The Do's And Don'ts Of Giving A Former Feral Cat A Bath.

Some more feline bonding.

Old Tiggi has recently lost some feeling in her neck which means that it droops continuously. Often when she scootles towards us she looks like a dressage horse on best behaviour. There is nothing we can do but to work around it. Naturally her cuteness factor has shot up tremendously and in tandem have her cuddling sessions.

These cuddling sessions are what made me venture forth and splash her in a wash basket filled with warm water. With her neck being impeded she battles to clean herself properly but also her love of resting in the dirtiest of places has meant that she looks less than her best. Never mind, mummy will sort it out.

The weather boded well for me although not for her, with the sun blazing away ready to dry any wet fur. I filled up the wash basket, put on a long sleeve jacket ( oh, that was a winner for me ) and the gardening gloves we use for the roses. Thorns and claws! Tiggi is so trusting with me and she had no idea of what would befall her when I picked her up and gently lowered her into the tub.

All my endearments were thrown to the wind and she fought valiantly to climb out the tub. No, I had to get it done and the two of us danced the tango of hissing and cooing for a few more minutes until I had reasonably cleaned her fur.

A towel was waiting to wrap her in it and once she felt secure in it and my arms, she calmed down ( at one stage I thought I had given the poor dear a heart attack ) and let the cleaning routine go ahead. In fact a small purr was heard.

When eventually I laid her gently on the ground expecting her to do a vault away from my clutches, she surprised me by leaning into my legs, perhaps grateful that someone else has taken over her grooming. All's well that ends without scratches and now, a few hours later, she is prancing elegantly around enjoying her freshness...Old pets deserve some reverence and care.

Biggi

How It Feels To Be Un-Followed On Twitter.

A newbie Twit's experience...

" Good grief, get a grip " I told myself, when I suddenly realized that I was short of a Twit..a Twitter follower, that is !

In the real world, being followed or even following someone is not good nor nice and can be even scary. Getting used to the mirror image of the Twitter world takes some adjustment.

The first few weeks after you sign up as a little blue fledgling of a birdie who learns to perch on the many different branches of the " Twitter landscape ", are exciting, fascinating, interesting, educational and of course a huge lot of fun.

Just like a child waking up on Christmas morning, there is this daily rush of excitement when you check if you have any more Twitter followers. Just to be honest, on most days I check numerous times as the day unfolds.

When there is a new follower ( is this how ladies felt centuries ago when their ' Dance cards ' were filled ? ) I let out a little ' woo-hoo '. My husband at times gives me one of those looks that could mean many things, but I rightly interpret it as; " is this really the woman I married ? ".

The other morning I noticed that someone had un-followed me. It must be some right of passage for us beginners, because I don't know if the ' wise old birds ' with a gazillion followers, would notice the disappearance of a few. But I certainly noticed !

Immediately I thought that I had done something wrong. Maybe I had written a bad comment or perhaps too many ? To be honest, it felt like a young romance suddenly ended. Who can forget those painful moments in primary / junior school, when your boyfriend sent his friend to tell you that he didn't like you anymore...

When I had more time to consider this un-following event, I realized that just like in the real world, the virtual world also has individuality. We don't like everyone we meet in life and the same goes for the virtual world. All is well.

Biggi

Amazon.com:How To Tweet, The Basics: Dos and Don'ts for Newbies (Using Twitter)
Amazon.de:Social Media Marketing - Strategien für Twitter, Facebook & Co