Did you enjoy the fun interview Sneaky-cat did with Rags-cat? If you missed it, the link is in yesterday’s blog post–October 4.
Today I’d like to treat you to a few images of 
some of our domestic cats’ ancestors. Aren’t they exquisite?
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Sneaky is a new cat on the block—he’s featured in one Cobble Cove Mystery and is eager to present his second. He invited the star of the Klepto Cat Mysteries, Rags, to an interview session at his blog. You might get a kick out of the interview between these two cats.https://sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/interview-with-rags-from-the-klepto-cat-mystery-series/
Also, there’s a new five-star review at Amazon for the latest book in the Klepto Cat series—“The Amazing CATventure” Check it out here: http://www.mikishope.com/2016/10/book-review-amazing-catventure-klepto.html
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There are a lot of people worldwide helping to take care of the overflow of cats—those cats that nobody wants. And it’s sad to think that so many of these throw-away cats were, themselves, pets or came from a line of cats that were once pets. Some of these cats or their parents or grandparents may have been beloved household companions at one time.
How do cats become feral? People move away and leave their cats behind. They turn their cat out because he or she isn’t following the household rules, someone in the house becomes allergic to the cat, it scratches a child, a new family member doesn’t like the cat, or it doesn’t get along with the dog. They believe that cats can fend for themselves, after all. Sometimes the cat moves out on its own. We had a cat once who didn’t get along with the dog we brought home and moved across the street to live with a neighbor. The neighbor adored the cat—but I missed him.
Oops, some of these former pet owners never got around to having their cat spayed or neutered, so another generation of unwanted kittens is born and they have kittens, and they have kittens and each litter of kittens, of course, become more and more wild.
Thankfully, there are hundreds of organizations and individuals—maybe thousands of
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them—who have stepped up and are caring for many colonies where cats have gathered and bred and multiplied. Some people feed these cats on a regular basis. Many trap the cats and have them spayed and neutered. We have a former colony cat in our home. Sophie was trapped as a kitten and the veterinarian who spayed her thought she could be domesticated. Having just lost a beloved kitty, we took on the task. Pshaw! There was little to it. The veterinarian was right, Sophie probably was a first generation litter in a feral community and she was eager to settle in and become a beloved family member.
The cats in these pictures are being fed and monitored by a friend of mine in her backyard. Cats began coming to her door several years ago—a mother cat and her kitten, then a batch of new kittens, then a couple of unrelated stragglers, until my friend was practically overrun by cats and kittens. She worked hard at trapping and delivering the cats to her local veterinarian for treatment and to be spayed/neutered. And just look at how those kitties are thriving.
You see, one person can make a difference for some of this community’s feral cats.
I’d like to hear your stories of the cats you’ve cared for outside of your chosen companion cats. I doubt there’s a cat lover among us who hasn’t taken in a stray or otherwise helped a cat in need.
This month we celebrate National Feral Cat Day (October 16) Send me your feral cat stories to share that week.
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We sure do love cats. Over thirty percent of households include a cat, or over thirty-six million households. We have an average of 2.1 cat per household, which is over seventy-four million companion cats.
And International enterprise is noticing
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our love affair with cats. Cats grace and are depicted by thousands, if not millions, of commercial products—they’re on calendars, greeting cards, dishes, plaques, jewelry, clothing—even purses and shoes. They’re in the form of toilet brush holders, hair clips, salt/pepper shakers, toys… I have a computer screen cleaner in the shape of a kitty-cat and most of the Christmas cards I’ve ever sent over the years have cats on them.
How about you? What are some of your favorite kitty-adorned items?
Water is an issue here in most of California. It’s been a long time since we’ve had rain. A very long time. And even longer since we’ve had what you’d call significant rain. The diminishing water supply is a real problem here—we’re on water restriction. Everyone in every family is constantly thinking about conserving water—all except for Lily.
Lily is a hoarder. She hoards her toys, her food and, if there was a way to do so, she’d hoard water, too. She and Sophie have five water bowls. We don’t want Lily to have to walk too far to find water. She’s especially passionate about running water. So we bought her a little kitty water fountain, which she adores. She also likes to drink out of a running faucet and, even in this time of serious drought, demands that we continue our running-water ritual morning and evening.
That’s when I turn the bathtub faucet on ever so slightly and she gets to lap up the water fresh from the tap. (Although, Lily, too, is on water restriction. Now we turn the tap to a mere trickle and only for a few seconds.)
She’s so attracted to water, that if not watched, she will dive in face first to lap up the water
in my water glass.
One of my favorite sights is Lily greeting me in the morning, after we’ve turned on her water fountain, with little sprinkles of water all over her whiskered face.
Wow! Who would have thought that in 2016, there would be a conference designed to study the DNA from over 200 cats that lived between 15,000 years ago and the eighteenth century A.D.? The truth is that researchers know little about cat domestication and, in fact, there is a debate about whether the house cat is actually domestic. Researchers admit they don’t know much about the history of ancient cats. While they claim to know their origin, they don’t know how their dispersal occurred.
It is known that the affiliation between people and cats dates back at least as far as the dawn of agriculture—about 12,000 years. Researchers analyzed DNA from the remains of 209 cats from more than 30 archaeological sites across Europe, the Middle East and Africa dated back to the period when humans lived as hunter-gatherers. It is thought that when early farmers saw the value of having cats around for rodent control, that’s when they began to tame them.
They believe that very early seafaring people probably kept cats to keep the rodent population down, as well. They found cat remains at Viking sites dating back to the eight and eleventh century in North Germany.
Another study says that wild cats were known to live among people over 100,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and were domesticated there around 12,000 BC at about the same time as dogs, sheep and goats.
No wonder sometimes when your cat stares at you, it is as if her eyes reflect a mystical or magical knowingness of things we humans can’t even begin to comprehend.
We’re still celebrating Happy Cat Month. This event, created by the CATalyst Council and they remind us that a well cared for cat is a happy cat. And a happy cat is a valued cat. How many ways do you value your cat?
Do you value her as a companion to relax with after a busy day? A purring cat by my side can certainly lift my spirits. But did you know that a cat can also lower your stress level? It’s been measured and proven.
Laughter is good medicine and a cat can sure make you smile and even laugh out loud. Why do you think the Internet is filled with cute cat videos and photographs and stories? I read earlier in the year that 1/3 of the videos on the Internet relate to cats.
Some believe that cats are healers. According to Catalyst, a close relationship with a cat can provide a consistent source of comfort and companionship, which proves to be a powerful aid through illness and handicaps. Did you know that the frequency of the average cat purr matches the frequency that promotes healthy bone growth?
I’ve found that the human-cat relationship is like any other—only even more special. You get out of it what you put into it. The more you give, the more you receive. So if your cat hasn’t enticed you to focus on him or her…if you’ve been too busy to sit quietly and enjoy your favorite kitty-cat or even a stray you’ve seen out and about and who doesn’t seem to have anyone, take some time with the cat. You…and the cat this week—the last week of Happy Cat Month…will be glad you did.
Amazon has made it even easier for you to order your choice of the latest Klepto Cat Mysteries—The Amazing CATventure. Purchase the print or Kindle version of this brand new book at one place: Here: https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-CATventure-Klepto-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B01LZ70NGI/ref=sr_1_20?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474805148&sr=1-20&keywords=klepto+cat+mysteries
This CATventure that will keep you on your toes.
In The Amazing CATventure, Savannah and Michael Ivey happily agree that they’ll enjoy a rare quiet and relaxing summer. Little did they know, however, that their pact would soon be broken, as another mystery was unfolding at that very moment—one that would shock the entire community, cause a major disturbance in their quiet neighborhood, and, of course, involve their venturesome cat. Ever wonder what it would be like to put a GoPro on your cat? Follow along as Rags and Dolly launch out on the cat-venture of their lives with some startling consequences and amazing discoveries. And most of the action is caught on camera.
This is a good time to order gift copies—the holidays are right around the corner. They make nice birthday gifts, too. Order the books from me and I’ll autograph them. http://www.matilijapress.com/Klepto-Cat-Mysteries My webmaster is traveling and hasn’t posted the latest book at my website. So if you want that one autographed, just contact me by leaving a comment here or email me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com. I’ll make sure you get an autographed copy of The Amazing CATventure.
I thought this was an interesting focus on cats—there really are cats who work for the military and who help with moral. Check out the some of the cats of war, cats at sea, and military working programs involving cats. Fascinating.
http://www.usni.org/news-and-features/cats-and-the-sea-services
https://www.army.mil/article/99764/Military_working_cat_program_underway_at__The_Old_Guard_/
http://www.petmd.com/cat/slideshows/seasonal/five-cats-of-war
And be sure to order your copy of the brand new Klepto Cat Mystery featuring Rags, the ordinary cat with some extraordinary habits. The Amazing CATventure is Available in print: https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-CATventure-Klepto-Cat-Mystery/dp/0997519053/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474402535&sr=8-2&keywords=the+amazing+catventure
and for your Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-CATventure-Klepto-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B01LZ70NGI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474402535&sr=8-1&keywords=the+amazing+catventure
Smokey, AKA the Klepto Cat
Cat-a-Day. I love my cat-a-day calendar. Each day, I turn the page and get a picture of a different cat with information about the cat or an aspect of cats in general. Yesterday, for example, there’s a picture of a cute kitty named Boris Sherlock from Knoxville, TN chewing on his blankie. The message is about cats who may have a nutritional deficiency—who may need more fiber. It is recommended for such cats, that you add canned pumpkin to his diet. (Not the ready-made pie pumpkin, but pure pumpkin.) Pumpkin is great for helping improve an ill or ailing cats’ appetite, as well.
Today’s calendar cat is sitting next to a couple of containers of cat grass and it talks about the value of feeding your cat grass. She will probably toss it up and stain your carpeting, because she can’t digest it, but experts say that can be a good thing. The process can also bring up other things that might be disturbing your cat’s digestive process—a fur ball, for example.
There’s a cool site that introduces a cat-a-day. Check it out here: http://www.catoftheday.com/ If you have a special cat (and aren’t they all special?), you can nominate him or her to be featured at this site. Let us know if your cat is chosen and we’ll feature him or her here, too.
Don’t forget to order your copy of the latest Klepto Cat Mystery—Book 19—The Amazing CATventure. See Wednesday’s post for the links.
