My Friends of Faith, I have received two prayer requests for lost pets–their people, too. Please join in and share.
1-29-2015 Ava Kunshick: Please pray for my dog Lisa to come home. She disappeared about 3 weeks ago and I miss her so much. She was a rescue animal along with a black poodle. They both came from South Padre Island as their owner had died and no one in the family wanted them. I brought them both home. Lisa has never left the yard before and we cannot imagine why she did this time. I need her so bad. She has a red collar with tags and a gold heart that says guardian angel of dogs. I have put up posters with her picture and offered a 500.00 reward. She is not an expensive dog. I just love her and need her. I know she needs me please. Pray that she comes home or. Let someone call that they have found her. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
Taz has been found. 11-29-2015 Robyn Reichert: Please pray for the return of Taz, safely without harm soon so that he can find a new loving home. He is missed dearly.
Are you making Fluffy a fat cat? I’ll go out on a limb and say, “Probably yes.”
How can you tell if your kitty isn’t just fluffy, but rather portly? Gently slide your fingers along his rib cage. You should be able to feel his rib through a thin layer of fat without having to press down. If he’s too skinny, you’ll instantly feel and see his ribs. If he’s too fat, you won’t be able to feel his ribs through all the fat.
What would he be eating if he had to hunt for his living?
Margie Scherk, DVM, ABVP, who conducted nutrition seminars at the Greenies Feline Influencer Summit in Franklin, Tennessee, said if you feed your kitty by only ten pieces of kibble per day more than his body needs, he can gain one pound of fat in a year! That’s 10% of a 10-pound kitty’s body weight. (Imagine a 150-pound human putting on 15 pounds. You do that for two or three years in a row and you’re in trouble.) For a cat to pork on one pound of fat a year for three years, and that’s bad news.
A cat living in the wild would hunt and eat up to ten mouse-sized meals a day. The average mouse contains between 30-35 calories. But Dr. Scherk adds only one out of 15 hunting expeditions results in a meal, so a natural cat spends most of his day running, jumping and climbing trees. All that activity burns a lot of calories.
“Regulating your cat’s diet and encouraging regular exercise are the best ways to maintain your cat’s body weight,” the late Dr. Lorie Huston told me.
Provide your inside cat with small, meals high in protein and fat eight to 10 times a day.
But, no crash diet for Fluffy. Work with your vet to design a gradual weight loss program. Rapid weight loss can cause potentially fatal fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis.)
My Friends of Faith, I have received new requests for these pets needing prayers–their people too. Please join in and share.
11/06/2015 Rebecca asks, “Please pray for my horse. I’ve only had her for a month and we were not aware of her severe kidney condition when we bought her. In only a short time she has captured our hearts and now we must let her go. I pray that she will go peacefully and we will not be forced to end her suffering. I know it is selfish but I just don’t know if I can do it. My heart is breaking.”
11/12/2015 Joanne asks, “Please pray for my very sick little Chihuahua, Mimi. She is only 4 and in her so few years has seen so much pain. She was born in captivity to a rescue mom and was the runt of the litter left behind and not adopted until we were graced to meet her by chance. We adopted her immediately and fought through her early health issues only now to have her struggling to survive an auto immune platelet disease that she is fighting so hard to beat. She is so friendly and dedicated to our little family that staying away in the hospital for her is as bad as the illness. She is lost and despondent and so are we. I am hoping that prayers from all loving souls will help. Please hold her in your hearts and prayers.”
Author and self-publishing guru, Dan Poynter, as we knew him.
I was saddened to learn of the passing of my friend and Cat Writers’ Association member, Dan Poynter, on November 1 to lymphoma. Dan was a mentor and teacher to many members of CWA and other writers. He joined our merry band of writers and cat lovers in 2001, already a self-publishing guru.
I received Dan’s mentorship on a completely different path from other CWA members. So rather than list all his writing credits, which most writers already know about, I thought I would share a different side of Daniel F. Poynter.
I started skydiving in 1976 and made my final jump in 1980 with a just over 100 freefalls under my harness. By today’s standards, I’m one of the oldtimers. Not one of the greats, but an oldtimer, nevertheless. When I first signed up for ground school, my instructor required me to join the United States Parachute Association. A benefit of USPA membership was a subscription to Parachutist magazine, which I read ravenously when it arrived in my mailbox.
Dan in the early days of skydiving.
Jump ahead almost three decades. I met Dan Poynter face-to-face at the 2004 CWA conference in Houston. He was, of course, a pioneer in self-publishing. I was shocked and delighted to learn that he was THE skydiving Dan Poynter, whose column, “Parachuting Poynters” I read religiously every month.
Here’s a few facts about the Dan Poynter I knew.
Dan Poynter jumped onto the real North Pole in 1996.
He was a pioneer in, not only the sport of skydiving, but also the parachuting industry and parachuting safety. From his first static line jump in 1962, he rose to become one of the world’s leading experts in parachute design and engineering. A master rigger and canopy designer, he invented the Stylemaster parachute, the Fastbak parachute and patented the Pop Top parachute. (The first parachute gear I ever owned had a Pop Top reserve.) He wrote a dozen books on airborne sports that included skydiving, civil aviation and hang gliding. “The Parachute Manual—A Technical Treatise on the Parachute,” which he first published in 1972, was the bible of the parachuting industry and riggers around the world. (Riggers and especially master riggers have to go through an intensive training, testing and licensing process. Riggers pack the emergency reserve parachutes and do repairs. Master riggers can also build and repair parachutes and harnesses.) He managed a parachute company in Oakland, California.
This is a Pop Top reserve parachute similar to the one I owned. Only a few days ago I learned it was designed by Dan Poynter.
Over his career he made 1200 jumps and accrued 12 hours of freefall time. He was also a pioneer of the sport of hang gliding and was a licensed pilot.
He earned all possible skydiving licenses and ratings all with early-issue numbers: USPA D License (instructor rating) #454. Dan was Star Crest Recipient #271. (I earned mine in 1978. My SCR was #8294.) To get an SCR you have to be part of an 8-person freefall formation called a star. His Star Crest Soloist number was 63. To get an SCS you must have docked eighth or later on an 8-way or larger star freefall formation. In 1994, Dan even jumped onto the North Pole.
Here’s a 10-man star. Imagine flying your body into position 8th or later.
Dan served as president of both the Parachute Industry Association and the International Hang Gliding Commission and chairman of the board of the United States Parachute Association. He served on the boards of the National Skydiving Museum, American Museum of Sport Parachuting and Air Safety, the Commission Internationale du Vol Libre (hang gliding) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (president). Poynter also established the eMuseum for the National Skydiving Museum in 2014.
He’s the recipient of the: USPA Lifetime Achievement Award, 2005 Parachute Industry Association Don Beck Memorial Achievement Award for parachute or skydiving achievements that have stood the test of time. In 2012, he was inducted into the Skydiving Museum and Hall of Fame.
Dan Poynter being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Since that first jump in 1962, Dan wrote more books, reports, magazine articles and columns on the topic of skydiving and parachuting than any other author. He took his passion and turned it into an occupation. Dan taught and mentored CWA members and aspiring writers, the same way he taught and mentored skydivers.
Besides skydiving, Dan also loved cats. He authored The Older Cat, a book about the aging feline most likely based on Cricket, his beloved pet of 20 years.
Thanks Dan. I’m sure there are many skydivers whose lives were saved by your generosity and sharing of expertise and knowledge.
1-29-2015 Ava Kunshick: Please pray for my dog Lisa to come home. She disappeared about 3 weeks ago and I miss her so much. She was a rescue animal along with a black poodle. They both came from South Padre Island as their owner had died and no one in the family wanted them. I brought them both home. Lisa has never left the yard before and we cannot imagine why she did this time. I need her so bad. She has a red collar with tags and a gold heart that says guardian angel of dogs. I have put up posters with her picture and offered a 500.00 reward. She is not an expensive dog. I just love her and need her. I know she needs me please. Pray that she comes home or. Let someone call that they have found her. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
Taz has been found. 11-29-2015 Robyn Reichert: Please pray for the return of Taz, safely without harm soon so that he can find a new loving home. He is missed dearly.
