Catscapades

Katie

I enjoy human interest stories involving cats. I’ll bet you do, too. Here are a few I found this week.

Officials in a government office in New Mexico organized a sort of library for cats—where employees can check out kittens from shelters to enjoy, for stress-relief, etc. As a result of this program, over 100 kittens and cats have been adopted.

Did you know that animal cruelty is now a felony and will demand a stiffer penalty? I hope education goes along with this decision. And the education should start in schools—for those children who don’t have the best guidance at home.

Why have cats taken over the Internet. Here’s a fascinating article that might shed some light on that phenomenon. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-ruthnum/why-the-internet-loves-ca_b_9823300.html?utm_hp_ref=cats

Here are several other news stories involving cats, including one about a cat in Rhode

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Island who’s running for president and meet the mayor of a community in New York. http://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/cats

Would you like your cat to be celebrated and, perhaps, go viral on the Internet, well, start capturing some of his or her antics on your cell phone and put them on YouTube. Send his story to the Pussington Post. Let your cat start a blog. There are many blogs written by cats. Some of them are listed here: http://belrea.edu/blog/the-top-25-cat-bloggers-of-2012/

When you read some of the Klepto Cat Mysteries, did you come across any phrases or quotes that struck you? I’m sometimes asked to share quotes from this series and I’m at a loss as to phrases that might be considered unique, poignant, spot-on, to the point, or just plain memorable. So I thought some of you who’ve read the books might be able to help me.

Leave a comment here or email me. PLFry620@yahoo.com

In the meantime, I want to tell you about an interesting pastime being pursued this

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spring—one that I’m certainly involved in—bird-watching. For quite a while, I’ve been watching birds from my deck at home and checking out the birds living in the areas where I walk, but this year, I’m also spying on birds in their nests. Nest-watching seems to be a new national pastime, as interested bystanders tune in on the webcams placed near hummingbird, owl, hawk, and other bird nests. I’m particularly fascinated with the eagles nesting out at the Channel Islands off the California coast. Is anyone else keeping an eye on a bird nest somewhere?

How many things can be molded into a cat form? Is there anything in the marketplace today that doesn’t or can’t depict a cat? Personally, I have dozens of items representing cats. Sure I’ve purchased a few of them, but many were gifts. If you adore cats (or dogs, horses, pigs, frogs, or collect fairies, stars, hearts), you know what I’m talkin’ about.

I have cat jewelry, refrigerator magnets, dishes, mouse pad, screen chamois, a visor with kitty cat paws, calendars, posters, cat-food-scooper, clothes, pillow, and even a cat overnight bag. A friend made me a wooden bowl with a sleeping cat carved in the center and my sister gave me an adorable stool with a seat that looks like a sleeping cat. I have a cat birdbath, a patio cat that glows in the dark and an ordinary rock with a cat painted on it.

My unintentional collection includes stuffed cats, a cat doorstop, and a cat-shaped brush

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for the cats. Now that I’m writing cat fiction, I’m coming into possession of even more cats—someone gave me a sweater with cats on it, and a scarf decorated with cats, cat flip-flops, and even a cat toilet brush holder.

I have dresser scarves and hand towels with cats and a lot of cat figurines, including Hummels and Llardroes. It’s beginning to look like a cat museum around here. I imagine some of you can relate. And how do I feel about being surrounded by all these cat depictions? I find them charming and I’m glad I don’t have to feed (and clean up after) all those cats.

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While I was earning my living as a freelance article-writer, I happened across a fascinating topic—working cats. And I wrote a couple of articles featuring some of the working and library cats across the US.

You probably know of a cat or two who hang out at a pet store, garden center, flower shop, quilt shop, refinishing shop, your vet’s office, or even a bed and breakfast. There are actually 470 known shop cats throughout the states, according to Trina Samson, who’s been operating the Shop Cat website at http://www.shopcat.com for at least fifteen or twenty years. Visit this site and find out some of the interesting and unique places where cats work.

Here in Ojai, CA, we see a resident cat lurking about at a feed store, and there was one greeting customers at a unique outdoor bookstore for many years. I love eating at a particular restaurant in Big Sur where cats grace the place. There are also lodges and inns where you can request a cat for your room if you so desire.

There are 809 library cats in the world—664 in the US and over 400 former library cats in the US who have since passed on. You’ve probably heard of the most famous library cat of all—Dewey. I was among the first to write about Dewey, years ago. The librarian, when she retired, made him even more famous when she came out with a book about this cat. Check out the list of library cats here: http://www.ironfrog.com

There are advantages to having a cat in the workplace and public places, but also disadvantages. Cats are known to have a calming effect on people. Some employers actually allow people to bring their pets to work. In some instances, the employer adopts a relaxed, quiet cat from a shelter and gives him the run of the office. The cat’s job is to provide a serene atmosphere in even busy, hectic businesses. Cats are often brought into warehouses to work as mousers.

It has been shown that customers will stay longer and, perhaps, buy more in a business where there’s a friendly cat. A cat in the workplace is also an advantage for a cat who has no place else to go. Many of the business and shop owners I spoke to while writing about shop cats and library cats said that the cat strayed in, or they found the cat wandering the streets. Some purposely rescued cats from local shelters. And others bring their own cat back and forth from home to work.

The disadvantages to having a cat in a public place or business is the obvious—some people dislike and even fear cats. There are people with cat allergies. I was involved in a cat therapy program once. We’d take kittens from a shelter into nursing homes. At one place, I was confronted by a scary employee who was deathly afraid of cats—even kittens. She’d run away screaming whenever I’d walk into the place with a kitten. Certainly, that woman would never knowingly set foot in a business or public building with a cat. I talked to some librarians and business owners who say they will lock the cat up in such cases.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about cats in the White House and famous people in history who owned cats.