funny, health benefits, life lessons, love, Uncategorized

Are you searching for a Fortune? Search no further because…

Calico Cats are HERE to bring YOU good fortune.

A LONG Long time ago, Japanese sailors would bring Calico Cats aboard their ships because they believed the cats would keep the ship safe from harm (Wow furtastically amazing – ME-OW).

And in Japan, the calico cat is actually considered to be a symbol of fortune, where their signature lucky cat is a statue called Maneki Neko.

Maneki neko

Maneki is the Japanese word for “beckoning” and Neko is the Japanese word for “cat”. You will find these cat statues in many households and businesses throughout Japan. If the Maneki Neko is beckoning with its left paw up it is believed it will attract customers (great for businesses) and if the right paw is up, it is believed to attract success and money. And, the higher the right paw is raised, the luckier you are going to get!

You can also find the Maneki Neko in different colors. The most common and most sought after color is, yes, of course – CALICO, and it symbolizes EXTREME luck.

While you may not find a lot of Maneki Neko statues in Costa Rica (or in your home country), you will find some beautiful and actually quite rare real life Calico Cats, which are just as lucky as the Maneki Neko! For instance, at the El Refugio Costa Ballena animal shelter in Costa Rica, I think there are almost 40 cats right now at the shelter, but only 3 of them are Calico Cats (quite rare indeed!).

So, what is a Calico Cat? A Calico Cat is not a specific breed but a cat with the colors (typically) of mostly white body with orange and black spots. And, did you know there are 3 variations of the calico cat coloring? There is the standard calico with the mostly white body and patches of orange and black, like unique Mágica at El Refugio Costa Ballena Animal Shelter,

Mágica

and then there is the dilute calico with mostly white body with patches of gray, cream, and light orange like sweet Papaya also at El Refugio.

Papaya

And, finally there is also the calibby (Yes, part Tabby, part Calico – my favorite!) which is a cat with the same color variations as a calico cat but with the added signature Tabby stripes and the signature “M” like El Refugio’s Sun (and I heard Sun was just adopted, someone just got really lucky!!).

Sun with the “M” on her forehead and the signature stripes!

Now, if you don’t remember what “M” stands for you must read my previous blog “Why M stands for Tabby“. It is quite fascinating, as are all us Tabbies!

Another interesting cat fact about Calico Cats, is they are almost always female (99.99% of the time!). Some believe that the very rare male calico cats bring a lot of luck, but unfortunately not so much for the cat because often the male calico cats are born sterile (Yow!) with unfortunate health issues.

And one more very interesting fact about Calico Cats, is they have BIG personalities. But, really now, what cat doesn’t??

Okay, so if you are looking for more luck or fortune in your life, or more success in your business, your search is over. Because all you need to do is adopt a Calico Cat. A Calico Cat will bring you lots of LUCK, and definitely lots of LOVE, and as always lots of PURRSONALITY!

Cheers,

Norman

Look on the bright side…Monday only happens once a week.

– Garfield the Cat

Don’t forget to spay & neuter your cats & dogs.  There can be too much of a good thing!  There’s only so much catnip to go around. 

Cats and wildlife live longer when cats stay indoors. 

FELINE FAVORITE OF THE DAY

GODY at El Refugio Costa Ballena

Gody

Hi, my name is Gody. I am a young male cat. I was found in the ditch – can you believe it! Now, I wear a Tuxedo day and night – rags to riches for sure! I am a little shy but do love humans and get along well with other felines. I am waiting for you with my dancing shoes on. Come meet me at El Refugio Costa Ballena. Hugs Gody

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love, success story, Uncategorized, volunteers

Shelter Volunteers are angels in disguise

In today’s blog, I am interviewing a beautiful shelter volunteer named Jennifer. So go find your favorite corner (Norman’s Corner!), curl up with your favorite furry purring friend, and get ready to be a little educated and a lot entertained or was that a little entertained and a lot educated. Well, anyways, enjoy!

Jennifer with her dog Grizzly. She adopted him from El Refugio.

Norman: Hi Jennifer, thanks for agreeing to sit with me. Before we get started, can you please scratch behind my right ear for just a moment, one moment longer, purr

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Jennifer: Norman, Norman, are you asleep?

Norman: Sorry, just needed a little catnap. Okay, first question, who is your favorite cat here at the shelter – hint, hint, starts and ends with an “N”.

Jennifer: Ah, Norman?

Norman: Me? Oh, aren’t you sweet! Who is your second favorite cat – and why? Sorry, it can’t be me again.

Jennifer: Majica is my favorite cat right now. Her back legs are paralyzed but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying life. She scoots around pretty fast for food, to play with toys and other cats and to get love from volunteers.

Mágica

Norman: I was told I have to ask this next question… Who is your favorite Dog at the Shelter now and why?

Jennifer: My favorite dog currently is Lily a lively beagle. She arrived at the shelter with some medical conditions and her puppy that was just recently adopted. She loves to play with her doggie friends, but especially loves humans and receiving their love.

Lilly

Norman: How long have you been volunteering at the El Refugio Shelter?

Jennifer: I have volunteered at El Refugio since around January 17th of this year.

Norman: What time do you start and end your shift?

Jennifer: I start my shift at 8am and finish at 11am.

Norman: What do you do on your shift at El Refugio?

Jennifer:  Responsibilities at the shelter are shared each shift with one or more other volunteers. We feed all the animals, give meds if needed, clean/disinfect all areas where the animals live, walk the dogs, wash all dirty bedding and food bowls and then give lots of love to the animals.

Norman: What do you like the most about volunteering? How about the second most?

Jennifer: I love all animals so helping them in any way I can fills my heart with joy. My second favorite thing is meeting and becoming good friends with so many of the volunteers.

Norman: Who really gets on your cat nerves? Yeah, I probably shouldn’t ask that (tell me later). Let’s see, next question, don’t those dogs outside just drive you crazy? (okay, maybe I shouldn’t ask that either). Oh, here’s a good question, If you could be any type of cat, what would you be?

Jennifer: I think I would like to be a Siamese cat. I had one named Tinker when I was a little girl. She had the neatest personality and was very smart.

Norman: Last question, what does El Refugio need the most? Volunteers, catnip, money, catnip, fosters, catnip?

Jennifer: Catnip of course, but I would say  El Refugio needs all of the above plus more adopters!

Norman: Tell me about a recent adoption success story (I know there are so many).

Jennifer: I’ll tell you in a video. Here is one of my Favorite Success Stories at El Refugio. Here is a little more information on Canela.

Norman: Thank you so much Jennifer for this interview. You have been purrfectly awesome!

Can you believe how lucky Jennifer and the other shelter volunteers are to be spending time with us cats (and dogs too). All kitten aside, the El Refugio volunteers (board members, community outreach, shelter volunteers, adoption coordinators, fosters, social media/marketing, fundraising, spay & neuter volunteers, and many others – ME-OW and WOW) are truly angels in disguise. Please consider joining this amazing team of El Refugio Volunteers.

If you are not able to donate your time, how about becoming An Angel for Animals. Just $25 per month can care for one of us shelter cats for 1 year ME-OW (food, shelter, and preventative medications for fleas, ticks, and parasites). If that is too much from your kitty bank, even just $10 a month can buy a lot of catnip (or regular ole dry kibble). Any and every amount helps an animal (and community) in need.

Until we meet again beautiful humans.

Cheers,

Norman

As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat. Ellen Perry Berkeley

Don’t forget to spay & neuter your cats & dogs.  There can be too much of a good thing!  There’s only so much catnip to go around. 

Cats and wildlife live longer when cats stay indoors. 

FELNE FAVORITE OF THE DAY

Mágica at El Refugio Costa Ballena, Costa Rica

MAGIC HEARTS ARE MAGICALLY PURRFECT FOR YOU!

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