Help the Animals of Japan's Earthquake!

In the middle of saving human lives during a disaster it can be easy to forget about helping animals. Luckily for the animals there are special organizations dedicated to aiding furry victims of catastrophes. These volunteers step-up during times of crisis and make sure that beloved pets are rescued from danger, sheltered, healed, feed, and hopefully reunited with their humans. Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS) is one of those groups.

JEARS is actually three Japanese animal groups (HEART-Tokushima, Animal Friends Niigata, and Japan Cat Network) that have combined efforts and resources for the animals that have been effected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. JEARS mission is to "keep animal rescue on the agenda, provide shelter space, coordinate some Earthquake/Tsunami animal rescues, and to share animal rescue related news to the public." Each component of JEARS is "no-kill" and have stated that the collaboration will be the same.

News and information about JEARS can be found on their Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Facebook page . Donations to JEARS can be made at Chipin: Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support using Paypal.

DONATE...
Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support
World Vets
Animal Refuge Kansai

Update: Horray!!! Charlie Kitty Finds a Home!

Charlie, the kitty who was having difficulty finding a forever home, due to his marring facial surgery to remove skin cancer growths, has reportedly found a new home!!! The "Daily Echo" reports that a lady from Worthing was able to reserve him after a flood of calls came into The Blue Cross' center.

Everyone at Whiskerkisses is quite excited of the possibility of dear Charlie having a forever home. We hope that everything works out for Charlie and his new owner. He certainly deserves to live the rest of his life in peace, happiness, and with lots of love.

To read the full story in the "Daily Echo", click here:  http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8850552.New_home_for_Voldemog/

A Sweet Kitty Needs Help Finding a Forever Home!



Charlie is staying at The Blue Cross Adoption Center in Southampton, Hants (UK) and is up for adoption!



Charlie had is ears and nose removed due to skin cancer.



I came across an article today about a kitty who has had some unfortunate events happen to him. Charlie, a beautiful, white DSH went through treatments for skin cancer. To rid him of the cancerous skin cells the tip of his nose and his ear tips were removed. As a result, his appearance has been altered. Although he looks different from other kitties he is still very much a capable cat (aside from the occasional bout of sneezing)!

Charlie is up for adoption, but has been overlooked by those who see a resemblance to Ralph Fiennes' character, Voldermort in the "Harry Potter" Films.

Personally, I found this story to be heartbreaking and I really want to do something to help this wonderful boy.

Charlie currently resides at The Blue Cross' Southampton Adoption Center in Southampton, Hants (south-east of London), and needs to be adopted as the only pet in the household.

Since I live in the US (and already have a kitty) I can not adopt sweet Charlie :( I just want someone special to give this little guy a forever home. Perhaps a hospital or senior care home can open their hearts to Charlie.

To read the full story click here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1355548/Homeless-cat-new-family-looks-like-Harry-Potter-villain.html

To view Charlie's adoption page with The Blue Cross click here: http://www.bluecross.org.uk/2574-83377/Charlie.html

Please pass Charlie's story along to someone who may be able to help him :)

Thanks for reading!

Hugs, & purrs,
-Rebecca & Twiggy (the kitty)

News from the Muse: Twiggy's Twittering!

I like to type on the puter!

Hello, Friends! I wanted to update you on my latest mews. Mom set-up a Twitter account for me! I was so excited when she told me this. I sharpened my claws and got in my best hunting stance. Then she fired up the computer and logged me on to Twitter. I was ready to get those twitters! I looked and looked, but no twitters came out of the computer. So I looked at the printer. Again, no twitters! I opened the disk drive....no twitters! Perhaps it's a mail order thing, but there was no shopping cart button! I was puzzled, stumped, confused. Where do I get the twitters? So I meowed in frustration to mom for help. She explained how it worked. She told me that I could type any bits of news, thoughts, ideas etc., and it would be posted for followers to see. "Oh." I said. "So I guess twitters are NOT birds."

After I got over my initial disappointment of not being able to chase and capture birds that magically fly out of the computer, I found out how fun tweeting can be! I like being able to say "hi" to my friends and also find-out what they are doing. It's pretty neat! I hope to see you there soon too!

Hugs, purrs, and whiskerkisses,
-Twiggy (the kitty)

Featured Pet

Today, our featured pet is actually two pets. Meet Mr. Jolly and Chester, from New South Wales, Australia. Their mom, Megan shared these lovely photos of the boys sporting their new Whiskerkisses collars.

Mr. Jolly is the beautiful orange and white tabby with lovely leaf green eyes wearing the "Got Treats?" Pet Bandanna. 100% of the proceeds from the bandanna go to help the animals of the Animal Welfare Society of Southeastern Michigan (AWS). Good for you, Megan and Mr. Jolly! He came to live with Megan, after suffering an accident. She had brought her dogs to the vet and was greeted by Mr. Jolly! The vet had mended his arm after he had put it through his flea collar and injured it quite severely. She fell in love with his gorgeous green eyes and brought the friendly cat home with her.

The beautiful and sleek black cat, Chester is showing off his new Social Climber collar and bow tie set. Megan says he looks very much like James Bond, and I have to agree! Chester was adopted from the RSPCA when he was 9 months old. He is friend to all, including the dogs.

Mr. Jolly looks up to Chester and tends to follow him where ever he goes and sleeps on the same bed (but not touching). It seems that Chester tolerates Mr. Jolly's hero worshiping, and like all good friends allows him to indulge.

Thank you, Megan for letting us share your sweet boys to everyone!

Giving Back

Whiskerkisses gives 10% of all item sales to various animal charities. For the months of September through October we donated a total of $83.85 to the Animal Welfare Society of Southeastern Michigan (AWS). $48.00 of that total is from our Bandanna Fundraiser. During the months of  November through December we gave $153.83 to the Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter to aid their Cat Adoption Programs.

Other recent donations include two $25.00 Whiskerkisses Gift Certificates to the Leon County Humane Society's 10th Annual Fur Ball Silent Auction, and two $25.00 Whiskerkisses Gift Certificates to the Independent Animal Rescue's (IAR) 4th Annual Have A Heart Wine Tasting and Silent Auction Event located in Durham, NC on January 31st

Thank you to our customers who purchase items from us. By supporting us you support our furry friends in need.

Featured Pet

Ahab, the handsome tux kitty is our featured pet today. He is relaxing in a sun beam, but he is stylin' in his Whiskerkisses red bow tie and button-down collar. Thank you to Ahab's mom, Allison for providing this adorable photo for us!

Batty Bat Makes it into Parenting.com

Hooray! Whiskerkisses has been featured in Parenting.com's "25 Click-to-Buy Homemade Halloween Costumes"! This online site is the companion to Parenting Magazine. We are very excited to be a part of this fun collection of Etsy sellers.

In Love With Green

Twiggy and I are 'In Love' with this treasury! Especially since her favorite color is green! This collection of beauties will be available for viewing until Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9:22am

Front Page and Gift Guide

Spun Sugar - Boa Pet Collar was featured on Etsy's front page tonight! We are delighted and excited!

Etsy Treasury: Pretty Things and Kitties

Thank you to Tara of Sadie and Leo for including Twiggy wearing our Periwinkle - Boa Pet Collar.  You can view this lovely and sweet treasury list until Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6:36pm.

News From The Muse: My First Post!

First, I would like to start out by thanking my mom for her help. It can be very tricky typing with paws, and mom proofs and corrects my clumsy typing. Just typing my name is a challenge and usually comes out looking like T^wi8gtgthyu when it should read Twiggy. So, thanks mom!

Next, I would like to fill you in on what we do around here. As a cat I have many responsibilities of my own to take care of, but I still seem to find time to contribute to our small, home-based business, Whiskerkisses.  We make hand and paw made collars for pets! When I'm not cleaning, napping, eating, resting, playing, dozing, watching birds, or sleeping, you may find me in the home office. It may appear that I am napping on the desk, but I'm actually at work! I'm in charge of quality control. Nothing gets by me without first passing inspection (unless I really am sleeping).

In addition to quality control, I have the most important job at Whiskerkisses. I model almost all of the collars. Most people think that modeling is very easy. Well, it's not! You have to put up with a lot of "look over here! Now here. Sit up! Turn around. Look pretty!"  It can be mentally and physically draining! I'm usually ready to leave after a whole five minutes, but mom usually keeps me an additional five. The pay isn't bad. On an average shoot, I can make at least six pieces of kibble! Sometimes there are extra perks too, like a new toy mouse!

My mom has the easy jobs. Anything that requires opposable thumbs falls to her. That would include sewing, beading, gluing, ironing, packaging, mailing, and driving a car (I can't reach the pedals). She does all of the manual labor jobs, and I'm upper management. I'm not saying I'm better than her. I'm just saying that I have the more difficult and stressful jobs, and therefore I'm more important.

Hopefully you have a clearer picture of what we do at Whiskerkisses. I look forward to bringing you more news and bits soon.

Thanks for taking a brief paws to read "News from the Muse."

-Twiggy