Sad Kitty

Sad Patty O'Malley

As I jumped into my car this morning, I snapped a photo of Patty O'Malley, as he gave me a forlorn look while sitting in the garden next to the driveway. Yes, it stormed last night, and I have been cutting back on meal sizes...and Patty has been itching, itching, itching so much...but he looks so sad!  Now you know why I am on fire to coax him inside, even though he doesn't want to come in.  Patty, I love you so...please come inside and live with me!

Cat Shout for Joy

I started reading the Joe Grey Mystery series back in 2009, when I was laid-off from my job and looking for a new position.  Those were difficult emotional times for me, plus I had just begun my personal TNR campaign for the cats in the neighborhood.  I was taking TNR classes, learning how to make my life integrate with twice daily feedings outside, while attending every resume-writing, interviewing for beginners, how to network online, free class I could find!

Spending lots of time at the local library, I searched the book catalog for 'cat' books, to soothe my nerves.  Reading is my great escape!  Author Shirley Rousseau Murphy's name came up, and I saw there were already several books in the Joe Grey Mystery series.  So, I checked out the very first book, "Cat on the Edge".  The mixture of murder mystery, metaphysical cat lore, and the bond between humans and cats was a powerful punch! I then secretly bought every book in the series, which was a very big deal for someone living on a VERY fixed income!  I devoured every book, and then reread them again.  Now, for years, I wait impatiently for the next volume, and I was NOT disappointed in "Cat Shout for Joy", which was published last month.

Last night, I stayed up past midnight, as I read the last of this tale.  I cried multiple times...tell me, how often does reading fiction make you cry?!?  I will not give the story away; there are too many spoilers for me to even tell you much about the characters of Joe Grey, the mostly grey-colored cat with a short tail, and his lady tabby cat Dulcie.  Along with their human companions, plus many members of the Molena Point Police department, a band of very special feral cats, and calico Kit and her special cat friend Pan, Shirley Rousseau Murphy has created a landscape of fascinating...and mysterious...stories that I hope you will enjoy reading.

Cat Shout for Joy: A Joe Grey Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780062403490
On Sale: 02/23/2016
Pages: 336

Paperwork!

Now that we have several different veterinarians (Chuck's heart vet, our regular vet, the holistic vet, and then services needed for The 'O' Cats)...I decided that I needed to get all our cat health paperwork collated and organized.

Easier said than done!

Piles and piles of paperwork!

I went through stacks of paperwork, and I found a lot of receipts and detailed information, which I then organized.  But, there was some stuff I was still missing:  where were my receipts from my first days trapping The 'O' cats: Hobo, Sweetie, and Honey?  I searched high and low.

There you are!

Turns out, I had neatly stashed that paperwork in a envelope years ago...and then tucked it away!  No wonder I couldn't find it.

Yay!

Took over an hour, but I now have everything stacked up by cat.  Think I may buy some three-ring binders, and file every page from oldest to newest.  Seeing the paperwork from Sammy's euthanasia and the missing Honey gave me a touch of sadness, but now I am organized.  This means I can look up dates of last vaccinations, or when Patty O'Malley and Sweetie had their rabies shots.

On the other hand, losing an hour definitely bothered us more than the cats. Angel did her usual early morning yowl: here is the photo I took of that!

Notice the white blob on the floor
outside the bedroom door

And Chucky was so happy to have both of his humans dancing attendance on him, that he ran up the cat climb in the dining room, and hung out there, watching us from on high!

"Silly humans!  I am above you!"

Love the tail tip