JinglePets Studio Blog

Some days in the studio are sillier than others…this is one of them! We like to pass on funny stuff we come across about animals, and a friend recently sent us a doozey about cats.

We share our home with an orange tabby cat who unsuccessfully conceals from us that we’re actually his personal staff. So, for those of you who are familiar with the feline point of view…enjoy!  

Haiku Written by Cats – Part 1 
 
   The food in my bowl is old 
                                                And more to the point                                             
   Contains no tuna.

So you want to play. 
Will I claw at dancing string? 
Your ankle is closer. 
 

There’s no dignity
   In being sick - which is why
   I don’t tell you where. 
 
Seeking solitude
   I am locked in the closet.
   For once I need you. 

Tiny can, dumped in
   Plastic bowl. Presentation:
   One star; service: none. 
 
  Am I in your way?
  You seem to have it backwards:
  This pillow is taken.

Beautiful kitty photos supplied by Sue’s Kitty Heaven!

Happy Labor Day weekend…The JP Crew
ps…Stoo the Wonder Kitty says to tell you guys HI!

Simon’s Story

Stuart’s Mom and Dad arrived home late on a Friday night and decided to do some house cleaning. Samantha went into the kitchen to move a box from the countertop to the fireplace hearth. As she bent down to set the box on the hearth she saw something lying on the fireplace and screamed! 

Dad to the rescue! Samantha thought it might be a dead mouse but Dwayne said, “It looks like a baby squirrel, and I think he just fell down the chimney!” Samantha took a closer look at it and thought with that kind of fall it surely must be dead. Just then the baby squirrel slowly opened and closed his eyes……

No more than 5 inches long, and very weak, this little fella was in big trouble. Sam and Dwayne placed him in a five gallon bucket with some soft cloth padding while they started an internet search, hoping they could learn enough quickly to ensure his survival.

From photos and descriptions Sam and Dwayne learned that the baby squirrel was between 4 and 5 weeks old and they started out feeding him puppy weaning formula using an oral syringe. They also contacted some other folks who have raised squirrels to check out the finer points of the process. 

Little “Simon” is thriving beautifully…running around and happy! Samantha takes him to work with her (same routine as baby Stuart) so she can give him his mid-day feedings. Dwayne took him to work recently and everyone loved him, especially his boss…whose shoulder Simon immediately peed on!

This week Simon is learning all about eating more solid foods but still needs his baby formula.  His favorite solid food right now is a wheat snack mix. Eating standing up with food in his paws is proving to be quite a challenge! Being a baby still, little Simon isn’t all that steady on his feet and falls over quite a bit. 

Recently Simon crawled out of his bucket, soon making his way into the bedroom with Stuart. Some pretty loud quacking let them know Simon was in the bedroom. Stuart is doing a fine job as a watch-duck for baby Simon. He’s such a good boy!!!  

The plan is to try not to get too deeply attached so that they can give Simon a soft release in about four months. At that time his cage will be placed outdoors with the door open so he can have easy access to food, water and a safe snuggly spot while he’s exploring the natural world.

Right now Samantha and Dwayne are dedicated parents to this sweet squirrel and it’s hard for them to think about letting him go. Check back here in a few weeks for an more of Simon’s adventures.

Hope you all enjoy Simon’s baby photos as much as we did!
The JinglePets Gang

Ok…I have to admit here that frogs don’t give me that warm/fuzzy feeling that most animals do. Of course there’s a long story in this but I won’t go there.  And, I further confess to spending a fair amount of time in the summer dodging frogs and toads whenever possible. There’s just something about the moist slap-smurrge sound when they land on our patio…..and then there’s all that unpredictable JUMPING!

But…I’m really beginning to miss the little buggers! With only 2 frogs and 3 toads making an appearance this year I am concerned enough to investigate. Found a wealth of info on the global frog crisis at Save the Frogs.

Photo courtesy of Sun Catcher Photos 

Startling headline from the STF website: “Frog populations have been declining worldwide at unprecedented rates, and nearly one-third of the world’s 6,317 amphibian species are threatened with extinction. At least 100 species have completely disappeared since 1980, and this is NOT normal: amphibians naturally go extinct at a rate of only about one species every 250 years!!!”

These little guys are in real trouble and desperately need our help…here’s HOW!

Now for some Frog Fun! If you live on the west coast you’re just a hop and a half away from the world renowned jumping frog competition at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee. The 2008 champion was a frog named Skeeter Eater from Fresno, CA. The winning jump was an amazing 19 feet 3 ½ inches with Skeeter capturing the title for the second year in a row!

“Skeeter Eater” - Photo by Greg Kristapovich

Until next time…
A newly aspiring frog lover!   

Who can resist hearing what Mr. Twain has to say on almost any subject? How about one of his favorite topics…CATS!

(Photo from the Dave Thomson collection - photographer: E. M. VanAken 1887)

Twain’s personal space was knee-deep in cats! At one point his family boasted 19 cats. Being a writer by trade he naturally came up with some pretty zany names for them. A few of the family’s beloved kitties included, Bambino, Stray Kit, Appollinaris, Sour Mash, Blatherskite, and Zoroaster. We thought we would share some classic Twain quotes about cats:

“Ignorant people think it’s the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain’t so; it’s the sickening grammar they use.”

“Never try to teach a cat to sing. It wastes your time, and annoys the cat.”

“I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course.”

“Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

“A home without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat, may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove that title?”

I know the next time we need to name a cat we’ll think of Mr. Twain’s list of very peculiar and sometimes hilarious names.  Check out more info about this fascinating writer. 

Until next time…
The JinglePets Gang

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere and lately the weather has us dreaming of our favorite childhood games. If you remember how to play Red Rover…welcome to our world!

Of course the newest charm collar prototype doesn’t resemble a line-up of kids on a playground, but the name started our minds rolling. Grass, dogs, bones…BINGO……let’s call it Red Rover, make it an eye-popping red collar, and use multi-colored bone shaped charms!

For the new Red Rover charm collar we’re trying out a new kind of collar material. It’s actually two layers; the inner layer is webbing like many pet collars are made of, then the webbing is coated with a translucent layer of poly-vinyl. This coating gives the webbing a neon glow…very 3-D!

With the same durability as our ExtremeWear collars, the Red Rover collar material is water repellent, stain resistant and so easy to keep clean. We have a dedicated crew of test pilots for our collars. If they can’t destroy them…nobody can…Hi Miss Molly!

Valuable feedback comes to us from our test homes; are they appropriate for different occasions, rating the “wow factor” which is other people’s reactions to the collar style, and the all important question…just how much fun the new designs are for the pets!

Look for Red Rover Charm Collars on the JinglePets™ website sometime in the next 2-3 months.

Working our little fingers to the bone here…no pun intended!
The Studio Crew