Friendly Fill-Ins and Eddy's Window Annoyance

Hello, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. Some find _________ funny, but I don't.

2. _________ a _________.

3. I never finished _________ because _________.

4. _________ is the last thing that made me genuinely laugh.


My answers are below in bold.

1. Some find pranks funny, but I don't.
(I especially hate seeing pranks being pulled on animals and children. Social media has shown me some of the trends that involve pranking cats, dogs, and children, and I despise all of them.)

2. I plan to always share my life with a special needs animal.
(Though it's sometimes difficult and messy work, Evan has proven to me how rewarding it is to share my life with a special needs animal. He's hind limb paralyzed and has a plethora of health conditions, many relating to his paralysis, but he's so resilient and full of life. He's also the sweetest and most adorably sassy mama's boy.)

3. I never finished Old Yeller because I'm not reading or watching anything when I know it ends like that.
(I've unintentionally seen excerpts from the book and bits and pieces of the movie, but I will not be reading or watching it through, and I will most certainly not be reaching that ending. Luckily, Old Yeller was never required reading at my school, because I always felt compelled to finish any and every book assigned as required reading. Where the Red Fern Grows was required reading at my grade school, though, and if you know anything about that story, it's easily the most traumatic book I've ever read.)

4. Astrid's snowy temper tantrum is the last thing that made me genuinely laugh.
(Pup Astrid loves winter and playing around in snow. She's also generally very good on a leash and very-well behaved on walks. That said, when I asked her to patiently wait and stand still like a proper lady while I scooped her poop on yesterday's snowy walk, she started picking up snow in her mouth and throwing it at me. This is actually nothing new. It's like Astrid thinks that pummeling me with snow will help me scoop her poop faster. It doesn't. Even so, every time ornery Astrid throws one of her snowy tantrums, I indeed laugh. My furry cuties are what make me laugh and smile most in this world.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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Today, your fix of Eddy is another instance of her watching out the window. After all, she's a pro at keeping tabs on all those squirrels and birds.

Do you see how Eddy is so annoyingly being bothered by the window's blinds, though? Do you see them so rudely infringing on her?

Don't worry, I opened the blinds a bit farther for Eddy after snapping those photos. She informed me I needed to do so by flicking her ear repeatedly since the blinds lightly bumped it all of once. I know my place, though, and I fixed the issue.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

I still haven't scanned the newest drawings I've finished, including a couple of Valentine-ish ones. So, instead, you get yesterday's macabre Valentine's Day doodle. Here you go!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

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Tip of the Day

As a continuation of our National Cat Health Month tips, and also related to our tips from the past two days, we have a bit more (more like a lot more) to say on food and weight management for those kitties in your life. We've already discussed selecting a proper diet for weight management, as well as initiating activity and playtime to aid in any needed weight loss. Today, to add on to that, we're going to give a couple of tips that could potentially help keep certain feline food fiends healthy and fit.

The following tips will most relate to those cats who scarf down their food. Eating fast can, to put it simply, lead a cat to immediately desiring more food, even after just eating, and can thereby lead to weight gain if they indeed attain that second or even third serving. Another negative side to rapid eating is that a cat can also regurgitate or vomit food that they gobbled up too quickly, and excess vomiting is of course less than ideal. To help reduce these issues related to rapid eating, there are a couple of tricks you could try.

To begin, you could of course try one of those famous treat-dispensing toys. Making your cat work for their food in this way can help them to eat slower, as they will not be able to scarf down a serving so quickly. It will also prompt activity on their part, which will keep their little body moving and burning extra calories even while eating.

Another trick to help slow down those quick eaters is to simply use a plate rather than a bowl. Food served on a plate is not as easily scarfed, since they will not have the sides of a bowl to help keep the food in place and easily inhaled into their mouth. Another similar method would simply involve feeding your cat their food directly on the floor, from which they will again have to be careful and diligent about picking up and eating the morsels. In this same line of thought, you could try putting something such as a ping pong ball or golf ball in your cat's bowl or plate with their food. The kitty will then have to eat around the ball, and that will thereby help slow their eating. There are also bowls on the market that serve this same purpose, such as bowls that have partitions around which a cat has to more carefully eat their food.

The above are all just some simple tricks that could potentially help slow a cat's eating. Helping a food-focused cat eat in a slower, more controlled, less manic way can help them realize that they are full after eating, so that they can perhaps refrain from immediately begging for more food after inhaling their meal. Of course, that being said, do be aware and mindful of your cat's response to these methods. If they are unable to figure out how to reach their meal in a food dispenser, or if they seem unable or unwilling to eat from a certain bowl or plate, then reassess the methods you could use to slow their eating, or discuss other options with a veterinarian.