Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause: Victoria Hamilton

Poodle: Is That Any Name for a Cat?

 

 

By: Victoria Hamilton, author of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries that star Hoppy the three-legged Yorkie-Poo and Denver the Crabby Tabby.

 

 

I have always loved cats. I find them calming companions, loving and fun, mischievous and yet serene. 

 

In my life Puttin, the deaf blue-eyed albino, was a sweet princess. Noél… well he was a not-too-bright but loving and beautiful boy, and Benny? Benny was special… the soul of politeness and affability. It was Benny’s duty to greet everyone who entered our home, and if there was a task to be done, he was there to offer a helping paw in the way of supervising. Inspector Benny, we called him. He left this earth far too soon, and I still miss him.

 

Enter the cat who has many names. He is an orange and white tabby, abandoned and found shivering cold in a Walmart parking lot last November. I adopted him from his rescuer, a kind-hearted young woman. She couldn’t keep him (she already had a dog, rabbits, rats and a human child to look after) but had looked desperately to find him a good home.

 

And so he came with us, poor little soldier with the runny eyes and a weird way of purring with his mouth open. What to name him? Buddy. Mr. Bean. Max. None seemed right. We finally settled on Pookee, and that is how he is listed at the vet. Shots, neutering and anti-viral gel later, he is healthy and happy… maybe a little too happy. At about 8 months old now (I took him home on Thanksgiving day, last November, and the vet estimated his age as 5 months) he is kitten-wild, sometimes. He is called many things, but seldom Pookee. He is PoohBear and Pook, Poo and The Little Idiot.

 

What he is called most often, oddly enough, is Poodle. Doglike, he sniffs the air constantly, always alert to the possibility of food. He’ll eat odd things including, I found out last night, bits of red pepper. So, Poodle he is. Poodly-Doodly when I’m in a good mood and he’s behaving.

 

He has a consuming curiosity, and that causes trouble. Lately he has taken to racing me to the bathroom, jumping into the tub, and staring at the faucet until I turn it on for him. He loves water. He steals the plug from the bathtub and deposits it in odd places. I thought I’d give him a puzzle to work out, so I put the plug in the drain and put about a half inch of water in the tub.

 

That’ll fix him, I figured. For about one minute. When I went back in to the bathroom the tub was drained and the plug gone. It was in the kitchen in the middle of the rug.

 

God help me, he makes me laugh even when he is at his worst. He is goofy and sweet-natured, and the elder cat doesn’t seem to mind him. He’s mischievous but not mean. It is, though, taking time for him to become affectionate. He doesn't do the cuddly head bumping love gestures that other cats do. Yet. But he’s making progress, jumping up on my lap, now, if I’m in the chair he wants.

 

All in all, I think he’ll make it to being called Sweetie-Pie at some point! 

 

Now… where the heck is he and what is he doing?

 

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Hello Everyone! We have a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:

Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.

PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy. Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some. Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.

Paws With A Cause

4646 South Division

Wayland, MI 49348

 

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause

2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information.
6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! Your all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

We will have 4 winners for the main giveaway.
We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have 2 huge boxes of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance for US residents only.

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In addition, the wonderful Sparkle Abbey is generously contributing a signed copy of one of their Pampered Pets Mystery series books (winner's choice) to anyone who leaves me a comment on any of my Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause posts that they donated to this wonderful cause.

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