Floppy Cats

Interview With Kristina Sabaite Of Krize Etsy Shop

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:13:02 +0000

My name is Kristina Sabaite. I was born in Kaunas (Lithuania) and I am 31 years old. I have studied art, advertisement, mass media technologies…but finally one day I decided to make my dream come true “illustrate childrens books”. Now I am living in a small town of Galicia (Tui) in the north of Spain with my husband and our dog Chino.

Etsy Shop: Krize

Krize Etsy Shop

All answers are copyright of Kristina Sabaite.

1. How did you get interested in cats? How old were you when you had your first kitty?

I am a Cat Girl in Violet - Adjustable Ring2

I was a dog person till one day I met a cat of my now husband. I was used dogs who try to be your friends and to play with you…but this cat only looked at me without any interest and was always so proud of himself. And that day was the first day I fell in love with all cats…I think cats have stolen my heart..:) I never had a cat to myself, but I have many cats that came into my garden and I speak with them often

2. How did you discover Etsy? Did you consider other ways to sell your products?

I discovered Etsy thanks to my friend Claudia Moya (Mundogominola) . She helped me to open the shop and I found so many possibilities to show my work on Etsy. I also sell my products physically and on some physical and Internet stores.

3. Do you sell your products in a local store in your area?

Happy Cats - Personalized Room Decor

Yes, I do in some local stores.

4. Have you been successful at selling your products on Etsy? Have you always been successful, or did you end up getting a lot more traffic after being featured on a specific blog?

The first year I had very few sales, but also I had only few products. When I made better photos and begin to listen often, to be featured on blogs, to join the groups on Etsy I got many traffic and more buyers.

5. Do your customers ever give you new ideas for products?

I have a Green Heart - double brooch

Yes sometimes they do and it is much appreciated! They write me about a product in other color or something different they like and it very funny to make these custom orders for people.

6. Have you thought of featuring a Ragdoll cat is some way? (Had to ask.)

Maybe, who knows!

7. Are you a one wo/man show?

I work alone. I love the idea that everything I make is made by me, so I am really the author. I do not want to be a mass producer, because like this the handmade idea changes. I like to work slowly, to make every peace exclusively for the buyer, because like this every peace is different.

8. Do you have a blog?

Martin, the rare girls cat - Limited Edition to 50

Yes I have a blog and I’d love it if you’d visit! I write little stories for my own illustrations: http://kristinasabaite.blogspot.com/

9. Do you do custom ordering? Can someone return it if they don’t care for it?

Yes, I love custom orders. It´s always something new. I always try to make photos of the custom order, so people can look how it looks. It is sad if after the owner wants to return it, because you have spend time and effort making it.

10. Can you share a story with us behind any of your products that you especially enjoyed working on? Maybe becouse of the story behind the kitty?

Two cats - Limited Edition to 50

I have a special story with this illustration. It is an “image” of my Etsy shop and was my first item. This illustration describes my shop and what I want to show at my shop. I always smile, when I look at these two cats with two hearts. I think that many of us (persons) try to hide our hearts, so no one can hurt us. These two cats have their hearts outside (not inside like us) and they are happy. I wanted to invite the people to liberate their hearts, to be a little childish, a little less serious, and a little different. Wanna join?

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Post tags: etsy, Kristina Sabaite, Krize, Ragdoll Cat

Floppycats.com Interview With Jaime Derringer of Dog-Milk.com

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:51:10 +0000

Last week I asked Jaime Derringer of Dog-Milk.com if she’d be up for an Interview for Floppycats.com. Might seem strange – as her site is dog-focused. However, a lot of the products she features can also be great for kitties – and I know a lot of the floppy cat lovers who read this blog also have pups!

Thank you Jaime for the interview!

Jaime's Dog, Beans

1. What was the inspiration for Dog Milk? I know it’s a sister site for Design Milk – so was it from working on that since 2006?

I launched Dog Milk because, in my own life, I have a passion for dogs. I saw a bit of a gap in blogs that focused on modern design and dogs so I decided to fill that gap with Dog Milk. Since I’m as passionate about dogs as I am about good design, it just feels like another extension of me.

2. How did you come up with the Design Milk name? What is the meaning of it?

Here’s the short answer: since milk contains vitamin D, drinking milk every day gives you a daily dose of vitamin D, but in this case D stands for “Design.“ Design Milk is your daily dose of Design. Or something like that. I’ve yet to actually sit down and write something clever enough!

3. What is your favorite part of Dog Milk?

Jaime's Dog, Lulu

Shopping! This is actually also my least favorite part. Since people are always sending me links to shops and websites, it’s hard not to want to buy everything! It’s challenging when you have a product blog refraining from purchasing everything you see.

4. Do you do all the writing for Dog Milk?

At the moment, yes and I also do most of the writing for Design Milk.

5. Do you ever turn down a manufacturer because of their product? How come?

I get a lot of submissions even though Dog Milk is fairly young. I don’t post everything I get because it goes back to my original reason I started Design Milk – to bookmark things that I liked. It grew from there but I still only post about items I would buy, have bought and used, or truly believe in the concept or design.

6. If someone was getting a dog for the first time, what products, if any would you recommend to them?

Jaime's Dog, Beans

I think the most important investment they can make is an ID tag. Whether you get your dog micro-chipped or purchase a traditional dog tag, it is so important that your dog be able to be identified.

And next — get that dog on a leash. Seriously. You have no idea how often I see dogs just wandering around my apartment complex or the nearby park. Leashes are not just to keep your dog in check, but they are to protect your dog from other dogs, harmful humans, traffic, and even other animals. Just a few weeks ago my husband and I were out walking our dogs and we were attacked by a protective mother blue jay – we ended up literally running away with the dogs in tow!

Beyond that, dogs need a lot of gear! It can get expensive just outfitting them for each season: from beds, ID tags, collars, leashes, grooming and hygiene products, toys, crates, travel gear – it’s exhausting! That’s one of the main reasons why I think Dog Milk is so needed because we try to sift through to find the most modern products for our design-loving readers.

7. Have you found that there are products that are both dog friendly and cat friendly? In other words, if a pet owner owned a cat and a dog, they might be able to get two uses out of the product? What products come to mind?

There are many cat beds on the market that are suitable for small dogs. Houses like the Dot Den from Modernist Cat or the acrylic beds from Neko Habitat come to mind. Toys, collars and such probably don’t interchange all that often. Dogs need stronger, thicker collars because they are used with a leash for control when walking. Although, both cats and dogs go nuts for laser pointers.

8. How did your interest in Design start?

This is a hard question to answer. I have always been a creative person, attracted to the arts – art, writing, music, and I’ve always been an independent thinker with an entrepreneurial spirit.

I grew up watching home improvement shows with my dad. I worked through college at local furniture stores, where I fell in love with helping people pick out fabrics for their couches. Throughout my life, I think there were tiny seeds planted, which eventually grew into Design Milk.

Lulu and Beans

9. How many pups do you have? What are their names? Ages? Where did you get them from?

My husband and I have two dogs, Lulu and Beans. Lulu is an American Bulldog and she’s about 4. Beans is a Boston Terrier and he is about 3. They are complete opposites: Lulu is a girl, Beans is a boy; Lulu is white with a little black and Beans is black with a little white; Lulu is big, Beans is small; Lulu is lazy, Beans is crazy. We got both of them out in Pennsylvania from breeders and raised them since they were wee pups.

10. Are you involved in dog rescue at all?

I don’t do any volunteer work, but I have attended events to support local shelters, rescues and other organizations. Most recently, we went to HeavenSent Bulldog Rescue’s annual “Bullyfest.”

We also link to a few organizations from our homepage. My husband and I discussed that if we get another dog in the future we plan on getting a rescue.

You can subscribe to Dog-Milk’s e-mail updates to follow Jaime’s blog!

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Post tags: Design-Milk.com, Dog-Milk.com, Jaime Derringer

Daily Ragdoll Photo: Arlo – Loyal Friend

mlawson — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:26 +0000

I was looking through some old pictures, and came across this one. Arlo really is a loyal friend.

Arlo - Loyal Companion

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Post tags: Adult Ragdoll Cat Pictures, Daily Ragdoll Photo, ragdoll cat pic

JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version – Floppycats.com Review

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:18:03 +0000

JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version

You might recall reading our post about all the goodies we got from JW Pet to test out for our product reviews on Tuesdays.

This week we are covering the JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version.

I was hesitant to try these as they seemed more ideal for a dog than for a cat – so I tried them on the larger of my two cats, Charlie.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version worked and how easy they were. You still have the compression motion, but they’re not like scissors where you have to open and close every time – they are already on a spring and therefore work fantastically.

I will be using the JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version from here on out – that’s how much I like it!

I captured a video of trimming Charlie’s claws below. As you can tell from the video, he wasn’t bothered by them at all. The only thing that bothered him was me pushing his paw for too long to show how they worked! He didn’t like the longer period than usual.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What kind of nail trimmers do you use for your kitties? How do they like them?

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Post tags: cat grooming, JW Grip Soft Nail Trimmer For Cats Deluxe Version

Daily Ragdoll Photo: Curioser And Curioser

mlawson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:31 +0000

Ragnificent Ragdolls Kahlua & Cream, looking very curious about the whole camera & flashy light thing.

Ragnificent Ragdolls Kahlua & Cream

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Post tags: Adult Ragdoll Cat Pictures, Daily Ragdoll Photo, ragdoll cat pic

Frankie and Johnny – Ragdolls of the Week

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:59 +0000

Frankie & Johnny

Frankie and Johnny (nammed for the song) are two brothers, a ragdoll and siamese mix that lost their human companion and ended up in a shelter.

In March of this year, we lost our Siamese cat, Alley, to chronic renal failure. Alley was an old, skinny kitty who just showed up on our porch one day. He was an affectionate, loving and vocal cat. We learned a lot in our short time with him, about how much giving a second chance is worth. He loved up until the last second.

Frankie & Johnny

We started looking to the local shelters for Siamese cats. We wanted to give a cat another chance at life, love and a family.

This is when we came across Frankie and Bullet (Johnny) at our local Humane Society. When we asked about siamese cats, we were told that there were no siamese cats but a pair of “siamese like” cats … ragdoll.

At first we were a little worried about a 9 pound and 13 cat.

Frankie & Johnny

The visitation session in the humane society went great; we were capivated by Frankie’s big blue eyes and Johnny’s affection. At the time, we wanted only one but were informed that they couldn’t be separated becuase they were together since birth and their owner recently died. This is when we really felt a connection to the cats.

Frankie and Johnny have two different personalities but are just alike. At the end of the day, they are in a play fight that ends in a licking and purring session. Frankie and Johnny love and need each other.

Frankie & Johnny

Frankie is 100% Ragdoll cat and likes to be picked up. He goes floppy and enjoys being held on his back and getting his belly rubbed. For fun he tries on clothes … or, rather, drags them from a bedroom and then around the house showing off his prize, playing with strings and chasing toys around. When he’s playing, Frankie jumps and runs around like a kitten.

Curiosity is Frankie’s game. Mr Perkytail, as we call him, walks around with his tail straight up when he is on the hunt for, well, whatever he hunts. If there’s a crash around the house, we can be sure that Frankie found something new. He’s a day nuzzler … pick him up any time of the day and he will love you.

Frankie & Johnny

Johnny is more Siamese but there’s still ragdoll. I wake up to his tilde blaze every morning as he pulls the blanket off and nuzzles, licks and kneads me to consciousness. He plays fetch … a lot. Throw the ball and he’ll bring it back, meow and drop it at your feet. Sometimes he has the urge to play at 3 in the morning and makes it known by yowling and rattling his ball around.

We are certainly glad that we took in Frankie and Johnny! They enjoy us as much as we enjoy them. Share your floppy cats stories with other readers.

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Post tags: Frankie and Johnny, Ragdoll Cat, Ragdoll of the Week

Daily Ragdoll Photo: Hey! That’s My Tail!

mlawson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:16 +0000

This is Ragnificent Ragdolls – Milky Way, one of Abby’s siblings. One of the smaller kittens was attacking her tail. I wish I could have caught that in the frame, but I was shooting with a prime lens.

Hey! That's my tail!

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Post tags: Adult Ragdoll Cat Pictures, Daily Ragdoll Photo, ragdoll cat pic

Interview With Pet Talker Jann Howell

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:00:29 +0000

Ruby and Jan

Floppycats.com asked Jann Howell, a pet talker, to answer some questions we had about animal communication as well as questions about her services. Thank you, Jann for the interview.

Jann Howell is based in Greenville, South Carolina and can be reached through her website: www.scanimalcommunicator.com.

Answers are Copyright of Jann Howell.

1. How long have you been communicating with animals?

Pretty much my entire life although for a long time I thought I was making it up.

2. How does one communicate with animals?

The same way you do with other people. You introduce yourself and say why you want to talk. You ask what the animal likes to do, etc. The main difference is the way the animal communicates with you, which is in a variety of ways. They may show you pictures, send you smells, send you sensations, or you may actually hear words.

3. Can you share with us, one of your favorite animal communication stories? How it impacted the owner or the animal or both?

This woman with a dobie called and was going to put her dog down because the dobie would grab her children’s wrists and hands in her mouth. The mom thought the dobie wanted to play but she was too rough with these young children and she didn’t want anything bad to happen. I said – What are you telling your dog? She said – Don’t bite the children! And I said – what do you picture when I say – Don’t bite the children? She said – biting the children. So she quickly figured out she needed to tell her dog the behavior she wanted and not what she didn’t want. I spoke with the dog and told her how much the mom loved her but she was very concerned about her 2-legged children and that she (the dobie) could not use her mouth any more. The woman called me about a week later and said her sweet dog immediately stopped using her mouth and played with the children safely. I once talked to a woman with 19 cats! I expected there to be a lot of bickering but somehow this woman set up their environment so that all of them were happy and co-existed very well together. I helped her fine tune things but basically she had done a miraculous job on her own!

4. Do you prefer to communicate with younger or older animals?

Both are pretty good fun but in different ways.

5. Do you prefer to communicate with a certain type of animal? I mean, do you do better with cats, dogs, horses? Do you even talk to reptiles?

All animals have individual personalities. Just like people, some animals are shy, some talk a lot, some are polite, etc. I have talked to all kinds of animals, including lions in Africa and a baby ocelot and an adult jaguar in Peru. And there are always surprises. For example, a piranha in Peru was very meek and really wanted to know why they had such a bad name with humans. Humans kill other animals and eat them, so why do we think a piranha who eats other fish is so horrible? He really was quite perplexed about it.

I love talking with all kinds of different animals because each species is a little different and within the species, each animal is different.

6. How do your services work? Do you come to my home? Do I bring my pet to you? Do you communicate LIVE over the phone or in person?

I request a photo of your animal(s), their names, ages, sex and city, town where you live. You call me on the phone, I start talking with your animals and share this with you.

7. What do you charge for your services? Do you have a package deal?

Check my website for more details on that. Additionally, I cut my prices for rescue groups. (www.scanimalcommunicator.com)

8. Why do you think animal communication is valuable?

Animals know what we are thinking and saying. Why not close the loop and know what our companion friends are thinking and saying?

9. Do you think if a vet would incorporate animal communication into their practice it would be helpful?

Indeed. Many times vets have a choice as to treatment and they usually ask the human which route to go. But it would be so much better to ask the animal which route they would prefer.

10. Are you able to communicate with an animal in the after life? How does that work?

This is really no different than chatting with an animal in this life. You are speaking spirit to spirit. Some animals in the after life, however, show you pictures of the most marvelous things that aren’t found on the physical plane.

Bio for Jann

In the 1980s Jann realized she had a special gift of communicating with animals. She took animal communicator classes as well as classes in meditation, healing, clairvoyance, herbs and Reiki. (She is a Reiki Master). She has been working with energies and talking to animals for more than 25 years. She also uses music as a healing modality with animals.

She is an avid hiker and that has allowed her to speak with wild animals. These beautiful creatures are so different in their communications because they have not adapted to mankind but rather observed us. She also traveled to Kenya and spoke with many of those animals. She just returned from the rainforest in Peru where she spoke with many of those animals.

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Post tags: animal communicator, Jann Howell, pet communication, pet talker, Ragdoll Cat

Daily Ragdoll Photo: Cali – Queen Of All She Surveys

mlawson — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:15 +0000

I still haven’t managed to revive the spare bedroom/studio, but ran across this one, from a previous visit to Ragnificent Ragdolls. This is Cali, queen of all she surveys. She’s looking a little exasperated, but she really is a sweet cat.

Cali - Queen of all she surveys

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Post tags: Adult Ragdoll Cat Pictures, Daily Ragdoll Photo, ragdoll cat pic

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie! PLUS BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY!

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:30:29 +0000

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie!

Mr. Charlie Man is now 1 year old! I cannot believe it! Of course, I haven’t had him for a year – I’ve only had him for 9 months, but we’re celebrating anyway!

I made Charlie’s party hat by using this party hat pattern I found online, and then customized it for Charlie man – share photos and stores of how you celebrate your kitty’s birthday!

In honor of his birthday, Charlie asked his favorite catnip toy product company if they’d supply a Yeowww! Pollock Fish for one of his feline friends, and they agreed!! As you can tell from the photo, he wasn’t pleased with my marketing tactics for this giveaway – he could have ditched the hat.

If you’d like to enter for a chance to win the Yeowww! Pollock Fish, please:

leave a comment on this post telling us if your cat has ever tried Yeowww! catnip and how she or he likes it – this gives you an extra opportunity to win!
subscribe to our e-mail updates (if you’re already subscribed to our e-mail updates, you don’t need to re-subscribe)

You may only enter once (one per person) and a random winner will be chosen in a drawing on August 1, 2010. The giveaway is open to all addresses in the USA and Canada!

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Post tags: Charlie, Ragdoll Cat, Yeowww! Pollock Fish