Good Morning Good News !!!! March 31, 2011

I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy!  You are HEROES!  You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day!  Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things.  And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here!  All pawsitive all the time!  I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!!  Be kind and pass it on!  Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!!  After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane!  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

Round the Refuge

A couple real important things to start with.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAN !!!!

Vincent’s going Viral

Lena thinks I should be in the movies!!!!  Or is that the Moovies.....

And not the kind of show I had in mind!!! 

Lena has a crazy idea!!! She says let's make “Vincent Taking a Shower” go viral !!!!   

If we can get 1,000,000 viewers she'll donate her paycheck!!! This is embarrassing but let's go for it!!! Her paycheck will buy lots of Fancy Feast!!!   So please send the link to my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xKQf_E3u0

to everybody you know and ask them to watch it and to send the link on.

When a video goes viral you get a lot of notice and that notice will be for Rikki’s Refuge.  This brings in money in lots of different ways.  You know how hard it is to make ends meet around here - so we’re doing crazy things to get money coming in from lots of different places!!!

Help me spread this about!!!

Today and Today Only we have a Chance to WIN

Discount Pet Medication is having a contest and the groups with the most votes by the end of this month TODAY will win some bucks!!  It’s really simple, no signing up, just click and vote for Rikki’s Refuge and be sure to answer the question at the end of the page, something like what is 7 minus 4, they’re just checking it’s not automated votes.

Please ask everyone to vote for Rikki’s Refuge today.  It’s only one vote per person per month!!  And this is the last day.  Winning money is a great way for us to get help!!!

Rikki's Refuge
Vote for me!

hosted by
Discount Pet Medication.net

                       

Cat Food Sale

Mary has alerted me to a great deal.  Food Lion and must use your MVP card - if you don’t have one you can get one at customer service.  The big bag of Purina Cat Chow for $8.99 this Friday, Sat. and Sunday; $9.99 the rest of the week (through 4-5-11)   AND if you’re up to doing some shopping for Rikki’s Refuge - I have 11 $1 off coupons in the office - mix and match and that’s only $7.99 each for 11 bags of cat food!!!

Who can come grab the coupons and do some shopping - not enough time to mail them to you.  You do need to be present for Rikki’s to win!!!

Feral Cat Lady Needs Vehicle

A lovely feral cat lady who TNRed 100+ cats already this spring, is in desperate need of a car.  Her car got mushed in an accident, thankfully all the kitties were ok and someone lent her a truck to get to the speuter clinic on time.   She needs space for traps, lots of traps, does lots of TNR work, small suv, station wagon or hatch back, limited budget so inexpensive and not too hard on the gas, runs decent but cosmetics not a concern.  If you have such a vehicle you’d like to sell, let me know.  This cat person in need is in Waynesboro.  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

On my visit to the North Pole around Christmas

Can Somebody Start a Chip-In for the Orthodontist?

Gideon Healing Wonderfully, 2 weeks after surgery

Happy to be on the Prowl Again

For Gideon, the worst part about losing his eye to cancer was house restriction!  First day home in a cage he screamed and beat his cone (e-collar) against the cage door till we let him out.  Then he behaved nicely in the 9^th Life Center for a couple days recuperating.  Then he began to scream and howl and want back outside.  Cone or no cone, he wanted OUT.  We made him wait two weeks, and now he can come out with supervision.

Gideon and Lena have always been Best Friends

Duke Kisses New Volunteer Robin

Be Here SATURDAY and / or SUNDAY

to help with Rabbit Rotunda Roof !!!!!   Lots of easter bunnies are begging for your help!!!!

Bissell MVP Contest

Vote daily Wednesday March 30^th thru Tuesday April 5^th for NeeNee

quick, simple, free

Your daily vote could win up to $10,000 for the animals

Click here to Vote for NeeNee

Don't tell this little ball of purring love that she's blind - she'll never believe you!

Interview with NeeNee

Vincent: Hi NeeNee, I'm so very glad to meet you! Were do you live?

NeeNee: Hi Vincent! Right now, I live in Champaign, Illinois.

Vincent: I'm so happy to see a black and white kitty running! I think we're especially puuurty! How did you come to live in your current home?

NeeNee: I agree with you! Mom seems to have a thing for black and white kitties - My "grandpa" Kona was all white, my "uncle" Spatz was a very handsome tuxedo kitty that looked a good deal like you! They are both over the bridge now but I remember them in my heart. My sister Moo is black and white too!

Normally, I live with my Mom but right now, my sister Moo and I are being fostered with the VERY kind Appleby family. Mom had a bit of tough luck but we hope that we will be back with her before you can say "MWAH!"

Vincent: You’ve picked a rescue to give your winnings to, tell me about them and why they were your choice.

NeeNee: We have picked MEOW Rescue in Washington. Mom's friend, Miss Nydia White volunteers there and she tells mom about some of the animals that they rescue some times. They are a small rescue and do so much already, so this kind of money would mean that they could do SO MUCH more!! Oh, and don't let the name fool you, they help other animals besides cats.

Vincent: If you could change something on the planet - what would it be?

NeeNee: Wow... only one thing huh? Hmmm... I'll skip the opposable thumbs request and get serious for a minute. I suppose that I would make it so that nobody was ever mean ever again, no more hate or fear. That way, there would be no more abandoned or abused animals - or humans! But then again, sometimes good things can come from bad... I came to my mom because someone taped me up in a box and left me on a doorstep of a business. Those people had some friends that introduced me to my mom! And... I love her so much.

Vincent: Do you have a special message, or anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself?

NeeNee: Well Vincent, some times people look at me funny because I'm blind and I'm told that my eyes don't look like other kitty's eyes. Honestly though, I scurry around just fine and can even chase Moo! Mom says that I have extra whiskers and REALLY sensitive ears to make up for being blind. Besides, I've never been able to see so I don't know what I'd do different if I could! I'm happy as long as I have love! I guess that I'd just like to say that there are a lot of humans and animals out there and being different is a good thing! Just think of how boring it would be if we were all exactly the same!

Thanks Vincent! Mwah!

Vinspirational Visions

Great ability develops and reveals itself

increasingly with every new assignment

The kitties of Rikki’s Refuge have a new assignment.  We all worry about companies that test on animals.  Usually that’s a really bad thing.  But sometimes it’s a really good thing!!  Fiddler in the Box, brand new, organic, all natural, bio-degradable kitty litter has asked ME and the cats of Rikki’s Refuge to test their new product. 

As I wrote to you, the hoomans are waiting for the truck to arrive.  The company has asked for an honest opinion.  How do the kitties like using this new product?  How do the hoomans like working with it?  Is it better than other products?  What’s good about it?  What’s bad about it?  Do we think it’s good enough to recommend to others? 

We won’t know the answers till we’ve done a lot of pooping.  And so I need YOUR help, send more Fancy Feast that I can churn up and turn into poo so I can do my job and test this litter out!!!

Stay tuned .....

Trivia question ......   Robert, no fair, you can’t answer!!    What do you think this kitty litter is made from?  It’s something I’ve never seen used before and it’s a really cool idea.  Can you guess what it is???

The Cats of Cod

Artwork by Wayne H. Morris of New York

photography and art

http://www.facebook.com/WayneHMorris

visit to see more of his spectacular work

Wayne loves to study an animal and capture their essence which he then turns into a whimsical work of art depicting them at work or play.  Your pet’s whimsical custom portrait available for only $300 (donated to Rikki’s Refuge). Contact me and I’ll put you in touch Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org  Prints available, 8” x 10”, on heavy stock, suitable for framing, $25 each, resolution may vary so you may want to ask first.  Specify which print you want and shipping address.   http://bit.ly/WayneMorrisPrint

   

Captain Vincent

Flies Rescue Missions

Tails of Trivia

Fish or fishes?? Though often used interchangeably, these words actually mean different things. Fish is used either as singular noun or to describe a group of specimens from a single species. Fishes describes a group containing more than one species.

A tuna fish can swim 100 miles in a single day!

There is a species of clam that can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds.

The average life span of a hermit crab is 75 years!

At 188 decibels, the whistle of the blue whale is the loudest sound produced by any animal

A blue whale's heart is the size of a Volkswagen Beetle!

On this Day

March 31, 1959 Dalai Lama flees China and is given political asylum in India.   Yeah India!!!!

Music and Motion

Beautiful, happy animals, plus nice music ♥

I Want Cookies

           

Because I Love YOU This Much

Love,

Vincent

PS You tell me what you want!  Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications!  Subscriptions:    Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved.  Scheduled as needed.  Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us!  Scheduled daily.  Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s!  Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377.  A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge

Guaranteed NOT to Grow Miniature Piglet Available for Adoption

This little pink guy comes with a 100% guarantee that he will not grow any larger.  Adorable, palm sized little piglet, absolutely guaranteed not to grow up and dismantle your home.  Little Paul is a very light eater so he won’t eat you out of house and home.  Very well mannered and trained, Little Paul excels in sit and stay.  Never has he pooped outside his little litter box and we guarantee he never will.

How often do you have the opportunity to adopt that purrfect pet!  Guaranteed to never be sick.  No vet bills - ever!  Food bill less than $25 a year!  Will never go outside the litter box - guaranteed!  Will never grow, get sick, grow old, or die!!!  The absolutely purrfect pet!!!

Available to YOU today!

Click on Paul, the Purrfect Pig!

Ok, so seriously now,

YOU don’t need a pig of any sort living in your home.

BUT you’re really very happy that Rikki’s Refuge is here to do the caring for the homeless piggies who grew bigger than advertised and who did root up their houses and who got abandoned. 

Help us care for the Piggies of Piggy Paradise.

Sponsor a pig today!

$1 will care for one pig today!

$10 will buy fresh snuggy bedding for one week for all the pigs!

$25 will feed all the pigs today!

$50 will provide fully for one pig for one month!

$100 will provide worming meds for the piggies for one month!

$250 will provide flea and lice protection all summer!

Click here to be a PIG HERO today!

And if you’re feeling especially generous

and really want to help the piggies

and the hoomans

who care for them, for $449.99 you can buy a wonderful 40 gallon power sprayer on a wheeled platform, that will make it so much easier and quicker for the piggies to be protected from nasty red piggy lice all over their bodies and hateful orange chiggers in their ears.  These stinging, biting, itching bugs love to live on our piggies. 

Piggies can’t clean them off themselves very easily.  Never seen a piggy grooming their belly have you? 

This sprayer is on sale this week at Tractor Supply.  Our hoomans have been swooning over such a product for years.  All summer long the piggies and their habitat, need to be sprayed to keep the buggies from biting the piggies.  It’s absolutely necessary to keep the piggies feeling comfy and to keep them healthy. 

Right now, the hoomans have to carry around a yard type one gallon sprayer (they’ve tried the 3 gallon ones and it’s to heavy to cart all about the farm), pump it up and then press the trigger to do the spraying.  Oh my gosh are their arms tired and their hands throbbing at the end of spray day!!!

Not only will you be helping the piggies and the hoomans, all the animal neighborhoods need to be sprayed for parasite control every couple weeks, and there’s not a hooman who wants the job!!  Feline Fields, Doggy Downs, Chicken City, Rabbit Rotunda, all need to be kept free of the particular parasites that bother that species.  The hoomans draw straws and the loser has to be the sprayer for the day!!! 

A lovely power sprayer, easy to transport, not needing constant filling and mixing, would be an absolute blessing for every single creature, no matter the species, at Rikki’s Refuge!

Oh my gosh if you had $449.99 to spare you’d make so many of us so happy.  Me too, cus my yard would get sprayed quicker, so we’d be locked out less time, and mom would have more time to love me and she wouldn’t be whining that her hands and arms were so sore she couldn’t pick me up and carry me around!!!!  

$449.99 is like so much money for us.  I’ve been saving my pennies for years and I’m no where close to buying this wonderful present for mom and the hoomans!! 

If can possibly spare it - gosh - I promise to LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!

Click on the sprayer, this week on sale for $449.99

A Precious Journey at Rikki’s Refuge

From Piglet to Hooman to Kitty to Pig!!!!

Prince was born a pig.  Prince was born to a mother pig in the usual way.  Prince was very small and his mom probably thought he wasn’t going to survive.  Bella, his mom, was very young and probably didn’t understand what being a mother was all about.  She was scared.  Prince had two siblings who were regular size.  Bella was scared of them.  They tried to nurse and Bella screamed and ran away.  Prince was too weak to try and nurse. 

Hoomans had to step in and nurse the babies to save them.  After a few days Bella began to nurse the two bigger pigletts.  But she wouldn’t nurse poor little Prince.  And so the hoomans became Prince’s mom.  Prince grew up on a bottle.  Soon he was tromping thru mush and slurping it up. 

Pigs are wonderful pigs.  They have many habits that are wonderful for pigs.  When hoomans see other hoomans doing nice pig things they call those hoomans, pigs.  You think of being slobby and spilling your food all over being piggish.  And if you went to the buffet dinner with friends and one ate and ate and ate, you’d call him a pig, and if after eating he decided to roll around in the left overs, you’d really call him a pig!

Well Prince was a pig and even though he was raised as a hooman, he was a pig and he’d roll around in his food bowl.  He’d dump his water bowl and mix in anything that’d much up nice and he’d roll in it. 

And as Prince grew into the size of a kitten, his mom still didn’t want him.  Prince was playful and Prince needed playmates.  If the pigs wouldn’t play with him, who would?  The kitties!!!  And so Prince moved in with kitties and they all played and ran together.  Try as he would, he never got the hang of climbing up poles.  As often as they watched in shock as Prince rolled around in the water bowl, the kitties would not.  But run and play and ambush, they would.  Curl up and sleep together they did.  Prince was a kitty.

Soon Prince was debunking the myth that miniature pot belly pigs stay small.  They eat.  They grow.   Prince was destined to be a couple hundred pounds.  Spring was coming.  Prince didn’t know about mud.  But he learned!

With the first good hard rain of the season, Prince learned to run and slid and to play and to root in the mud.  Once that nose discovered rooting and Prince discovered it was the coolest thing in the world --- he didn’t stop.  He didn’t stop to eat.  He didn’t stop to sleep.  In 48 hours this is what the kitty run looked like!

Just 48 hours before this pig sty had been a lovely grassy area!!!!   Now it was dug up holes, mud ponds, and churned up mud.  Not a blade of grass was left.  Prince was very happy and just loving his new environment.

The kitties were devastated.  They didn’t want to go out and play in all that mud.  They wouldn’t go outside and play, they stayed inside and watched Prince thru the window. 

Prince was very proud of himself - he was doing what big boy pigs did!!!

And now it was time for Prince to join his own kind.  Piggy Paradise here comes Prince.  But he can’t move in directly.  Pigs, like most animals, are territorial and they form cliques and family groups, and the new guy on the block is likely to get beat up.  So for now he’ll live in a pen next door to Piggy Paradise.  This is very new and fascinating for Prince.  He’s never known his own kind.  Every time the hoomans tried to get his mom to be nice to him, she’d push him away and snarl at him. 

Prince is fascinated learning to talk pig latin and learning pig body talk and about all the new exciting things he can learn as a pig.  Finally, after being rejected by him mom, thinking he was a hooman, then thinking he was a cat, he can really reach his full potential being exactly what god put him here to be - a beautiful wonderful PIG !!!!!

Churn up that mud my lad!!!!

Good Morning Good News !!!! March 30, 2011

I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy!  You are HEROES!  You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day!  Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things.  And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here!  All pawsitive all the time!  I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!!  Be kind and pass it on!  Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!!  After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane!  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

Let’s Honor Vietnam Veterans

Wednesday, March 30, has been designated as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” by Congress to honor all Vietnam War Veterans.

Thank you all so much for your service and your sacrifices for this great Country and for my freedoms. I love you all so much and my heart aches for the way you were treated when you came home and for that I am so sorry!! I will never forgive that and that will be my burden to bear! I am hugging you all in my heart always! Stay safe, be well and keep kicking ass for America! Hugs!

Please always remember......
"America's Warriors have always stepped up to the plate for our freedoms and liberties and many have paid the ultimate sacrifice and some have survived to endure worse. HONOR THEM, RESPECT THEM, LOVE THEM & NEVER FORGET THEM! I salute you all!"

Round the Refuge

Prince was born a pig.  Prince was born to a mother pig in the usual way.  Prince was very small and his mom probably thought he wasn’t going to survive.  Bella, his mom, was very young and probably didn’t understand what being a mother was all about.  She was scared.  Prince had two siblings who were regular size.  Bella was scared of them.  They tried to nurse and Bella screamed and ran away.  Prince was too weak to try and nurse. 

Hoomans had to step in and nurse the babies to save them.  After a few days Bella began to nurse the two bigger pigletts.  But she wouldn’t nurse poor little Prince.  And so the hoomans became Prince’s mom.  Prince grew up on a bottle.  Soon he was tromping thru mush and slurping it up. 

Pigs are wonderful pigs.  They have many habits that are wonderful for pigs.  When hoomans see other hoomans doing nice pig things they call those hoomans, pigs.  You think of being slobby and spilling your food all over being piggish.  And if you went to the buffet dinner with friends and one ate and ate and ate, you’d call him a pig, and if after eating he decided to roll around in the left overs, you’d really call him a pig!

Well Prince was a pig and even though he was raised as a hooman, he was a pig and he’d roll around in his food bowl.  He’d dump his water bowl and mix in anything that’d much up nice and he’d roll in it. 

And as Prince grew into the size of a kitten, his mom still didn’t want him.  Prince was playful and Prince needed playmates.  If the pigs wouldn’t play with him, who would?  The kitties!!!  And so Prince moved in with kitties and they all played and ran together.  Try as he would, he never got the hang of climbing up poles.  As often as they watched in shock as Prince rolled around in the water bowl, the kitties would not.  But run and play and ambush, they would.  Curl up and sleep together they did.  Prince was a kitty.

Soon Prince was debunking the myth that miniature pot belly pigs stay small.  They eat.  They grow.   Prince was destined to be a couple hundred pounds.  Spring was coming.  Prince didn’t know about mud.  But he learned!

With the first good hard rain of the season, Prince learned to run and slid and to play and to root in the mud.  Once that nose discovered rooting and Prince discovered it was the coolest thing in the world --- he didn’t stop.  He didn’t stop to eat.  He didn’t stop to sleep.  In 48 hours this is what the kitty run looked like!

Just 48 hours before this pig sty had been a lovely grassy area!!!!   Now it was dug up holes, mud ponds, and churned up mud.  Not a blade of grass was left.  Prince was very happy and just loving his new environment.

The kitties were devastated.  They didn’t want to go out and play in all that mud.  They wouldn’t go outside and play, they stayed inside and watched Prince thru the window. 

Prince was very proud of himself - he was doing what big boy pigs did!!!

And now it was time for Prince to join his own kind.  Piggy Paradise here comes Prince.  But he can’t move in directly.  Pigs, like most animals, are territorial and they form cliques and family groups, and the new guy on the block is likely to get beat up.  So for now he’ll live in a pen next door to Piggy Paradise.  This is very new and fascinating for Prince.  He’s never known his own kind.  Every time the hoomans tried to get his mom to be nice to him, she’d push him away and snarl at him. 

Prince is fascinated learning to talk pig latin and learning pig body talk and about all the new exciting things he can learn as a pig.  Finally, after being rejected by him mom, thinking he was a hooman, then thinking he was a cat, he can really reach his full potential being exactly what god put him here to be - a beautiful wonderful PIG !!!!!

Churn up that mud my lad!!!!

Guaranteed Miniature - will NOT grow

Piglet Available for Adoption

This little pink guy comes with a 100% guarantee that he will not grow any larger.  Adorable, palm sized little piglet, absolutely guaranteed not to grow up and dismantle your home.  Little Paul is a very light eater so he won’t eat you out of house and home.  Very well mannered and trained, Little Paul excels in sit and stay.  Never has he pooped outside his little litter box and we guarantee he never will.

How often do you have the opportunity to adopt that purrfect pet!  Guaranteed to never be sick.  No vet bills - ever!  Food bill less than $25 a year!  Will never go outside the litter box - guaranteed!  Will never grow, get sick, grow old, or die!!!  The absolutely purrfect pet!!!

Available to YOU today!

Click on Paul, the Purrfect Pig!

Ok, so seriously now,

YOU don’t need a pig of any sort living in your home.

BUT you’re really very happy that Rikki’s Refuge is here to do the caring for the homeless piggies who grew bigger than advertised and who did root up their houses and who got abandoned. 

Help us care for the Piggies of Piggy Paradise.

Sponsor a pig today!

$1 will care for one pig today!

$10 will buy fresh snuggy bedding for one week for all the pigs!

$25 will feed all the pigs today!

$50 will provide fully for one pig for one month!

$100 will provide worming meds for the piggies for one month!

$250 will provide flea and lice protection all summer!

Click here to be a PIG HERO today!

And if you’re feeling especially generous

and really want to help the piggies

and the hoomans

who care for them, for $449.99 you can buy a wonderful 40 gallon power sprayer on a wheeled platform, that will make it so much easier and quicker for the piggies to be protected from nasty red piggy lice all over their bodies and hateful orange chiggers in their ears.  These stinging, biting, itching bugs love to live on our piggies. 

Piggies can’t clean them off themselves very easily.  Never seen a piggy grooming their belly have you? 

This sprayer is on sale this week at Tractor Supply.  Our hoomans have been swooning over such a product for years.  All summer long the piggies and their habitat, need to be sprayed to keep the buggies from biting the piggies.  It’s absolutely necessary to keep the piggies feeling comfy and to keep them healthy. 

Right now, the hoomans have to carry around a yard type one gallon sprayer (they’ve tried the 3 gallon ones and it’s to heavy to cart all about the farm), pump it up and then press the trigger to do the spraying.  Oh my gosh are their arms tired and their hands throbbing at the end of spray day!!!

Not only will you be helping the piggies and the hoomans, all the animal neighborhoods need to be sprayed for parasite control every couple weeks, and there’s not a hooman who wants the job!!  Feline Fields, Doggy Downs, Chicken City, Rabbit Rotunda, all need to be kept free of the particular parasites that bother that species.  The hoomans draw straws and the loser has to be the sprayer for the day!!! 

A lovely power sprayer, easy to transport, not needing constant filling and mixing, would be an absolute blessing for every single creature, no matter the species, at Rikki’s Refuge!

Oh my gosh if you had $449.99 to spare you’d make so many of us so happy.  Me too, cus my yard would get sprayed quicker, so we’d be locked out less time, and mom would have more time to love me and she wouldn’t be whining that her hands and arms were so sore she couldn’t pick me up and carry me around!!!!  

$449.99 is like so much money for us.  I’ve been saving my pennies for years and I’m no where close to buying this wonderful present for mom and the hoomans!! 

If can possibly spare it - gosh - I promise to LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!

Click on the sprayer, this week on sale for $449.99

Bissell MVP Contest

Vote daily Wednesday March 30^th thru Tuesday April 5^th for NeeNee

quick, simple, free

Your daily vote could win up to $10,000 for the animals

Click here to Vote for NeeNee

Don't tell this little ball of purring love that she's blind - she'll never believe you!

Vinspirational Visions

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,

or who said it,

unless it agrees with your own reason and

your own common sense.

The Cats of Cod

Artwork by Wayne H. Morris of New York

photography and art

http://www.facebook.com/WayneHMorris

visit to see more of his spectacular work

Wayne loves to study an animal and capture their essence which he then turns into a whimsical work of art depicting them at work or play.  Your pet’s whimsical custom portrait available for only $300 (donated to Rikki’s Refuge). Contact me and I’ll put you in touch Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org  Prints available, 8” x 10”, on heavy stock, suitable for framing, $25 each, resolution may vary so you may want to ask first.  Specify which print you want and shipping address.   http://bit.ly/WayneMorrisPrint

   

Carmen Tina Passes Out Mouse Bite Snacks

Tails of Trivia

Greyhounds can reach their top speed of 45 mph in just 3 strides

Nose prints are used to identify dogs, just like humans use fingerprints!

The warmest temperature ever recorded on Antarctica was 3 degrees F.

Even Antarctica has an area code. It's 672.

On this Day

March 30, 1932 Amelia Earhart, is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

March 30 is Doctors Day - let’s all say THANK YOU to the nice doctors who look after us animals!!!  Especially those very special ones who work with shelter pets and those who volunteer at speuter clinics and all those good docs!!!

Music and Motion

Baby hamster eating broccoli

Because I Love YOU

Love,

Vincent

PS - PLEASE come help with the building of Rabbit Rotunda II on Saturday and/or Sunday!!!

PS You tell me what you want!  Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications!  Subscriptions:    Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved.  Scheduled as needed.  Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us!  Scheduled daily.  Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s!  Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377.  A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge

Good Morning Good News !!!! March 30, 2011

I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy!  You are HEROES!  You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day!  Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things.  And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here!  All pawsitive all the time!  I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!!  Be kind and pass it on!  Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!!  After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane!  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

Let’s Honor Vietnam Veterans

Wednesday, March 30, has been designated as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” by Congress to honor all Vietnam War Veterans.

Thank you all so much for your service and your sacrifices for this great Country and for my freedoms. I love you all so much and my heart aches for the way you were treated when you came home and for that I am so sorry!! I will never forgive that and that will be my burden to bear! I am hugging you all in my heart always! Stay safe, be well and keep kicking ass for America! Hugs!

Please always remember......
"America's Warriors have always stepped up to the plate for our freedoms and liberties and many have paid the ultimate sacrifice and some have survived to endure worse. HONOR THEM, RESPECT THEM, LOVE THEM & NEVER FORGET THEM! I salute you all!"

Round the Refuge

Prince was born a pig.  Prince was born to a mother pig in the usual way.  Prince was very small and his mom probably thought he wasn’t going to survive.  Bella, his mom, was very young and probably didn’t understand what being a mother was all about.  She was scared.  Prince had two siblings who were regular size.  Bella was scared of them.  They tried to nurse and Bella screamed and ran away.  Prince was too weak to try and nurse. 

Hoomans had to step in and nurse the babies to save them.  After a few days Bella began to nurse the two bigger pigletts.  But she wouldn’t nurse poor little Prince.  And so the hoomans became Prince’s mom.  Prince grew up on a bottle.  Soon he was tromping thru mush and slurping it up. 

Pigs are wonderful pigs.  They have many habits that are wonderful for pigs.  When hoomans see other hoomans doing nice pig things they call those hoomans, pigs.  You think of being slobby and spilling your food all over being piggish.  And if you went to the buffet dinner with friends and one ate and ate and ate, you’d call him a pig, and if after eating he decided to roll around in the left overs, you’d really call him a pig!

Well Prince was a pig and even though he was raised as a hooman, he was a pig and he’d roll around in his food bowl.  He’d dump his water bowl and mix in anything that’d much up nice and he’d roll in it. 

And as Prince grew into the size of a kitten, his mom still didn’t want him.  Prince was playful and Prince needed playmates.  If the pigs wouldn’t play with him, who would?  The kitties!!!  And so Prince moved in with kitties and they all played and ran together.  Try as he would, he never got the hang of climbing up poles.  As often as they watched in shock as Prince rolled around in the water bowl, the kitties would not.  But run and play and ambush, they would.  Curl up and sleep together they did.  Prince was a kitty.

Soon Prince was debunking the myth that miniature pot belly pigs stay small.  They eat.  They grow.   Prince was destined to be a couple hundred pounds.  Spring was coming.  Prince didn’t know about mud.  But he learned!

With the first good hard rain of the season, Prince learned to run and slid and to play and to root in the mud.  Once that nose discovered rooting and Prince discovered it was the coolest thing in the world --- he didn’t stop.  He didn’t stop to eat.  He didn’t stop to sleep.  In 48 hours this is what the kitty run looked like!

Just 48 hours before this pig sty had been a lovely grassy area!!!!   Now it was dug up holes, mud ponds, and churned up mud.  Not a blade of grass was left.  Prince was very happy and just loving his new environment.

The kitties were devastated.  They didn’t want to go out and play in all that mud.  They wouldn’t go outside and play, they stayed inside and watched Prince thru the window. 

Prince was very proud of himself - he was doing what big boy pigs did!!!

And now it was time for Prince to join his own kind.  Piggy Paradise here comes Prince.  But he can’t move in directly.  Pigs, like most animals, are territorial and they form cliques and family groups, and the new guy on the block is likely to get beat up.  So for now he’ll live in a pen next door to Piggy Paradise.  This is very new and fascinating for Prince.  He’s never known his own kind.  Every time the hoomans tried to get his mom to be nice to him, she’d push him away and snarl at him. 

Prince is fascinated learning to talk pig latin and learning pig body talk and about all the new exciting things he can learn as a pig.  Finally, after being rejected by him mom, thinking he was a hooman, then thinking he was a cat, he can really reach his full potential being exactly what god put him here to be - a beautiful wonderful PIG !!!!!

Churn up that mud my lad!!!!

Guaranteed Miniature - will NOT grow

Piglet Available for Adoption

This little pink guy comes with a 100% guarantee that he will not grow any larger.  Adorable, palm sized little piglet, absolutely guaranteed not to grow up and dismantle your home.  Little Paul is a very light eater so he won’t eat you out of house and home.  Very well mannered and trained, Little Paul excels in sit and stay.  Never has he pooped outside his little litter box and we guarantee he never will.

How often do you have the opportunity to adopt that purrfect pet!  Guaranteed to never be sick.  No vet bills - ever!  Food bill less than $25 a year!  Will never go outside the litter box - guaranteed!  Will never grow, get sick, grow old, or die!!!  The absolutely purrfect pet!!!

Available to YOU today!

Click on Paul, the Purrfect Pig!

Ok, so seriously now,

YOU don’t need a pig of any sort living in your home.

BUT you’re really very happy that Rikki’s Refuge is here to do the caring for the homeless piggies who grew bigger than advertised and who did root up their houses and who got abandoned. 

Help us care for the Piggies of Piggy Paradise.

Sponsor a pig today!

$1 will care for one pig today!

$10 will buy fresh snuggy bedding for one week for all the pigs!

$25 will feed all the pigs today!

$50 will provide fully for one pig for one month!

$100 will provide worming meds for the piggies for one month!

$250 will provide flea and lice protection all summer!

Click here to be a PIG HERO today!

And if you’re feeling especially generous

and really want to help the piggies

and the hoomans

who care for them, for $449.99 you can buy a wonderful 40 gallon power sprayer on a wheeled platform, that will make it so much easier and quicker for the piggies to be protected from nasty red piggy lice all over their bodies and hateful orange chiggers in their ears.  These stinging, biting, itching bugs love to live on our piggies. 

Piggies can’t clean them off themselves very easily.  Never seen a piggy grooming their belly have you? 

This sprayer is on sale this week at Tractor Supply.  Our hoomans have been swooning over such a product for years.  All summer long the piggies and their habitat, need to be sprayed to keep the buggies from biting the piggies.  It’s absolutely necessary to keep the piggies feeling comfy and to keep them healthy. 

Right now, the hoomans have to carry around a yard type one gallon sprayer (they’ve tried the 3 gallon ones and it’s to heavy to cart all about the farm), pump it up and then press the trigger to do the spraying.  Oh my gosh are their arms tired and their hands throbbing at the end of spray day!!!

Not only will you be helping the piggies and the hoomans, all the animal neighborhoods need to be sprayed for parasite control every couple weeks, and there’s not a hooman who wants the job!!  Feline Fields, Doggy Downs, Chicken City, Rabbit Rotunda, all need to be kept free of the particular parasites that bother that species.  The hoomans draw straws and the loser has to be the sprayer for the day!!! 

A lovely power sprayer, easy to transport, not needing constant filling and mixing, would be an absolute blessing for every single creature, no matter the species, at Rikki’s Refuge!

Oh my gosh if you had $449.99 to spare you’d make so many of us so happy.  Me too, cus my yard would get sprayed quicker, so we’d be locked out less time, and mom would have more time to love me and she wouldn’t be whining that her hands and arms were so sore she couldn’t pick me up and carry me around!!!!  

$449.99 is like so much money for us.  I’ve been saving my pennies for years and I’m no where close to buying this wonderful present for mom and the hoomans!! 

If can possibly spare it - gosh - I promise to LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!

Click on the sprayer, this week on sale for $449.99

Bissell MVP Contest

Vote daily Wednesday March 30^th thru Tuesday April 5^th for NeeNee

quick, simple, free

Your daily vote could win up to $10,000 for the animals

Click here to Vote for NeeNee

Don't tell this little ball of purring love that she's blind - she'll never believe you!

Vinspirational Visions

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,

or who said it,

unless it agrees with your own reason and

your own common sense.

The Cats of Cod

Artwork by Wayne H. Morris of New York

photography and art

http://www.facebook.com/WayneHMorris

visit to see more of his spectacular work

Wayne loves to study an animal and capture their essence which he then turns into a whimsical work of art depicting them at work or play.  Your pet’s whimsical custom portrait available for only $300 (donated to Rikki’s Refuge). Contact me and I’ll put you in touch Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org  Prints available, 8” x 10”, on heavy stock, suitable for framing, $25 each, resolution may vary so you may want to ask first.  Specify which print you want and shipping address.   http://bit.ly/WayneMorrisPrint

   

Carmen Tina Passes Out Mouse Bite Snacks

Tails of Trivia

Greyhounds can reach their top speed of 45 mph in just 3 strides

Nose prints are used to identify dogs, just like humans use fingerprints!

The warmest temperature ever recorded on Antarctica was 3 degrees F.

Even Antarctica has an area code. It's 672.

On this Day

March 30, 1932 Amelia Earhart, is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

March 30 is Doctors Day - let’s all say THANK YOU to the nice doctors who look after us animals!!!  Especially those very special ones who work with shelter pets and those who volunteer at speuter clinics and all those good docs!!!

Music and Motion

Baby hamster eating broccoli

Because I Love YOU

Love,

Vincent

PS - PLEASE come help with the building of Rabbit Rotunda II on Saturday and/or Sunday!!!

PS You tell me what you want!  Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications!  Subscriptions:    Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved.  Scheduled as needed.  Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us!  Scheduled daily.  Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s!  Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377.  A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge