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How many times has your cat watched as you enjoyed that tasty turkey on Thanksgiving? Well now you can turn turkey into a treat for your feline friends.
You can turn dark turkey meat into jerky treats really easy. All you have to do is use a conventional oven and let it slowly dry out. Here’s a quick recipe.
Now you don’t have to feel like your cats are being left out of the Thanksgiving celebration!
Ingredients
• 12 thinly sliced strips of dark turkey meat
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
3. Remove any fat and skin from the turkey meat.
4. With a very sharp knife, cut turkey into ½ to 1 inch slices.
5. Place turkey strips on a baking sheet in a 300 degree oven, for about three hours. This is something you will want to keep an eye on so the meat doesn’t char or burn. We are making jerky, so you basically just want the meat to dry, and this will result in some natural shrinkage.
6. After about 2 ½ to 3 hours, turn your oven off, leaving the turkey inside.
7. The turkey will continue to dry as the oven cools. I like to let the strips remain in the oven anywhere from six to eight hours until they are completely dry and cool.
After cooling, you should place the strips in an air-tight container. You can keep them fresh even longer by placing the container in your freezer and just pulling out treats as you need them.

With the price of postage, sending an ecard not only gets it delivered quicker but is less expensive. Here are a few web sites that are great for cat, dog and other pet ecards. You can customize them with your own message, and easily upload your emails for your friends, families, neighbors and anyone else you want to send a Thanksgiving message to.
www.sloppykisscards.com
www.carlsencards.com
www.jacquielawson.com

Want to decorate your holiday invitation to Grandma’s house (okay, your house!) for Thanksgiving? You can find some really neat clip art of cats and pumpkins by visiting these two sites:

http://webclipart.about.com/library/Thanks/blclip58b.htm

http://webclipart.about.com/od/holida1/tp/thankcats.htm

As it’s Thanksgiving time, it’s befitting to celebrate a breed founded in the United States: the American Shorthair. The American Shorthair (otherwise called the American) is one of the most adaptable breeds for any type of household from a single owner to a family. Calm and affectionate, the American is great for a senior citizen that wants a lap cap to hold and cuddle. Non-demanding, the American keeps itself entertained. A natural breed, the American Shorthair is a medium-sized cat, muscular with a firm, well-balanced body. They have easy care short, lustrous coat in a range of colors and patterns.

History
Although not listed on ships rosters, the American Shorthair came with early settlers to this country bringing their diverse backgrounds to form an “American” cat. They were “working cats” protecting the ships’ stores on the long journeys. These early American cats were strong, hardy cats that earned their living status here with their hunting skills but were soon noticed for their intelligence and many varied colors and patterns.

In early cat exhibitions in the 1900 the shorthair cats then known as Domestic Shorthairs were represented. As more shorthair breeds were imported, dedicated breeders of the domestics began selective breeding to develop a cat of specific type. Although the American Shorthair is a natural breed, it is the process of selective breeding that has developed the American as we know it today. It was not until the early 1960s that the breed was renamed American Shorthair and began its rise in recognition and as a contender on the show circuit.

Personality
Americans are good-natured, easy-going cats, popular with families, as they are known to be very tolerant of children. They can be calm but are also playful even into old age. Female cats tend to be busier than the males; males are more easygoing. In general they are intelligent cats and quite interested in everything around them. Many Americans retain their hunting instincts with any insects that should venture into the house. They also like to watch birds and other activity from a windowsill. They enjoy the company of their people but retain their independence. Many are lap cats, while some prefer just to be nearby.

Traits
The standard relies heavily on the term medium. It is not a large, heavy boned cat as is the British. It is a very balanced medium size, medium boned cat, with a firm muscular feel to the body, well proportioned in all parts. The head is slightly longer than wide and with an open, sweet expression. Eyes are wide-set, medium to large in size proportionate with the size of head, rounded, which means the upper lid is shaped like half an almond and the lower lid is a fully rounded curve–the eyes should not be round as are the Exotic Shorthairs. The muzzle is medium-short with a full strong chin giving it a square appearance; and the ears are medium in size and slightly rounded at the tip set twice the distance between eyes. There are a number of different looks found in the Americans that are acceptable by the standard. Females are smaller than males with the balance of the cat being of most importance.

The coat is short, hard in texture, lustrous, and dense enough to give a natural protective appearance. The color of the cat seems to affect the texture to some degree with the ideal coat most often found in the brown tabbies. Color and pattern are weighed equally with clarity of the marking in the patterns most desirable. Tabby and Tabby with white, usually with the classic pattern, have been the most popular for showing. The coat requires little extra care so unless being shown, a bath is rarely necessary; a weekly combing to remove dead hair will suffice. When bathed for a show care must be taken or the coat ends up too soft or fluffy.

Americans mature late at three or four years old.

Halloween: a time for pumpkins, witches…and of course, black cats. But, how did the black cat become associated with Halloween? Go back in time to the middle ages, when people believed in myths, fables and legends. Black cats quickly became known as “familiars” — or the spirits of witches in animal form. History also shows that people thought black cats were witches reincarnated.

• If you have a black cat that goes outside, keep them inside for the weekend before, the week of and on Halloween
• If you’re having a party, put your cat in a carrier so they won’t have the opportunity to run out of a room or the house and get outside
• When you’re handing out candy to trick or treaters, keep your cat locked up in a room or in a carrier so they won’t run out the door
• Also, remember, cats cannot eat chocolate and most candies, so keep your candy in a cabinet or drawer where they can’t get to it.
• If you’re burning candles, try the new tea lights that run on battery versus ones that you light with a match! They look the same and give the same effect as real candles.
• If you have anything with strings, remember that cats love to play with and chew on string…so be careful!