Link: http://www.margsanimals.com/blogs

There is a wonderful cat named Herman and he is so lucky to live with his hoooman, Karen Jo who is the wonderful person taking care of Herman.  At one point Herman lost his home, then he got passed around, left outside at which time he contracted Felv and Fiv.  Those diseases are not any fun but they sometimes can be controlled somewhat.  Herman was a very lucky boy when Karen Jo took him in her home.  A huge thanks to her.  You can see more of Herman at; Hermans Hideaway

Normally on Sundays, Confucius Cat has a Purrs 4Peace, so instead, today we are going to have a Purrs 4 Herman day.  Anyone that would like to participate should purr for three minutes on and off throughout the day in honor of our dear friend Herman.  The cat's human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at different times.  We are a very large family here at Margs animals, so we will be sending lots of purrs and also some woofs, some heehaws, and a Baa.  We are just hoping for Herman to get a little better.

So please everyone say a little purr for this sweet Herman.

Link: http://www.margsanimals.com

Figaro is three years old and when he was between the ages of six months and one years old, Anya took him around to her friends houses and Petsmart to see new people and places. I never thought about taking a cat to Petsmart but that is a great idea, because they meet dogs and people there. When Figaro was one year old, Anya got him registered as a therapy cat with the Delta Society. This exam is a 30 minute test that the cat has to pass to show that he is friendly. After that, Figaro started going to a library reading program every week and also a grief counseling group for kids ages 4-12 every few months. They also went to the nursing home every other week and everyone pats him.  I am sure he cheered everybody up.

Anya trained Figaro to a harness and a stroller. She would also take his carrier to the places that he visited so if the commotion got to be too much for him, he could just sit in his carrier.

To visit Figgie's blog you can go to: Figgie

The blog tells all about Figgie's adventures in his visiting. Also he is very famous because he was on TV.  There are some great pictures there too.

So it sounds like if you start the kittens out early, they can probably do this. But I am sure it takes a special cat to be able to take all that goes on in the visits. They would have to have a very calm personality to start with, other wise, going to Petsmart etc. would freak them out and that would be the end of that. I had one cat many years ago that probably could have done it. I had to drive from my house down to the main barn where I lived, and Sassy would jump in the truck and ride with me. He loved all people and was a wonderful cat.

Link: http://www.margsanimals.com

This really is a tribute to Bernadette E. Kazmarski's cat Peaches because she is going to be 20 years old on May 1st. which in human years is 100 years. Yikes. Peaches has a wonderful portrait of her done by Bernadette and it is up for auction. The best part is that the profits go to a wonderful Foster Cat home which is in Pennsylvania

The site that tells a lot of Peaches's stories is; Portraits of Animals

This is Peaches

To bid on the painting please go to Auction

Anyway, my name is Squeaky and I had to go to the bridge on Dec.23rd, 2009. But I get to write this post anyway. I lived to be almost 20 years old and had a wonderful life. I was found in a dumpster luckily and ended up at a vet's office. I was so scared that I just meowed all the time. One of the nice gals had a friend that needed an orange kitty and so my forever Mom got to adopt me. I just Squeaked, thus the name Squeaky. I did spend my whole life inside, and at the end had a couple of diseases, which were the bad thyroid and some IBD. So Mom had to give me pills twice a day for a couple of years but after the first six months we sort of came to an agreement that I would allow here to give me the pills. It was a huge battle but darn it all she did win most of the time.

This is me Squeaky taking a wonderful nap

Being an older cat means that we get lots of attention and Mom does love to bond with us which is what happens when we get so much attention. We have to watch what we eat and what we do.  I myself didn't get any arthritis so I was lucky. I did lose my teeth but I kept right on eating.  You know they say that cats eat most of their food whole anyway. When I was younger, people didn't know about all the no-grain food and raw food but these days, cats can have a better chance of having a healthy older life.

So Peaches, a very Happy Birthday to you and hope you live many more years. Tell Mom to give you a big hug for us. Lots of purrs coming your way too.

Link: http://www.margsanimals.com/blogs

Hi there, my name is Tees. It is my turn to get on the blog and I am so excited. I am a beautiful tabby cat but I am a little different because my tabby has a lot of brown in it.  I also have little tiny stripes and dots or what ever it is  that makes us tabby.  I was the one that almost starved to death when I was a baby kitten about ten weeks old. Our cat Mom went off and left us over at my bean mom's neighbors. For some reason, I wouldn't follow my two brothers when they went to get food at the bean Mom's house. She would come over every day and try to get me to follow her but I didn't understand about cat food.  Finally I began to see my brothers, Bees and Oboy, following the bean mom, so I did too.

I hadn't eaten anything ever, so I took  a long time to start eating, but again I saw my brothers eating the stuff so I gave it a try and it wasn't bad. Little by little I started to eat but it took a long time and for many weeks, I was very thin. But I made it and am very happy now. I even let that lady pat me now, not much but a little bit.

Hope I get another turn at the blog one day. I also hope all of you have a wonderful day.

Here is a pretty Iris that is out in my yard.

Link: http://www.margsanimals.com

Well we were able to find a  Therapy cat whose name is Tabitha but they call her Tabby for short. She is four and a half years old and lives in Vancouver, Wa with her humans, Karen and Scott and  their other cats, Carbon, Skylar, Rori, Starla, and Spooky.  Scott and Karen found Tabby and Carbon at  a feed store on a trip but on the way back, they picked up the two kittens. They were just four weeks and five weeks old.

This is Tabby sitting in someone's lab with a doggie helping too.

Karen says that Tabby has always had a very calm personality so it wasn't hard at all for her to learn her job.  She socialized her by taking her with her where ever she went, even to work with her as she was teaching adults foreign languages. She took her on the bus to stores that would allow her to come in, and to parks to play with the children. They trained her on a harness  by getting her a walking jacket that fit her small body when she was six months old and the graduated her to a harness when she grewe out of the jacket.

Then Karen got Tabby a stroller but the bus system in Vancouver, Wash.  says that Tabby needs to ride in a cat carrier. Karen trained Tabby to ride in the stroller before she took her anywhere.  She also used the Delta Society manual. The test pages are located here; Delta Society

Most of these exercises are meant for dogs but it does give some tests for cats too.  Also Karen asked around different places about visiting with a cat before Tabby got officially certified.  Tabby didn't qualify with the Delta Society because Tabby kneads or makes biscuits and I guess that would not be good for patients. So Karen takes  lap quilt to put on the patients before Tabby sits on their laps.  So the patients will not get hurt.

There is another place to get certified and that is the Service Animal Registry of America.  They certify therapy animals even though a cat is not considered a service animal. Therapy animals have the same rights as a pet, and are not granted any special rights. But therapy animals can ask to be granted access but also can be denied.  The web site for the Service Animal Registry is; SARA

So that is the beginning of how to become a therapy cat. What a wonderful thing to do.  We wish we had known all this when the kittens were young.  It sounds like a lot of work but so worth while to make someone a little happier that is in the hospital.

Please visit Tabby at: Pdx Pride