Catscapades

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.

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.

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.

I sometimes miss having outside cats. Actually, I’ve never had total outside cats, but I used to have cats that could go in and out as they pleased. In fact, there were periods when I left a sliding glass door open enough for the cats to come and go even when we weren’t home.

Most cat professionals and experts now agree that cats are safer and live longer when kept inside. I’m pretty sure that most of them experienced the learning curve on this and many other cat issues rather than being born knowing this. Sure, a few professionals may have been taught from childhood the dangers outside for cats. But I suspect that most of them learned this and other important lessons over time, just as I did.

Crystal was my first totally indoor cat. I bought this gorgeous silver-shaded Persian in 1972 from a breeder for a whopping (at the time) $125. I was not going to chance having her stolen or run down on the street. She didn’t mind wearing a harness, however, and enjoyed lolling on the patio with me occasionally.

Now that’s another lesson I had to learn along the way–not to encourage breeders when there are so many cats that need rescuing.

After Crystal died of leukemia (which she evidently contracted at the cattery), I rescued a few cats who were allowed the freedom of the out-of-doors. When we lost one of them to (probably) a coyote, I finally decided to change my ways.

Of course, as caretakers of cats, we must take many precautions inside as well. There are scads of dangers inside for cats and especially kittens—the toilet, blind cords, pin cushions, string/thread, certain plants, doilies and table runners with heavy vases that can be pulled off, sharp can lids found in the kitchen trash, unsupervised toddlers and even some toys and climbing apparatus designed specifically for cats. You may have read my blog post (or the full story in my book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales) about that awful day in June of 2009 when a carpeted cat tree fell over on our 12-week-old kitten, Lily and almost killed her.

Our three cats, Max, Sophie and Lily, all stay inside full-time. But I still miss having cats in the yard when I’m puttering in the garden. And, lately, I am taking photos of cats enjoying the out of doors every chance I get. I’ll share some of them in this blog in coming months. There are definite challenges when it comes to photographing cats indoors.

In the meantime, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to order your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http://www.matilijpress.com/catscapades.html. Read the first published review of this book: http://www.theproblemcat.com/misc/catscapades.html.

What’s in the book? You’ll read about Dinah, the cat who refused to be an inside cat. There’s the story of my daughter’s cat who was catnapped. The circumstances of his return are quite surprising and amusing. There’s Sammy, the cat who changed a heart—great story! And I think most who appreciate all cats, but especially the Maine coon cat, will appreciate the “Tale of Smoky’s Tail.” Have you ever seen a small mother cat fiercely defend her kittens? This amazing story has a couple of unusual twists. I love the story of Gomer and how he chose his person—who was only a toddler at the time. Gomer so wanted to be with Maria, that the owner finally agreed to let the family keep their beloved kitten. Gomer and Maria (now 13) are still best pals

Small people like small animals. And some small animals like kids. Lily, our year-old torbi, loves having children in the house. She also likes to sit on my desk, peer out the window and watch the kids next door at play. If she hears their voices or the squeaky wheels of their tricycles, she rushes to her spot so she can observe them.

Lily has two special friends: our grandchildren, Alyzay (3) and Jayden (5). Alyzay was two when first introduced to 8-week old Lily and it was love at first sight for both of them. No matter what Lily is doing, when she hears Alyzay’s voice, she rushes to the door to greet her. And then she follows her everywhere she goes. She sits in the midst of Alyzay’s craft and art projects with her, she shares Alyzay’s makeshift tents, she hangs out in the computer room when Alyzay is playing computer games.

Alyzay watches out for Lily. The 3-year-old was here one day when we had loud thunder. She saw how the thunder frightened Lily. A few weeks later, while Alyzay was here, I turned on the vacuum cleaner. Alyzay came tearing out of the computer room into the living room yelling, “I have to get Lily, she’s scared!” She thought the sound of the vacuum cleaner would probably frighten Lily as the sound of the thunder had and she jumped right into action to help her furry friend.

We weren’t sure how Jayden would relate to a small kitten. When he first met Lily, we were told to keep a close eye on him as he is pretty rough with the family’s dogs. But from day one, Jayden and Lily seemed to have a special agreement—I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me. And Jayden has been nothing but gentle and sweet with Lily all of her young life.

Jayden tends to throw things—like alphabet blocks, small toys, etc. And it has been a worry that he would fling something in Lily’s direction. On the contrary, if he throws something, it is always in the opposite direction of where Lily is sitting. Jayden is not verbal, yet. But he sure seems to have a deep understanding of many things and one of them seems to be that he loves little Lily and he does not want to harm her. In fact, he barely touches her. When we encourage him to pet her, he places his hand about an inch above her fur and moves it back and forth—never actually touching her. When he relates to her, he reaches out slowly toward her with his face until they touch noses. Then Jayden giggles—probably because Lily’s whiskers tickle.

Children definitely need supervision with small animals of any kind. And they need guidance while they’re learning about how to behave around a kitten, puppy or even a full-grown cat. And I believe that the child/pet relationship is an important one. Can you recall, for example, some of your childhood memories involving cats and/or dogs? Most of us can.

In my latest book of cat stories, Catscapades, True Cat Tales, I write about what cats can teach us. One vignette has to do with the mutual attachment of a child and a kitten. “Gomer, a black and white kitten, taught two families a lesson in how to be true to oneself, when he chose to be where he wanted to be. Gomer had a home, but he preferred spending time several blocks away with Maria, who was just a toddler then. After taking him home day after day for several months, Maria’s family and Gomer’s family agreed to let him stay where he wanted to be. Gomer and Maria have been inseparable pals for nearly ten years.”

Order your copy of Cascapades, True Cat Tales today and read over 40 additional stories and vignettes featuring charming, mischievous, humorous and delightful cats and kittens. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html