Secret Paws: The Hows and Whens

The Cats Stephens asked about Secret Paws ... This is the answer that I posted in the comments with more info attached. If anyone knows MORE, please add your information in the comments of this post. DMM

Regarding "Secret Paws" ... You can visit the blog at Secret Paws or check with the organizers of the whole thing Diva Kitty and the Fluffies to find out more about the activity. As far as I know (the Feline Americans and I did this for the first time at Christmas), it occurs three times per year. Sign ups for April happen in March, sign ups for August happen in July, and sign ups for Christmas happen in November. It might be a good idea to visit the Secret Paws site and let Sophia (or Fiona Bun) know that you'd be interested in participating in the next round.

Secret Paws is open to any animal (and even includes some young children). A price limit is posted (usually $7 - $10) and doesn't include the price of packaging or postage. International "paws" are encouraged and there are always a number from Europe and Australia/New Zealand.

To participate, you email your name, your human's name, email address, home address, gender, and type of animal that you are. You can also specify who you'd like to have as your "paw": woofie, feline, bunny, etc. If you have a favorite color, type of treat, or have an allergy, you should specify that, too.

You can also choose to have a Shelter Pet as your Secret Paw or you can make a contribution of a gift card or some yarn so that Diva Kitty and the Fluffies' mama can make crocheted blankies for them.

After the registration process closes, you'll receive an email with your "paw," his/her preferences, and where to mail the Secret Paws package. When you receive your package of gifts, you open it in front of your humans so that they can take photos for you to post on your blog.

Since there are six of us, we divided ourselves into two groups of three and selected two kitties as our recipients (Maximus and Lucinda). We, in turn, got two Secret Paws presents (from Darling Millie and from Victor Tabbycat & Bonnie Underfoot).

We made sure that we mailed our presents by December 15th so that they'd arrive in time for Christmas. We're not sure if there's a specific time that they have to be mailed in April and August, but we'd assume that the presents should arrive before April 30th and August 31st.

Secret Paws is a lot of fun. It builds community in the blogosphere and also gets more traffic to your blog. Efurrybody should join! We're gonna (and so is Shadow Saluki and our cousins Suzanne and Ben). You can see our Secret Paws photos on our blog: DaisyMae Maus and the Feline Americans.

I hope that this helps and that you'll consider participating in March/April!
DMM
Cat Blog Help Center technician