Ok, what a stupid question. Everyone knows how to stroke a cat, right? Well, have you tried stroking a cat without touching it? Cats are incredibly ' electricity' sensitive, they pick up on energy, and so if you have never tried this you'll be quite surprised. It is also very useful for calming nervous cats and those ones that don't like being touched or can't be touched if they are injured or have other problems.

What you do is this. Start stroking the air above your cat about an inch or so away, further if you like, in the direction of the fur. I usually begin with the neck and head area. Be careful to use gentle movements as if you really were touching the cat, and don't hold out your hand suddenly or you'll risk being scratched or bitten.Providing you do this gently, slowly stroking the air above the cat (or for those into this kind of thing, the cat's energy field) then you will be amazed as you cat starts to purr and relax as if you were actually touching it.

I've never seen this technique fail and it is quite impressive to do and to watch. Give it a go!

As you may know, I have been doing some search engine optimization (SEO) for a few months on the UK petbreeders site. Well, I'm delighted to say that we have gone up another page rank in the latest Google update today. That means the site has now moved  from PR 1 to PR 3 in less than nine months.

People have been waiting for ages for the next PR update and blogs and forums have been awash with questions and predictions about when the next Google PR update would be. They're usually every 3 - 4 months, but this one seemed to be a litttle overdue. There were rumours it was to be May 15th, however when I switched on today I noticed the little page rank bar looked a little fatter than usual and lo and behold - we had gone up a rank! Hooray!

I checked my other site www.spiderywriting.com (writing for the web - hence the name - in case you're interested!) and it has gone up a rank as well so I must be doing something right.

Next aim - PR 4 - so it's back to link building and blogging - but it's good to see concrete results and that SEO does actually work!

I remember years ago returning from a night out. The first thing that struck me on opening the door was the terrible smell – think tomcat and more. The dogs were going berserk and the cats were nowhere to be seen. We tracked the smell to behind the sofa where a petrified local tom cat was quivering in fear of his life. He had come in through the cat flap. After that, we experimented with different kinds of catflaps including the magnetised ones where the poor cat is weighed down by a magnet round its collar. as I’m not overkeen on collars at the best of times this was a double disadvantage. And of course the cats lost the collars…   If only the PetPorte™ microchip cat flap had been around then.  It’s such a great idea. Whoever invented it should get a medal!  It’s basically a really robust catflap with an RFID microchip implant reader and a day/night sensor. The brilliant aspect of this is that it reads your cat’s own implanted  ID microchip! Cats don’t even need to be wearing a collar. And because there is a day/night sensor in the flap itself you can keep unwanted animals out and also keep your cats in at night if you want to.     It’s incredibly easy to fit and use and it works off the mains so you don’t need to buy batteries or anything like that. They deliver to the UK very fast and delivery is free. There’s also an 18 month manufacturer’s warranty. The manufacturers are developing European and USA versions, so be patient. But it works with all  UK / European FDX-B microchips so it could be good if you live in Europe as I do to get a friend to post you one.   Anyway with amazing testimonials, such as “100% fantastic. A fabulous idea” I know you’ll love  the PetPorte™ microchip cat flap and am sure you’ll agree that it truly deserves the title of the ‘best catflap in the world’.

Well, last Sunday afternoon the pregnant cat I have been feeding started just staring at me. She stood and purred and stared and purred some more. I swear that if she could have spoken the words 'get me hot water, towels and a bed...now!' would have come out loud and clear.

I got the impression time was rather short and so I improvised a bed from a lawnmower collecting box and an old rug and set it up in the lean-to next to the garage. She followed me there and made a beeline for the bed. But she was not alone. Misha, the semi wild cat who savaged my hand last August, was determined that she would provide comfort to her fellow feline. Soon there were two cats in the lawnmower box, clinging together and purring in unison. As Misha and the 'mummy cat' are almost identical I think they are either sisters or mother and daughter, so that may explain the fact they were sharing the labour. I left food and water and went to bed.

The next morning I went to find the two cats still there, wedged together like two black and white peas in a pod. But in between them were two little kittens, one mostly white with some black marks and the other a sort of photo negative of the first - black with white markings. The mother and the step mother had had a successful night and were now purring and proud.

They are all still there, some five days later, and seem to be happily sharing at least the sleeping arrangements if not the feeding! I will watch to see if the joint kitten care continues.

So who was it said that cats and dogs can't be friends? As I am typing this, my year-old puppy Maia is playing chase with Misha the young wild cat who seems to have adopted us. The strange thing is that it is Misha the cat who is doing the chasing!

Regular readers may remember that back in August last year I found a wild cat which had been hit by a car, sitting in the middle of the road with blood coming from its mouth. I took it to the vet and on removing it from the back of the car it went berserk and attacked and bit me. I ended up in the Italian equivalent of Casualty - twice!  The vet operated on the little cat and, to cut a long story short, she is now fully recovered and esconced as a member of the family. We called her Misha. She and the dogs have formed a tremendous bond. She comes on the morning walk with them and she plays with Maia. This is usually in the garden. Misha crouches under a tree waiting for Maia to walk past and then pounces on her and chases her round the garden! It's very gratifying to see her so healthy and so well adjusted, it makes the whole vet thing worthwhile. And as for me? Well, I still can't open my hand fully - the doctor thinks Misha bit my tendon during the 'rescue'.  Apparently tendons can take a year to heal properly. Cats take less time to become tame, thank goodness.

It's inevitable if you have a 20-year-old cat that days are numbered and the time to enjoy her company is limited. Birkana was my half Siamese, named after a rune, and with me for almost half my life. She has seen me through house moves, various boyfriends, my wedding and the arrival of many other animals. Crazy about chicken and kebabs, she had a yowl like a banshee and enough character to last several lifetimes. But on Easter Monday, after she had had several convulsions, I decided enough was enough and took my old friend to the vet to be put to sleep. I stayed with her throughout and I really don't think she suffered or knew what was happening, but I held her in my arms as her small body went limp. I buried her in the garden next to Mikey the small terrier speared ,almost this time last year, by a porcupine. I like to think they are together in animal heaven, enjoying loads of chicken and the odd kebab.

Annie's story continues...

With only eight days left till Crufts, I have made an

appointment for Leoti to go to the groomer’s to

have her feet trimmed. She is also having her ‘No

Stress’essences now so she is chilled out for the

show as she does get a bit hyper!. She is also

having her nutritional oil to help promote a extra

shiny coat.

 

As for me, I’m excited and nervous at the same

time. I didn’t think I would get to Crufts in our first

year showing. There will be plenty of photos on

the forum after Crufts, as I am also going on the

Friday with forum member Kerry, so will give

another update then so watch out for the photos.

 

My suit is hung ready to go. It’s red as thought this

would show Leoti’s colour off nicely, with her being

black and white.

 

Look out for my next blog after her trip to the

groomer’s…

Hi my name is Anne and this year I am going to the most prestigious dog show in the world -  Crufts - with my Border Collie Leoti.

She is nearly 18 months old now and qualified for Crufts on the 18^th March 2006 at her first Championship show at the tender age of six and half months old. This came as a great shock as I only went to the show at the request of the breeder to be in the progeny class. To then be placed and told that we had qualified for Crufts came as a great shock. I remember phoning my mum to tell her and then burst into tears of joy trying to tell her.

Now the preparation starts as today our passes arrived.

In my next blog I’ll continue our story…

One of Uk petbreeders forum moderators -  Anne Mathie - is writing a diary in this blog about her experiences as a participant in this years Crufts Dog show. She'll be updating it regularly so keep reading!

One of the great reasons for owning a dog is that it gets you out in the fresh air every day, come rain or shine.

I’m a great believer in the therapeutic value of walking and I take my two dogs Zsa Zsa and Maia out early in the morning (well, OK sometimes not that early) for about 40 minutes to an hour. We go across a field behind the house, up a rocky path past a small pond then up into the rocky hills. They are not quite mountains, but at times they feel as steep!

The dogs love being off the lead and career about like crazy, following scents of deer or surprising small birds in the bushes. They find all kinds of things and, following on from my earlier blog about their mysterious disappearing toys, Maia turned up yesterday on the walk with ‘alligator dolly’ last seen about six months ago in the garden.

I, meanwhile, use the time to think and resolve any issues I have. I suppose it is the only time of the day when I really can switch off and let ideas come to me. Often I use this time as a type of walking meditation and some of the results are surprising.

Walking is very good for all kinds of things and has been medically proven to help depression too. It helps strengthen your muscles and I’ve read that walking over rocky paths like I do is a type of reflexology that gives your feet a beneficial massage while you are scaling the heights. I know for a fact that it changes your mood and even if I am in a bad mood when I start, I am rarely in one by the time I come back.

The air in the hills is very good for your lungs and I also think that direct contact every day with nature is a very positive thing. I once saw a stag and some roe deer on my walk and felt as if someone had given me a million pounds. On other memorable occasions (to me anyway) I have watched as a wild rosebud opened and been surrounded by a cloud of butterflies. It’s not only the dogs who come home happier and more relaxed!