The Cat Gods Must be Crazy!

11/29/201312/15/2013 | Casey Wyatt

Somewhere in the universe, the cat gods must be laughing at me. Or I have a sign only cats can read pointing to my house that says “sucker for strays.”

In any case, a few weeks ago, I discovered this little guy in my recycle bin, licking a soup can. So, I fed him. Then, the next day he came back. And never left. He was friendly, wanted love, affection, and a warm house to stay in. We started calling him Pip (as in pip squeak or Pippin).

A magical force must have been at work because hubby, who initially balked when I wanted to adopt Ariel (and he totally loves her now) didn’t say a word when we carted another cat into the house.

As can be seen, he wasted no time making himself at home.

How could I say no to this guy? He is super sweet and loves to be handled. We’ll never know his real name or origin but it doesn’t matter. He decided we’re his. Maybe the cat gods know what they’re doing.

There’s a New Girl in Town

10/04/201309/20/2013 | Casey Wyatt

We’ve expanded our furry family again. This is our newest kitty, Ariel. Isn’t she a sweetie pie?

We adopted her from Mary’s Kitty Korner (a wonderful organization dedicated to saving cats). She is still getting used to living with us. She spends her days with older son, in his spacious room receiving chin rubs and playing catch the laser dot. She’s also been exploring the house and getting to know our other two kitties.

Next time you want a new pet, please consider adopting an adult cat or dog from a rescue group.

A Tale of Two Kitties

11/16/201211/16/2012 | Casey Wyatt

I won’t lie. I’ve been avoiding writing this post for a while. If you’ve visited my site regularly than you know that my family has lost several of our beloved pets. See here and here.

And I’ve also written about my two cats.

I’m sad to say that we lost Madeline. When she was diagnosed with thyroid disease a few years ago, we knew that sooner or later her kidneys would fail. In this case, they did along with her heart. It was swift and sudden. One minute she was fine, the next not. And with cats, because they are predators, it’s in their nature to never show weakness until it’s too late to do anything about it.

The vet laid it out straight. She was suffering and she wasn’t going to get better no matter what we tried. We made the painful choice to say goodbye to her. Once again, we found ourselves in our vets “private” room saying goodbye to another member of our family.

After losing four pets in two years, we had decided no more new pets.

Until we were faced with the reality of that choice. Pepito (Maddy’s brother) was our only pet. Younger son missed his lap cat. His lovey girl. While we love Pepito, he’s not a cuddler. I think he missed having other cats around too.

As fate would have it, we happened to be in our local PetSmart when we decided to check out the cats. PetSmart has a partnership with with a local cat rescue group and supports adult pet adoption.

That’s when we met Nene.

She was abandoned by her owner to a New York pound and landed on the “death” list. Luckily, she was rescued by Mary’s Kitty Korner.

Because Pepito is fourteen, I didn’t want a kitten or another male. Nene was perfect. Calm, affectionate and four years old. The volunteers at Mary’s were fabulous, letting us spend time with her and assuring us that no matter what happened (if it didn’t work out) they would take her back. They are a no kill shelter and will keep cats forever if they need to. And they vetted us carefully to be sure we would provide her with a safe happy home.

I’m happy to say Nene and Pepito are getting along fine (it was tough at first because cats need time to meet each other, not like dogs where you can introduce them immediately). As you can see below, she and squirrels hit it off.

We have always adopted our dogs and this was our first adult cat adoption. Nene seems to be happy and I can tell that someone loved her because she is very cuddly and seeks out human company. She chatty, loves to play and purrs, purrs, purrs.

We still miss Madeline, Ollie, Sparky and Oreo, but we still have a lot of love to give and we’re happy to share it with Nene too.

Kitties for a Cause!

05/18/201210/09/2012 | Casey Wyatt

Happy Friday everyone! Today, I have a guest – J.D. Revezzo, here to share her latest project – Dark Things II: Cat Crimes. All proceeds for this book will go to various cat charities.

Don’t forget to visit me at the Scribes – where J.D. answers our interview questions.

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Like any little girl, I was enamored of cats. I had several growing up, though all my furbabies are over the rainbow now. What I learned in those years, I could call into …

Top Four Traits of Cats….and some debunking:

1. Cats always land on their feet.

True. I’ve seen some jump from impossible heights, twist in the air and indeed, land on their feet.

2. Cats are graceful

Fact, I used to have cat that was so graceless, we called him a buffalo in a cat’s body. Case in point, cats are supposed to be lithe on their feet, right, able to leap tall counters in a single bound—and yawn at you while doing it? Not so our Baby Buffalo. He would leap up onto a counter, and knock every dish, container, and spoon to the floor as he slid along the surface. (He’d also jump up onto full dinner trays and knock them over. )

3. Cats are cautious of strangers.

Again, not so. See, I have allergies to cats. I kid you not, it seems whenever I am in a room with a cat—any cat—the animal will seek me out, and do its darndest to rub itself in my face. *searches for Claritin*

4. Cats are stealthy. I had one that not only snuck its way into my house on a winter’s night without anyone seeing her, but she ended up in my bed with me.

These are just the ones I observed. Some of these tied into my story, “What Sekhmet Keeps” which you’ll find in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes. It is an anthology of dark and mischievous cat tales,

Dark Things II: Cat Crimes

A collection of tales featuring feline mayhem, murder and dastardly deeds. Vampire cats. Scoundrel cats. Daring cats. Killer cats. Cats you don’t want in your worst nightmares and cats you might want on your side against evil. Authors include Mary V. Welk, Patty G. Henderson, Patricia Harrington, Jim Silvestri, Ken Goldman, Shanna Germain, Anna Sykora and dozens more. Intro by Robert W. Walker. All proceeds from sales go to several cat sanctuaries across the USA. Enjoy over twenty-one “cat tales” and support a cat charity!

And for my story:

“What Sekhmet Keeps”

by J.D. Revezzo

Betrayed by a false lover, cat shifter priestess Onfalia Mau lost her lioness soul and freedom to her lover’s treachery and Sekhmet’s wrath. Now, after three thousand years, Donquar has returned with one thing in mind: to steal the goddess’s scepter. Onfalia knows that to do so means to unleash Sekhmet’s unholy, bloody Slaughter on the world and she’ll stop at nothing to foil Donquar’s plans.

I hope you’ll check it out, and enjoy these fabulous stories!

All proceeds from the sale of our anthology will go to Cat House on The Kings, a no-kill cat sanctuary in California.

Their URL

http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/

Buy links for the anthology:

In Kindle and paperback at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/DARK-THINGS-II-Crimes-ebook/dp/B006O15YBE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0/185-0297248-1137456?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

And in Epub at Lulu.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/compiled-by-patty-g-henderson/dark-things-ii-cat-crimes/ebook/product-18787458.html

About J.D. Revezzo:

J.D. Revezzo has long been in love with writing, a love built by devouring everything from the Arthurian legends, to the works of Michael Moorcock, and the classics. Her short fiction has been published in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, The Scribing Ibis, Eternal Haunted Summer, Twisted Dreams Magazine and Luna Station Quarterly.

You can learn more about her works at:

Her site:

http://harshadpassion.wordpress.com/

or if you wish, follow her on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Revezzo/233193150037011

Or on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/juliannewrites/

Thanks for being my guest today, J.D.

Got your own cat myth to debunk? Or if you’ve got questions or comments for J.D. – fire away!

Welcome to the Broken Hearted Club

09/30/201109/29/2011 | Casey Wyatt

Hey everyone. Please be sure to visit me over at the Scribes for my post on Chocolate Cupcakes of Doom (and our new recipe page) . And Saturday, be sure to read part two of Lynn Kurland’s interview.

So you may have noticed, I’m not my usual cheerful self.

Another beloved pet has left our family. It’s been hard to lose three pets in less than a year. Granted, they were all in their elder years. My cat Ollie was almost 19 (see here)! And there was Sparky (almost 14 years) back in October 2010 (more on him later).

This time we lost Oreo. Our beautiful dalmatian. Our girlie! The love muffin.

We adopted her the day before Thanksgiving in 2003. My husband and I decided many years earlier to adopt all our Dalmatians. They are a mischievous breed and not for everyone, so many of them are given up for adoption. She came from New Jersey and was a little freaked out to be left behind by her former owners (who wanted the best for her). I’m glad they decided we would be her new family.

She was six years old at the time. Super lovie and naughty, naughty. Like all Dals, she loved to steal food. She once ate an entire bowl of apples. Later, a brand new loaf of rye bread from Panera was consumed in one sitting.

Ah, good times. I could tell you more stories, but we don’t have all day.

Eventually, she chilled out. But we were always vigilant. Dalmatians never forget food and will forever swipe anything you’re dumb enough to leave at nose length.

She loved all of us, but her most favorite person was my husband. And he loved her right back. Sometimes, I teased him that he loved her more than me.

In 2005, we adopted Sparky from a shelter. He had been abandoned and was a little loony. He really wanted me to be the only person in his family (I was his number one girl). We made the painful decision to put him to sleep last October, when his body just crapped out on him.

We faced the same dilemma with Oreo. No matter how sick or decrepit, it never makes the decision any easier.

I still have two cats left – a brother/sister pair and I know when their time comes, it will hurt just as much. Here’s hoping, I won’t be writing that post anytime soon.

Come visit me next week when I hope to have much better news to share.

Feel free to leave me a comment your furry loved ones, past and present.