Welcome to January 2011 edition of the Happy Cat Ezine Hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and are looking forward to the year ahead. Our cats Byron and Shelley have not enjoyed the cold weather this year and are looking forward to the Spring I think. In the meantime I am on full time game alert and desperately trying to keep them happy. Hope your cats are not so restless and are enjoying the season. If you have a Christmas cat story why not share it with us here. See you next month Best Wishes Kate   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS 1. New Cat Gallery Photos This Month 2. Competition 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry 4. Cat Poem - O.J The Rescued Cat 5.. Article - Winter Cat Care ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.New Cat Gallery Pages Lots more of your beautiful cats have been submitted to our cat photo gallery to see more visit the cat gallery . Enjoy. Don't forget to submit your cat to the cat gallery so that others can enjoy your cat as well. Click on their pictures to find out more about them. Tall Cinder Oscar & Felix Maxx Samson Krizzy Precious Felix   ----------------------------------------- 2. Competition Number Jan 35 Here is November's Caption Competition. All you have to do is write a caption for this picture. . Simply send us your caption to go with this picture. Click here to submit Caption The deadline for this competition is January 27th. The best caption will be chosen and the winners name and caption will be posted on the www.our-happy-cat.com competition page. This month the prize is a copy of the Book "Church Cats" A wonderful collection of moggy tales from their adopted religious homes across the country. Beautifully photographed and wittily written GOOD Luck         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Byron and Shelley's Latest Diary Entry Byron found Christmas day all too exciting and needed to get a drink as soon as possible. There was simply no time to wait for mum and dad to refill his bowl, he needed a drink NOW. To be honest Byron Often has a drink this way when we let him. The trouble is we are left with wet paw marks everywhere afterwards as he often gets in the sink too. I will be adding regular updates about them on the web site so keep an eye on your RSS feeds for those. Here is their page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Cat Stories and Poems we like to encourage our visitors to the site to share their cat story or poetry with us here. we certainly enjoy reading your tales of rescue, joy and sadness too. So if you have a story or poem to tell us please let us know HERE O.J The Rescued Cat - A Poem - by Mary (North Carolina, USA) He wandered into my backyard In need of a rescue friend I don't know where he came from Or where this boy had been. He is sleek and trim in body His color, a beautiful Buff. He was thin and very hungry His appearance was somewhat rough. I named this handsome boy O.J No need to ask me why That's just the name that came to me the first time that he walked by. Read more stories and poems here ______________________________________________ 5.. Article - Winter Cat Care Outdoor cats - if your cat lives outside most of the time make sure you provide a warm and dry shelter out of the wind and slightly raised off the ground. Cats use their body heat to keep warm so the shelter should be small enough to preserve body heat and big enough to be comfortable. Bedding should be kept clean and dry. Dampness - if your cat comes in with wet fur make sure you dry them off. Who likes to sit in wet clothes? This is probably one of the most overlooked methods of cat care. Frostbite - if your cat is lost or left outside for long periods in very cold weather frostbite can be a real concern. Things to look out for are reddened tissues, scaly skin and even shedding of dead skin. The paws, ears and tail are the areas that are most affected, so if you see any abnormal signs in these areas during very cold weather consult a vet immediately. Never rub tissue that has been frozen, as it will cause further damage.