From the silly to the serious, it’s been a lot of fun following all the Cat-idates the past four weeks in Zee & Zoey’s Cat Ruler of the World Contest and Campaign for a Cause. These creative and crafty kitties entertained us day after day as they hit the political trails campaigning their furry little hearts out for the title and their respective shelter. Even though they are all winners in their own right, as ALL cats are, we need to crown who you voted to be your CAT RULER OF THE WORLD!! Drum Roll, Please….

That’s right! It seems that the pretty in pink, sassy and brassy Katie of Glogirly tickled our funny bone enough for a victory as she campaigned with all 10 pounds of her might for Blind Cat Rescue! We are very proud of Katie but must break the shocking news to her that this is actually a fictitious title and she will not be sitting in the Oval Office with the Secret Service surrounding her as she might have assumed. Nor does she have the power to veto Congress, grant amnesty, amend the Constitution (or the Magna Carta for that matter), or fly in Air Force One. There is also no salary, no 401K plan, or a company car…

What does she get as Cat Ruler of the World? Well, she gets to have stuff photoshopped on her, like that beautiful neon pink tiara, but even more importantly, she gets to present Blind Cat Recuse with an amazing donation package worth over $7500 thanks to the very generous sponsors of this contest. But, before we get to that, let’s hear Katie’s acceptance speech and a few words from Blind Cat Rescue!

On behalf of Glogirly and me, I’d like to thank all of the wonderful cats, humans, goats, squirrels, bunnies, birds and (gasp!) dogs out there for supporting Blind Cat Rescue and Team Katie in this amazing contest. I’d also like to thank my fellow candidates. Glogirly and I have the utmost respect and admiration for each and every one of you and the deserving shelters you support. And to Deb Barnes and Team ZeeZoey, Holy CAT! Your creativity and dedication inspire us. Thank you for allowing us to be part of this incredible event.

A special shout-out to Waffles the intern and Cathy Keisha, my stunning campaign manager and confidante. You two sure know how to make your meows heard. And a big round of purrs for Homer the Blind Wonder Cat. We love you.

From the outside looking in, our quirky campaign may have seemed like it was all about fun and games. But underneath all that were the kitties of Blind Cat Rescue. Underneath the silly imagery and funny anecdotes were homeless blind cats with no place to go, cats that have been abandoned and forgotten. THEY are the real winners today. And the truly remarkable humans that dedicate their lives to helping them…THEY are the heroes.

To Alana Miller, the human behind Blind Cat Rescue, we thank YOU. The world is a better place for blind and homeless cats because of you. And because of you, the WORLD is a better place.

Katie – you have brought a tear to my eye and I am honored you have been a part of this amazing campaign. Now I am going to ask you to step aside for a moment as we give the floor to Blind Cat Rescue to say a few words:

Snickers is one of the sweet forever cats at BCR that was saved from euthanization.

“Thank you so much to all of our supporters that worked so hard voting and sharing for Blind Cat Rescue to win this wonderful prize!! We are humbled at everyone’s kindness and taking time out of their busy schedules to vote and share. This prize will help us supply the cats with the daily necessities and helps us stretch our funds for other needs. We are so grateful to Glogirly for believing in us, nominating us and working so hard to help us win.” – Alana Miller – Director of Blind Cat Rescue

You are so very welcome, Alana, but that is what this contest is all about… we really wanted to find a way to raise awareness about local, niche, and smaller shelters that exist all across the world and felt that the campaign would be a fun and entertaining way to do it. And it seems that fans everywhere agree – while Katie did a great job campaigning, so did all the other Cat-idates – Austin of CATachresis for Freshfields Animal Rescue, Brian of Brian’s Home for Kitten Action Team, Odin of Cat Wisdom 101 for Brigid’s Crossing, Cheysuli of the Cat Post Intelligencer for Purrfect Pals, and Sparkle of Sparkle the Designer Cat for Tabby’s Place – they all deserve high praise for the devotion and effort they put forth to make this campaign so compelling and successful.

To see the Cat-idates in their full finery, please click image to enlarge.

It was a great race and it is clear that these cats are highly respected and beloved. Cliché but true, they are all winners and because we are so appreciative of all of their devotion to the cause, the runner up shelters will be winning prizes too!! And so will some lucky readers! So, let’s make this a Contest and Campaign for a Cause, a CELEBRATION FOR A CAUSE!! The cats have all dressed to the nines for this spectacular event and are sure to be setting the fashion world on fire with their stunning ensembles. So, Katie, Drum Roll Number Two… As your first duty of Cat Ruler of the World, please get the award ceremony started!! Oh, and by the way, Katie… the jewelry you are wearing is on loan from Harry Winston and NOT photoshopped… you will be expected to return everything at the end of the event…

Yeah, yeah Deb… whatever… Okay, here are the prize packages for the shelters!! THANK YOU so much to all the generous sponsors for making this contest so special and Meow-Wow to all of them in gratitude!!

BLIND CAT RESCUE:  5000 nutritious meals from Halo and FreeKibble.com , 2000 pounds of absorbent, natural whole-kernel corn litter from World’s Best Cat Litter and 25 Trial Kits for each shelter to give away to new cat owners who have adopted a pet, a $250.00 financial donation and two cases of any choice of odor product, stain & odor product, or litter spray from Zero Odor, a $250 financial donation from PetPlan Insurance, $120.00 from  NVR Miss Litterbox  for each limited edition “Cat Ruler of the World” litter box that was purchased during the contest and $25.00 from Zee and Zoey  from proceeds of book sales for The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey.

KITTEN ACTION TEAM, TABBY’S PLACE, BRIGID’S CROSSING, PURRFECT PALS, and *FRESHFIELDS ANIMAL SHELTER: Each shelter will receive 1000 meals from Halo and FreeKibble.com and a spray odor assortment pack from Zero Odor.

*Because Halo/FreeKibble CANNOT ship outside of the U.S., Austin of CATachresis has graciously donated his 1000 meals to a U.S. 501c registered shelter and will be receiving a $250 donation for Freshfields in lieu of the meals. THE BEST NEWS – you all get to help decide what shelter it will be and THERE WILL BE MORE PRIZES!! Here’s all you have to do – between today and Friday the 21st, midnight, PST, just leave a comment on this post letting us know what shelter you want the meals donated to. This is your opportunity to help a shelter in your local community or any shelter that has a soft spot in your heart. I will pick the shelter based on a random drawing and make the announcement on Tuesday, September 25th.

And, as a special thank you to everyone who has followed this campaign, Meow.com is donating (5) $20.00 gift certificates towards merchandise in their PAWSOME website. They have everything from clothing, to accessories, to home decor and you are sure to find something to tickle your feline fancy. By entering your comment for the shelter (or any comment if you don’t want to suggest a shelter), you are automatically entered, but, you must live in the U.S. to win the gift certificates… sorry…

Whew… this is getting exhausting, Deb. Can you please take over… it’s way past my scheduled nap time…

Fine, Katie. Last but not least, we have some prizes to give away to one GRAND PRIZE winner and six RUNNER-UP winners!! Drum Roll Number Three…

The Grand Prize Package goes to Queen Scylla of Alasandra, The Cats & A Dog and she wins: A Cyclone Cat Toy from Bergan, a Big Sleeky Comfort Lounge from Brawny Cat, a designer ceramic water fountain from Thirsty Cat Fountains, a Kitty Speed Bump from Catpods, a window nap seat from Sunny Seat, a pet bed warming pad from Sunbeam Pets, an autographed copy of “Cat Daddy” by Jackson Galaxy and a holistic spray pack from his Spirits Essence line, a DeShedder grooming tool from FURminator, an autographed copy of “Buckley’s Story” by Ingrid King of the Conscious Cat, a $10.00 gift certificate from PetSmart and a pet feeding bowl from their exclusive Martha Stewart line, a corrugated kitty scratching block from Kittyblock, a stack box from Catty Stacks, a SkratchKabin cat bed from KatKabin, a SpotBot Pet Cleaner from Bissell, a Tiniest Tiger Tote from Triple T Studios, a Multi-Odor Pet Spray Kit from Zero Odor, a limited edition “Cat Ruler of the World” litter box from NVR Miss Litterbox, and a years supply of cat litter (12 coupons for a 7 or 8 lb bag of litter) from World’s Best Cat Litter.

The facebook”LIKES” Runner-Up Prizes go to:  Heather Meow Bruce, Connie Marie, Belva Lynn Sorcic, Susan Grubert, Tex Cat, and Cheryl Hopper. Each prize package includes: Feline Lickety Stik treats, assorted cat toys from Moderncat Studio, an interactive cat-a-pole toy from Cat-a-pole, Trial Kits from World’s Best Cat Litter, and Zero Odor Multi-Pet Spray Kits.

Concatulations to all and THANK YOU for making this such an INCREDIBLE event. We hope you had fun… we sure did try our best to entertain and we hope to be back next year with just as much fun and prizes!! But, most of all, we really hope you came away from this feeling like it is possible to help make a difference for all those great shelters in this world that work tirelessly day after day to help our beloved felines have a better life.

Take care all, and Katie, don’t forget your first public appearance will be at the MeowWorld table at BarkWorld this October 25 -27 in Atlanta whereby a poster will be put up in your honor and you get to share information about Blind Cat Rescue.