Catscapades

This is one of my favorite photos in Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats.

And then there’s the story of Daisy and Katy: The Kittens Who Learned to Love on page 58 in Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats.

If you’ve ever wanted to be heard—I mean really heard and understood by your cat, you’ll appreciate these two stories. At the end of my rope, in both instances, I decided to try “speaking” to these kittens using visualization—mind-to-mind—which is, according to some experts, the way animals communicate.

You won’t believe the amazing results I experienced when using visualization to spread the love between two kittens who were absolutely hateful to one another. Daisy liked being the princess bee. And she did not appreciate my bringing home gorgeous Katy. In fact, she quickly reduced the little Himalayan to dustball status. If I wanted to interact with Katy, I had to drag her out from under a piece of furniture. One night the kittens woke me in the night with their growls and high-pitched yowls. I raised my head off the pillow and saw the two kittens—one on each side of my legs. Katy had finally mustered enough courage to join us on the bed. But things weren’t going well.

I had a splitting headache and the kittens were at war with each other. I watched as Daisy smacked Katy twice on top of her head with her paw. And Katy, ears flat back, eyes tightly closed, raised one paw and slapped the air a few times in the direction of the calico. The growling sounds accelerated with each blow.

I was glad to see that the kittens were dialoguing, but their timing was awful. I had to get some rest. And I so wanted the kittens to be friends. That’s when I brought out the big guns and used a visualization method I’d only heard about.

If you have cats who won’t listen to you, and if you’d like to attempt a method that just might help to open up a channel of communication with him/her, you must read these two stories in Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. Order your copy at
www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Last week I featured a picture of Catalina, an adora—dorable kitten who would melt anyone’s heart. Now, I’d like to introduce you to Pumpkin. He’s the same basic color as Catalina. He is a cat. But do you think that someone looking at this picture would give the same reaction as they would when viewing Catalina Kitten? If you said, “No,” you are correct.

Actually, the people I tested with the two photos were much, MUCH more adoring toward Pumpkin. It’s true. Most people looked at the photo of Catalina and said, “Oh, how cute,” and then went on talking about something else. When I showed those same people the photo of Pumpkin and told them his story, they generally, hugged the photo to their chests. Some produced a few tears. My 27-year-old granddaughter said, “I love him,” and asked if we could adopt him and bring him home. (And she’s allergic to cats.) Most were speechless as they took a moment to emotionally connect with this precious kitty. No one turned away in horror. Everyone embraced Pumpkin in their hearts. Most will never forget him.

Who is Pumpkin? Where did he come from?

Well, I received him as a Valentine’s Day gift from a dear friend. She donates to a rescue organization and facility called Pasado’s Safe Haven located near Sultan, Washington. She “adopted” Pumpkin in my name with the promise of supporting his needs for as long as he needed the help.

Here’s Pumpkin’s story. A woman found this cat crawling in a gutter one cold and raining day. He was terribly thin, filthy, dehydrated and flea-ridden. He was missing an eye and his jaw had been broken and miraculously healed—albeit a little crooked. He looked like he had been tortured and even used as target practice, as there was evidence that he’d been shot with a pellet gun. This woman knew about Pasado’s Safe Haven and called them immediately. The volunteer rescue patrol couldn’t believe that the cat was still alive and the veterinarian and the emergency clinic didn’t offer much hope for this cat.

Now get out your box of tissues. This kitty did survive and they say that he is one of the “sweetest, calmest, most intelligent cats you could ever hope to meet.” How wonderful that he has found love. Even though he has tested positive for feline leukemia and hyperthyroidism, he is not considered by the folks at Pasado as a lost cause. Not even!!! He is so affectionate—they say, he loves chin scratches and ear kisses—that he lives in the People Barn with the staff at Pasado’s. And he also enjoys sharing their vegetarian lunches with them.

According to the information I received along with Pumpkin’s picture and story, I learned that Pasado’s Safe Haven is named for an older donkey who was tortured and killed by three teenage boys in 1992. At the time, the fine for such a crime was $50. After the donkey’s death, the founders of Pasado’s Safe Haven lobbied for passage of the Pasado Bill, which makes animal cruelty a felony in the state of Washington. They continue to be active in changing laws relating to animals and they also provide shelter, care and love for all kinds of animals. It sounds like a wonderful place for the 250 animals who reside on the 85 acres. And no animal lives in a kennel or cage. Don’t you love what these folks are doing? Sadly, their amazing and loving efforts are helping only a fraction of the animals throughout the U.S. who need help. Be sure to visit their site and learn more about Pumpkin and all of his animal and human friends. www.pasadosafehaven.org.

I didn’t include Pumpkin’s story in my new book, Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. But I do feature a section on Throw-Away Cats. Here, you’ll find these stories: “Stories of Strays and Other Free-Roaming Cats,” “Memoirs of a Colony Cat,” “Ferals in the Woodshed,” “From Feral to Fabulous: Greta’s Story,” “The Secret Life of a Neighborhood Feral” and “Sophie’s From Rags to Riches Story.”

This weekend I had three customers return to purchase copies of Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats as gifts for others. They purchased a total of 9 books. Remember, the book is now illustrated with around 80 photos of cats (and a few dogs). Order your copy today: www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Winfield playing with a strawberry

This is Winfield, the same handsome guy who’s glamour photo graces the cover of the book, Catscpades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. In fact, this photo is in the book, on page 1. Winfield, our white odd-eye cat was probably around 10 months old when he discovered a box of ripe strawberries on the counter. Perhaps it was the color or shape of the berries that caught his attention, or was it the nice green stems and leaves that he was after?

When I discovered him, he was picking up strawberries one at a time by the stems and tossing them across the room. Fortunately, I grabbed my camera in time to catch him with one in his mouth. Interesting photo, don’t you think?

Do you have a photo of a cat eating or playing with an unusual type of food? Send it along to me at the following email address and we’ll try to get it up at this blog site. PLFry620@yahoo.com

In the meantime, be sure to order your copy of Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html. Order either the ebook or the print (comb-bound) version: 84 pages–contains over 80 photos of cats and kittens and around 40 true cat stories and vignettes.

I’ve found, over the years, that sometimes it is easy to name a cat or kitten and other times it is a challenge to find just the right name. I include a chapter in Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats featuring how we choose names for our cats. There are some interesting and fun vignettes. For example, Wally got his name because he was discovered stuck with his dead littermates inside the wall of a house that was under construction. My friend, Sue, named her kitten Tober because she arrived on her doorstep in October. Here’s how we handled the difficult (turned fun) naming process with one kitten we adopted. (This is one of many stories published in Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats.)

PomPom chose her name. We rescued her from the animal shelter when she was a wee kitten. When it came to naming her, my three small daughters and I couldn’t agree.

“Tizz,” said Terri. “No Sally,” said Penny. “Nonny,” piped up Marti, the youngest. Names flew around the house for days and none of them stuck. Finally, I suggested that we let the kitten name herself. The girls were fascinated by this idea.

Together we thought of several possible names and I wrote them on small pieces of paper. The girls wadded up the little pieces of paper, we gathered around the kitten and we threw the wads across the floor in hopes that she would chase one of them. Instead, she just sat there looking at us with no interest in the wads of paper.

“I have an idea,” I said. “We’ll give them flavor.” I soaked the pieces of paper in some gravy left over from dinner the night before. We tossed the wads of paper again. This time, the kitten grabbed one and, before I could get it from her, she ate it! I said, “Well, she has a name, but we don’t know what it is because she ate it!” The girls laughed and laughed.

We gathered up the gravy-soaked wads of paper quckly, so she wouldn’t eat the rest of her names and I threw them across the slick floor one more time. The curious kitten ran toward one of the wads, but before she could pounce on it and swallow it, I grabbed it. I announced to the girls–“Okay, now do you want to know what this kitten’s name is?”

The three of them sat wide-eyed and waited. “Yes. What is it?” Marti asked.

“It’s PomPom,” I laughed, as I read the gravy-stained piece of paper. And that’s the story of how one cat named herself.

To read this and many other stories about cats, order your copy of Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html