Start the cocoa now and get ready to curl up on the couch

A Dog Named Christmas (9pm, CBS) - A developmentally challenged young man who cares for homeless animals tries to get every family in a Kansas town to adopt a dog for Christmas, even though is dad is against the idea.

From Huntingtonnew.net:

New Christmas Dog Story Debuts Sunday on Hallmark Hall of Fame

Special to Huntingtonnews.net

Hollywood, CA (HNN) - In honor of the Hallmark Hall of Fame world premiere of A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS, we're helping Petfinder.com give every dog adoption story a happy ending.

This holiday season, Petfinder.com is kicking off the first ever “Foster A Lonely Pet For the Holidays” program in conjunction with the movie A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS. Based on Greg Kincaid's popular novel, it's a touching story about a developmentally challenged young man who names his adopted dog Christmas and sets out to convince the whole town to participate in a local animal shelter's inaugural “Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.”

Similarly, Petfinder.com is working with more than 2,000 shelters and rescue groups across North America to give families a chance to adopt a pet this holiday season.

Potential dog and cat owners can visit petfinder.com/foster-a-lonely-pet to learn if their local shelter is participating in the program.

All are encouraged to tune in to the Hallmark Hall of Fame world premiere of A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS on Sunday, November 29 at 9/8c only on CBS. Learn more about this pet fostering program at the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Friends of Wildrun Santa Paws!

Do you like to give kitties toys? Do your kitties like to get toys?

Sign up for the first annual Friends of Wildrun Santa Paws! You send me your mailing address and email address, and I'll send you the address of another Friend of Wildrun who wants to participate. You buy (or make!) kitty toys, box them up, and send them to your Santa Paws friend. Feel free to be fun and creative. You can pad the box with homemade human gifts as well (cookies and whatnot) but the $$ gift must be entirely for cats. Another Friend of Wildrun will send your kitty a Santa Paws gift as well.

You take photos of your kitties opening their Santa Paws box, and I'll post them all on my blog! Or if you have a blog, post them there, and send me a link.

If you read this blog regularly, you are a Friend of Wildrun.

Send your address to info at americancat dot net! The gift limit is $20. If you are a US reader willing to pay extra postage to send your Santa Paws to an international Friend, please indicate that in your email, as we do have many friends from Singapore and other countries. International readers, keep in mind your Santa Paws gift will cost you increased postage to send to the US or another country. But internationally traded gifts are likely to be really fun and new to the recipients. You will want to check with your post office before posting off anything organic to another country.

Happy Holidays!

(I've stolen this from other blogs from last year. I can't find it online, so I thought we'd do our own!)

Call for cookie recipes for Coffee, Cookies, and Kittens!

I have decided to replace this year's Holiday Thank-You party with a great big adoption event during my vacation. I have TOO MANY kittens and cats who want homes, and not enough money to justify the wine-and-food bash I normally hold this year at this time.

All I could imagine was friends swirling wine in the cat room thinking "Hmmmm...hasn't Tiger Tom been here for the last three times I've visited?"

My goal is to get a home for big fat Wings before he gets any bigger and fatter. How about Arthur and Morgan and Faith? Not to mention these little cuties tumbling around.

So this year I'm going to have a true open house to get my kids adopted. Instead of wine and dinner, there will be wonderful coffee, wonderful cookies, mulled cider, tea, lots of places to relax, and lots of cats. People who would like to adopt a kitten, or just want to visit, or any Friends Of Wildrun are welcome!

So I could use some help!

If you have a truly decadent cookie recipe, please send it my way. I need to be able to make them at least one-two days in advance, so anything with cream centers or that won't survive being boxed aren't an option.

Mundane cookies need not apply!

I also will need to borrow a 30 cup coffee maker if anyone has one (or two, or three). I have my large coffee carafes, but I'm expecting more coffee and cider drinkers than in previous years, and I also want to make sure there is coffee and cider on both the first and second floors of the cat facility, and in the house.

If any readers love the kitchen and would like to make cookies themselves, that would be wonderful.

At the shortest, this will be December 5th and 6th. However, I have the 2nd through the 8th off, so I have the option of starting early, and extending later.

So go dust off your recipe box. You need to do it before the holidays anyway!

You can post the recipes in comments or email them to info at americancat dot net.

Thanks! Wouldn't it be nice to get every single cat a home?

Great Communities - Cat Writers Association

Chance, luck, and work can throw me into meeting exceptional communities. Those special groups of people who make you realize there is real pride and fun in life. The Cat Writers Association is one of these.

Each year they have a conference, and the past two years I have been lucky enough to go. It is always great to go to a conference that is about your life's passion (animals) but with a twist (writing, rather than just sheltering and rescue, although rescue is often a topic of the writing).

This community is incredibly welcoming. Every new "kitten" -- a first time attendee -- received a sincere round of applause, and a reminder that "someday, YOU will be leading this organization."

I hope to blog more on actual topics, but in this post I want to point out that inclusiveness has its rewards. This association is rewarded not just with a wonderful, engaged membership, but sponsors (and members) who participate with financial sponsorship, products to share, and gifts.

Therefore, the Wildrun kitties made out like little bandits:



I don't think I've ever encountered such a heavy swag bag! Not only that, I arrived early enough the night before to help stuff the bags, along with 17 other attendees. I discovered two women from Ithaca (!!!!) and at least one Petfinder member. Sometimes you have to drive a long way to meet your own neighbors.

And there were so many raffle donations I actually won something. Or rather, the cats have won this beautiful kitty sleeping bag from Wool and Kashmir Couture.



I'm headed out to visit some animals shelters on the way home. After great conferences, I'm always in a hurry to get home and use what I've learned.

If you are a blogger, you are a writer. There are publication requirements for becoming an actual member of the Association, but I believe you can attend the conference as a guest even if you aren't a member. The conference *may be* held in the same location next year, so mark next fall on your calendar if this is a community you might like to get to meet!

"Luxating patella." It's Google time!

I'll have to fill in the blanks for you later, but you can Google it if you want more information. Basically, Fiona has a dislocated knee, and it pops back out after being popped back in again. Which means she's scheduled for surgery December 3rd. I owe my excellent vet a huge "thank you" as I'm sure this is yet another surgery she is doing for me that would normally be referred to the university. And the fee she has quoted me is a fraction of what I would be charged elsewhere. So Fiona is a (relatively) lucky kitty.

She's one dopey kitty, too, after radiographs and a manipulation session. Little does she know that tomorrow a.m. she going into a cage until her surgery. She's not going to like that at all.

Her buddy Cheeto isn't going to know what to do without her.

Taco adopted!

A family came to visit with Cheeto, and ended up falling in love with Taco instead. He was off to the vet today, and somehow I've got to spirit him off to his new home tomorrow. One down (from this litter) and three to go!

Problem with Vetsulin

This was sent to me by Kim, on a problem with Vetsulin.

Got H1N1? Don't snuggle in bed with your cats

A case of H1N1 has been confirmed in a cat.

You know that the anti-cat contingent will jump all over this. If you are ill, resist pulling your cat into bed along with the chicken soup while you recover. You don't want your friend to become ill. If you have cats (or any pets) and someone in your family has been ill with the flu, please avoid snuggling, sharing of plates and utensil, etc., just as you would with your children or other family members when one family member has been sick.

We have a responsibility to our pets when we are ill.

Franice has a home

And if she thought she would at least be free of Molly the Bouncing Dog, she's mistaken, because now she has Kahlua the Twice As Bouncy.

Who wears a dress, no less.



I owe a big debt to Molly because, like a child, she socializes my kittens into laid-back little felines who are used to being ambushed.

Francine has already settled into her home, as this fast photo shows. I love it when photos beat me back to my house!



So all of the dairy farm kittens have found homes!