It cracks me up how and where I find ideas for this blog (and for the Klepto Cat Mystery stories, by the way). Last week I visited the restroom in my chiropractor’s office and saw a photograph of a cat sitting on a shelf of old books and thought, “Now that’s a nice theme.” I also have a t-shirt picturing a cat lounging with books. It says, “Cats and Books: Life is Good.”
What is it about cats and books that warms a heart? I think it’s a calming concept. What is more relaxing than the thought of curling up on a rainy (or a sunny) day with a cat and a good book? When the book has a cat in it, the experience is even more priceless. When you read a Klepto Cat Mystery while snuggling with your cat, you might gaze into her eyes at some point and say, “Boy I’m glad you’re not a naughty klepto like Rags.” Or you might say, “Gosh, you’re boring next to Rags and his feline friends. All you do is sleep and eat.”
Well, there’s no comparing Rags to any single cat as he’s actually a compilation of cats I 
know and have known. That’s where he gets his over-sized purrsonality.
Yesterday, I came in possession of yet another cat book. I walked down to my favorite bookstore, BookEnds, which is actually an old church that’s been transformed into a unique bookstore with tons of collectibles and curiosities. Marsha handed me a book—a gift. It’s old and charming. I looked it up and I believe it was published in 1903. Are any of you familiar with S. Louise Patteson’s “Letters from Pussycatville?” She also wrote “Pussy Meow: The Autobiography of a Cat” in 1901. Collectibles, for sure.
Wishing you and yours a purrfect labor day, hopefully with your favorite cat and, if circumstances allow it, a good read. If you haven’t read it, pick up the latest Klepto Cat Mystery, Revenge at Its Felinest. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat and delight you all at once.
Me? While I’ll most likely spend the early hours of the morning continuing the editing for Book 31, my afternoon will be spent at a family beach barbecue. Can’t wait!
We see dogs posing for portraits wearing human clothing, horses being depicted as unicorns, and just about every animal in porcelain, ceramic, metal, wood, leather, etc. But is there any animal who is as photographed, painted, animated, emulated and otherwise portrayed as the cat?
screen cleaner and my cat-face mousepad? Our hanger for extra keys is shaped like a cat and I’m drinking coffee out of a cup with cats on it. Recently, my mother gave me a trash can I’ve admired at her house for years. It has a painting of a gorgeous cat on it. Another favorite piece of cat art in my house is a throw (blanket) that my daughters had made for a birthday a few years ago. It has pictures of all of my Klepto Cat Mystery book covers up to that point. This is highly treasured—for its beauty as well as the beautiful thought and love that went into that gift.
A cat without windows is unimaginable to me. For much of my life I’ve had inside/outside cats. My cats have all been totally indoors for the last forty years or so—with the exception of one rescued calico who insisted on having outdoor privileges. She refused to use the litter box. No she didn’t have accidents. She absolutely insisted on going outside—even in the rain. But she also enjoyed lolling around indoors with the other cats and, like all of the other cats we’ve ever had, she enjoyed gazing out the windows.
photography. It’s fun watching a cat at the window, as she reacts to her experience. She might chatter when seeing a bird—my cats and I enjoy bird-watching together. Sophie gets excited when she sees another cat outside. And she lets me know by her posture if someone’s walking by or coming up our walkway.
I once had a cat who found an otter in our yard. It was raining and our Turkish van girl was sitting on a windowsill looking out with big eyes. I joined her just to see what had her interest and there, diving in and out of a little pond in the back yard was—I rubbed my eyes a couple of times to make sure—yes, it was an otter. He was having the time of his life in the rain. He was especially happy when he discovered our pool and we had a blast watching him. We later discovered he was a pet. He’d escaped and, when the rain stopped—a day or two later—and we’d finally found the owner, he arrived with a ferret to ferret him out from under our tack room. They were friends and the ferret did, in fact, entice the otter out so they could catch him and take him home.
Sometimes I just can’t resist sharing Lily’s artwork, even if it comes from the litter box. Does your cat pee interesting shapes for you? Does she claw designs in the litter—something that looks like a bird or a fish, perhaps? Maybe your cat spills sand out of the box and smears it around to make recognizable designs. What? You’ve never noticed? Not an art connoisseur, huh?
with kidney disease and a gigantic bladder. She drinks tons of water, thus pees a lot and leaves big clumps. Sophie’s clumps are tiny and always round. Her art simply lacks the imagination that Lily’s does.
A feral cat is a cat without a home—one that was born into or has returned to a wild state. There are also domesticated cats that have lost their way or been abandoned. These cats might be called strays. Homeless cats will often band together in what we call colonies. And they can be found living just about anywhere—in cities and rural areas, in warehouse districts and neighborhoods, in ravines, under bridges, among sand dunes along the coast or trees in a forest. For the most part these cats are wily, cunning, and clever. They have to be in order to survive.
worm their way into the hearts and homes of humans. Many, however, have been running in fear for too long. Their encounters with humans have validated their fear and they will probably never warm up to people.
When you see what appears to be one or more feral (or homeless) cats, you probably wonder if they were ever loved, how they wound up in that situation, why there are so many. Do you also wonder what you can do to help?
yourself. The director will tell you where to take the cats for evaluation, treatment, neutering, and placement. Or the TNR volunteers will do the trapping for you and follow through as outlined above. They’ll find homes for those cats who can adjust to domestication and release the wilder cats in the same area or a more suitable area where, perhaps, the colony is being monitored and fed.
The weather is starting to cool a bit, which makes it more comfortable to sleep. Although I’m not sure cats ever lose any sleep no matter the weather. They seem to be able to catnap or snooze soundly under any conditions, and in some of the most interesting positions.
cat.
Why do cats sleep so much? Is it that they’re lazy? Actually just the opposite. It’s because they’re so active. When they’re awake, they expend a lot of energy. Plus they’re hardwired to sleep a lot in order to be ready for the next hunt.
begging for her meals, giving herself a complete bath after eating, investigating packages and boxes brought in from outside, giving chase when a toy mouse is flipped in front of them, leaping after a fly or moth that makes its way into the house, worrying about whether you’re going to leave and when and if you’re coming back, keeping an eye on what’s going through the windows, examining bits of sunlight shining on the floor, looking forward to the next meal, and so forth. When you consider all that they do, you can clearly see why a cat sleeps so much during the day. It’s exhausting being a cat. But you can be sure that a cat nap is just the thing to re-energize your fur-pal.
They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. 
They roam, they play, and they snooze. Some are friendly and show up for a little petting, others visit primarily to escape the chaos at their own homes–children, other pets, and all. They come to sip from our birdbath and to watch the birds. And simply to be without being disturbed. They are our neighborhood cats.
the windows. I talk to them when I’m puttering in the yard and I admire them 
when I’m out and about for a walk or to run an errand on foot.
And sometimes I take their pictures
I found a site this morning that, if you visit, could entertain you for hours. It’s beyond 
intriguing. It was put together in 2016 and includes 101 interesting facts about cats.
Check this out: The most expensive cat ever was cloned at the cost of $50,000.
Monday we talked about begging cats and how we facilitate them. Tuesday we explored some of the rituals we share with our cats. What about helping cats—cats who help? Here are some of the chores our two cats engage in with us.
gluttonous girl. She adores food and she knows where food comes from. No, not the growing fields or the grocery store, but the refrigerator and cupboards and she’s always on hand to give a paw in case a morsel of cheese or something else yummy to her tummy falls onto the floor. Yup, she’s the clean-up crew.
Lily is my office assistant. She likes hanging out with me in my office. I’ve learned that there are certain things on my desk that Lily does not think belong there and she bats it off my desk just about every day. She sits and watches me work sometimes, keeping me on task, but also enticing me to take breaks. My breaks, in Lily’s world, consist of petting her and playing with her. Sounds reasonable. It’s certainly a calming, relaxing, fun way to spend a few minutes. If I don’t take a break when Lily thinks I should, I feel the paw on my arm or hand. If I keep working, I start to feel a little pokey claw. Okay, it’s time to take a break.
couldn’t find it. Lily found it for me. She didn’t want to give it back, but she found it.
fascination for taking bird pictures and they will often point out birds to me. Sophie told me about a flock of cute bush tits the other early evening that had invaded one of my native plants. She and I sat together while I took pictures of them through the window.
Do you have special moments you share with your cat? Are there little habits or routines you and your cat engage in? If you’re like most humans with cats, you have a list of them. One that most of us can relate to is the wake-up call, right? Does your cat wake you up at about the same time each morning—whether you want to get up or not? I guess if you typically feed your cat in the morning, she’s more likely to make sure you’re up to do so. I suppose some cats are simply bored by morning and want a little company.
they always come back, so I always get up.
About once a week or so, when the girls appear to be bored, I’ll decide to give them a catnip treat. And always, on those days, when I walk into the kitchen and open the freezer door, they start getting excited. Lily will follow me and dance around my feet. Sophie waits with eager eyes at the cat tree. How do they know that I’m getting catnip and not ice for my water or something else? How?
loves chasing and leaping for wads of paper. That’s another activity we enjoy fairly often.
