Thankful Thursday - I'm On The Move!

Please excuse any hiccups you may experience... I'm in the process of moving my blog from Blogger to Self-Hosted WordPress! You guys won't be playing, "Can I leave Cokie a comment this week?" anymore, and I'll have more control over my blog and what I can do with it (unlike my bladder or my tail, but that's another story most of you already know).  =^..^= 

If you don't care about this stuff, just scroll down and link up to the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

If you've been considering making the move to WordPress, I highly suggest you do what I did - Pay Tanya at Blogelina to do it! I believe my friend Michele @PepiSmartDog would concur. Michele's been making the move on her own and is tearing her fur out.

Click HERE for info on how to make the Blogger to Self-Hosted WordPress Move and leave the driving to Tanya!

She charges less than any other company I've found, and she adds so much value, it's just crazy to have anyone else do it, or even to do it yourself. For $99, she'll move you from Blogger to WordPress AND give you a year's free Deluxe GoDaddy web hosting ($91 retail!) AND throw in a bunch of extras, too.

Disclosure! She also has an affiliate program, so if you go to Blogelina.com without using my links, you'll pay the same (low) fees as you would if you use my links. If you use my links, I get a percentage. Either way, I endorse her highly, as everyone who took her online class with me last year can attest. 

SO... I'm thankful to have Blogelina as my blog mover, cuz I don't feel like it!

What are you thankful for this week? 

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop - I'm Better!

I've got a lot to be Thankful for today...

First, for all the wonderful people and pets who've been tweeting, Facebooking, posting and emailing, wishing me well - It worked! You guys really pull out the stops when good vibes and encouragement are needed, and Mom and I really appreciate it. 

Did you see this awesome graphic that Ann at Zoolatry made for me!? What a sweetheart she is. I'm going to crop off the bottom part so I can be The ManCat That Ate Hollywood!!

And thank you Dr. White and McKenzie for the subQ kit and for trusting that Mom and I would work it out at home. It looks like that one round of fluids got me over the hump, and yesterday I started drinking from the bathtub faucet again! I'm plumped up (a little) and not dehydrated anymore, and I'm feeling fine.  : )  How many lives do I have left? Has anyone been keeping count??

I'm also happy that it's Mom's big brother's birthday today - and that he's still around, though he's had a long hard painful miserable fight with Hep C. His spirits are good and he actually looked and felt much better today than he has in a long time, which is really something for someone with such an uncooperative liver. Hmm. Make that - which is really something for someone with a liver having to fight as hard as his has.

This is Uncle Mike and Grandma (Mom's mom) at Grandma's apartment in the Valley today.  She looks great for 83, doesn't she?? (Or for a lot younger, for that matter.)

My human uncle and grandma

So we're all hangin' in here (knock on wood), and want to hear what you're thankful for this week!

I understand some people have problems leaving comments on my posts. If that's you, (until I switch over to WordPress) try logging back in to www.cokiethecat.blogspot.com, instead of www.cokiethecat.com. Sometimes that does the trick.

And remember, you can join the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop all week, if you're not ready to post on Thursday.

Love you guys!

Cokie

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

Again, I find myself feeling so very grateful to have such a wonderful vet. She loves me and understands me, even though I won't let her within 30 feet of me. She sent me this on Facebook yesterday (yeah, me & my vet are FB friends), and said it made her think of me.  =^..^=

She's also super awesome, cause she's going to show Mom how to give me SubQ fluids (that's subcutaneous for you laycats), so she can give me fluids at home. I'm really dehydrated from my hyperactive thyroid, and I need a good water fix. Mom insists she can do it, though most vets, groomers and home vets I've come to know in the last few years are betting against our success. I've got $50 bucks that says we''ll get a whole pack of fluid into me in one sitting - combined with some pretty loving ear scrunches, neck rubs, and a couple different versions of the Cokie the Cat song (sung to the tune of Felix the Cat, Winnie the Poo and Under my Paw (Rollilng Stones). I like it when Mom or Dad sing to me.

So that's on the schedule for tomorrow. The old 'teach an old broad how to IV a cat.' I figure, worse case scenario, Eldad from Hope for Paws probably knows how to do it and could come over and give Mom a one-on-one tutorial. I think I'd be OK with him. He did a pretty good job of cleaning up my stunt double at BlogPaws in SLC.

Here's a video showing how to give a cat subQ fluids. (A very calm, nice, easy going cat. I think he might be lacking a few IQ points personally, but that' just a guess.)  : P  Check it out:

Looks easy, right! Ha!

I'm very thankful for Dr White, but seven more so right now that her Mom, Ulla, pulled through and is recuperating after getting a bullet in the chest on the 4th of July - someone shot a bullet in the air and guess what? They freaking come DOWN people!! They had to crack her chest open and it nearly got her heart, but it didn't and she's a trooper and is healing back at home now, finally.

Dr. White's Mom, Ulla, on the mend. Isn't she beautiful?

On top of all that, Ulla's sweet 16 year old dog, Jack, crossed the RB just after she got home from the hospital - and this poor wonderful woman who raised such a fantastic daughter to care for pets like us (and another good one, too) can't even cry for her dog because it hurts her chest too much.

Let's all take a moment to consider how lucky we are that some freak thing hasn't pulled us out of the game unexpectedly - considering all the times that could have happened in our lives,  Give a high paw to my vet, Dr. White, and light a candle for a quick recovery for her Mom, and for her darling Jack, who's already been escorted over the Rainbow Bridge by Ambassador PepiSmartdog, but wish him well  anyway, until his family is reunited.

PepiSmartDog & Jack Heading for the Rainbow Bridge

If you feel so inclined, please light a virtual candle for Ulla and Jack here:  
Light A Candle.


What are you grateful for today?

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

Amy Palmer (@bosoxamy) asked BlogPaws for Mike Arms' keynote talk from the 2010 BlogPaws pet bloggers social media conference in Denver. Tom posted it last night on the BlogPaws Community website. I just have to post it here for those of you who may not see it there (or on the BlogPaws Facebook page)... 


If you aren't familiar with Mike Arms, he's the CEO/President of Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California. This video is 40 minutes long and worth every second. If you don't have 40 minutes, watch it for two minutes, so you see why I'm thankful there are people like Mike Arms in the world to look out for orphaned pets - like I was 17 years ago. 

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

I'm thankful for the ridiculously simple things that make us happy every day!

Tell me those didn't make you smile.  : ) 


Maybe next week I'll get mom to show me running up and down my stairs.
Probably not as fun to watch, but super awesome for an old cat like me...

Blog about what you're thankful for this week, 

and join the blog hop below!

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

How did Thursday come so fast!? This keeps happening...
I'm grateful this week for baths! 

Don't get me wrong. I HATE BATHS.

I never used to have to take them until my nerve damage made my bathroom habits hit and miss - literally.Since I've been wearing pants, I need a bath about once a week.

Mom doesn't even have a photo of me in taking a bath because it's always such a dramatic production, so I'm borrowing some pics of other cats to illustrate this post. (Only the top and bottom pics are of me.) 

Yes, I hate baths.But this funny thing happens once they're FINALLY over.

This isn't me, but it does look EXACTLY like me!

I feel wonderful.Clean.Fresh.Fluffy.I smell good.I feel good. Life is good. 

Tomorrow is bath day and I'm glad my mom and dad care enough about me to  go to all the trouble of giving me one.  =^..^=

Join the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop! What are you grateful for this week? You have all week to join the hop. If you do, please also stop by the other blogs, leave comments, make friends...  : ) 

Thankful Thursday - 3 (Now 2!) Weeks to BlogPaws!

Revised for SITS Girls! June 9, 2012: Only 12 days to BlogPaws!!!

And what do Women Bloggers/Mommy Bloggers & Pet Bloggers have in common? Wanting to learn more about social media, improve their skills, network with pros, monetize their blogs... and - a lot of them have pets, too! And they're all welcome to join us at the BlogPaws Social Media Conference and the BlogPaws online community!

Happy Thursday! I'm so excited and happy that we're getting so close to BlogPaws!

I just heard from a friend that some folks think it's only for dogs!!? 
I'm sorry, but cats *have* paws, no? And many of us blog - or have people who blog about us... My mom helps me with my blog, and she works for BlogPaws, so we're going to try to explain it a little more for folks who haven't heard of it before, or just aren't clear what it's all about...

Bloggin', bloggin' bloggin'... 

The BlogPaws Pet Blogging and Social Media Conference is for cats, dogs, birds, bunnies, ferrets, capybaras, humans (even veterinarians!) and any reasonable facsimiles thereof, including flat pets and, in my case, a stuffed plush stand-in for me, 'cause I hate traveling.

Moshe the Sphynx at BlogPaws
Photo via Curlz & Swirlz

Curlz and Swirls attending a Blogpaws session

Snotface the ferret & Dexter at BlogPaws

Plush Cokie & the Flat Pets
Good name for a band

I travel vicariously through Plush Cokie. I live it up a lot here in Hollywood without him, too, fear not...

Pret-ty Co-zy...

You don't HAVE to bring a pet - or be a pet - for BlogPaws, but you can if you want to, is the thing. You don't HAVE TO be a pet blogger, either. I would say being an animal lover is a prerequisite, though.  ; ) 
BlogPaws is a conference that is educational, inspirational and super fun for anyone who wants to learn more about blogging, monetizing blogs, building your audience, book publishing, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, WordPress, copyrights, video production, and lots of other stuff. There are 31 sessions over three days that you can mix and match any way you like. There's even a track for vets. 
BlogPaws is at the Salt Lake City Sheraton June 21-23, 2012 - which I'm excited to say is only three weeks away! Pets are permitted all over the hotel - in your rooms, session rooms, at dinners and entertainment events, and in the Exhibition Hall, where more than 50 pet related brands will be networking with bloggers - and 'microbloggers': Folks who post on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.

Sheraton Salt Lake City - Let's Go!!

There'll be celebrities - Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog and Norman the Scooter Dog from Animal Planet's "Who Let The Dogs Out," Jackson Galaxy from Animal Planet's "My Cat From Hell" (talking to us via skype in the moderncat Catification Lounge, live from his book tour), and YouTube sensations Jasmine the Pup and Paige the Border Collie. 

Tillman and Norman from Animal Planet's 
"Who Let The Dogs Out"

BlogPaws has the most inspirational keynote speakers, who'll get you amped up for taking your social media skills to the next level - and for helping animals. BlogPaws and their wonderful sponsors also make donations to great animal charities at every conference and a Be The Change session devoted to what we can do individually to make a difference in pets' lives. 

Indie folk pop singer songwriter/catlady Sarah Donner will perform Friday night, and on Saturday evening, they'll host the first annual red carpet BlogPaws Social Media "Nose-to-Nose" Awards Ceremony, MC'd by television personality/humanitarian Wendy Diamond from AnimalFair.com, which will be live-streamed around the world, in conjunction with a simultaneously Twitter #BlogPawty - so everyone everywhere can be in on that event!

If you haven't registered yet, you still can HERE. If you have any questions, you can tweet @blogpaws, leave a post on Facebook at www.facebook.com/blogpaws or shoot an email to BlogPawsTeam@blogpaws.com. 
I hope that clears things up! And that Mom will see you at BlogPaws, 'cause that would make me REALLY happy!
Now, what are you Thankful for/happy about today??

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop is Baaack!

Yes, friends, it's once again time to articulate your gratitude. Thankful Thursday has returned, and I'll try my best to keep up this blog hop every week, giving us all a nudge to appreciate our blessings. 

This week, I want to thank Boris Kitty for his awesome Sci-Fi Pawty last March (yes, this is way overdue). He threw the most awesome bash, raised lots of money for 1 by 1 Cat Rescue in PA, and gave away killer pawty prizes, the most cool of all being the PLUSH ALIEN FACE HUGGER that I WON!

@BorisKitty modeling the prize

Me and my Alien Face Hugger
Look how nicely we match

I decided though, that I had so much already to be thankful for that I should give my beloved Alien Face Hugger to Mom's nephew, so AFH is now hugging his face in Austin, Texas, and you may meet them BOTH at BlogPaws!  ; ) 

Mom's nephew models Alien Face Hugger
Isn't he a handsome little guy?

Your turn! What are you thankful for today? Post on your blog and come back later today to link up below. (I let my LinkyTools subscription lapse and have to wait for Brent to reinstate me later today!) Post a link to your FB page and on Twitter, too.


Put the Thankful Thursday badge on your blog (there's a widget code in the right sidebar) so folks know what's up, and then add the blog hop code, which will also be below laer today, to add the other blog hoppers to your page. 

Cheers!

Cokie

¡¡Gracias el Jueves!! (Thankful Thursday)

Los Gatos Folkloricos

Jazzy and I are rehearshing our Cinco de Mayo dance moves for Kittehboi's #chilipawty this weekend on Twitter. 

Hope you have something fun planned for this holiday, which at least here in Hollywood, is a day to celebrate big hats, margaritas, guacamole, nachos, mariachis and chihuahuas! Olé!!


It's also Thankful Thursday, and I'm very happy that our very nice neighbor with Special Needs Kittehs of her own, has asked Mom to watch her cats this weekend. It's always nice to be of help, but Claudia's also offered to watch me if Mom and Dad ever want to actually go "away" for more than a day - TOGETHER. Like in, AT THE SAME TIME.


Once Mom's taken care of her (hopefully) ornery messy kittehs, she won't feel so guilty about asking Claudia to watch me for a day - OR TWO!?? (We'll have to try that for one visit first, and see how that goes.)


So we're babysitting! This should be fun! I think...
What are you thankful for this week??


Cokes

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is baaack!

And I'm very thankful today that my crazy ear bump seems to be non-life-threatening, after all! I still have a bump on my ear, but we're pretty sure it was caused by a particularly rough ear scratching with my back foot and a sharp toenail. Mom is keeping my nails trimmed now - she'd sort of let them go to seed there for a long while. MOM...

Ear bump looking much less ominous

I think I just nicked it and it got infected, then I scratched it again, then again, and kept making it bleed and irritating it and aggravating it. I can't help it that it's the perfect distance and angle from my back foot!? Now it's all healed over and it's just... a bump. I can live with that.


Anyway... It's all good and it looks like me and my manpants will be around to keep you entertained for some time to come. ; )  Thanks again for the PawCircle and all the prayers and good wishes! I love you guys. 


What are you thankful for this week??


I'm not going to make this a blog-hop, since I'm posting so late, so just leave a comment with what you're thankful for this week. If you want to, you can write your own gratuity post and leave us the link!


 Cheers!
  Cokie
=^..^=

Thankful Thursday Giveaway! 100 lbs of Natural Balance Pet Food!

Thankful Thursday is changing it's format for a while, but for a wonderful reason! My buddy Tillman is filming a new TV show for Animal Planet, called "Who Let The Dogs Out!" In my last post, I mentioned that he's going around America, looking for America's Most Talented Dog, which is awesome enough...

His sponsor, Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods, is going to be doing more giveaways on my blog! Every week until April 19th, we'll have a new winner who'll receive 100 POUNDS of Natural Balance pet food!! That's a winner a week for 13 weeks!

Complete terms and conditions here.
Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post was sponsored by Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc.