Every once in a while I celebrate unusual and little-known cats in this blog. I’ll focus on a new or unusual breed or write about an obscure wild cat. Some of you know that one of my favorite wildcats is the Pallas cat. It’s one of the world’s most unusual cats and one that I’m not sure has ever to this day been tamed.
This week, I heard of another wild cat for the first time. The Kellas cat. There is a lot of controversy and mis-information out there about this cat. Here’s a link where the author tries to sort it all out. https://www.prettylitter.com/blog/kellas-hybrid-cat
Basically, the Kellas cat is a cross between a Scottish wildcat and a domestic cat. Whether this was a successful cross is still undecided.
What’s your favorite wildcat or exotic cat?
Yesterday was Respect Your Cat Day. Why do we need to be reminded to respect our furry feline friends?
realize that it is absolutely true. And maybe it’s true for all cats—even those who seem to be wearing out their vocal chords meowing almost constantly. They, too, might want something from you, need something (like your attention), or they have something to share. Those ultra-vocal cats are just overly anxious to be heard—
they want to make sure they’re being heard and they want an immediately response. Maybe they don’t know exactly what they want and they’re hoping that by making a lot of noise you will give them whatever it is and NOW! Oh, those ultra-vocal cats can be so annoying and 
frustrating because you want to respond, but don’t have the slightest idea how. Do you have a cat like that?
Truly, though, most cats will meow when they have a specific need and they want you to provide it—food, attention, their litter box cleaned, their toy retrieved from under a piece of furniture… Olivia lets me know when she wants the window at her favorite perch open so she can smell the air and feel it and hear the sounds. I only leave the 
window open (screen on) when I’m in the room with her.
So why do we need a Respect Your Cat Day? I think we’ll all agree that we should respect our cats every day of the year. Being ultra curious, I wanted to know why we need to set a specific day aside to remind us to respect our cats. And I found it. Apparently, waaayyyyy back in 1384 on March 28, King Richard II of England passed a law banning the consumption of cats. Someone in the know decided to use that bit of trivia to celebrate today’s cats by showing them all the respect we can.
Rags delights in this sweet and spirited story.
I don’t always realize it when it’s happening, but I do quite a bit of teaching in my fiction books. Maybe it’s because of my background—forty years writing nonfiction articles and books. I can’t not teach.
starting to mention it and thank me for it and tell me how much they appreciate it. I’m so glad because, like everyone else who writes or teaches or creates art or…I want to make a difference. And part of making a difference is to share, to open minds, to offer new ideas ideas, and to teach. I guess I do this and 
people are noticing. For example, here are a few reviews for the Calico and Klepto Cat Mysteries:
I thought this was a good topic for Cuddly Kitten Day, which is tomorrow. If there’s one thing a cat person truly loves to do it is to cuddle with a kitten or a cat. for some of us, it’s difficult and sometimes impossible to resist running your hand over a cat’s fur. But sometimes a cat doesn’t want to be petted. How do you know this? The cat might roll over and show her claws, slap your hand, 
bite you–either warning bites or serious bites, or she’ll just walk away.
Does the cat want to be picked up and stroked or allowed to walk around you rubbing your hand as she strolls past and butting her head against your hand. Some cats adore the luxury of a full-body massage.
you want to pet a cat you don’t know, be alert to her signals. And try to keep your hands where the cat can see them so she knows what to expect. While some cats adore having their head or chin or tummy scratched, others will avoid allowing hands where they can’t see them.
Many cats like being scratched at the base of the tail. Oh, but beware of those paws. It’s a pretty relaxed and trusting cat who will allow her paws to be touched, let alone massaged.
may depend on who’s doing the petting.
I’ve had a lot of cats over the years and some of them have unusual preferences in toys. Lily adored Beany Baby-type small stuffed toys. She especially enjoyed bringing her favorites to me each morning as a gift. She didn’t play with them, but she did decorate the house with them—dropping one here and another one there… You move one and she’d often find that toy and put it 
back where she had put it.
It’s nothing serious, folks. We’ve produced 13 Klepto and Calico Mysteries per year for the last two years and 12 the year before that with a total of 87 books over the last 11 years. Pretty ambitious for someone who began her mystery-writing career in retirement, wouldn’t you say?
certainly reflects my joy in doing so. So, while you may become disappointed when a book is delayed for any reason—it happens—you can bet it annoys me, as well.
equipment, and my health to keep these books rolling off the assembly line. I’ve been sick, some of my production team have had surgery or they might be traveling when a book is ready for the process they provide (editing, formatting, creating the cover)…But we bounce back as quickly as we can and we will this time too.
I’m in the last stage of proofing Book 69 in the Klepto Cat series and I do that proofing on the hard copy. Unless you’ve done the type of work I do, you may have never noticed how different your brain works when editing/proofing a manuscript on a device (computer) and on the hard copy. You switch from the computer copy to the hard copy (or vice versa) and you catch errors your eyes did not even see before. It’s uncanny.
Are you taken aback by the number or cat-related “holidays”? I am. Here’s a new one on the books, established just last year: Today is National Catio Day. Why? Apparently this is to bring awareness to an alternative to allowing cats to roam.
cats, but roaming cats also are a danger to birds and other wildlife.
As for a catio for your cats. It can be a small alcove built into a window of your house—like a garden window for cats or a quite elaborately designed area complete with an overhead screened in tunnel where the cats can meander through your orchards or gardens with drop down options into enclosed rooms where the cat can romp through grass and chase butterflies and curl up in a sun puddle.
Cats have been used in advertising for years. I have a large poster with pix of adorable cats promoting a variety of products—cat food and litter, of course, but also matches, sewing thread, department stores, hats, mortgage companies, biscuits, milk, and so much 
more.
One of the most lovely jobs for cats is as a therapist—a therapy cat. Cats are natural calming agents for those who live with them, but some cats are chill enough to live in a library or a bookstore, nursery, and so forth to delight and entertain shoppers and visitors. Cats are also taken into assisted living homes and hospitals as therapy cats. The Denver and the San Francisco airports are a few who offer therapy cats for tense travelers.
