Cats are mysterious creatures, so it was inevitable that someone at sometime would create stories featuring cats involved in crazy, quirky, entertaining mysteries. Presumably the first to do so was Lillian Braun Jackson, who came out with The Cat Who Mysteries in the 1960s, before the term cozy mysteries was coined.
Now there are dozens of cozy mystery series with cats 
along with cozy mysteries featuring quilting, cooking, baking, libraries, travel, dogs, and others. While this genre (or sub-genre) has guidelines—some of them have gone out the window as authors create their own themes and styles and what they 
consider appropriate for cozy mystery readers.
Some authors feature cats that talk and have a point of view, some main characters are detectives, amateur sleuths, veterinarians, librarians, bakers. Yes, we’ve stepped outside the box and that seems to 
be okay with readers, as long as the cat (dog, horse) has plenty to do in these stories and the stories are fun and entertaining and provide little surprises along the way.
I know that many of you enjoy my Klepto Cat and Calico Cat Mysteries. Here are a couple of sites listing others you might want to read. There’s no such thing as too much fun cat reading is there?
https://cozy-mystery.com/blog/kittens-cats-and-cozies-cat-mysteries/
https://cozy-mystery.com/blog/some-of-the-best-cozy-mystery-series-that-feature-cats/
We’ve all heard about programs where prisoners are paired with dogs that need homes. There are programs for inmates involving horses and even a program in at least one facility in Massachusetts where prisoners help rehabilitate wildlife. But did you know there are 
similar programs involving cats. Evidently the oldest such program is in Thailand, but inmates are now adopting cats in prisons in Washington state, Indiana and Idaho, with others just starting or considering such a program.
In March of 2009—yes, 13 years ago—I wrote the following post. The Klepto Cat and Calico Cat Mysteries series were still in the incubation period and I’d just come out with a book of true cat tales. One story features the dilemma of naming a cat.
name because he was discovered stuck inside the wall of a house that was under construction. My friend, Sue, named her kitten Tober because the kitten arrived on her doorstep cold and hungry in October. Here’s how we handled the difficult (turned fun) naming process with one kitten our family adopted years ago.
PomPom chose her name. We rescued her from an animal shelter when she was a wee kitten. When it came to naming her, my three small daughters and I couldn’t agree.
that she would chase one of them. Instead, she just sat there looking at us with no interest in the wads of paper.
paper quickly, 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?”
Do you have catnip bubbles in your cache of enrichment activities for your cats yet? Yes, it is a thing. Even Chewy offers a choice of catnip bubbles including Meowjuana Bubbles.
around $3 to $9. And if you don’t like those available on the market—some say they’re concerned about the essential oils in some of the brands and others say the bubbles are too heavy—I don’t think I’d want to use them indoors. Well, there’s another alternative, if you want to entertain your cat with safe bubbles. Make them yourself. Here’s a link with recipes. 
Cats need attention—some cats more than others. If you’ve had many cats over the years, you know that some are more needy than others and their neediness might come in spurts. Cats also have a way of appearing bored. That’s one of Olivia’s super powers—sulking and making you feel sorry for her because 
she has “nothing to do.” Poor baby.
across whatever work she thinks is holding my interest at the time. Oh, what a drama queen. So what’s my solution?
my office. The only thing she wants in my office is me out of my office—with her. So we go into the living room and I might tip her cat condo over for something 
different, bring out toys she hasn’t seen in a while, toss a ball, wave a wand, lift the blinds so she can see out the window, hide from her and let her find me. I’ll even get out the grandchildrens’ windup toys to entertain her. She loves it all, but when 
I leave the room and go back to my writing, she follows me with her “meow, meow” I’m bored routine again.
Those of us who work at home or where there is a shop cat, know how helpful a cat wants to be. They see a hand and turn somersaults to get its attention—“pet me, stroke me, scratch behind my ear…”
impossible for you to make a note or even to concentrate on the call.
sure you need her help—oh my! And don’t try to do any sewing or needlework with a cat in the room—that is unless you want a whole lot of help.
just be careful he has come out of the refrigerator before you close the door. Watch what falls to the floor. You don’t want your helpful cat to eat a piece of garlic or onion or chocolate.
As many of you know Rags, the cat in my Klepto Cat Mystery series, often works with the local sheriff’s department on interesting and messy cases. He discovers clues, he has instincts that help authorities home in on the right crook or criminal, he assists in detaining lawbreakers, and he has served as a witness to a crime. Fascinating concept, right? And it’s fun to
imagine.
learned here: If you do a crime, be sure there isn’t a cat around or a talking parrot.
What’s sweeter than watching a kitten or even a grown cat sleeping? Don’t you just want to kiss that sweet face and pet those cute paws of a soundly sleeping cat? Actually, does a cat sleep soundly? I have to wonder. Even when Olivia is stretched out in a rather vulnerably position sleeping or 
when Sophie is curled into a ball soundly asleep, they can be in a wide awake state in a nanosecond. I mean there’s no rubbing of the eyes, yawning, blinking to figure out where they are, or 
stumbling off the bed or couch. The cat is wide awake and alert in a split second of being awakened. She might even leap from the bed and dive under it in one stealth movement. Do you know what that would do to a full grown adult’s body if we reacted upon waking like a cat does? There would at least be bruises.
and it holds true today, according to the experts. But Olivia sure seems to have a lot of daytime awake time and she spends a lot of that time trying to get me out of my office to play with her.
Do you have questions about your cat’s sleep habits? Here’s an article you might find useful.
As if it isn’t stressful enough to move, throw one or more cats into the mix and you’ve created the potential for an episode of off-the-charts anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What’s the solution? Trade your anxiety-ridden cat in for one that’s more mellow? No. You don’t want to do that to your Buffy, Fluffy, or Jack. All it takes is careful thought and planning.
and a dog in a small sedan and all went well. There were a couple of near mishaps when Annie (cat) thought she might like to tour Arizona on her way to St. Louis, but her cat-mom had done her due diligence. She had considered all of the potential problems (probably while lying awake at night worrying about the trip and how to keep the cats 
safe), and she squelched Annie’s wanderlust before a CATastrophe occurred.
and who don’t particularly like change. This describes most cats, right?
to the move—watching the home she’s familiar with transitioning into a shell she no longer recognizes and feel safe in. Then there’s the long (or short) drive to the new place. My neighbor had many stops along the way and had to carefully devise a way to get two cats from the car into the 
hotel room safely each night and back into the car the next morning.
world safely and painlessly) is a process and it’s worth your while to help your cat work through his angst during a move. Happy relocation.
