Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Promoting Natural Scratch

It's sometimes said that the easiest part of getting writing published is the writing.

The same might be said of creating a scratching post system that works for most cats and people.

Not that writing or designing and manufacturing are easy. It's just that like catching the attention of editors, getting the scratching post in front of cats and people who need it is hard.

If you have any ideas of places where I can promote my Natural Scratch posts, I hope you will pass them on.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Summer Constellations

I've had a small telescope since the early 1980s and have become much more connected to the changing starry sky.

I'm also an early riser so usually it's still dark when I go out to get the newspaper. This morning I could see the constellation Cygnus the Swan in the eastern sky and it portends the coming of summer and warm weather here in Wisconsin. Great.

If you want to learn more about the cosmos, the opportunities to do so have never been more inviting. The Web is filled to bursting with great astronomy sites. One of the best is Astronomy Picture of the Day at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

But there are many more. Have a look and then start looking up when the Sun sets or before it rises. And don't forget that glowing orb that we depend on is itself a star and one that is only about 93 million miles away.

When you glance at it fleetingly so as not to hurt your eyes, note that its disc appears to be about the size of the Moon's disc even though it is about 372 times farther away. That should give you an appreciation for just how big it is.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Animal-Loving Volunteers

Let me pause for a moment to praise the wonderful people who give up their time or donate money to help the less fortunate, whether cat, dog, another critter, or a human.

This is stupendous and all able-bodied people should be grateful that they can be a donor rather than be in need of a donation.

I do a little here and there as I can and urge you to, too.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Cat jail

Like humans, cats now and then will do something they shouldn't just to get attention. Our cat, Leo, is prone to this. Now and then to get attention, he'll scratch something he shouldn't. He's been persistent at this but we have reduced the likelihood it will occur by hustling him off to cat jail when he does it. This is fairly easy to do because he only behaves badly in this way when he knows he'll attract our attention.

Cat jail in our case is a cage that we bought for our dog when he was a pup and have almost never used. We keep it in the basement, and when Leo does something he shouldn't we pop him in for 20 minutes or so. He hates being locked up.

Our other two cats rarely do anything wrong. The male, Twinkles, began scratching our bedroom door occasionally in the middle of the night but a couple of trips to cat jail broke him of the habit. Our female, Gem, always behaves well and has never been in cat jail.

Point is if your cat misbehaves, place it in a type of cat jail--a bathroom works well, too--so it learns that such actions will result in some unpleasantness. Like children, cats need to know what they may and may not do.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Scratching Post Testimonials Tell The Story

I always encourage people who are contemplating purchasing or have purchased a Natural Scratch scratching post or two to read the Testimonials page at naturalscratch.com.

This helps them understand the range of reactions cats have to Natural Scratch. Some felines take to it immediately, others require considerable owner involvement and training. All eventually come to realize that it is something in the home or apartment that they can lay their claws into, with full human approval, for all their scratching needs

Never but never do I sell or promote Natural Scratch as a set-and-forget solution. It isn’t and there is no such thing as far as I know. BUT, it does work without exception if customers follow the method presented in the training guide, consistently and with love and patience.