diet and eat more food than you can believe. All those cats will be spayed and neutered and given age-appropriate vaccines before going anywhere for adoption too.

You know that each week I write about cats and kittens in need of homes, and also rescue stories from the streets—these are barely the tip of the iceberg in what really goes on in cat rescue every day, and not only in the Pittsburgh area where I am, but all over the country, even the continent.

Each day I hear stories of individuals running all over to rescue cats and kittens, nurse them through grievous injuries and chronic or acute illnesses or just finding humane euthanasia for the ones who won’t make it, bottle feeding abandoned neo-natal kittens, socializing frightened shelter and rescue cats, trapping and spay/neutering thousands of cats each year who don’t even belong to them or to anyone and trying to assist others and train them in TNR, and educate and inform anyone who will listen about low-cost spay/neuter and veterinary care. They don’t get paid for this, and they don’t get awards for this, in fact they often get criticism and sometimes threatened lawsuits for their actions. They do this because they Care.About.Animals, and they deserve what recognition and reward they can get.

But I am always frustrated at watching individuals, rescues and shelters struggle to do what has to be done to keep our animal populations healthy and respected as living, loving creatures in our society. After my own 30 years in cat rescue, I sometimes have to shake my head and wonder why we still have to struggle. When I find an opportunity to turn something I do well into cash for the rescues and rescuers I know, I am all over it, and that’s what the Petties are about for me.

I don’t like contests, and I don’t like to ask anyone to take their valuable time to nominate me for anything unless they are moved to do so on their own. But for these people and the many like them, I want you to take the time each day during the month of June to nominate a blog and a rescue to win actual cash—even if it’s not me, and it’s not the other nominees I suggest. Someone will win big, and animals will benefit.

Last year I was a nominee for Best Cat Blog and I cried when got the news; I really had no idea I had that much support. I did not win last year, and this year I debated the time and effort of asking everyone to nominate each day in June and vote each day in July as everyone did last year.

Now that we’re here, let’s bring it home!

June was the first part of the Petties Awards, the nominations, and from those the four blogs with the most nominations in each category were chose as finalists. Now in July comes the actual voting among the four finalists for the winners and Giuseppe and The Four Housecats of the Apocalyse are asking you to vote daily.

Now, if it was just for me to win an award I wouldn’t even ask, but it’s for the Homeless Cat Management Team. As I had said at the beginning of all this in June, I don’t like contests, and I don’t like to ask anyone to take their valuable time to nominate me for anything unless they are moved to do so on their own. But for the people out there who are rescuing cats and other pets I want you to take the time each day during the month of July to vote from among the finalists for a rescue to win actual cash—even if it’s not me. Someone will win big, and animals will benefit. So if you can bear with this process and vote every day between now and July 31, you’ll help choose the absolute winner in each category.

My Suggested Rescue, if you haven’t heard enough about them already

homeless cat management team logo
Homeless Cat Management Team logo

I probably don’t need to tell you anything about this organization because you hear about it nearly each day in one way or another. Over 1,000 cats each year are spayed and neutered in the clinics, and while adult stray and feral cats are returned to their colonies, countless kittens are pulled for socialization and adoption, and sometimes even friendly cats are too. Hundreds of cats also receive medical attention for everything from sniffles to amputations, cats who’ve been rescued with collars embedded in their armpits, who’ve been shot, mauled by a dog and left for dead as well as the leagues of kittens and momcats who are the victims of difficult births or nearly fatal viruses, and are treated for as long and as deeply as necessary despite the fact they don’t technically belong to anyone. Every feline life matters.

You can read about the actual clinics in my article about the HCMT TNR clinic.

Don’t make me send Giuseppe

black cat with yellow eyes
Giuseppe will come for you if he finds out you didn’t nominate.

Just go and vote!

 

Click here to go to Dogtime’s Petties 2014 where you can read more about the nominations and the program and review winning bloggers, shelters and volunteers since 2010.

You’ll also see the logo below at the end of all my posts through July.


Click here to nominate “www.TheCreativeCat.net” for a Petties Award.

Petties 2014
Petties 2014

Read more about the Petties in this post.


Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

4 thoughts on “The Creative Cat is a Petties 2014 Finalist!

  • guys !!! conga ratz on yur nomination N Giuseppe…dood…ewe can come ta TT any time, let uz noe a few dayz ahead what fish
    ya want uz ta fry up tho, sum times we haz em in de deep freeze, other dayz they bee fresh catch 🙂

    Reply
    • You’ve got to be bad kitties for Giuseppe to come and visit! I don’t think you’re ever that bad!

      Reply
  • bluemoonalone

    I am here for you B..I’ll put up a note on my desk to remind me too..I know that you don’t think of this for yourself but you DO deserve it..By the way..you can send Giuseppe here any time..send that little Jelly Bean boy too..lol..

    Reply
    • Giuseppe is not supposed to come and play! Bean though, he’s another story. Thanks for voting–I do like to be recognized, but voting every day for two months straight is a little too much to ask of anyone!

      Reply

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