Hi, everybody! I hope you're all having a good week and looking forward to a spectacular weekend. I'm looking forward to a relaxing and quiet weekend, especially after my TV debut today. Oh, I'm Bandit, shelter manager at Cats Haven, in case you've forgotten. I'll tell you about my video shoot in a minute, but first let me tell you about last Friday at The Luxor!!

Last Friday night, we had a fund raiser at the Luxor, this little Mediterranean restaurant in Fountain Square. We had a blast!! Lots of people came by and had dinner with us, and then stayed for some super fantastic flamenco and belly dancing! Belly dancers!! Woo hoo!! The food was great, everyone had a good time, and we even got Barb up on stage to belly dance! (I have pictures to prove it, too!) Between the dinner, Gypsy Cat jewelry sales, and the dancers donating all their tips, Cats Haven raised close to $500. Thank you to everyone who came out and joined us. And thank you to Fatem and everyone at the Luxor for showing us such a good time and serving such wonderful food. You guys are the best!

So I had barely recovered from Friday night's festivities when Sunday rolled around and tons of people converged on the shelter. No one had bothered to tell ME that they'd planned a big cleaning day! We had people inside; we had people outside. Upstairs, downstairs, front and back yard . . . volunteers were everywhere helping us get ready for our video shoot (which I'm getting to). I gotta thank everyone who gave up part of the Sunday to help us all. Elizabeth and her DH (that stands for Dear Hubby);Linda; Dzana (my best friend ever); James, Sonny, and Cindy; Sue Hildebrandt and her partner Mil; Kelly and Chris; Barbara Dunn; The Other Sue; and Christine and her whole family!! Some folks worked really hard outside to get the yard cut, iris and daylily bulbs planted, the front porch organized and cleaned, and the fence repaired. Other folks worked inside, moving furniture, scrubbing floors and walls, and washing windows.We didn't get everything done, but we all sure made a big dent in the cleaning and sprucing. Everyone got the place looking great for our video shoot . . .

So Wednesday morning, do you know who showed up at the shelter? Patty Spitler and her video crew from PetTV!! How cool is THAT!? We're gonna be on PetTV on Sunday, November 1, at 11:30 on Channel 13!!!!! We all got videotaped, Barb, the Other Sue, and I all got interviewed . . . and the most cool thing of all was when a very nice man named Denny came in and adopted Rock Hudson! AND they got Rock's adoption on video. Isn't that fantabulous? A big MEOW and PURRRRRRR go out to Patty (she and I are on a first-name basis now) and her crew for taking their time to feature us on their television show. I'm sure a few of us will be hearing from Hollywood very soon! Better yet, maybe someone will see us on TV and want to adopt us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

I've got an update on Dewey, the little guy with the broken leg and pelvis. He's doing great! He'll go to the doctor next week to get his staples out of his leg, but he's moving around in his crate, eating well, and loves everyone. He's going to be just fine, and will be available for adoption in another month or so. I can't wait for him to be released from his crate because I think he's going to be a lot of fun to play with. He's really funny and likes to tell jokes, and I think we're going to be good friends! Thank you to everyone who donated towards his vet bill. Without all of your help, we woulnd't have been able to help Dewey. I say it all the time . . . Cats Haven knows the very best people in the whole world.

Okay, I gotta get to bed. I need to be up really early on Thursday morning to get the kittens up, get their teeth brushed, their breakfasts in them, and off to their first kitten class of the day. Thursday mornings, Merlin teaches Crouch, Wiggle, and Lunge at 8:00. So it's gonna be a long day. Hey, I hope to see a lot of you at the cat show at the Fairgrounds on October 31 and November 1! I hear that Polo is going to make a personal appearance, and Barb will have a few adoptable kitties there, too. Have a good week, everyone. - Bandit the puddytat

Hello, everybody. Bandit here blogging tonight . . . supreme commander of the united forces of the kitty underground! Hehehe! No, really, I'm Cats Haven's shelter manager, in case you forgot. I'm hiding in the office because I need a few minutes away from all these kittens. They're everywhere! And they're asking me all kinds of questions. "Bandit, why is the sky blue?" "Bandit, why can't we sharpen our claws on the doors?" "Bandit, can I have a Wii?" "Bandit, where do hairballs come from?" Don't get me wrong. I love all of our kittens. But tonight they don't want to settle down and go to bed. I think it's the rain that's keeping them awake. Either that, or maybe I shouldn't have played Twister with them at 10:00 at night. Thankfully, Lady Gwen has gathered them all in the middle room and is reading "The Little Kitty Prince" to them. They're all curled up on their nap mats with warm mouse milk, and hopefully they'll be asleep soon. 

I've got all kinds of fun stuff to tell you about tonight. I'll start with the WZPL video!! My friend the Other Sue took Granola and Baby to see Smiley and KJ at the radio station a couple of days ago, and they shot a movie about us! No kidding! Well, maybe not a whole movie, but we're on the Internet! This is so cool! Check it out at http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid29746642001?bclid=29761821001&bctid=44018966001. Sue got to talk about our adoption special as well as the fund raiser that we've got going next weekend. What fund raiser, you ask? Well, let me tell you!!! Next Friday, October 16 . . . and maybe Saturday the 17th, if we get enough reservations, we're having a GINORMOUS night at the Luxor in Fountain Square, a really good Middle Eastern restaurant! For just $22 a person, you get a multi-course dinner that includes an appetizer, salad, main course, and dessert. AND tea, coffee, or soft drink!! And if that wasn't enough, there will be belly dancing all night long. Lots and lots of belly dancing! This is a family-friendly event, so bring the kids and enjoy this very special event that Luxor-owner Fatum has planned for us. A great big percentage of each meal will go to the shelter. So you can have fun, hang out with other cat lovers, really pig out on Middle Eastern food, maybe even get up on stage and dance with the belly dancers, laugh, AND help Cats Haven all for just $22. Is that a great deal or what? You gotta call and make reservations, so do that right now. No kidding. Stop reading, pickup the phone, and dial 687-9220. I'll wait to blog more til you get back.

(waiting . . . playing Sudoku . . . cleaning my ears . . . reading the new Dan Brown book . . .)

Oh, good! You're back! Thanks for making those reservations and we'll see you next weekend! Now for other news. I gotta tell you guys about all the kitties who have found homes over the last couple of weeks. Congrats to Baboo, Hattie, Freesia, Bright Eyes, Sherry, Tasha . . . I'm missing one or two, but we've had lots of adoptions over the past several days. I'm so happy that these guys found their fur-ever homes. And I'd like to welcome Dewey, a little black guy who got hurt, but then we got him fixed. Dewey either fell or was tossed off of an apartment balcony, and ended up with a broken leg and pelvis. Thanks to the folks who found him, he was seen by Dr. Johns at the Cat Doctor, and his injuries were fixed by Dr. Rick at the Zionsville Country Vet. Dewey came to the shelter today and will be on cage rest for a couple of months, but soon he'll be good as new. We've taken in a lot of sick or injured cats recently, and our vet bills are piling up. So with that in mind, we're doing Buck-tober Fest again!! This is a really easy way for you to help the shelter. All you gotta do is give us a buck. That's it. One dollar. Then ask your friends to give us a dollar. And then their friends can give us a dollar. Before long, we'll have a bunch of dollars that we can use to pay our vet bills and keep all of these kittens and sick kitties in food. You can either send a dollar to us in the mail (our address is Cats Haven, P.O. Box 30206, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46230) or go to our home page and donate via our PayPal link. See how easy that is? Okay, so, go put a dollar in an envelope right now, or donate a dollar through PayPal. I'll wait again . . .

(waiting . . . microwaving a burrito . . . comtemplating my navel . . . watching HGTV . . . don't forget to put a stamp on that envelope . . . they're over to your right)

You're back again! Good! Thank you for the donation. Don't forget to tell your friends! Now for other news. This Saturday, we'll be at Paws in the Park at Broad Ripple Park from 11 til at least 4. This is a big adoption event, and we'll have at least six adoptable kitties there. We've got an adoption special going on. You can adopt any adult kitty from us for just $30. I'm not making this up . . . just $30! All of our cats are spayed or neutered, current on all of their shots, microchipped, and many of them have taken ballroom dance classes! So you'll be getting a very special friend. If you or someone you know wants to adopt a cat, bring them to Broad Ripple Park on Saturday. And if you're just looking for something fun to do, c'mon by and visit with Barb and the cats. You can also check out everyone else who will be there, too. Lots of rescue groups and good fun.

Next Monday, the Other Sue will be on Radio Brownsburg at 9:30 in the morning. That's 1610 on your AM dial if you live near Brownsburg, or you can hear her on the Internet by going to www.radiobrownsburg.com. Sue and Shane always have a lot to talk about. At the end of the month, we'll be at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the big cat show!! This is a really cool annual event . . . nothin' but cats wall to wall! And lots of vendors selling lots of cat-related stuff. We've got more events coming up in November, but I'll tell you about it all next time.

I want to take a minute and remember some shelter kitties who crossed the bridge recently. Please pause while we remember Opal, Arnold, Aristotle, Nana, Essie, Aurora, and the little ones who were just too sick or too young.  We at the shelter take these losses very hard, and every kitty is missed.

Okay, is that it? I think it is. Wait a minute . . . what was that? Is that a MOUSE in this office?! Good grief, there's a mouse in this office! AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!! I'm scared to death of mice! Oh quick . . . up on the desk!!  How am I going to get out of the office without touching the floor?! I see it . . . IT'S HUGE!!!! It's the size of a 1971 Buick Electra!! It's gotta weight 900 pounds!!! I bet it's been eating all those donuts we had in the office. Oh, dear. I can't sceam or I'll wake up the kittens. I know . . . I'll call Barb upstairs from my cell phone. It's in one of my pockets . . .  Bandit the puddytat