Recently in Yoshi & Tsuki's Friends Category

I bet you didn't know that Yoshi & Tsuki have cat cousins! Actually, they have 4 cat cousins, but, in this entry, you'll meet Bart and Purrl (follow the link to see their brand new blog). Bart and Purrl live with Aunt Laura. The other cat cousins, Chester and Annabel, live with Aunt Stephanie.

Bart is on the left, and Purrl is on the right.

This year, we were afraid we were going to lose both of them, because they got very sick at exactly the same time. Within a few days of each other, Purrl developed inflammatory bowel disease, and Bart was diagnosed with kidney disease. Bartie is a stately old gentleman, but Purrlie is much younger, so it was really scary that they both got sick at exactly the same time. Their mom, Yoshi and Tsuki's Aunt Laura, was so sad and worried about them, and had to take them to about a billion vet appointments that first week.

While they both like the piano, Bart is the more musically gifted. We think it may be because he used to hang around while Aunt Laura was having piano lessons.

No one could figure out what was wrong with Purrl, but she couldn't keep food down. It took lots of tests to figure out what was happening. There was serious talk about euthanasia, but Aunt Laura wouldn't give up on her. Finally, Purrlie received the right diagnosis, got started on medication, and began her recovery. Thankfully, she's back to being a sweet, happy, comfortable little kitty.

Bartie's diagnosis came as a real surprise, too. He was just at the vet for his yearly physical, and wasn't showing any signs of being sick, but his blood work revealed significant kidney disease. Since then, Aunt Laura has had to learn how to give him subcutaneous fluids, sort of like kitty dialysis, to keep him feeling good. He's lost a lot of weight, and has to be on medication and a special diet, but Aunt Laura is working hard to keep him strong and keep him with us for as long as she can.

Bart is a really special cat. I know, I know, everyone thinks their cat is special, but Bartie really is a 1-in-a-million kitty. Bart likes to walk on a leash, ride in the car, go out to events and meet new people, heck, he'll even wear costumes if you want him to. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him, because he's affectionate and friendly, and is never timid with new people or new situations. He loves to talk (too much sometimes), and understands a lot of words. If Aunt Laura tells him to "give a kiss," he will mush his wet little nose into your face. He also insists on being blown with the hairdryer each morning (I swear, he's from another planet).

If you'd like to send an e-mail to Bart and Purrl (or visit them on the web by clicking here), and maybe send Bartie some good wishes as he struggles with his lazy good-for-nothing kidneys, or let Aunt Laura know what a great job she's doing with them, I know it would mean a lot to all of them. You can click here to send them an e-mail.

We feel soooooo bad. We got these pictures from our friends twins, Yuushi and Kasaki, way back in August, and it's taken us mom way too long to post them! When we last wrote to them, Yuushi and Kasaki were planning to move to another country, so we hope they'll still be able to see their pictures...

First, we have beautiful Kasaki. Kasaki means "queen." Doesn't she look just like Tsuki?

Then, we have Yuushi, which means "brave warrior." He kind of looks a little like both me and Tsuki, don't you think?

Kasaki turned 2 in September! The Tsuki resemblance is a little freaky here!

Yuushi turned 3 in November!

Even though Kasaki is younger, she is Yuushi's great aunt. Kasaki's father is Yuushi's great grandfather!

Hope you enjoyed meeting our globe-trotting twins!

We updated the links section of our page today. You have to scroll pretty far down to see it, so we thought we'd highlight some of our blogging shiba friends up here. If we missed any of our shiba pals, please send us the link to your blog, and we'll add it!

Akira & Shiro

Bentley

Boshiro (Japan)

Cortez

Hikari & Strawberry (Japan)

Hina (Japan)

Kobe & Faylin

Loki

Peaches (Japan)

Roux

Scout & Max

Shassi & Tierce

Snickers

Sushi

Wiley & Fievel

Wolf

Hey everydog, meet Phin and Trink! We've been friends with them for a while now, and their mom, too. Our moms e-mail with each other sometimes, which makes us a little nervous, but, so far, it doesn't seem like they're on to our plans for world domination.

Phineas is on the left, and Trink is on the right. They look a lot like us, don't they!?

Trink is almost five, and Phin is four and a half years old. She's a Leo, and he's a Sagittarius. According to their mom, their personalities really do match their signs! Their mom also said that she interrupted them kissing in this picture! Just thinking about it makes us blush under our fur.

A portrait of Yoshi, uh, we mean Phin. They really do look alike! It's even hard for us to tell.

Here's Trink looking sweet and beautiful, as always!

:::Tsuki says: "Yoshi & Trink, sitting in a tree!":::

We're not sure what this is, but we suspect the humans must have erected a hidden force field between Phin & Trink and their food bowls. Otherwise, there's no explanation for why no one is eating. Is this some type of torture device? Say it isn't so!

And now our favorite...SNOW PICTURES!

HEY! WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO?

Oh, there you are! Don't scare me like that!

Trink says: "If I close my eyes and wish hard enough, maybe the snow won't melt this time!"

We have such noble-looking friends!

Hi everydog,

Our shiba pal, Sushi, and her mom, are going to be participating in a canine rescue fundraising event on June 10th.

Sushi and her mom are part of the Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup Group (you can see their picture at this link), and they will be participating in the 4th Annual K9 Rescue Me Walkathon to raise awareness of canine rescue in Ontario, Canada.

The Shibas will be walking in support of Shiba Rescue of the Greater Toronto Area, which is part of the K9 Rescue Me group. The K9 Rescue Me people organize events such as this, and there are approximately 20 different dog rescues involved. It is Canada's largest canine rescue fundraising event! It's going to be so much fun, and I can't believe we're going to miss it!

If you are interested in donating, or know of other dogs (or dog parents) who might be, please feel free to pass along the info. Funds are being collected for various breeds, not just shibas, so you can pass it along to your non-shiba friends, too.

Donations can be made on-line at this link (there is a drop down menu after you click on Donate Now, which lists all the rescues involved this year).

Do it, doggies!

If Sushi gets tired, maybe her mom can push her around in one of these. If so, WE WANT PICTURES!

If you want to see more pictures of shibas in strollers, go here. Oh, the indignity.

The best part about having our own website, is that we get to meet lots of shiba friends! Here are our newest friends, Yoshi (another one!) and Chella!

Chella likes to destroy any toy she can find, just like us! Yoshi loves to flip his toys up and catch them in the air. We only know how to catch, not the flip part, so we'll have to get Yoshi to show us!

Chella is on the left, and Yoshi is on the right.

Here they are playing in the snow, just like us!

Here they are peeking out the window, just like us!

And, here are three of Yoshi chillaxing and looking handsome, just like us!

We sure do have a lot in common with our new friends!

Okay, okay, maybe Fu Fu isn't really a dog, but his blog is so incredibly cute that I don't think you'll mind. Plus, he's an honorary member over at Dogs with Blogs, so he's sort of an honorary dog.

Aside from being an honorary dog, Fu Fu is a male Syrian hamster living in Singapore, and his blog is probably the cutest thing I've seen in a while.

Yoshi and Tsuki don't recognize his honorary dog status, and would make an appetizer of him, which is why I thought it would be better if I made this particular post.

This is our new friend, Cubby the Boxer!

And this is his sister, Dakota!

Cubby, Dakota, and their moms do a lot of work for Legacy Boxer Rescue.

These are our super nice friends, Akira and Shiro. Shiro is in the front, and Akira is in the back. Their sister is Sarah, and she's super nice, too. Akira and Shiro have their own blog. You should pay them a visit and have look at all of their cute pictures. You can also click the picture above, and you will be immediately teleported to their blog. This blog stuff is all space age like that.

This is our new friend Bentley. He has his own web site, too!

These are pictures of our very good friends, Cayenne and Taio. Cayenne is 15 months old (but maybe 16 months now, because it's taken us so long to post these), and Taio is her 6-month-old Abyssinian brother.

Today we got an e-mail from a new friend, and his name is Yoshi too! As it turns out, our new pen pal has a lot in common with us.

First of all, he likes to do yoga.

He also likes to strike handsome poses for the camera.

And, he's well-versed in lounging around like he's the king of everything.

P.S.: We also have it on good authority that he likes to chew on things he shouldn't be chewing, and jump onto things (like dressers) that are awfully naughty things to be jumping on. Needless to say, we like our new pen pal very much.

This is Chutney and his mom (and Santa, obviously). Chutney works with mom. Well, I'm not really sure how much he works, but mom comes home smelling like him sometimes. According to mom, Chutney's a very good boy (for a shiba, at least), so he's definitely going to get everything on his list this year.

Here's Chutney falling victim to the all too common syndrome known as Seasonal Mommy Madness (SMM for short). I'm not sure what gets into them, but we always seem to wind up in funny costumes as a result. Humans are peculiar - especially mommies.

Even though this isn't a picture of one of us, it was so funny we couldn't resist showing it to you.

Many chicken were looking for you!!!!
Originally uploaded by ANNE CHANG.

The two entries today aren't about Yoshi, but about two of his very good friends at the dog park...