I'm joining Blog the Change in this post by making it official - I'm making the extreme sacrifice of letting Mom go to BlogPaws this year. That's 2676 miles away from me, and a minimum of four days home alone with Dad. I hope he doesn't forget to feed me. Give me my medicine.  : ( 

She'll be here while I'm home. Practically alone.   : /

I'm kidding. He won't forget. He loves me. 

 I'm making her hotel reservations right now.

She'll learn how to better promote The Anipal Times, her Boho Pets site, Hope for Paws and lots of other good pet-helping stuff. 

There. It's in writing.

Mom, sign here:

  

OK, then!

She'll see you there!

Cokes

=^..^=

Anipal Photo Hunt #16: My 2nd Job

Well, this Anipal Photo Hunt's an easy one for me... Aside from taking care of Mom and Him, which takes a LOT of time and effort, not to mention PATIENCE, I've also been the Editor-in-Chief of The Anipal Times since its inception in April of 2010 - a job I'm very proud of.

In case you don't know, The Anipal Times is an online newspaper by and for anipals and their humans. We have a staff of over forty volunteers - managers, writers, editors, cartoonists, advice columnists - from all around the world, whose goal is to publish a quality online newspaper for the animal community, or as we prefer to be called, anipals.

We publish new content every day: Real animal related news, online Twitter, Facebook, and blogging anipal news, announcements, book and movie reviews, interviews, health stories by our two resident veterinarians, Dr. V. (@pawcurious) and Dr. Peter Wedderburn (@petethevet), and really, you just have to go to www.anipaltimes.com and check it out to see what all we have. There's a lot!

We raise money for animal charities with our advertising revenue. All ad fees go to designated animal charities via the FirstGiving.org widget on the front page of The Anipal Times. No money touches our paws. We all work very hard and we do it all for the animals and for the anipal community.

We also have a monthly free drawing for our readers, in which companies donate animal related prizes valued at $50 or more, with winners chosen by www.random.org. All have been really great prizes!

As much as we love our jobs, it's all the more worthwhile when we can raise a good sum of money for our charities. This month's charity is www.hopeforpaws.org, and our donations have helped pay for surgery to help this sweet little blind dog see again:

Check out the before and after youtube videos!

Fiona before: http://youtu.be/4ZDY3F89z50 

Fiona after: http://youtu.be/iDK1_7fXsk0

Fiona Before - Blind

Fiona After - Sighted

If you'd like to support what we do, spread the word about us, tell the merchants you frequent about advertising in the AT, retweet and forward our articles, drop a dollar in our FirstGiving.org tip jar, comment on our articles, or write a letter to the Editor (me!)

If you want to advertise, via inexpensive donations to animal charities, to our animal loving demographic, please contact me at cokiethecat at anipaltimes.com. You can also place very inexpensive classified ads with announcements, items for sale or trade, etc.

I'm very happy to be part of such a wonderful pack, and I hope you enjoy reading the AT as much as we enjoy bringing it to you!

Yours truly,

Cokie the Cat
Editor-in-Chief
The Anipal Times

Versatile Blogger Award!

My Puerto Rican twin bro, Pirulo Furry,

gave me this killer Versatile Blogger Award!

Pirulo Furry

Thanks, Pirulo. I really appreciate your friendship and that you enjoy my blog. It took me three weeks to get around to fulfilling the duties of one on whom this honor has been bestowed, but here we go! First I need to tell the world seven things about me, then I need to give the award to three great blogs. Here goes!

Seven Things About Me, by Cokie the Cat

1. I sleep naked in (or on) my castle in the bathroom.

A man-cat's bed is his castle.

During the day I wear pants, as I am continence-challenged, the long-term result of a fall from a palm tree.

I spent 3 days in that palm tree on the right.

2. At least one night a week, Dad picks me up and 'flies' me around the house stretched out like Superman while he hums the tune of Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries." I don't know why.

I feel a ride coming...

3. Like Pirulo, I love prawns, but I call them shrimp. I also love tilapia fish and tiny bits of chicken and beef.  

Mmm. Shrimp.

4. I'm an indoor cat, but Mom and Dad let me go out on the balcony, or walk down the stairwell to the courtyard as long as they're with me. I like to just go out for a few minutes and then come back in. I love to sit in front of the screen door to the balcony and sniff the air and feel the breeze on my whiskers with my eyes closed. They love it when I do that, too.

5. I weigh 12 pounds. I used to weigh 14 pounds when I was younger, but now I'm 16 and I guess you shrink some when you get older. I'm still pretty strong and fit though.

6. I talk a lot. Lots and lots. Srlsy. I have something to say about just about everything. You can hear my voice on my Voki - the cartoon pic of me on the widget in the right margin of this page.

7. I'm the Editor-in-Chief of The Anipal Times, which is an online daily newspaper for anipals and the humans who love them. About 40 other wonderful anipals volunteer with me as writers, editors and management staff, and all of our ad revenue goes to animal charities.

Our current charity is a local Los Angeles husband & wife animal rescue organization called Hope for Paws. Watch this video to see what they do:


Now, it's my turn to give three blogs The Versatile Blogger award. Hmmm. How to choose? How to choose? Ack. Alright well, here we go:

1. E.K. Editor Kitty, in Oregon, U.S. www.editorkitty.com
2. Dog Gone It Byron's Blog, in Ontario, Canada http://doggoneit-byronsblog.blogspot.com/
3. Freya and Teego at A Cat Called Freya http://www.freyacat.co.uk
And, heck. When I was at Freya's blog, I discovered this other super cool blog that I have to add too now!
4. Banana and Cheese http://bananaandcheese.com/

Ok. Now you four blogs are "IT"! Nab the award from the top of this post for yourselves, and then you are herewith entitled "Versatile Bloggers" henceforth! It is your obligation to tell your readers, including the new readers who will find you through my blog, hopefully, seven things about yourselves. After that, do as I have done, and pass on the award to three new worthy recipients!

Congratulations and good luck!

=^..^=
Cokie