A Very Catty Christmas List

We Feline mistresses of the house and Dax (the male orange terror) need to speak out. I, Blaze Star, have been chosen, by a unanimous raising of paws, to be the spokes-cat for the group. Recently our butler, Albert, and the canine members of our troop, have been burning up the web with stories and shopping suggestions, while we have been enjoying long naps in comfy cat beds and good games of hide and go seek while playing with our cat toys. The dogs are constantly boasting about their attempts at creativity and we cats can not take any more of it. So, today, we start our campaign to share our valuable knowledge with the world.

Since Christmas is right around the corner, we will begin with a shopping list of sorts. We have high standards in what we expect to see under (or in) the tree. Cat toys should be near the top of the list, as well as cat beds and treats.

We hope that our recommendations will help the outstanding humans (like our own butler and maid) who love and cherish our kind, to choose just the right gifts for the felines of the world, as well as for other cat loving humans.

We all know that of all the four-legged, cats are by far the superior beings with such discriminating taste, that it is only right for us to advise the caring humans who read this page. Humans, please take our words to heart. If you do, you will please every cat and kitten on your list (as well as their housekeeping staff).

The most important piece of furniture in a cat's life is a comfy bed to sleep in. Actually we need many beds placed in strategic locations throughout the house so that we can enjoy snoozing in the sun as it moves from the east window to the west windows.

We enjoy toys, the more realistic the better. Personally, I have always enjoyed a good mouse thrown high in the air so that I can jump several feet to bat it away, then pounce on it and kill it with kicks from my strong back feet. Dax and my friend Star enjoy playing with those fishing pole affairs, operated by our human butler and/or maid. However, Dax particularly enjoys laying in wait and ambushing us girls as we walk by.

Since we have delicate tastes, we must have the most flavorful of treats. Some that are suitable include Pounce, Temptations and Greenies for Cats. Dax will even stand on his hind legs and do tricks for Pounce.

We are indoor cats, but all of us once lived or were allowed to go outdoors. Our humans say that it is too dangerous out there today and though we can't understand it, they say that it is bad to kill flying prey. We cats enjoy climbing and playing in trees and other two-leggeds have built some indoor substitutes for trees.

If you have to stay inside, then you need a tree with many sleeping and hiding places as well as things to climb on and play with.

Dax has been hoping that our benevolent and loving humans will purchase an outdoor enclosure for us. It's like the best of both worlds. We can enjoy the outdoors, while still being safe from predators and our humans won't worry that we are killing any of their precious feathered prey or reptiles.

News Flash!! Our benevolent humans came through for us (and for them). We now have a lovely screened outside play area / greenhouse - porch right off of the house. They even put a little swinging door for us! As soon as the sweet woman gets the pictures out of that thing that flashes, she says that she's going to write about it.

Star Noir, Pepper and Dax like to use the door that they got for us, but I like the woman to be out there with me because of Dax's ambushes. Still it's lovely to have him out of the house for a while so that I can nap.

We enjoy the holidays, especially the tree. Our staff has a lovely collection of feline ornaments and decorations, but we have found a few more to add to their display. There are places to shop that can personalize the ornaments with our name or our picture. Those are the most fun to play with.

Of course Dax always climbs the tree. Now that he's so big, he usually knocks it over. Bad cat!

Since it is the holiday season, we feel obligated to recommend some gifts for the human servants. We must not forget them because, we still have not figured out how to open the little can each morning or how to operate the water fountain. Some of these gifts would be perfect for your humans.

My humans seem to enjoy reading about our kind and that's good for us, too. They are very still and we can curl up with them. A nice pillow for humans or felines would come in handy at these times.

Every cat household should have a good instruction manual about caring for out kind. There are also many meow-valous stories about cats solving mysteries that my lady likes to read and your person may enjoy them, too.

Our humans enjoy drinking coffee and tea from mugs with our pictures on them. I bet yours would, too. A set of mugs from those print-on-demand shops and some special coffee or tea would be a great gift for those who take care of us.

If your human enjoys musicals and jewelry, a DVD of "Cats" and some lovely feline-shaped earrings or even a diamond necklace should make them very happy. I thoroughly enjoyed the show... some of the actresses could move quite gracefully. I also wouldn't mind Santa Paws bringing a lovely trinket with sparklies either.