Our First Blogoversary Is Coming Up Soon!

On April 15 we will have our first blogoversary - which of course we will be celebrating in style with our annual lizard BBQ - everybody is invited - more details later.
One of the things we are doing for the occasion is a raffle as a fundraiser for CFHF, Cat Friends Helping Friends. Mrs. OZ is showing you the Grand Prize here:

Aside of The Cat Realm's signature Cat Buddha Statue you will also get one of our books, a pair of funky sunglasses, and lots of little surprises.
A raffle ticket is $ 5, you may buy as many as you want and everybody can participate. The raffle ends April 14 at midnight Pacific Time. Emil will draw the winner on April 15.
The button to buy raffle tickets is in our post on top of the page.

Proceeds of the raffle will be donated to the Cat Blogopshere. You may have heard that Cat Friends Helping Friends will be transformed into an official 501(3)(c) not-for-profit charity organization with Mom Trisha of The Cats Stephens volunteering to head this up for the first year. Getting CFHF registered as a legal charity entity will take some time and money of course, so hopefully with our donation we can help cover the fees. Any leftover money goes into the fund for helping cats in need.

Please keep Momo in your purrings - she is improving but we don't know yet if she maybe has sustained long term damage....
And Miral is still doing good - we now only have to find out what is wrong with her heart in the first place.... so we might need more purrings there too.
But thank you all so much for all your help and making the miracles happening!!!!

Things Are Getting Better!

Miral is eating!!!!
She still needs your purrs as she is extremely week and still will have to be treated for her heart problems - but she is a bit better!!!! I think if she makes it trough this weekend she will be fine! And I think once again it was the magic of the Cat Blogosphere (= all of you) that helped her! Please keep on purring for a little while till she gets a bit stronger!
We have hope again!!!

And Momo is home!!!
She is alert but still quite weak. So please keep her in your thoughts too.

And if those wonderful news weren't enough: Zoolatry dedicated their post today to us! And gave us Zoolatry's A+ Cat Blog Award:

We are quiet overwhelmed. Thank you so much Zoolatry - this is such a great honor!

And with all that stuff going on - I messed up and posted this in the old post that was here - so the first 36 comments of course aren't making any sense because they refer to the old - now lost - post.....
I sincerely apologize.....

Prize Package for Mrs. OZ

Today Mrs. OZ received her very first ever mail and it was not just a letter but a big package! She won 2nd place in the Royal Kitty Trivia by Queen Snickers and Empress! And was she excited! I had to take all kind of pictures of her with the prize package:

Just a reminder: Miral is still at the VET, she is slightly improving but still needs a lot of purrs!!!!

Trying To Catch Up...

First of all: Miral is still at the VET and REALLY needs purring - see Kattenpraat for updates. They are very worried....

And lots happened while we were first in Ireland and then in the Jacuzzi - so we are trying to catch up!
First the awards:
Charlie presented Karl with the TOTALLY HIP BLOGGER AWARD! Here she is in her own words:
"I would like to thank the totally hip, coolest and funnest cats, who were super-quick with the photos, goodhumoured and loads of fun to be with in blogland (I look forward to more!): Karl, Ruis, and Asta! You are the very first recipients of the TOTALLY HIP BLOGGER AWARD! Now you must pass it on to three hip bloggers to perpetuate the spirit of hip-ness, for which, if you need any help, you can refer to Zaphod Beeblebrox, who said, "I'm so hip, I can't see over my own pelvis!" Congratulations!"

Thank you so much Charlie, what an honor! I like to pass it on to Mike, Faz, Cecil

wildcatsthree presented us with the "Wonderful Site Award" This award was created by Gentle Annie, who has her own website with beautiful pictures and poetry about pets and life that's worth checking out as well. Here they are in there own words:
"These crazy cats have a real knack for entertaining their visitors; their world cruises, gala events and special effects that their "servants" create are legendary. If you haven't visited them before, we highly recommend you stop by. You'll be glad you did".

We are tickled pink! Thank you so much wildcatsthree for giving us this great award!
We would like to give this to the Cat Blogopshere, the wonderful site that brings our community together!

Now the games!

Skeeter tagged us for a meme. Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to Empress once you post it to your blog so “I” (empress, not us) can come see!
The book is "Biological Exuberance" by Bruce Bagemihl
"In most respects, by trying to answer the question "Why do some animals engage in homosexual behavior?" scientists have simply found an opportunity to continue many of the same homophobic attitudes documented in the preceding chapter (while ignoring the biases inherent in such a question in the first place).
Significant numbers of zoologists are willing to concede that same-sex courtship, copulation, and pair-bonding are indeed "sexual" or "homosexual" activities.
However , they commonly propose alternative explanations for these behaviors premised on the notion that this activity is still in some way "anomalous" or "aberrant."
We tag Rascal, Mozart, Jazper

The Meaouwy Troops tagged Karl for the middle name meme. Here are the rules:
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers,
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother's maiden name),
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person (or blogger of another species) for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged.)
The problem is - I do not have a middle name! So I decided to use the opportunity and GIVE myself a middle name - made up from the facts about myself! Here are the facts:
Determined, not stubborn
A very dedicated caretaker
Not a morning cat
Intelligent beyond measure
Just a bit fastidious
Extremely polite
Very patient
Dadaaaaaa: my middle name is Danijev. O well. Never heard of it either....
Now we just have to find a last name for me, hahahahahahahahahahahahha.
I tag Dragonheart, Annie, Nelson, Isis, Jake, Eric, Veronica

Happy Easter

This is Mrs. OZ entry for Koobuss Easter Bonnet Contest!

Please keep on purring for Karl's sister-in-law Miral!

Smudge Saturday

Rest In Peace, Smudge.

The nice portrait above was made by Not the Mama, who sent it fur any cat who wants to remember Smudge with it. We are very sad and heartbroken and send his family lots of purrs. Our Anastasia will be a good friend for you at the Bridge, Smudge!


Now, please every one send your purrs and thoughts and good energy to my sister-in-law Miral. She had to stay at the VET, they still don't know what is going on with her and she needs support very much!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Resting

picture by Ruis

Both our staff-in-law, my fiance Ruis. Mrs. Oz and Emil. Soraya, Maxime, Gucci, Djenna, Bubbles, the dogs Taylor & Buzzer, and Miss Peach. The four from Kattenpraat that are missing are in the swimming pool...

The Trip Home....

Before we left our beautiful hotel in Ireland Emil and Mrs. OZ took Socks, Scylla and Charybdis swimming.

Then we all boarded the magic bus and went - no. Not home, hahahahahahahahahahaha!

picture by Opus and Roscoe

We stopped in Munich to visit Dragonheart and Merlin!!! They were pretty surprised but more than happy to show us around. We all went to the Stachus and downtown Munich for some shopping.

Then of course we were hungry so we looked for a restaurant on the famous Leopoldstrasse.

And afterwards we had one last picture taken at the Feldherrn Halle.

You would think this would be enough excitement for one day... But no, we are cats! We dropped off the dogs and went on to Washington DC!!! The Taylor Catsssss had invited us and as you might know by now - we can not really resist an invitation....
We gathered on the White House lawn where the first dog welcomed us.

picture by Momo with additions by Sassy and Karl

It seems Karl's sign was not really necessary because after playing another refreshing round of Thundering Herd of Elephants inside the White House (note Cheysuli's picture on the wall!)...

picture by Momo

...we found out that the Taylor Catsssss had already taken over the White House completely!

picture by Momo

So with things back in order in Washington now, we FINALLY did go home....
Come back tomorrow and see if you guessed right about what we did next, hahahahahahahaha.

The participants: Asta, Charlie, Charybdis, Scylla and Socks, Momo the cat, Momo the dog and Pinot, Opus and Roscoe, Ruis, Sassy, Stanley, Mrs. OZ, Emil and Karl

St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Finally the big day has arrived. And guess what - it is also Stanley's Gotcha Day!!!! Happy Gotcha Day Stanley!!! We gave him a surprise party at the little cottage he and Asta had rented:

picture by Asta and Sassy

Then we all dressed up and went to the famous Temple Bar to get in the right mood for the parade!

Here we are at the parade. Oh it was fun!

picture by Asta and Sassy

picture by Momo, some additions by Karl

After the parade we went back to the Dublin castle for a dance. First we visited the Red Room:

picture by Sassy, Designer Clothes by Karl

And for the Grand Finale of our great Ireland trip for St. Patrick's Day we will be dancing in the Dance Hall at Dublin Castle!

DO NOT MISS tomorrow's post - our trip back home is as adventurous as our "vacation" in Ireland was!

The participants: Asta, Charlie, Charybdis, Scylla and Socks, Momo the cat, Momo the dog and Pinot, Opus and Roscoe, Ruis, Sassy, Stanley, Mrs. OZ, Emil and Karl

Finally: We Visit A Brewery!

And how about this for a little culture shock! The maid sent us this picture today (good thing Ruis took his laptop!) of her at the Aloha Festival in Phoenix! By the way: the maid is holding her Ipu Heke. We will show you more of it when we are back from Ireland!



As for us: on our third day in Ireland we finally visit a brewery! Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it is still the largest brewer of stout in the world.

picture by Sassy

The beer was great! We drank a lot. We had to go and air our heads a little. And then we saw strange , very very strange things..... And all the leprechauns had Charlie's face... Very, very strange....

picture by Karl, leprechaun by Charlie

In the afternoon we visited Dublin Castle, there is sooooo much too see here....

picture by Momo, fashion by Sassy

With all these activities and sightseeing and beer sampling we decided we needed to cool off a little at the hotel pool:

And then on the evening news on TV we saw this and we think we might be off the hook now! We wonder if Cheysuli had a hand in covering for us? After all - she IS the prime minister of Italy...


The participants: Asta, Charlie, Charybdis, Scylla and Socks, Momo the cat, Momo the dog and Pinot, Opus and Roscoe, Ruis, Sassy, Stanley, Mrs. OZ, Emil and Karl

Picnic - Sightseeing - Another Performance

Today we started the day with a wonderful outdoor picnic in the beautiful Irish countryside. I tell you - those Irish know how to live good! And we learned fast!

picture by Asta, food by Sassy

The we went to see Ashford Castle, a place Charlie really wanted to visit. It was built in the 13th century and is now a five star hotel. Charlie is the girl in the right front corner - she chose this outfit so she could hide the ham she brought along under that checkered vest....

Charlie proudly leads the way into Ashford Castle:

In the evening we gave another performance: Does this Furry Irish Bagpipe Band look familiar to you? Hahahahahahahhaha - what a fun trip this is!

picture by Opus and Roscoe, edited by Sassy

The participants: Asta, Charlie, Charybdis, Scylla and Socks, Momo the cat, Momo the dog and Pinot, Opus and Roscoe, Ruis, Sassy, Stanley, Mrs. OZ, Emil and Karl

Having Fun In Ireland

It is all over the Italian news! "The Leaning Tower of Pisa has tipped and is broken! Local officials aren't speaking public about the case, which is under investigation, but eye witnesses say that a strange band of international house pets wearing St. Patrick's day hats are to blame."

We hoped they wouldn't find us here in Ireland and decided to keep a low profile today. We went to visit Blarney Castle.

picture by Sassy

Sassy insisted on showing Ruis and me the Blarney Castle Stone. She took a picture of Ruis kissing it, while I am holding him. I am wearing a hooded sweatshirt - just in case the Carabinieri would come looking for us....

Then we went to an Irish pub! Now that was an enormous amount of fun!

picture by Asta and Sassy

And in the evening Michael Flatley invited us to perform with Lord of the Dance!
Roscoe couldn't help himself and took center stage with both, the girls and the boys!!!
Here are the girls:

picture by Opus and Roscoe with some addition by cat Momo

And here are the boys:

picture by Opus and Roscoe with some addition by cat Momo

The participants: Asta, Charlie, Charybdis, Scylla and Socks, Momo the cat, Momo the dog and Pinot, Opus and Roscoe, Ruis, Sassy, Stanley, Mrs. OZ, Emil and Karl

Europe In Two Days, Hahahahahahahahahahaha

A whole bunch of us decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day together this year.
We are (picture by Sassy):

Asta
Charlie
Charybdis, Scylla and Socks
Momo the cat
Momo the dog and Pinot
Opus and Roscoe
Ruis
Sassy
Stanley
Mrs. OZ, Emil and I, Karl

And what better way to start this adventure than with a visit to Italy to pick up Opus and Roscoe!
We start with a picnic of course at the Field of Dreams.

picture by Asta

Then we all are visiting the leaning tower of Pisa. It was leaning a bit more than usual we thought, there were 16 of us up there and we had all eaten like pigs at the picnic..... hahahahahahahahaha.....

picture by Opus and Roscoe

Then it was time to head over to Ireland - we took the "Magic Bus"...

picture by Opus and Roscoe

After arrival we checked into our hotel, the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Dublin. They have a very nice and big foyer!

Asta and Stanley had rented a little cottage for some "romantic privacy" and the rest of us checked out our rooms at the hotel:

Then we hit the town! At least The Cat Realm and Ruis did. We went to O'Donoghue's Pub.

And had a jolly good time! Emil danced on the barrels, Mrs.OZ got so drunk that she started smoking and Ruis and I sang so loud - and off key - that they eventually kicked us out, hahahahahahahahahaha.

I did bring back a pint of Guinness for Sassy. She had asked me to!!!

Back in our room we turned on the TV for just a moment and saw some very disturbing news...

Tomorrow we will visit Blarney Castle, go to another pub and have an exciting surprise for you in the evening!