ARTICLE: Welcome to the Feline Fiction World of Erin Hunter

(Originally published at Yahoo.Voices formally Associate Content~August 1, 2007)

Now that the last of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books has been published, people might be wondering what can one read now to fill that gap. I'm by no means a child anymore, but like many adults, I do love reading children's books, and perhaps read them more than any of the latest bestselling adult books out on the market. In the past, I've read the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass,etc.) by Phillip Pullman, The Inheritance series (Eragon, The Eldest) by Christopher Paolini and so forth, just to name a very small few. Then, one day while I was in the children's section of the library, and yes, I frequent that section more than the rest of the library, I was browsing through the books, trying to find something that would peak my interest, and randomly picked up a book. It was entitled "Into The Wild", the first of the "Warrior" series by Erin Hunter. Little did I know that day, that by picking up that one book, I would develop a serious addiction to this feline world that this author had created.

Into The Wild, introduces us to Rusty, an orange-tabby kitten who lives among the "two-legs" or humans. To the wild, feral cats that roam freely in the woods, he and any cat like him who live in the "luxury" of a two-legs home are known as a "kitty pet." Early on in the book, Rusty has dreams of being in the "wild", these dreams haunt him, and during his waking hours while moving around in the safety of his kitty pet environment, he remembers those dreams and he is lured and enticed to explore and go beyond the confines of his safe lifestyle he has known all his young life. So one day, he leaves the two-legs and goes into the woods where, no sooner has he done so, he is attacked by patrol of "warrior" cats from the Thunderclan. Yet, oddly enough, even though he has never been "trained" to be a warrior cat such as these wild, feral cats he no less is able to defend himself. The group of warrior cats he meets includes Bluestar, the leader of the Thunderclan, and is impressed by his natural skil as a fighter. She invites him to join with the clan, and from there, we are introduced in earnest, the whole world and lifestyle of these wild cats.

The amazing thing about these Warrior books, is how wonderfully, and skillfully developed the whole story-line is. We are first introduced to the members of just one clan, by that chance, accidental meeting Rusty has with the Thunderclan. It turns out, however, that there are four more clans: Riverclan, Shadowclan, Windclan and Starclan; the latter being the equivalent to the wild cats' "heaven," the place where all the warriors go upon the loss of their last of their nine lives. The whole feel of these books and of the story is that of a tribal existence: there are the tribal leaders for each clan, a deputy who is the second in line and in importance to the leader. There are medicine cats for each clan, who aid and administer their healing arts, much in the same manner as a shaman of any human tribal community. In each clan territory, there is a section devoted solely to the "queens"--the female cats who are the mothers of kits they have given birth to. Upon being fully weaned, a ceremony is held and these kits become "apprenticed" to an older warrior cat and are designated an official apprentice name. After much training, and when the time is right, and the apprentice proves himself worthy, in yet another ceremony, that apprentice is then given his or her official warrior name that lasts them until their death. The of course, are the warriors themselves, fierce protectors of their individual clan.

These stories are by no means, sweet and innocent; there is nothing "Disney-like" about them. In truth, they can sometimes be downright brutal, for this is after all, the world of the wild, feral cats, where it is truly a matter of survival of the fittest. There are outright wars between the clans, betrayals and fights for supremacy among the members within the clans. From the very first book, we are introduced to one particular warrior cat, named Tigerclaw. This is the character we just love to hate, and gives a balance to the affection one might develop toward "Rusty" who is forever reminded, especially by Tigerclaw of his kitty pet, outsider status. Throughout this series of Warrior books, Rusty, who is later ceremoniously given the name of Firepaw, constantly has to prove over and over again his worth, that despite his kitty pet past, he too, has the natural instincts of what it takes to be a true warrior himself.

And now, just a little bit about the author "herself". In reality the author's name is a misnomer, for the name Erin Hunter is the pseudonym for the combined collaboration of two people, that being Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry. Both women are devote, and perhaps fanatical feline lovers, and have studied the characteristics of cats with exquisite, almost perfectionistic detail. Anyone who has ever owned a cat will immediately be able to relate and identify the feline behavior throughout these series of books. These two women, have wonderfully brought the world of the cat alive, and while making them "human" in a sense, they never let us forget for a moment that we are indeed reading about the daily struggles of the wild feral cat. It has often made me wonder if feral cats in real life have the same struggle for survival that these cats face. Into The Wild is just the first book in the Warrior series and there are a total of six. Ah, but that's not all, it doesn't end with those six books! The next six books, a further continuation of the story, is known as The New Prophecy series, and believe it or not, there are even more books, some which are still in the process of being published within the next few months. All total, so far, there are fifteen books, and it doesn't seem the end is anywhere near in sight for these stories and for that, as a devote fan of these books, I'm glad.

So I invite you to join me and begin reading these books. If you're a lover of children's books and a cat lover to boot, you will adore them, and if like me, you wish to fill the gap now that the Harry Potter books have ended, this just might be what you are looking for. And while you're at it, please visit the links provided, especially the official website of Erin Hunter, where one is introduced to this feline world of the Warrior series.

ARTICLE: Surviving SSI Disability Fiasco's

(originally published at Yahoo.Voices~formally Associated Content~July 31, 2007) Since 1996, I had been receiving SSI Disability benefits due to my panic disorder with agoraphobia which I had developed shortly after graduating college. As to why I developed this disability I have no idea, as it literally came out of the blue. When I started receiving my monthly benefits, it wasn't a lot, just a little over $300.00 a month. The reason for my benefits being so low, was that, one, since I had never worked I didn't have the work "points" necessary for higher benefits, and two, my then still alive mother was considered a financial resource I could rely on for my basic needs, such as shelter and food.

Then, on August 27, 2006, my mother passed away, and by that time my benefits through the years had been raised up to a mere $425.00 a month. I managed to go to my local Social Security office and since my mother had died, and I was now living alone, my benefits were increased to $710.00, just enough to survive on in the paying of my rent, and utilities. It was fortunate also that now, for the first time, I was also eligible for food stamps, otherwise, with my monthly benefits, I just plain wouldn't have had enough to live on.

When my mother died, she did have a very small policy that was due to me, and amounted to slightly over $5,000.00, and I received the policy money during the early part of the month of October of 2006. As you can imagine, the bulk of that policy money paid for my mother's funeral costs, some other bills, and with what was remaining, I saw it as a golden opportunity to finally get my own computer system which up until then, I didn't have. While I did have my agoraphobic condition, I was no longer completely housebound, but neither could I remain away from my home for long periods or time, or travel distances, but I was at least able to go to my local library and use the computers there. The main problem, however, was being very limited to time, as one was only allowed one hour usage of a computer. When I first taught myself computers at the library about four years ago, I immediately saw how a computer could set me on the road of possibly developing an on-line business, working at home and perhaps become self-sufficient enough to eventually get off of SSI benefits.

However, not long after receiving my mother's policy money in October of 2006, I received a letter from Social Security stating, that due to the money I had "inherited" that it was over the $2,000.00 in financial "assets" that Social Security allows when receiving SSI benefits. The letter went on to inform me that my benefits were therefore to be terminated due to this fact. Right away I filled out and filed with Social Security a Request for Reconsideration form. I also filled out the 15-page application PASS Program, as I wanted to prove that the "extra" funds left over after paying my mother's funeral costs and other related bills were to be used to establish a possible work at home business. In filling out this lengthy 15-page PASS Program application, I did an itemized estimated cost of how the money would be spent and listed the necessary computer items I planned to purchase.

I then had erroneously assumed that both my Request for Reconsideration and the PASS Program application had been approved, since in early November I received a notification from Social Security indicating that my benefits were to continue. Then only a week later received another notification that not only was I to continue my benefits, but I was to get the slight raise in benefits that would begin as of January of 2007. Then the bombshell quite literally hit me. I received a letter, dated April 11, 2007 on a Saturday, April 28, 2007, that the original decision made in October 2006 to stop my benefits was the correct one, and that my benefits were to be completely terminated as of the beginning of this month. You can imagine my panic about this, as I had no financial resources at all now, save for my SSI benefits; that policy money that I had received in October of 2006 was long gone, there was absolutely nothing left of it, and when I got this notice, I had exactly $5.71 to my name in my bank account...that was all.

So on that Monday, April 30th, I tried contacting my local Social Security office. All I succeeded in doing was leaving a message to the caseworker who had previously handled my case back in August of 2006, shortly after my mother had died. Feeling rather frustrated in not being able to speak to a "real" person, I then called the Social Security toll free 800 number. I just plain wanted to know why my benefits were being cut off so suddenly. When I got through to someone, and they looked up the particulars of my "case", it was explained to me, that forms had been sent out to me to determine my continuing eligibility for benefits. Oh? I never got them, and there obviously was no follow up on my case as to why I hadn't sent the forms in.

So by now, since I had the benefit of my own computer, I downloaded and printed up just about every imaginable form directly from the Social Security website, filled them them all out, and sent all kinds of proof of my financial resources. This included an indication that I had indeed spent that "extra" money of my mother's policy, plus sent them photo-copies of exactly how that money was spent--down to the last penny. The envelope I sent them was a virtual stack one-inch thick that I mailed off via certified mail on May 1, 2007, and by tracking it, saw that it was received the very next day. In the meantime, during the next few days I continued to send more forms to them and even called the toll free number again. This time the person I spoke to indicated that yes, they had received all the forms and had that information at their disposal and that what was probably needed was a waiver about the extra money...well, like why when I spoke to the first Social Security agent on April 30, 2007, wasn't this indicated to me and the form sent out to me then?

Then another "winning" notification arrived to me on May 17, 2007, as I received another letter dated May 10, 2007 from Social Security that I have an overpayment of $4,910.00 for the months of October 2006 to April 2007 and could you please pay this by June 9, 2007. All I could think about was, are they out of their minds? I had kept emphasizing to them that I absolutely had no financial resources at all. I hadn't been able to pay my rent, utilities or any other bills just to live on. In my phone calls, letters, etc, I had stated over and over again that I do not have any financial resources to me now except for what I was receiving from SSI Disability, which was nothing at that point since my benefits had been cut off completely.

I'm pointing all this out, as my story isn't a unique one. I have heard from fellow SSI recipients of their own horror stories of trying to get benefits, either first time round, when applying for the first time, or if like me, their benefits are suddenly terminated as they were in my case. Naturally it was suggested to me, that I should seek legal help of some kind and had one law firm, Binder and Binder, one of the top law firms that handle SSI Disability disputes, and of which I did contact. However, I was in for a further blow, as it was explained to me, that due to that over-payment issue of $4,910.00, they couldn't do anything, that I had to get that issue settled first, and on my own! So once again, my computer came in handy, and downloaded and printed up the over-payment waiver form from the SSA website, filled that form out as well and sent it to Social Security. In the meantime, the clock is ticking, and I haven't heard a thing whether or when my benefits were, if at all going to be re-instated. You can bet and imagine I was in high level panic here.

Then an inspiration literally hit me. I decided to contact via e-mail and by phone (usually only leaving messages), of every advocate group that could help me, including all those "help" lines from various news shows...still nothing happened. I then went further, as I'm a rather determined, stubborn person who doesn't give up easily. I contacted via e-mail my local Congressman. The very next day, I got an e-mail back and was told to expect a call from a representative of the Congressman's office who handled SSI Disability issues. Well call she did, and she told me to write out a letter to give them the authorization to intervene in my behalf and to not only fax this letter over, but the letters from Social Security. I had to go out to fax this material, as I didn't have a fax machine myself. By the time, I got back, I called the representative to find out if she had gotten the material; not only had she, but she had also in the meantime called Social Security to find out the particulars of my case.


Only a few days later then, I received a phone call from the caseworker from my local Social Security office. I supposed having received a phone call from a Congressman's office revved and shook things up a bit, as I'm guessing that Social Security doesn't receive phone calls from government officials too often.

Well things weren't settled right away and even more time passed, it was now approaching the end of May and still nothing was happening. I still hadn't paid my rent or utilities for the month of May, and now I was literally panicking about how to also pay my bills for June. So, I made another call to the Congressman's office and the representative in turn called up Social Security again in my behalf. Then came June 1st...The phone rings, and it was the caseworker from Social Security to inform me that not only were my benefits to be re-instated, but that the overpayment of $4,910.00 was completely waived. Ecstatic wouldn't be the word to describe how I felt--more like just plain screaming for joy--I had done it, I had managed to cut through the bureaucratic red-tape of Social Security and its rules and regulations and the slowness of how they handle cases...not that it's their fault as they are so back-logged with cases and paperwork.

So as to the reason for my writing this article? I'm hoping that it may serve as a help to anyone else out there reading this, that if they are having "problems" with getting SSI Disability benefits whether one is just starting the application for benefits, or if like me, have had their benefits cut off, how to go about getting a little jump-start in getting them sooner...get in contact with some kind of local Congressional help, believe me, it helped me, otherwise, I STILL might be waiting for my benefits.

The Magical Attraction of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter

(Originally published at Yahoo.Voices~formally Associated Content~July 27, 2007)

ABSTRACT: Over these past ten years, young and old alike have been entranced by the wonderful, magical world that author J.K. Rowling has created in her Harry Potter books.

CONTENT: Precisely at 9:00 a.m., my downstairs doorbell rang, and upon looking out the window, I saw it was the mail truck, but funny, I couldn't imagine what was being delivered to me as I wasn't expecting anything, at least not on that day, Saturday, July 21st. After ringing the bell to let the mailman inside my apartment building, the mailman presented me with a package. Ah, but it turned out not to be just any package, but the book I had pre-ordered from Amazon. com. It had arrived, and much sooner than I had expected! The package I was holding in my hands had arrived to me the very day of the book's worldwide release.

Like a giddy child at Christmas, I ripped opened the package and slid out the book...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling's last and final book of the magical world she had created and for the past ten years, has entranced millions of readers young and old. While some people have already finished the 759-page book, I'm still reading it, very slowly, as I want to savor every moment of this final entry of Harry Potter's life that many of us have shared all these many years.

I'm by no means a child, but I do love reading children's books, and J.K. Rowling's books have been on the top of my list of books to get absorbed in, more so than mainstream adult books. So I think many of us who have been involved with the Harry Potter books will feel a bit of sadness, now that this is to be the last and final book.

I think it can be safely said, that thanks to Ms. Rowling, a new burst of interest, especially in children, has been created in the art of reading again as nothing like before. There is a wonderful article, dated July 8, 2007, from The Galveston County Daily News, entitled "Harry Potter inspires new readers" by Rhiannon Meyers. In the article she relates of how one boy, Xan Stanley, the same age of eleven as when we are first introduced to Harry Potter, who, while coming from a family of readers, and in which his own mother was a librarian, never took much to reading. Diagnosed with dyslexia, Xan often became discouraged about reading, that is until his mother brought home a copy of the first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Then, his whole world opened up for him, and like many children he became entranced by this magical world of wizards and witches, Hogwarts School, muggles, Diagon Alley. As stated in the article, "...Stanley found a kindred spirit - a boy who faced struggles too..."

However, it's not only children like Xan Stanley who have learning disabilities who can relate to Harry Potter's struggles, or perhaps identify with the other main characters. So many children nowadays come from, what could be considered "dysfunctional" family backgrounds. Like Harry Potter, many children may not have been raised in a two parent family background, products of divorce, or raised by other family members, and may never have gotten to know one of their biological parent or both parents. Today's children may have known ridicule while growing up, such as how Harry was ostracized and neglected by the only family his knew, his aunt Petunia, uncle Vern and forever being tormented by his cousin, Dudley. Up until age eleven, Harry was ignored that is, until one glorious night, precisely at the stroke of his eleventh birthday, his whole world changed, and he found out he was special...he was a wizard with magical gifts. Grown-ups too, reading Harry Potter may also relate to J.K. Rowling's books, identifying with Harry their own childhoods...I know I did, as my parents were divorced when I was only a year and a half old, and I never got to know my father, and with this was viewed by my peers at school as being a bit "odd" for at that time, when I was a child, divorce wasn't as commonplace as it is now.

It's not only Harry Potter's character that young and old alike can identify with. Some of us may see just a little of Hermione Granger in ourselves...a character also ridiculed, especially by the "purebloods" like the Malfoy family for not coming from a wizard family but instead from a lowly "mugbloods"--again the theme of being "different". Also, there is Hermione Granger's personality of being an "insufferable" know it all, the child in the class that when a question is asked by a professor, always has her hand up, as she knows the answer...I relate to that, having always been the bookworm with my nose in a book, the epitome of the studious student, so oh, yes, I was the insufferable know it all myself as a child, just as Hermione's character was and therefore, I was often ridiculed and taunted by my peers. Then of course, is Ron Weasley, another character many of us may be able to identify with as he came from a family background that while from a wizarding family, were outcasts due to their poor financial status. How many of us have been taunted by the fact, that maybe our own family background wasn't exactly in the money so to say and had to do with less than our childhood friends around us who came from financial backgrounds that were better than ours. All in all, it could be said that each one of the main characters, has some personality characteristics that we can all relate to.

There is one area I would like to briefly touch on however, in relation to the Harry Potter phenomenon, since there are two sides of the issues here in connection with these books. While on the one side, are many people, children and adults alike who have embraced these books with open arms, while the other side, especially fundamentalistic Christian groups have practically have had an outright war against the Harry Potter series of books ever since they came out. Various sectors have literally banned these books from libraries and schools and have prevented their children from reading Harry Potter, claiming that these books are encouraging children to want to take up "witchcraft" and cast spells. It is true that witchcraft does in fact exist, especially for those who follow the Wicca and more pagan paths of religion. However, people such as this only show their ignorance of what true witchcraft means, and instead view all forms of witchcraft as being "evil", this no doubt from erroneous viewpoints not only perpetuated by Christianity itself, but by media hype that still show those who follow the Wiccan/pagan path as being in league with the Devil and Satan, so far from the actual truth.

I think today's children have a better sense of understanding and sophistication of what is real and what is not. J.K. Rowling's books are pure entertainment, nothing more. They are not books that will convert the masses to suddenly take up witchcraft. Also, if any of these groups which are so antagonistic to the Harry Potter books did just a little bit of reading themselves, they would realize that many of the concepts brought forth in her books, are steeped heavily with Celtic folklore and legend, just as J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings are also based on not only Celtic, but Nordic mythologies and legends. As an example, in Harry Potter, we have that famous "Grim", that black dog that strikes terror even in the wizard world, for it is bearer and bringer of death. This is right out of Celtic folklore, for it is even considered an ill omen today, in Britain to see a black dog, as opposed to say American culture that views a black cat as evil or unlucky. The point I'm making here, is that, with just a little reading those who condemn Rowling's books would see that her basis for many of her ideas are based on old time legends themselves. It is therefore, ludicrous to think that these groups would actually view her books as promoting an interest in children to become witches. You might as well say, that if a child read a simple book like Peter Pan would suddenly take it in their heads to want to fly.

Many of us, whether young or old who have been following the Harry Potter books, are probably wondering what is next in line for Ms. Rowling, as I don't think any of us can imagine that her writing days are over--no author who has been writing for any length of time can just suddenly give up on the craft of writing, as it is too ingrained in a writer's personality. Who knows? Perhaps, Ms. Rowling just might come up with another "magical" series of books that will enchant us just as these books have. I for one hope so.

Positive Things to Do to Raise Self-esteem: Three Ideas to Lift One's Spirits

Originally published Yahoo.voices~Sep 16, 2007~Non-Exclusive

http://voices.yahoo.com/positive-things-raise-self-esteem-539994.html?cat=5

I think there are so many times in our lives when things just aren't going right in our lives. Maybe those dreams and goals we had set for ourselves when we were younger aren't materializing the way we thought they would. Negative events may be occurring one after another, after another, like a snowball effect. We might be experiencing financial, relationship and health problems seemingly all at once. We might be experiencing one setback after another, and it feels as though our life is in some kind of detour mode and on hold from those original goals. Then those nagging questions start coming into our minds, and we may begin to question our worth in life, and in the overall scheme of things. Worse yet, our self-esteem becomes low and we may even begin to feel depressed and disgusted with life; we feel lost, and we begin to doubt if we can ever feel good about ourselves again. When we're feeling this way, this is the precisely right and perfect time to do something that will raise our self-esteem, and there are several ways to do this. Now granted, at first, the mere idea of doing anything to help ourselves feel more positive and better about our lives may seem completely foreign to us, but I can't emphasize enough just what powerful tools these are to get that self-esteem up and to feel good once more.

When I myself found myself at my lowest ebb and my self-esteem was sagging, I came across several self-help books that made a profound difference and turned by attitudes about myself around into a more positive outlook. To my mind one of the most influential authors around is Julia Cameron, author of dozens of books, but is better known for her book The Artist's Way and The Sound of Paper. Ms. Cameron is by no means the only author to suggest what is in her books, and that is to make a list of accomplishments one has already done in one's life, from the simplest to the grandiose. I have come to call such a list, "The Pat Yourself On The Back List".

The idea and concept behind this list, is to look back on one's life, reflect upon it, and start making a list of anything and everything one can think about that one has accomplished in life or aspects of your personality that makes you uniquely "you" and that you're proud of. In the beginning, you may only come up with ten things, and there's nothing wrong with that, however, the idea is to keep expanding it, and as time goes by you just may be surprised and come up with a hundred things to be proud of. To start, get one of those spiral notebooks and think of this book as the one you will write in all the positives you can think of that have occurred in your life.

As an example, I have listed here a few of mine:

1}. I was an honors student throughout all my years in school.


2}. I won numerous science awards in elementary school.


3}. I was the only member of my family to go to college.


4}. I graduated Magma Cum Laude with a BA from college. 


5}. I'm proud of my creativity--it's my bliss 


6}. I'm proud that I have a diverse taste in music~~~~from Vivaldi to Coldplay 


7}. I'm proud I taught myself computers a few years ago---it opened up a whole new world for me 


8}. I love that I have an insatiable thirst for learning


9}. I love that I can take pleasure in simple things: a beautiful sunset; a new day to begin 
again; that I can see, hear and speak; a flower, a tree............ 


10}. I'm proud of myself in that I have a creative imagination to inspire me to write stories.


11}. I'm proud of that my many of my short stories have been published.


12}. I love that I'm an accomplished cook--especially French cuisine


13}. I'm proud that I'm getting more sociable 
14}. I'm proud that I can still maintain a child-like sense of awe about the world around me 


15}. I'm proud of myself that I have had my photos published. 


16}. One of my photos, appeared on the cover of a magazine and was later cited as best magazine cover of the year.

You see, it's really not that hard to do, as I've already said, you might only be able to list only a few things at first, but you just might be amazed, that if you keep adding to the list all the things you're proud of with yourself and the things you have accomplished in the past.

Now another great thing to do, to raise your self esteem is to list the things you are grateful for, and while this isn't exactly a new concept either, it was one of the highlights brought forth in both the book and the DVD of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. In that same spiral notebook, start listing all the things you are grateful for, again from the seemingly simplistic to the more profound for as Joe Vitale suggests, that what you're grateful for at the present time, will not only raise your level of self-esteem and conscious awareness of what you already have, but will pave the way for more good in your life. As Mr. Vitale says in The Secret:

..."As soon as you start to feel different about what you already have, you will start to attract more of the good things. More of the good things you can be grateful for. You could look around and say, "Well, I don't have the car I want. I don't have the house I want. I don't have the spouse I want. I don't have the health I want." Whoah! Back up, back up! Those are all the things you don't want. Focus on what you already have that you're grateful for. And it might be that you have the eyes to read this." {page 77}

So again, every day, make it a point to list the things you are grateful for, here is an example of mine:

1}. I'm grateful for having a home to live in.

2}. I'm grateful that I can see, that I can read books, watch TV, see a beautiful sunset, see the trees and flowers


3}. I'm grateful for my hearing; that I can hear the birds, a child's laughter, a friend's voice.


4}. I'm grateful for the clothes I have. 


5}. I'm grateful for finally having my own computer.


6}. I'm grateful that I have food to eat. 


7}. I'm grateful for my health. 


8}. I'm grateful that I can walk.


9}. I'm grateful that I can talk.


10}. Most of all, I'm grateful for each day of new life.

See? It's really not so hard to do, and the list can be endless as far as I'm concerned. Along with making a list of things to be grateful for, I now started carrying around with me, what I call a "Gratitude Rock" an idea also expressed in The Secret by Lee Brower. The idea is to find a rock, any kind that has some meaning for you, maybe due to it's coloration, and it should be small enough that you can carry with you at all times. Before you go out on your daily errands or to work, place that rock in one of your pockets, and then, throughout the day, every time you touch that rock, mentally say something you are grateful for as a little reminder that there is something good and positive in your life. It might even be the fact, that you are touching this Gratitude Rock while at work, and maybe it's not exactly the kind of work you want to do or are exactly happy with, but at least you can be grateful, for the time being you do have a job while so many are out of work. The third thing to raise one's self-esteem, is the concept of nurturing oneself and this too was a concept initiated in Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. Now of course, she is presenting this concept mainly toward artists, yet one doesn't have to be an artist to appreciate this self-love gesture to oneself.

..."The essential element in nurturing our creativity lies in nurturing ourselves.." (Julia Cameron, page 43-The Artist's Way) The idea behind this is to give oneself permission to nurture ourselves. So many times we're so busy nurturing others that we forget to do so ourselves, to be kind to ourselves. The idea of nurturing oneself may actually be foreign to many, for we are so busy trying to do for others and rarely do we do anything nice for ourselves--we usually wind up taking a back seat to our own needs---By nurturing I mean that at least once a week, one should become a little selfish. For instance, go out and buy some little "do-dah" that makes you feel good and lifts your spirits, and it doesn't have to be extravagant or expensive. It could be as something as simple as getting a packet of that favorite incense you love, buying that little teddy bear figurine you saw in the dollar store or treating yourself to a children's Happy Meal and get that cute promotional toy for the latest children's movie that is out--hey, I do that all the time! You don't even have to buy anything either...it could be a well deserved time out by spending the day doing something you love doing---this could be anything from putting those headphones on and listening to music and doing nothing else, to snuggling up in your favorite chair and reading that book you've always wanted to read.

By doing even just one of these self-esteem boosters, one can rise up from the "woe-is-me" type attitude and realize, hey, life isn't so bad, is it? Also, by continuing to do any of one of these three ideas, but better yet, all of them at the same time and on a regular basis, one's life will make a turn around, and pave the way not only a better sense of self esteem and value in one's life, but will also pave the way for more good to enter in it, since your mind frame is on a more positive level.

A small listing of books that have the "Pat Yourself on the Back" and gratitude concepts:

1}. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron


2}. The Sound Of Paper by Julia Cameron 


3}. The Success Principles by Jack Caufield


4}. Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want by Barbara Sher 


5}. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

The Attraction of the Law of Attraction: Attracting What You Want in Your Life

(Originally Published August 14, 2007~Yahoo.voices`Non-Exclusive)

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-attraction-law-attraction-489861.html?cat=7

I'm by no means a stranger to the whole Law Of Attraction concept, that is, whatever one desires in life, whether it be more wealth, better health, or great relationships, one can attain them all as a reality by the means of programing one's mind. I was first introduced to the Law Of Attraction principles through my great-grandmother, who as far as I'm concerned was years ahead of her time. While she had been raised as a Catholic, she didn't particularly stick to a strict discipline of her religion, and ventured out into other viewpoints of life. She became familiar with the teachings and ideologies set forth in the non-denominational religions such as Unity, School of Christianity and Science of Mind. Therefore, it was due to her, that the rest of us in the family, that being my grandmother, mother and myself, were familiar with not only these schools of what would be called as New Thought principles, but we were also familiar with the names of such authors as Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich), Robert Collier (The Secret Of The Ages), Catherine Ponder (Pray and Grow Rich), and of course any one of the numerous books by the "positive thinking" person himself, Norman Vincent Peale. My great-grandmother was by no means a millionaire due to her knowledge of using the Law Of Attraction principles, but neither was she ever poor. To a certain extent, she did live an "abundant" life as there was never any lack throughout her life, and she lived to be a young ninety-eight years of age.

I had been baptized Catholic, and confirmed Protestant, but like many people who as soon as they grow older, say in their mid-teen years,around fifteen or sixteen years of age, I in effect started my own journey to understand the meaning of life, and began delving into the world my great-grandmother had already known about. I began reading up just about anything I could about in the New Thought concepts, and the whole Law Of Attraction ideologies, and continued to do so well beyond my college years. I have to admit, while I was "attracted" to these ideologies and did to a certain degree applied many of the principles involved , yet I have to admit, I never went full speed ahead with it. That is, I really didn't make it a daily part of my life which is what is needed if one is to fully gain the benefits of the whole Law Of Attraction lifestyle...that is until now, after all these years.

As you can probably guess, my "new" interest in re-learning the Law Of Attraction concepts was triggered by non other than the recent phenomenal success of Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. Several months ago, I had bought the book, but I was also longing to get the DVD as well, but I have to admit, with the fairly tight budget I was facing, it was kind of an extravagance for me, but then who knows? Maybe the Law Of Attraction was already starting to work for me while I was reading The Secret book. I was browsing one night on the e-Bay website, and lo and behold, several copies of the DVD were up for auction, and the extended version to boot. I took a chance, bid on one copy, and yes, won it for a fraction of the original cost. Now I was thoroughly hooked, and was getting my hands on anything and everything that had to do with the Law Of Attraction. I bought copies of The Success Principles (Jack Canfield), and The Attractor Factor (Joe Vitale), two principle participants who were involved with The Secret DVD. Then hunting around on the internet, I found the websites of just about all the others who played key roles in the DVD. Mainly of the websites belonging to Joe Vitale, James Ray, Bob Doyle,John Assaraf, Bob Proctor, and so forth, that while yes, they do have extensive CD-programs that are quite expensive, many offer little "freebie" courses that one can subscribe to and get as e-mail lessons or newsletters. The most fun website belongs to Mike Dooley who even has a discussion forum one can join and be connected with others of like mind.

Not only have I taken an interest in reading books by the "newer" philosophers, I started digging around my extensive collection of books in my own library, and discovered I still had my old, battered copies of The Secret of Ages, and Think and Grow Rich, the former book which was one of the main inspirations that led Ms. Byrne's herself on her own journey and path to the Law Of Attraction concepts . I also discovered many websites where one can actually download either free or relatively inexpensive e-books of such as the 1921 classic Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend. With all this reading material I now possess in my hands, let's put it this way, I have a fairly nice-sized stack of material to read about the Law Of Attraction principles that will keep me busy for a very, very long time.

Now, maybe up until now, while you may have heard of all this hoopla of the Law Of Attraction you may still be unfamiliar of what is involved here, so let me just briefly tell you what all this brouhaha is all about, and maybe it just might spark an interest in your life to begin your own journey of understanding of what this is all about.

Basically, what you think about, you get about. One of the famous three word sentences Mike Dooley says in The Secret DVD is "Thoughts Become Things". That's it in a nutshell and I could leave it at that, but you might not understand just what I mean by that. Just exactly does that mean? Well, it's like this. Whatever you are thinking about, whatever you are concentrating on, whether good or bad, you will attract more like it. The whole idea is to concentrate on what you do want in life, so you have to virtually re-program your mind on the positive, and no, one isn't supposed to walk around in a state of perpetual Pollyanna-ism or simple wishful thinking, for it does go down into a deeper level than that. If that were the case, if all one had to do was bombard the mind with a daydreaming frame of wishful thinking then we'd all be millionaires, we'd all be one-hundred percent healthy, we'd all have the ideal relationships and so forth. But what it does involve is turning your conscious awareness in a more positive level of awareness, and to think of those aspects of your life that you want to attract more of.

Now the problem with most of us, we get wrapped up in what we don't want, and wonder why were still attracting the bad debt, the bad relationships, the bad health. Let me give an example. Almost like clockwork, at a certain time of year, we're told it's cold and flu season...so maybe we're saying to ourselves, I hope I don't get sick this year, I don't want to get a cold or the flu. We're so concentrating on the fact that we don't want to get sick that guess what? You get that nasty cold or a bout of the flu and wonder why, despite eating healthy and/or exercising. You were so focused on what you didn't want to get, because you were concentrating on it and therefore attracting it to you.

The subject of money and debt is another great example of how Law Of Attraction can work. In both the book and the DVD of The Secret, Bob Proctor makes a wonderful statement. He says: ".....Most people have a goal of getting out of debt. That will keep you in debt forever. Whatever you're thinking 
about, you will attract. You say, 'But it's get out of debt.' I don't care if it's get out or get in, if you're thinking 
debt, you're attracting debt...." (page 102, The Secret)

Therefore, instead of concentrating so hard on getting out of debt, perhaps one valuable idea to begin having would be to completely eliminated that word from our vocabulary, and replace it with the idea of getting into "abundance" Live, think and breathe abundance. Instead of going to your mailbox always expecting a bill think of and concentrate on expecting a check. Now you might be saying, yeah, sure, right. Believe me, ever since I started embarking on this journey of mine, I have received unexpected sources of income coming into my life, and no, I'm not a millionaire yet...but I'm working on it.

Another valuable tool to use when using the Law Of Attraction principles, and which is mentioned in both the book and the DVD is the idea of what John Assaraf calls a vision board. I'm no stranger to this idea, though I never before called it a vision board, but had known it as a "treasure map" due to my studying New Thought concepts such as given through Unity and Science of Mind. Basically, what the vision board or treasure map is, is a visual tool to attract whatever it is you want in your life, and this is actually a lot of fun to do. Take a fairly nice stack of magazines, and they should be a variety of types from home decor, travel, fashion, cars, electronics and so forth, then have fun, cutting out images of the things your attracted to, the things you like...see a nice home in that home decor magazine? Cut it out. See the kind of car you'd like to drive? Cut it out. See a nice new home theater or stereo system you want? Cut it out. Do you wish to have better health, then cut out an image of a healthy, smiling person. Want to travel, then cut out images of places you'd like to travel to. Then have either a large poster or cork board and tack up all those images you have just cut from those magazines. If it's more money you want in your life, add some images of money on those boards, even if it means getting some "play" money or what I did, find a website like the one I have listed which shows images of large denomination bills and print them up from your printer. I have these bills printed up and taped up all over the place, especially near my bed, so the first thing I see when I wake up is a thousand dollar bill--kind of nice, no?

Actually if you really want to go gung-ho with this, make several of these vision boards...have one in the bedroom, have one in the living room, and so forth, so you can literally look at all those images just about everywhere you are in your home, and will allow you to see these images on a daily basis. The whole idea of this is to saturate ones mind with what you want really want in life, some targeted goal or goals you're aiming for. Ah, but you do have to work at it too. One can't just expect all these goals to fall in one's lap without a little effort on your part, but the amazing thing that will happen quite often, is that one will suddenly get "ideas" that literally come out of blue and will often lead you in attaining your goals. By being in this more positive frame of mind, you are opening the channels to attract the steps that will lead to better successes in life. It will almost be a snowball effect and one thing will lead into another into another. If you're curious to see some of those websites of those who participated in The Secret DVD please click to these links:

The Secret Website

http://www.thesecret.tv

John Assaraf's Website

http://johnassaraf.com

Michael Beckwith's Website

http://agapelive.com

Jack Canfield's Website

http://jackcanfield.com

Bob Proctor's Website

http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com

James Ray's Website

http://www.jamesray.com

Joe Vitale's Website

http://www.mrfire.comom

Mike Dooley's Website

http://www.tut.com

And here is that website that shows images of large denomination bills that you can print up, and place all over your home to get that mindset of wealth and abundance. Click on anyone of the images of the bills and it will open to a page of a larger image of it, from a $1,000 dollar bill, to my all time favorite an image of the gold certificate $100,000 bill. Hey, it's a lot of fun!

Large Denomination Bills Website

http://www.highdenomination.com/index2.asp

The Magical Attraction of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter

(Originally Published on Yahoo.voices~July 27, 2007~Non-Exclusive)

The Magical Attraction of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter

Precisely at 9:00 a.m., my downstairs doorbell rang, and upon looking out the window, I saw it was the mail truck, but funny, I couldn't imagine what was being delivered to me as I wasn't expecting anything, at least not on that day, Saturday, July 21st. After ringing the bell to let the mailman inside my apartment building, the mailman presented me with a package. Ah, but it turned out not to be just any package, but the book I had pre-ordered from Amazon. com. It had arrived, and much sooner than I had expected! The package I was holding in my hands had arrived to me the very day of the book's worldwide release.

Like a giddy child at Christmas, I ripped opened the package and slid out the book...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling's last and final book of the magical world she had created and for the past ten years, has entranced millions of readers young and old. While some people have already finished the 759-page book, I'm still reading it, very slowly, as I want to savor every moment of this final entry of Harry Potter's life that many of us have shared all these many years.

I'm by no means a child, but I do love reading children's books, and J.K. Rowling's books have been on the top of my list of books to get absorbed in, more so than mainstream adult books. So I think many of us who have been involved with the Harry Potter books will feel a bit of sadness, now that this is to be the last and final book.

I think it can be safely said, that thanks to Ms. Rowling, a new burst of interest, especially in children, has been created in the art of reading again as nothing like before. There is a wonderful article, dated July 8, 2007, from The Galveston County Daily News, entitled "Harry Potter inspires new readers" by Rhiannon Meyers. In the article she relates of how one boy, Xan Stanley, the same age of eleven as when we are first introduced to Harry Potter, who, while coming from a family of readers, and in which his own mother was a librarian, never took much to reading. Diagnosed with dyslexia, Xan often became discouraged about reading, that is until his mother brought home a copy of the first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Then, his whole world opened up for him, and like many children he became entranced by this magical world of wizards and witches, Hogwarts School, muggles, Diagon Alley. As stated in the article, "...Stanley found a kindred spirit - a boy who faced struggles too..."

However, it's not only children like Xan Stanley who have learning disabilities who can relate to Harry Potter's struggles, or perhaps identify with the other main characters. So many children nowadays come from, what could be considered "dysfunctional" family backgrounds. Like Harry Potter, many children may not have been raised in a two parent family background, products of divorce, or raised by other family members, and may never have gotten to know one of their biological parent or both parents. Today's children may have known ridicule while growing up, such as how Harry was ostracized and neglected by the only family his knew, his aunt Petunia, uncle Vern and forever being tormented by his cousin, Dudley. Up until age eleven, Harry was ignored that is, until one glorious night, precisely at the stroke of his eleventh birthday, his whole world changed, and he found out he was special...he was a wizard with magical gifts. Grown-ups too, reading Harry Potter may also relate to J.K. Rowling's books, identifying with Harry their own childhoods...I know I did, as my parents were divorced when I was only a year and a half old, and I never got to know my father, and with this was viewed by my peers at school as being a bit "odd" for at that time, when I was a child, divorce wasn't as commonplace as it is now.

It's not only Harry Potter's character that young and old alike can identify with. Some of us may see just a little of Hermione Granger in ourselves...a character also ridiculed, especially by the "purebloods" like the Malfoy family for not coming from a wizard family but instead from a lowly "mugbloods"--again the theme of being "different". Also, there is Hermione Granger's personality of being an "insufferable" know it all, the child in the class that when a question is asked by a professor, always has her hand up, as she knows the answer...I relate to that, having always been the bookworm with my nose in a book, the epitome of the studious student, so oh, yes, I was the insufferable know it all myself as a child, just as Hermione's character was and therefore, I was often ridiculed and taunted by my peers. Then of course, is Ron Weasley, another character many of us may be able to identify with as he came from a family background that while from a wizarding family, were outcasts due to their poor financial status. How many of us have been taunted by the fact, that maybe our own family background wasn't exactly in the money so to say and had to do with less than our childhood friends around us who came from financial backgrounds that were better than ours. All in all, it could be said that each one of the main characters, has some personality characteristics that we can all relate to.

There is one area I would like to briefly touch on however, in relation to the Harry Potter phenomenon, since there are two sides of the issues here in connection with these books. While on the one side, are many people, children and adults alike who have embraced these books with open arms, while the other side, especially fundamentalistic Christian groups have practically have had an outright war against the Harry Potter series of books ever since they came out. Various sectors have literally banned these books from libraries and schools and have prevented their children from reading Harry Potter, claiming that these books are encouraging children to want to take up "witchcraft" and cast spells. It is true that witchcraft does in fact exist, especially for those who follow the Wicca and more pagan paths of religion. However, people such as this only show their ignorance of what true witchcraft means, and instead view all forms of witchcraft as being "evil", this no doubt from erroneous viewpoints not only perpetuated by Christianity itself, but by media hype that still show those who follow the Wiccan/pagan path as being in league with the Devil and Satan, so far from the actual truth.

I think today's children have a better sense of understanding and sophistication of what is real and what is not. J.K. Rowling's books are pure entertainment, nothing more. They are not books that will convert the masses to suddenly take up witchcraft. Also, if any of these groups which are so antagonistic to the Harry Potter books did just a little bit of reading themselves, they would realize that many of the concepts brought forth in her books, are steeped heavily with Celtic folklore and legend, just as J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings are also based on not only Celtic, but Nordic mythologies and legends. As an example, in Harry Potter, we have that famous "Grim", that black dog that strikes terror even in the wizard world, for it is bearer and bringer of death. This is right out of Celtic folklore, for it is even considered an ill omen today, in Britain to see a black dog, as opposed to say American culture that views a black cat as evil or unlucky. The point I'm making here, is that, with just a little reading those who condemn Rowling's books would see that her basis for many of her ideas are based on old time legends themselves. It is therefore, ludicrous to think that these groups would actually view her books as promoting an interest in children to become witches. You might as well say, that if a child read a simple book like Peter Pan would suddenly take it in their heads to want to fly.

Many of us, whether young or old who have been following the Harry Potter books, are probably wondering what is next in line for Ms. Rowling, as I don't think any of us can imagine that her writing days are over--no author who has been writing for any length of time can just suddenly give up on the craft of writing, as it is too ingrained in a writer's personality. Who knows? Perhaps, Ms. Rowling just might come up with another "magical" series of books that will enchant us just as these books have. I for one hope so.

A Guide on How to Take Care of Young Kittens: The Taking Care of a Newborn or Very Young Kitten

Also appears at Yahoo.voices

A Guide on How to Take Care of Young Kittens

Ideally, when a person is interested and thinking about adopting a kitten, it should be at least six weeks to eight weeks old, as this is when the kitten will have been weaned from it's mother, however, kittens may actually still like to nurse as old as ten weeks of age.

All shelters and pet rescuers refuse to adopt out kittens younger than six weeks of age, due to the obvious reasons that the kitten is just to young to be adopted and taken away from it's mother. There are numerous occasions, when unfortunately it's commonplace for a person, who has a female cat, and hasn't had it spayed will find themselves with an unwanted litter, and thus bring the litter to a shelter, placing the responsibility and care of these kittens with the shelter until they are old enough to be adopted. This is an ideal scenario of what happens to an unwanted litter of kittens, but that isn't always the case. All too often thoughtless people will simply dump or dispose of the young, and innocent kittens, either by simply trashing them like garbage or even drowning them; or they just might be lucky to be taken in by someone, other than a shelter situation who has some knowledge of how to take care of very young kittens, as was the case with me many years ago.

I've had pets, mainly cats since I was five years old. It was actually my mother's idea to get a cat and she adopted one through a shelter. Having been around cats nearly all my life, I have to admit I developed a natural instinct in taking care of them throughout all the stages of their lives, but it wasn't until 1987 that I was able to add another ability of mine, and that was taking care of recent newborns.

At the time, back in 1987 we now had five cats, and many of our neighbors knew we had cats, while most of the other tenants had dogs, including one family who had lived in the building almost as long as we had. Out of the blue, one day, the young son of this tenant rang our bell and he was accompanied by five of his friends, plus a "surprise". He held a cardboard box which contained a litter of six kittens. Not only were these kittens younger than six weeks of age, but recent newborns. They still had the characteristic ears flattened against their heads, a sign that they couldn't hear yet, their eyes were closed tight and all still had their umbilical cords, an indication that these kittens were only a day or two old. The son explained he and his friends had been playing and suddenly heard the soft mewings of kittens. They made a search and were horrified that when they opened up one of the garbage bins of a nearby apartment building, they found the box of kittens in it. Knowing that I had cats, they right away thought of me, assuming I knew how to take care of such young kittens.

I have to admit that, yes, in some ways, yes I did, for only a few years prior, some of my friends had found a very, very young abandoned kitten less than four weeks old in a nearby park and as you can guess, brought the kitten to my care. While this kitten was older I quickly discovered that I did indeed have to bottle feed this, thus giving me the opportunity and know how in taking care of such a young kitten. However, as the son presented me with this box of newborns, this was a challenge. The son and his young little friends were adamantly interested in taking care of the kittens themselves and asked question after question of how to take care of them. Now if I had had the foresight I would have refused to have them have any of the kittens until they were properly weaned, but since their interest was genuine, I started giving them instructions on how and what to feed them, and even told them that they also had to also rub the bottom of the kitten to make it "go"...a function that the mother cat will do by licking a kitten's bottom for the same purpose. Each of the children then picked out a kitten each, and I took one as well. Sadly, I found out later that none of the other kittens survived, despite my careful instructions of how to take care of them, and it really wasn't their fault being that these were young children, as even adults may not even know how to properly take care of such newborn kittens. The good news, however, was that the one newborn kitten of whom I had named Sachiko, not only survived but thrived and lived to be sixteen years old.

The point of this article is to give some pointers to anyone who also may find themselves in the same situation as I've been for the success of taking care of very, very young kittens, particularly when one may not having the advantage of having the mother cat around. First of all, this is a very time consuming proposition and one must be dedicated to this job as the very survival of the animal is at stake here. Ideally this is the kind of task to undertake if one isn't at the present time working, for such young kittens, especially newborns need round the clock care and feeding. Remember you are dealing with young animal infants who need every bit of care as one who is taking care of a newborn human baby.

First, is the food issue, and one might wonder what is the best thing to feed newborn kittens...or puppies for that fact. There is a product available called KMR Milk Replacer (for puppies, its Esbilac Milk Replacer) which comes in either powder or liquid form, and most closely resembles the nutrition needs found in the milk of a mother cat (or dog). This product can be found in just about any quality pet store, or of course, you can order on-line. Then of course, you need the means to feed the infant, young kitten (or puppy) and one can also find this at a pet store as well. This can range from small feeding bottles to even syringe type feeders, although most people find the bottles more convenient; in a pinch however, when I at first wasn't able to find any or weren't available to me right away, I made do with a baby doll's type bottle and worked just as effectively.

As with human babies, one has to heat up this formula, usually by placing the bottle with an adequate amount of the formula in the bottle and placing it in a bowl or saucer of very hot water and allowing the formula to heat up. One can then do the same "test" for the proper temperature that one does in testing the formula's heat for a human baby, and that is to do the "wrist" test, that is, sprinkling a few drops of the formula on one's wrist.

Next, and this is what I did, I would gently wrap the newborn or young kitten in a soft towel, setting the kitten on my lap and gently place the nipple into the kitten's mouth. If it is hungry, you'll sure know it as it will suckle on the bottle as if it was it's own mother's teat. The kitten will usually not drink more than it needs at anyone time and will let you know by stopping its feeding automatically. One generally has to feed a newborn or young kitten every few hours, and round the clock, so yes, one has to do feedings in the middle of the night, just as one would with a human baby. And needless to say, one must be conscientious and remember to routinely clean and sterilize the bottles just as you would with a human's baby bottle to prevent contamination.

One also has to remember, you have to do all the tasks a mother cat (or dog) does, and this includes making sure the infant animal voids. Normally the mother animal will lick the baby's bottom to make it go, but without the parent animal you have to do this, and the best way to do this, is to gently rub the infant animal's bottom with a soft paper towel or even a tissue until it urinates or defecates. And admittedly not exactly the most pleasant task to do, but it does have to be done for the proper functioning of the young animal. And don't forget to "burp" the kitten. Yes, you have to do this with infant animals as well, and one can gently rub the back or even the tummy of the infant animal.

Now the KMR Milk Replacer is naturally considered the best alternative to the mother's milk, and normally one shouldn't have a problem. I wasn't so lucky when it came to feeding Sachiko. I remember vividly racing out to get this formula only to find that it just didn't go well with her, in fact she had a continuing bout of diarrhea and at first I was at a complete loss as to what to feed her, as I had read in one veterinary type book that regular cow's milk could cause the exact same problem. However, I decided to give it a go, and I not only started feeding Sachiko regular, whole cow' milk, but for extra protein, added an egg yolk to the milk. I was fortunate that I discovered that she had a better tolerance for this "formula" of mine, rather than the KMR Milk Replacer. I add this information, just in case anyone runs into the same problem...it just might work better as it did for me in my case.

It's also important to keep a newborn or young kitten as warm as possible to avoid the possibility of the kitten coming down with a respiratory illness. What I did with Sachiko was to keep and place her inside one of my extra traveling pet cases, creating an incubator type environment by lining it with a blanket, then placed a small sized cardboard box inside it lined with a small, soft towel, and to avoid any drafts from possibly coming in, I placed the entire traveling case on top of the spare bed in my bedroom, in other words, I kept the case off the floor. If it's winter time, however you can place such a traveling case near a heat source, like a radiator, just as long as you make sure there are no drafts. I also even placed a clock inside the case. Yes, a clock. The idea behind this is that even though such a young kitten can neither see or hear yet, it can still feel and sense things. Young kittens when raised by their natural mothers are used to feeling the beating of their mother's heart. Thus, in lieu of this, a clock is a good substitute for the beating of a heart.

Once the kitten is about three weeks old, one can start adding to the formula a little bit of strained meat human baby food and blending well to get the kitten used to eating/nursing on something more solid, then by four weeks of age, one can try to also give the baby food at full strength, however, don't neglect the bottle feedings either, one must still continue to do this until the kitten is at least six weeks old, and even older, for technically speaking, nursing kittens when they have their own mothers to nurse on will continue sometimes even months after they are of the weaned age. By six weeks of age, a young kitten can start eating moistened kitten type dry food and even start eating regular cat food, for by then the kitten is now considered properly weaned.

Is all this a lot of work? Does one have to have dedication? Is it time consuming? The answer is yes to all three questions,, but the effort will be well worth it for successfully taking care of such a young little life. While I never had the opportunity ever again to take care of such a young newborn kitten again, I found it a wonderful experience I'll never forget. As previously mentioned, Sachiko grew up strong and healthy and had in every way attached herself to me as her mother and lived for sixteen years.

For sources and more information on how to raise a newborn, or younger kitten, and to find places that sell the Milk replacers please check these websites:

http://cats.about.com/cs/kittencare/ht/bottlefeed.htm

(websites to order the KMR and Esbilac Milk Replacer and feeding bottles):

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

http://www.vetdepot.com/

Image Source: ©Melanie Neer~~My own photo of Sachiko at 17 days old