catscapades

All is Well With the Kitties

You may be wondering where we’ve been. It has been ages since I’ve shared a picture or I’ve posted a note at this blogsite. I post daily at http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog But don’t get over here to share stories of the cats very often.

Here’s a picture of Lily with one of her household friends. Lily is 2 and a half now and she has decided to become a decorator. She loves to drag out her toys and place them all around the house for everyone to enjoy. She usually does the decorating at night–so, when we get up, we have new obstacles to navigate throughout the house. Sometimes she brings a toy to me here in my office and drops it at my feet. A couple of days ago, I found one of my teddy bears face down in the cats’ water dish. What was that all about?

Some experts say that when cats bring you their toys, they are in essence trying to teach you to hunt. The theory is that the cat thinks of her toys as her prey. I wonder if Lily considers her toys her kittens and she is bringing them out to play, teaching them to eat and drink. There is usually a toy mouse or some other toy lying next to the kibbles bowls.

The iron cat statue is not one of Lily’s toys. We use it as a guard to keep her from out of the broom closet. She likes to chew on broom bristles and we figure that can’t be good.

Sales for Catscapades, True Cat Stories is up this year. It may be too late to order one for holiday giving, unless you live nearby and I can hand deliver you a few copies. Let me know here: PLFry620@yahoo.com. Or you could wait until after the holidays and order a copy using your holiday gift money. Place your order at Amazon.com or here: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Winning Cat Photo

I learned this morning that this photo I took of my mother’s cat, Smokey, won the People’s Choice Award in our Ventura County Fair photography exhibit.

The judges bypassed it, but fair goers sure liked it. It is rather spectacular. But I can’t take credit for it. All I did was press the shutter release button. Smokey is the one who created this great action shot by leaping into the frame.

Photography and cats sure go together, don’t they? I have hundreds of pictures of my cats, but you don’t get one like this very often.

Cats and Birds

When I started this blog, I thought I would post here often. However, while my kitties, Max, Sophie and sweet Lily, take priority over practically everything else, my primary work is related to publishing and book promotion. Thus, my publishing blog gets more of my attention than this one and my publishing books get priority over Catscapades, True Cat Tales.

The kitties are doing great. Max turned thirteen this spring. Lily is two. And Sophie will be seven in August. They are healthy (at the moment) and happy. Lily is busy learning new tricks, such as finally finding her way onto the kitchen counter. I’ve laid a piece of foil in her path in an attempt to deter her. Not sure this is foiling her, though. Someone is messing with the little blue bottles I have lined up on the window sill above the sink from time to time. I haven’t caught anyone doing this, but I often find some of the bottles slightly askew.

I’ve been doing some knitting and Lily has enjoyed helping with that. We bought the 4-year-old granddaughter a doll house and Lily loves moving around the perfectly placed furniture inside it when Alyzay isn’t looking.

The orioles are visiting the feeders now and the cats spend part of their day watching them through the window. We can tell when it is a hummingbird at the feeder and when it is an oriole by the demeanor of Sophie and Lily. The girls express much more interest in the colorful orioles.

This year, a pair of tohees are tending babies in a nest in a bush close to the house and they spent several weeks entertaining the cats from the porch as a way of deterring them from knowing where the nest is. While one bird would dance up close to the cats as they watched through the screen door, chirping and distracting them, we assume the other one would be feeding baby birds just around the corner.

To learn more about Sophie, Lily and Max (all with unusual and interesting backstories), read Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Lily and Sophie

I am remiss when it comes to keeping up with this blog. But if you are a writer or author or you want to be, stop on over at my daily publishing blog. http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog.

In the meantime, things are going well with our little cat menagerie. Max will be 13 this spring—getting to be an old guy. Max came to us as a wee kitten, along with his two sisters and teen-age mother cat. We found the feline family in our woodpile. I love little surprises like this.

Sophie is 6 and she is thriving. She was found by a good Samaritan living on the streets with her siblings when she was around 10 weeks old. She has never been outside since and does not seem to miss the freedom and fears out there at all. Like all of our cats, though, she does love to sit in a sunny spot on the window sill and watch the activity outdoors.

Lily is the newest comer. We rescued her two years ago this spring. She was one of 15 kittens born to three feral female cats on a small farm in our community. She is happy being an inside kitty, as well—and one of the sweetest kitties ever. Everyone loves her gentle spirit.

My mom has a new kitten. Smokey 2 is 7 months old now. His mother is a ragdoll and his father is unknown. This little guy does not take after his mother, except, perhaps, at nap time. He does know how to sprawl on a lap. But you cannot keep this kitty inside. My mother has tried everything short of hogtying him and he HAS to be outside. So he has become an inside/outside cat. And boy is he a handful. She held off letting him go out until after he was neutered, hoping he would settle down. He never did. Of all the kittens to come into the life of an 89-year-old woman, we could not have found one that is more of a challenge. But he is the light of her life.

You may recall that Lily is featured in the 365 Cats Cat-a-Day 2011 Calendar on March 15. I submitted the photo above of Lily and Sophie for the 2012 calendar. What do you think?

If you haven’t read my book of cat stories, you might consider ordering a few copies for Easter and Mother’s Day, as well as one for yourself. Catscapades, True Cat Tales features true stories about Max, Sophie, Lily and many other cats that I and others have known. Order your copies here: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Christmas With Cats

As it begins to look more and more like Christmas this year, the cats look more and more confused. Lily seems mesmerized by all of the jingle jangle sparklies placed all around the house and awfully curious. She has had her paw in practically every holiday activity. She helped decorate the tree. She inspected all of the Santas and snowmen that went up around the house. She had lots of fun playing hide and seek while we wrapped packages. She even tried to get involved on cookie-baking day.

Of course all of this is still fairly new to Lily. This is only her second Christmas. Sophie and Max have experienced seven and thirteen Christmases with us respectively. And neither of them have discovered much joy in the season. Oh, they like hiding under the Christmas tree. But they know that the holidays and the extra time spent in the kitchen and running the motorized monster over the carpeting more often than usual, probably means company. And they do not like company.

Lily does, however. She enjoys meeting new people and seeing old friends. I was concerned last year about her getting stepped on or tripped over because she is so underfoot, as a rule. But I was pleasantly surprised to watch as Lily took the high road around the room last year. She hopped and leapt from chair to chair and end table to sofa—often landing in a lap or two along the way—when she wanted to journey from place to place. It was uncanny, how she avoided the floor and the many pairs of feet milling around down there.

She is sleeping now, which leads me to believe that, unlike the other two lazy cats, she’ll be wide awake when guests arrive this afternoon and more than ready to accept some petting, play with her feather toy while some patient person shakes it across the floor and just enjoy being in the company of people.

She is a social cat—so social, in fact, that I sometimes refer to her as my “puppy.”

To learn more about Lily, Sophie, Max and over thirty other cats, order my book, Catscapades. True Cat Tales: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Cats For Every Season

Even though our cats live indoors and we try to keep the temperature constant, they sure seem to know it is winter. Their habits change dramatically depending on the season. For example, during most mornings, here in California, Lily and Sophie seek out sunlight beams streaming in for their day-long naps. Now they cozy down in their little beds in front of the wood-burning stove.

Most days, Lily can be found on my lap as I write. This time of year, however, she prefers that spot in her bed in front of the strove. And she cuddles closer at night in my bed.

Lily and Sophie are more active during the colder months. Lily, especially, is a real slug when the summer heat cranks up.

Max is the only one who doesn’t seem to change his stripes (er, patches) according to season. He is always lethargic and he has his daytime and nighttime sleeping routines set. He sleeps on the foot of the bed at night whether it is 32 or 132 degrees. And during the day, every day, all day, you will find the big, old guy snuggled under the quilt in the bed. And no matter the weather, Max always demands (and gets) a little lap time every morning between his nighttime slumber and his daytime nap.

My mother has her first kitten and she remarks daily how entertaining he is and how he keeps her laughing. He’s a handful. His mother is a purebred ragdoll, so Shady must take after his father—whoever he was—a cheetah or a leopard, perhaps? Docile and quiet, Shady is not. Oh, he does run out of energy a couple of times during the day and crashes. My mother says he relaxes as hard as he plays. But then, he is not quite five months old, so maybe he will slow down as he matures.

Have you ordered your copy of Catscapades for holiday giving? I’m starting to get an increase in orders from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. I also sell this book through my website: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html. It’s $12.99 and it is full of fun, delightful, entertaining, heartwarming stories of cats and kittens. It is also fully illustrated by color photos.

To refresh your memory, this book is a collection of over 40 true stories and vignettes featuring over three dozen cats and kittens in a variety of loving and harrowing circumstances. You’ll be treated to stories of clever, clumsy and quirky cats. You’ll meet cats who are incredibly spiritual, deliciously humorous and some with quite un-catlike behavior. The stories are amusing, they’re touching and they’re real. (Most of the stories are illustrated by charming cat and kitten photos.)

You’ll fall in love with Frigie FryPan, the fearless chocolate and white cowboy kitten who survived being dumped in a coyote-infested wilderness. Yet, just when he was ready to settle down with a doting family, he was catnapped. (Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending.)

You’ll smile while reading the story of Gus, the reluctant babysitting cat. You’ll cringe at PomPom’s valiant attempt to defend her injured kitten against human intruders and marvel at her sudden uncanny ability to trust one of them completely.

You’ll meet an obstinate calico who responds to mind-talk and an engaging Himalayan who responds to a spiritual healing. And then there’s Sammy, the cat who changed a heart. There’s also a story about four aging cats who were orphaned when their owner died and whose uncertain future was purr-fectly orchestrated through nothing less than divine intervention.

Who on your shopping list would enjoy spending a few hours learning more about cats, getting to know some very interesting cats and being thoroughly entertained and charmed? This little book would make a wonderful gift for each of those cat-adoring people.

Lily the Calendar Girl

Lily between photo shoots

This is the second time one of my photos was accepted by Workman. The first photo showed three orphan kittens waiting for a home. I believe that picture was featured in March, as well.

The deadline for the 2012 calendar is near and I am driving my cats nuts snapping pictures of them this week. I’m also sorting through the cat photos on my computer.

One thing I like about the Workman cat calendars is that they are educational as well as entertaining. On Lily’s page, for example, there’s information about kitty kindergarten—classes where kitty companions can take their kittens for behavior training.

Did you know that a cat can sprint as fast as 30 mph. A human’s top speed is around 27.8 mph. No wonder you can’t catch your cat when it’s time to go to the vet. There’s information about various cat breeds, why some cats are attracted to catnip and even quotes from famous cat people. I particularly like reading the kitty rescue stories.

To order the 2011 365 Cats Page-a-Day calendar, go to http://www.pageaday.com. You can find out how to submit your favorite cat photos for the 2012 calendar, as well.

You might recall that Lily is on the cover of my book of cat stories and the story of her horrific household accident is included in the book. Order your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales NOW for holiday giving. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Homeschooling Lily

It has been a lovely summer with Lily, Max and Sophie. All of the fur kids have remained healthy and happy. I love watching Lily (now 17 months old) learn new tricks, devise new habits, find new ways to engage and entertain us and create new friends.

Our granddaughter, Alyzay (3) is still her best friend. They spend all day Wednesday together. Every week Lily is exposed to new and different things. Here she is learning to spell and trying her paw at art.

Have you ordered your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales, yet? Read about Lily’s beginnings in an abandoned Volkswagen—one of 15 kittens born on a ranch to three feral mother cats. And don’t miss the story of her horrific accident occurring when she was just twelve weeks old. If you appreciate cats, the stories in this book will entertain, delight and amuse you. You will cringe and you will smile. Check it out at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Cats We Will Never Forget

Katy

A cat person who lives into their 60s, 70s and beyond, can conceivably know dozens of cats and kittens over a lifetime. I am such a person. I think I have always delighted in cats. Some of my earliest memories involve cats. I’ve been cat-less for only a few brief periods over the years and currently share my home with 3 precious felines. My book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales features many of the cats I’ve known including the beauty pictured here, Katy, a Himalayan.

I include a couple of stories in the book about Katy. One has to do with a technique I used one night to try creating peace and quiet between Katy (then 4 months) and Daisy (8 months)—each who had deemed the other, “The Enemy” in our home. The astounding resultsof my efforts was the overnight development of a beautiful feline friendship.

I also share the story of Katy becoming an indoor/outdoor kitty. After being strictly, and I thought, happily, indoors for all of her first 12 years of life, suddenly, she decided she wanted to be outside. And she let me know this in no uncertain terms.

So I started a routine of allowing Katy outside with me for short periods when I was working in the yard as long as she kept to the physical boundaries. Being a cat, she tested me frequently, at first. But she always responded dutifully to my stern orders for her to “Stop,” before sliding between the slats in the fence or to my hand-clapping when it was time for her to waddle back into the house through the open sliding glass door when playtime was over or a neighborhood cat was around.

Katy enjoyed her outdoor visits almost until the day she died of renal failure at the age of 17.5 six years ago. We buried her in her favorite spot, where the last ray of sunshine used to warm her on a late afternoon. I can still see her squinting contentedly into the sun.

How I miss you, Katy.

Catscapades, True Cat Tales: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html.

Some Cats Like it Hot

Lily

We had a HOT day yesterday and the house stayed quite warm all night. Lily does not like the heat. She gets totally lazy and lethargic on these summer-like days, reserving her energy for play only during early morning hours when it is cooler.

Max and Sophie don’t seem to be affected much by the heat, but it flat makes Lily wilt. It’s probably more noticeable with Lily because she is still young and active. Max (12) is lethargic on a cool day and Sophie (5) doesn’t romp and play as easily, anymore, as Lily does.

What I miss most on hot days is having Lily curl up on my lap. Instead, she stretches out in the coolest spot she can find on the floor somewhere.

Lily is the cover girl for my latest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales. The book is getting some excellent reviews. We had a book signing and sold quite a few copies. Amazon is placing orders fairly frequently.

I met a reader recently who said she cried so many tears while reading the book—tears of sorrow as well as tears generated from laughter. She said, “I am reading it slowly because I just want the stories to last. I don’t want the book to end.”

Order your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales at my website: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html. It’s a beautiful book, illustrated by scads of real kitty photos and the stories are touching, harrowing and humorous.