Weekend Cat Blogging, Festival of Chaos, and more: Toys and Boxes

The theme for this weekend's Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is “toys or boxes.” And we at CatSynth have both toys and boxes. Luna received a package this week from a friend of ours, conveniently arriving for both her “burfday” last weekend, and Channukah this week. What's inside the box? Well, we have birthday cards:

and of course some fascinating new toys:

You want more boxes? We got more boxes!

Yes we have been packing up things here at “soon to be former CatSynth HQ”, even though we're not entirely sure where it is we are moving to.

Thanks to everyone who wished Luna a happy birthday last weekend. We will pay individual visits to everyone as soon as we can.


The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is being hosted this weekend by Samantha and Tigger at Life from a Cat's Perspective. Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by our friends Upsie and sher at What Did You Eat. Upsie is still working through her diabetes, and we wish her well.

Carnival of the Cats is being hosted by our friends Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats. And of course Friday Ark #168 is at the modulator.

Carnival of the Cats #189

Well, it's Sunday, and time for the 189th Carnival of the Cats. Luna is in one of her many favorite spots and ready to preside over the festivities. And so we shall begin…

First of we have a funny cat and dog video from Musings at Windyridge. What a patient dog…

Aloysius' friend Goldy enjoys some bird watching in Ohio at Catymology. “Oh, for a fine, fat pheasant of my own!”

We have come to expect great photography from our friends at The Poor Mouth on “Wordless Wednesday”. And they deliver with this elegant photo of Mimi.

Many of our friends celebrated Halloween this past week. We can still catch the Cat-O-Lanters over at Watermark. In fact, the have a second one, because you can't have too many Cat-O-Lanterns.

And what would Halloween be without costumes. Fortunately, the cats over at The Scratching Post have found a minimalist approach by going out as a rabbit.

Wanna see something Scary in the South? Head over to Blog d'Elisson. They also feature black cat Neighbor for Halloween. It's been great to see so many black cats this week.

Halloween is of course followed by dia de los muertos (day of the dead), and at Texas Oasis, we have dia de los muertos para los gatos, honoring beloved cats who have passed on this year. We at CatSynth offer our respects as well. They also share an excellent New York Times article about the love of our animal companions.

Puddy enjoys a not-so-grand adventure outdoors at A Byootaful Life. He doesn't make it much past the backyard. But that's further than Luna ventured when outside in her harness…

Boo says TGIF, or “Tuxie Goodness It's Friday.” Well, even though it's no longer Friday, it will come around again soon enough.

Meanwhile, might as well enjoy something comfortable, or “cumforbuls”, just like at Friday Cat Blogging Ladybug Edition at Lab Kat.

Nosey enjoys his perch atop a wooden board. There is also a closeup, where we can all see how handsome Nosey is.

Visit Bonnie and Victor to see “a one-time only affair, never to be repeated. Bonnie tolerating Victor? Never! She just wants her chair.”

Meanwhile, we have a great new video of Middle-Aged Cat Play from This, that and the other thing. Pounce! Good times.

Over at spectacular imperfections, we have a case of identical twins. How did they do that? Emily certainly wants to know.

Nothing says peace and contentment more than a kitty curled up in a lap, and have a wonderful example at AmbivaBlog. [perhaps it's appropriate that Luna jumped up on my lap as I wrote this].

Even indoor cats want to be mighty hunters, and thus Mycah has an encounter with a squirrel at TacJammer.

More cat videos this weekend, with Tabitha and Gizmo in action at Nancy's Crazy Adventures.

Perfectly Parker has Freaky Photos for Formerly Feral Friday. OK everyone, say that ten times fast!

At Pet Monologues, “a cat makes a brief, but critical, appearance.” Inspired by another COTC participant Watermark.

Especially in these days of high energy prices, we more cuddlin' to keep warm, and Grace and the Kittens show us how. And Audace demonstrates another source of renewable energy with his non-stop play.

Andrée of meeyauw treats us to Lectionary reading from the LOLCat Bible. This ons is for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Samantha and Tigger demonstrate classic classic cat-sleeping positions over at Life from a Cat's Perspective.

And speaking of classics, check out this photo of our friend Dragonheart.

At Mind of Mog, the cats are getting “legal” for their apartment, which means a trip to the vet for Ritzi. And although everything went well and Ritzi can return home, parting can be so bittersweet.

iMeowza declares “Me Handsome”. With photos like that, we at CatSynth cannot disagree. But meanwhile iInfidel says “look who's the dirty boy”. We'll leave that one alone…

“Fundamentally rendered insane by power”. The The Rangers have been sick, at StrangeRanger. We hope the get better soon. But meanwhile, Ivy demonstrates the proper response, lots of rest.

At the The Mad Macedonian, a cat reveals a secret. Co-blogger Nikita maintains a blog-within-a-blog called Nikitas Place, complete with its own blogroll and more. Interesting concept.

Next, we have this adorable photo of Missy Blue Eyes enjoying another gizzy quilt. The blue of her eyes and quilt are remarkable.

Missy also introduces us to a saturday trio. Extreme cuteness alert!

Rocky is having a yard sale over at Artsy Catsy. Check it out, though we at CatSynth need to avoid accumulating more stuff right now. Must resist.

In Israel, four members of a local cat colony enjoy a nice breakfast. You can see four handome gray and silver cats, arranged in quite a symmetric pattern.

At The Wide Awake Cafe, we meet a handsome black cat at a bed-and-breakfast. We are also reminded that “lfe sometimes requires one to take tedious journeys but if there is a cat at the end of the road, all is purrs.”

…and what a great sentiment with which to close this carnival!

We at CatSynth enjoyed hosting, but are quite exhausted from the experience.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week.

Hosting Carnival of the Cats #189

NOTE: The round-up will be posted sometime Sunday night (US Pacific time)

We at CatSynth are excited to be hosting this weekend's Carnival of the Cats!

We welcome all feline blog submissions for the Carnival. To participate, use the handy submission form, or contact us.


And don't forget this weekend's other cat events. Weekend Cat Blogging #126 is at Chey?s Place. The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is back home at the Bad Kitty Cats. And of course Friday Ark #163 has boarded at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #125: The Halloween Edition

Luna and I welcome everyone to Weekend Cat Blogging, Halloween Edition. We are happy to be hosting this event.

This is difficult time for cats, especially black cats. In North America (U.S. and Canada), some continue to view cats as “bad luck”, such as in this article, which fuels neglect and sometimes abuse which can spike around Halloween.

Many shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Halloween (sometimes for all of October). And while this is to protect them, it is unfortunate because black cats already have a harder time getting adopted.

So we at CatSynth want to celebrate black cats this weekend. Black is beautiful!

We invite all our feline friends to participate, but we want to especially welcome black cats. Households with multiple cats are encouraged to let their black siblings enjoy the spotlight this weekend.

To participate, regardless of fur color, please leave us a comment, or contact us. We will be posting the big round-up later this weekend.

And don't forget the other Weekend Cat Events ™. Friday Ark #162 is at the modulator. The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Live from a Cat's Perspective with Samantha and Tigger. And Carnival of the Cats is going to Missy Blue Eyes' and KC's on Sunday.

Seabright cats, a warm day, and remembering those in harms way

This was an amazingly warm and clear day here on the California coast.

The early part of the day was in the Seabright neighborhood of Santa Cruz, mostly reading and working, but also enjoying wandering the streets and the area by the beach. I got a glimpse of this cat in one of the apartment complexes near the beach.

This photo is actually from a previous encounter with the “Seabright Kitty”, he/she wasn't in the mood to be photographed today…

Someone else, on the other hand, was quite photogenic:

This is Bella, who resides with my friend and colleague Synthia Payne, whom readers may remember from the UCSC DANM exhibition and Ninjam performances.

Luna of course continues to enjoy her favorite indoor activites:

I actually did take Luna outside briefly yesterday on her harness, and all she wanted to do was head back to the door and go inside. I'm not going to argue.

Like I said, it was exceptionally warm today:

Great for us here in Santa Cruz, but it part of the same warm, dry weather in which the fires in Southern California continue to burn out of control. This years fires in San Diego and the areas in and around Los Angeles might be even worse than the devastiing fires in 2003, with so many people and animals evacuating (over half a million so far) and so many more in harms way.

We at CatSynth want to take a few minutes on this Tuesday to send out thoughts to all the humans, cats, and other animals threatened by this disaster, and hope they make it through safely.

Weekend Cat Blogging #124 and more: Away

Luna is looking out her favorite window…and waiting for someone to return from tour…


Weekend Cat Blogging #124 is at the *New* Tuxedo Gang Hideout.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be held at Pet's Garden Blog, while the Carnival of the Cats will be at our friends The Bad Kitty Cats – we hope things are going a bit better for them now. And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #123 and more: An Old New Favorite Spot

After a major clean-up in the studio, the bean bag chair reemerged from hiding. And Luna immediately reclaimed it as one of her favorite spots:

In addition the great black-on-black styling, it's a comfy place to “nest”, whether just relaxing and watching me work, or taking a nap:

Indeed, Luna spent quite a bit of time on the beanbag yesterday, even well into the evening (while I was working on the headphone festival performance):

Cats can remind a lot about simple joys, like a comfy spot to nest.


Weekend Cat Bloggin #123 is being held by Upsie and Sher at What Did You Eat. Upsie is learning about the US healthcare system, and also featuring the “sight formerly known as ScamperDude” at their new home at CASPCA (Charlottesville, VA ASPCA).

The hardworking “cat boys” Kashim and Othello are hosting this weekend's Kad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos (it's already edition #14, tempus fugit). The Carnival of the Cats will be happening this Sunday, hosted by Grace and the Kittens. And of course the Friday Ark #160 is at the Modulator.