Last week I was thrilled to be notified that I'd been selected for the 2013 Mortimer Art Prize. It's an annual art prize for realist art with categories including portraiture landscape figurative and a new one for imaginative surrealist works. This latter category is the one I entered with my painting 'Rosie in the Bliss Bubbles. Bit of rush on now to get it framed and sent to Dubbo for the opening and judging of the exhibition on 12 October. Looking at some of the entries I've seen posted to Facebook the standard is very high so I'm honoured to be among the artists chosen.

Nothing is quite so alarming as hearing the "hack-hack-hack" of a cat trying to cough up a hairball. And almost nothing is as disgusting as seeing one on the floor, unless it is stepping on it at night in bare feet. Ughh! Seriously though, although hairballs may be the topics of jokes among thoughtless humans, they are a source of discomfort or worse, for cats. Hairballs pose a potential danger by blocking the passage of digested food through the intestines, causing an impaction.

With three semi long haired cats fighting fur ball is a constant battle especially at change of seasons when they shed. A good brush every day and the right food helps. Hills make a fur ball formula that I found to really makes a difference. It comes in a senior formula which is ideal for my two old cats and a light formula for the youngest Fergus who is a tendency to weight gain. Here's more about hair ball at About Cats ..............
http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/hairballs.htm?nl=1

Cola, a beautiful black cat, is perhaps the oldest cat in Britain. She was born in 1985 when Back to the Future was topping the box office.

She will turn 28 this year. That’s is 140 in cat years.

Cola has lived with Mary Goldsmith, 66, since she was a kitten. “I don’t throw big birthday parties for her, because every day she is around is a celebration,” Mary said via Daily Mail.

“We have had children who have grown up to have their own families and Cola has lived through all that and is still around. It’s quite a milestone. The years have absolutely flown by.”

When it comes to the secret to Cola’s long life, Mary attributes it to love and spoiling. “I’ve got children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who come over to play with her and keep her busy.”

“She is still reasonably fit for her age and can still jump onto a chair – but she doesn’t have quite the same spring in her step,” Mary added. ”She has lived to such a grand age. Perhaps she really does have nine lives? She is a lucky black cat, that’s for sure.”


Read more at http://lovemeow.com/2013/09/cola-28-maybe-the-oldest-cat-in-britain/#sRie6L6ohFTV3y9Y.99 

Meet Jarvis P. Weasley, a rescue kitty with a lazy eye and a ton of cute. He was rescued from an Oakland shelter where he had come in with his siblings. Amber of Saving Grace Rescue Inc rescued him from being put down. With a second chance at life, Jarvis found himself in a home where he met his foster mom Daria.

“I used to oversee the kitten fostering program at Oakland Animal Services (OAS) a few years back. When I would go to the shelter, I would always look in on Jarvis because he was soooo adorable and scruffy. I was fostering kittens at my house but I couldn’t take him home as he had a bad URI… Some days he would vertically leap around the kennel which I always assumed were jumps for joy, but more likely he saw ghosts,” said Daria.

He was 4 weeks old at the time, still rough around the edges. He had trouble with depth perception when he was little but over time he got better and now he can see just fine.

“Once the kittens were out of my house, I brought him home to ‘foster’. He never left! He is here, has a home, drives me crazy, and is loved immensely,” Daria added.

Jarvis may have a lazy eye, but he is happy and absolutely loves life. He was rescued by Saving Grace Rescue Inc (Facebook) from death row and brought to a home to foster.
Read more at http://lovemeow.com/2013/09/jarvis-the-rescue-cat-with-a-lazy-eye/#Q6LzkHryPwDgAcwr.99 

We've never received a sufficient explanation of why cats love to join us on the toilet. And then we realized something: It might not be just one thing. Your trip to Kohler might indulge all the senses of the cat -- cat hearing, taste, sight, touch, smell -- so the cat makes it his business to be a part of those trips. 

We thought we might interpret how each of a cat's senses is impacted when you visit the bathroom. If we don't, who will?

Make no mistake: This is not a serious article.  http://www.catster.com/molz/why-your-cat-is-obsessed-with-you-on-the-toilet-humor?utm_source=Sters+Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f928a5bb50-08202013_Catster_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6475ac9af2-f928a5bb50-307036397

An Afghan kitten strayed into the life of a soldier. When they locked eyes on each other, he knew he had to help bring her home to America.

“Somewhere in the middle of in all this little Kitty came up to me one day. She was not like the other strays. It was as though she was trying to say something. Not giving it much thought I reached down and picked her up. I took her to my room and feed her some of the cat food I’d ask for months ago. We visited for at least 2 hours,” the soldier wrote.

He then sought help from Nowzad, a charity that helps rescue animals in the Afghanistan area.

“On Ms Kitty’s last visit, I entertained her for over 3 hours. She convinced me she was ready to go and off she went. When she showed up the next mourning I knew it was meant to be. Everyone in my platoon knows of Ms Kitty… She gave companionship no human could understand and now I want to take her home to America.” (Full rescue story here)

Just a few days ago, Miss Kitty was reunited with her soldier in Texas thanks to the generous donations from the public.


Read more at http://lovemeow.com/2013/08/afghan-kitten-is-reunited-with-soldier-in-texas/#IRfL0xTicxl5EVKW.99 

Well this is certainly one kitty's unique way of getting attention. Mine just stand at the door and wail until I open the door. I wonder how the cat learned this behaviour?

http://lovemeow.com/2013/02/cat-knocks-the-door-with-speed-kicking/