Amy Shojai's Blog, page 102

Jessie Stephens, Mentor & Friend

Jessie Stephens, Mentor & Friend

L-R (top) Amy, Jessie, Margie, Cherie & Sherrie (bottom) at an outing during one of our Cuchara Writers Group trips.

Last week the pet writing world lost a friend, and left our community deeply saddened. Now I’ve lost another friend, Jessie Stephens, and my heart is broken.

As y’all know, writing is a very lonely profession–perhaps not so much now as when I first started out as a writer. No Internet, no Email, few resources or folks to ask for help and support. I’d started writing a monthly column for the paper at the request of the local VMA, but I really didn’t know other writers in the community.

And then Jessie called and introduced herself. She invited me to attend a small gathering of local writers, a support/critique group. Lordy, was I scared and intimidated! But I went.

Another group shot: LR-Carol, Sherrie, Cherie, Amy, Margie, Judy, and Jessie in front.

At that meeting more than 20 years ago, I met an incredible group of women. Jessie brought us together first as critique partners, nurtured and mentored us, and soon we became friends. And as we celebrated our successes, shared our frustrations, laughed loud and long, cried and mourned, and supported each other through all that life threw our way, we became more than a writer’s group, more than colleagues. We became family.

We clean up good! at the Chocolate Indulgence fundraiser for CASA. L-R: Amy, Judy, Jessie, Margie, Cherie, Sherrie. (Additional members not pictured: Carol and Bobbie)

Jessie threw me a launch party in her home when my first book was published in 1992, the beginning of my book-writing career. And 20 years later, Jessie edited my thriller before I submitted for publication, leading to a series and launching my new fiction writing career. In between, we lost one of our members–Bobbi Grant–but she’s still with us as those who make such a positive impression never leave your heart.

Now Jessie has, as her husband eloquently stated, “…gone to that undiscovered country.” And we make room in our hearts for her memory, as well.

A reporter contacted me to ask about Jessie for a front page story in the paper about her–(She’s been a columnist with them for years now as the local expert on all-things-gardens and birds). I didn’t know what to say. She loved birds. She loved her garden. Her dream was to run a small garden shop–and she got to do that for a time. She loved writing, and mentoring others. She traveled the country lecturing about writing, and she taught on the college level. She wrote three books, created her own publishing company (before “indie” was cool!), and published countless short stories. She loved her friends. And she adored her husband Tony.

And we, the Cuchara Writers Group, loved Jessie.

Folks, I’m taking a break from blogging for the rest of the week, but will have a post for you on Saturday that you WON’T want to miss! (It’ll be a happy post, I promise *s*). Until then, please go find the people who matter most to you–and tell them. This isn’t a sad post–this is a celebration of a life well lived. May I be half the person to others that Jessie was, and is.

That is all.

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

 

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Monday Mentions: Pet Bloggers Insights, Free Getty Pix & Pet Grief Tips

Monday Mentions: Pet Bloggers Insights, Free Getty Pix & Pet Grief Tips

“My name is Amy, and I’m a Pet Blogger.”

Whew, glad we got THAT out of the way. *s* You’ll notice by the badge that I’m a BlogPaws Pet Blogger Influencer Group Member. That means I participate in weekly surveys that help inform pet marketers and brands exactly what I, as a blogger, might have to offer and what I expect in return for sharing their information, causes, products here on Bling, Bitches & Blood. That infographic, above, is the result of the first survey–pretty kewl, eh?

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I’m pretty selective, and that I cover both dogs and cats (and writing). I don’t recommend schtuff unless I really believe in a product, use it myself, and/or believe readers would benefit by learning more about it. For instance, The Honest Kitchen offers folks a free sample bundle here of their most popular pet foods, and Karma-Kitten is smitten with the food (Magical-Dawg lusts after licking the bowl clean, too!). And if you shop online, you can find just about anything pet-related for your fur kids from Pet360 with free shipping.

Now, that doesn’t mean I believe you automatically buy/use/recommend everything that’s mentioned here–I love y’all cuz my Sweet Peeps care so much about their pets, y’all want good solid info to make up your own minds, right?

You’d think all that would go without saying. But you’d be surprised at the amount of inappropriate “pitches” pet bloggers receive. Ahem.

Anyway, how do your pet-spending habits line up with what the bloggers say? Do you shop mostly online, or locally? Would you borrow money to fund a pet’s health care needs? Are some of those human products also in your pet’s care kit? (I’m guessing we’re pretty similar).

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the neato-torpedo writer links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Check out the fun pet-centric video below, too! For new followers to the blog, welcome! and you can expect more cat and dog specific schtuff later in the week on Wednesday and Friday.

WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF

DIY Ebooks for Writers Webinar This Friday March 15! use the code GO INDIE for $10 off registration

Writers & Other Animals Blog a great new addition to the blog-osphere

Facebook Did Something & Marketers Will Screw It Up thanks from my friend Lisa Hall-Wilson for sharing

Rights Concern for Contest from Writer Beware

Do Identical Twins Have the Same DNA? well yes…and no, very kewl info for your plot twist from the always intriguing Dr. Doug Lyle

Getty Images Going Free?  oh my…and down the road at some unspecified time will those images suddenly go away, or generate ads, or collect your traffic info for nefarious reasons, or or or…

PET-CENTRIC SCHTUFF

What’s New in Feline Medicine? great blog post (and videos) you don’t want to miss!

Pet Loss Survey from Washington State University gathering info on how your remaining pets reacted, please contribute

How to Help Pets Through Grief an excellent article by Marilyn Krieger (works for both cats and dogs)

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Cute Kitten Pix (and a Dawg)

Cute Kitten Pix (and a Dawg)

It’s been kind of a rough week here at Shojai Central, so today I’m treating myself to sharing some cute-icity.

Karma LOVES his toys! Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

Karma loves his Magical-Dawg, too–and the feeling is mutual. Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

…and Karma finds all the neato-torpedo hidey holes, great spots from which to tease the Dawg. Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

Karma’s chair in my office–thank goodness he didn’t try to take Seren’s spot! Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

Let’s continue the cute-icity! Share your cute kitty (or doggy) pictures in the comments. *S*

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

5 Reasons You Should Kindle-ize Nonfiction

5 Reasons You Should Kindle-ize Nonfiction

“Today is the best time to be an author, especially of non-fiction.”

Ebooks for Writers Webinar March 15!

Ebooks are the current gold standard of publishing…at least for the next 60 seconds or so, LOL! This presentation is designed for all levels of writing and publishing experience, for writers, authors and bloggers who want to learn the ins and outs of DIY “indie” publishing. You’ll get a step-by-step how-to process that covers:

Pros & Cons of Ebook Publishing compared to “Tradititional”
Options Available from DIY platforms to for-hire services
Kinds of costs involved
What you can (and should) do yourself
What you should hire professionals to do
Resources for helpful self publishing software, editorial assistance and cover design help
Practical step-by-step how-to “Kindle-ize” your manuscript
Formatting tips for illustrations, covers, sidebars and table of contents
Promotional must-knows including DO’s and DON’TS!
Includes valuable links to further information, available as a down-load/handout at the end of the class.

March 15 from 2-3:30 New York Time, attend in your jammies or listen to the recording later. *s* Use the GO INDIE code for $10 off!

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE…MY STORY

In the time before, I had a high-powered agent. Together we published more than a dozen non-fiction pet care titles with New York publishers, from Ballantine and Penguin/Putnam to Rodale Press.

In the time before, a book on “new century pet care” slated to publish in late 1999 was delayed until late 2001. The information was no longer “breaking news” and also had been eclipsed by world events when the Towers came down.

In the time before, my agent trusted me to know my subject and my audience, and editors offered contracts based on credentials, expertise and track record. But pet books meant to be revised and updated and live 9 lives instead were dropped, and my editor declined a project she loved when Marketing complained I wasn’t a veterinarian. That same marketing team tried (and failed, God bless my agent!) to replace my name on a book cover with the “veterinary adviser” who had not written a word of the text. I hadn’t changed—publishing changed.

Self-Publishing and Non-Fiction

After feeling sorry for myself for far too long, I embraced the time after. Thank goodness my agent got my out-of-print book rights reverted, and that launched my indie career. Today, I’m proud to be a hybrid author, choosing the best path for each title. My backlist has been updated and released on all Ebook platforms as well as print (and some in audio). And I’ve published original titles, too.

Fiction gets a lot of attention in the DIY publishing world, but with the new tablets and expanding technology that makes photos and illustrations (and maybe audio???) do-able for interactive books, nonfiction is poised to take off. My sales are increasing. And yours could, too.

5 TOP REASONS NONFICTION ROCKS INDIE PUBLISHING

Timing for Publication. Every author must polish, edit and best prepare their work to be professional quality. And while some fiction has timeliness factors, such as a Christmas themed work requiring holiday publishing dates, non-fiction more often demands specific scheduling for best effect. Tying a non-fiction book’s publication to a calendar event that is important to that work can impact marketability. With indie publishing, the author has control and can plan the book release and promotions for the ideal time. My “cutting edge” book lost the traction it might have garnered had its coverage of cloned pets coincided with in-the-news hand-waving publicity, for example. Anniversaries of historical events can be tied to non-fiction books on these subjects.

 Updates/Revisions. Yes, any indie author can update book’s digital file quickly to orrect a typo or improve an edit. Non-fiction authors benefit even more from the ability to revise and release updated versions of informational and prescriptive works. Several of my non-fiction pet care books offer prescriptive medical and behavioral advice, and as veterinary medicine constantly evolves, they require updates. These can be done easily and quickly, while books published traditionally cannot be revised until/unless a set number of sales demands a new edition. Having books with outdated information can hurt the non-fiction author’s reputation and platform, so self-published non-fiction has great advantages.

Platform and Reputation. Niche non-fiction sales have dropped or gone away entirely in traditional publishing. That makes sense, because the book must sell enough to “feed” the agent, the editor and the publishing house staff and expenses. For the self-published author who has the reputation, expertise and audience, niche non-fiction books sell steadily and well and can be a renewable resource. They also increase the author’s expertise, offer credentials for speaking engagements and endorsements, and can lead to many other opportunities. Non-fiction is much easier to market—every TV and radio show wants to speak to an “expert” on the subject. In particular BLOGGERS can leverage their expertise, publish collections of blog posts and have a click-able immediate “impulse buy” from their online venue.

 Pricing. All self-published authors have the ability to price books as they see fit, and change that price as needed. Non-fiction books can be priced higher than fiction, and generally sell better at a higher price point. I price my e-book non-fiction at $5.99 each, a deep discount compared to trade paperback but still much higher than many fiction books.

 Control. This for me is the biggest advantage of all, and covers everything else. The non-fiction author knows what appeals to his or her audience, and has the ability to choose the cover of the book, timing of the release, pricing, revisions and more to best leverage the book’s launch.

Today my non-fiction expertise also colors my fiction work, so I’m able to leverage the existing non-fiction audience to build on for the dog-viewpoint thrillers. Indie authors of fiction shouldn’t overlook the advantages of non-fiction publishing, and bloggers are in a unique position of having ready-made content and audience hungry for your work. It’s value-added to your publishing toolkit.

Get all the details of how to DIY in Ebooks for Writers Webinar, Saturday March 15 from 2-3:30 New York Time.  Attend in your jammies or listen to the recording later. *s* Use the GO INDIE code for $10 off!  (please share!)

Portions of this post was originally published on the ALLi site here. 

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

 

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Marion Lane, Retired Person–A New Star Is Born

Marion Lane, Retired Person–A New Star Is Born

Audrey Pavia standing behind our friend Marion Lane holding Zeki the Pet Safety Cat, taken at the 20th Anniversary CWA Conference, November 2013.  Picture courtesy of Audrey Pavia

 

I write this through tears, having just received a note that Marion Lane died suddenly Monday night of complications from congestive heart failure. I didn’t know she was ill. The pet-writing world is stunned in its surprise and grief. My deepest sympathies to her husband and family.

Marion Lane was a gifted writer, passionate pet advocate, brilliant editor and mentor to writers both new and established. I first met Marion when she worked at the ASPCA, and I was honored to write for her when she served as editor of the award-winning ASPCA magazine. She also authored two books, Heritage of Care: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and The Humane Society of the United States Complete Guide to Dog Care: Everything You Need to Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy.

Marion speaks at CWA’s 10th Anniversary 2002 in Kansas City. Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

When the Cat Writers Association was in its early years and seeking support, it was Marion who approached the ASPCA on our behalf and secured sponsorship that continues to this day. She was also involved for many years with the Dog Writers Association of American, served on the DWAA board and after her retirement from the ASPCA she briefly served as editor of the DWAA newsletter.

I always got a great kick out of her email signature, which had always been the formal credentials of her position at the ASPCA until she left. Henceforth she signed herself, “Marion Lane, Retired Person.”

This dry recitation of facts doesn’t begin to paint a picture of the Marion we all knew and loved. Many of us are better writers today because of Marion–and dare I say, a few got their start because of her generous help. I never saw Marion without a smile. I never heard or read anything from Marion that wasn’t cordial, helpful, and at times pointed but always honest. At our most recent CWA conference, Marion attended–a seasoned pro who could have (and had!) taught many of us what it means to be a writer–and yet she sat in the audience, attentive, asking questions, encouraging newer folks and making the speakers feel like we truly had something worthy to offer. She did put up a fight over who got to hold Zeki, a lovely demo kitty visiting the conference, and of course Marion won!

I saved one of her last email notes of encouragement and praise of the CWA preview of STRAYS to share it with the cast, and now I’ve added it to the STRAYS page as a tribute to her. That’s just the kind of person she was, offering kewl uplifting and unexpected gifts–and I hope we live up to her expectations.

She always had kind words, it seems, and I wish…oh, how I wish!…I’d told her more often how much that meant to me. Please tell your mentors, tell your friends, tell your colleagues NOW what a difference they make! Don’t wait. Sometimes “later” never comes.

Marion loved her family. She loved her pets. And she loved and supported her friends. And we loved her.

I will miss her, deeply. But now the heaven’s have a new star. May we all be worthy of the light Marion continues to shine upon us.

Audrey writes, “If you would like to honor Marion’s memory, please consider making a donation to the ASPCA in her name. Marion was a former editor at the A, and was a strong believer in their work for animals.”

And friends of Marion, feel free to leave a note about a special memory in the comments, possibly to be included in a future CWA piece about our colleague.

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Monday Mentions: Mind Games, Doggy Brain Scans & ACX Royalty Reduction

Monday Mentions: Mind Games, Doggy Brain Scans & ACX Royalty Reduction

“Yes, I wrote ALL those books,” says Seren. “And NO, Karma, I do NOT want a smooch–you’re covered with dawg spit!” Image Copr. Amy Shojai, CABC

Karma continues to woo Seren, and Seren maintains her dignity–and her distance. But small progress is being made. For the past several days now, I’ve been able to work while ALL were out and about. Karma has claimed a couple of fav resting spots, and Seren seems fine with that as long as he doesn’t get chummy with her blue bed.

Next on the to-do list: a halter for Karma, so we can go out when the roses bloom. They’re already sprouting leaves, so flowers can’t be far away.

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the neato-torpedo writer links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. For new followers to the blog, welcome! and you can expect more cat and dog specific schtuff later in the week on Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully I’ll be back up by then.

WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF

Mind Games a great post from Kristen Lamb on how you may sabotage your success

Discoverability: Social Media Part 2

Self Pub Market in India fascinating facts re: demographics and pricing especially

Vaccine for PTSD? it has nothing to do with writing, other than my main character in LOST AND FOUND and HIDE AND SEEK suffer from PTSD and…it’s my blog. (no, not the dog…although dogs CAN suffer from PTSD)

Win $2000 Pub Package from Firebrand  This is a new company (formed in 2013) so there’s not a big track record but could be a good option for folks wanting a turn-key self pub solution. Some of their fees seem quite reasonable, others not–and of course, execution is the make/break for this. For instance, the ISBN charge of $29 is great (Bowker charges $125), but they charge $79 to copyright, when the US Copyright Office charges $35. The chance for a “free package” though may be worth your while. Deadline 3-10-14.

Amtrak Writer’s Residency wow, I’d go for that!

ACX Royalty Structure Changing from a 50% cut to 40% (still a dang fine percentage, don’t you think?) plus they’re raising the “bounty” from $25 to $50 to the rights holder when their audio book is a first purchase. So …BSP…I just gave away a boatload of audio books via my Pet Peeves newsletter this weekend (you need to subscribe–top right corner of this blog *s*). Check out my nonfiction pet books and HIDE AND SEEK audio titles here!

Author Reaction to ACX Change and here’s insight from the VO Pros on the change

PET-CENTRIC SCHTUFF

Squirrel Vs Dog  a fun post from Susie Lindau

Allergy-Friendly Pets? I’m not sure that I agree with this list, what about you? where are the Siberians? and Labradors on the list because they “swim more frequently?” Hmnnn.

22 Crazy Animal Laws some of these have got to go in a book plot!

Cats Forecast the Weather, here’s how

When A Rescue Really Isn’t some surprising and shocking info–you need to know this!

Dog Brain Scans Reveal…we’re more alike than we think!

Enjoy this fun video, thanks to GloGirly who shared this on her PAW-some blog.

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

OUCH! Why Do Cats Chase Our Feet?

OUCH! Why Do Cats Chase Our Feet?

Karma-Kitten does this. He even does it to Magical-Dawg. When Seren was young, she also targeted my feet and ankles. Do they really want to maim us, or worse: trip us on the stairway so we’ll break our necks? Do cats have mayhem in mind?

Even when they outgrow the “attack phase” at around 9 months of age that characterizes kitten play aggression (yes, folks, it’s NORMAL!), cats still have an affinity for feet. Recently I had a question from someone asking if our cats tried to “herd” us by winding between our feet as we walked? That gave me visions of packs of Border Collie Kitties. Hmnn, now there’s a project for some ingenious YouTube green screen folks to create!

Do your cats target your feet? What in the kitty-world is going on? No, it’s not malicious or psychotic or vicious or any of those other labels we humans love to attach. Again, it’s normal, and has to do with several things either separately or in combination.

THE HUNTING INSTINCT

As hunters, cats’ hunting behavior evolved to be prompted by different stimuli. That’s a survival mechanism that triggers pounce-and-attack to put food on the feline table. Several things trigger the urge to hunt.

Sound, such as the ultrasonic mouse squeaks can stimulate attack. Scent is also important especially to stimulate appetite, but cats don’t have to be hungry to hunt. They have to take advantage of every opportunity and not give that mousy morsel a pass, just because their tummy is full. So other senses are more important to trigger predatory behaviors. And let’s face it, chasing feet qualifies as prey to kitten-hunters.

Sight rules in terms of kitty attack triggers. Think about it: the motion of our feet walking is at kitty eye level (prey location!), and the continued movement self-rewards the cat’s interaction. Couch Potato Puss has no real prey, so makes do with surrogates. It’s just FUN for the cat to chase/tag/play with our feet and ankles. And the more you squeal and try to shake ‘em off (like prey), the more the cat’s hunting engine revs.

But the behavior can go on for other reasons.

“YOU BELONG TO ME!”

Again, cats are all about territory and location is important. The eye-level location of our ankles/feet as well as what they represent–the human they adore–makes ankles/feet prime kitty marking targets. It’s hard for the cat to reach other body parts with any regularity, but our tootsies are always within paw-and-cheek reach.

Cats mark important owned territory with cheek rubs, body rubs, tail winding, etc. When they wind around our feet and ankles, this leaves scent marks that you are important and owned by them–a huge feline compliment. A common time at our house for both Seren-Kitty and Karma-Kitten to indulge in this body-rub-fest is right after the humans get out of the shower. That makes scent sense because a shower or bath washes off all the important “family smell” that identifies you as safe and known. The cats need to refresh these marks to feel all warm-and-fuzzy-friendly.

IT’S YOUR FAULT…

Hey, the cats made me say that! But there’s truth to the statement. If you hate having the cat(s) constantly underfoot, take a step back (carefully, LOL!) to see what YOU do when this happens. It could be that you’re actually rewarding the behavior and reinforcing it, so the cats continue to target your feet.

Cats are very easily trained. It only takes one or two repetitions for them to connect-the-dots and say, “Hey, if I do THIS, then my human does THAT!” And if your cat happens to like THAT (a scream, you jumping around, picking them up, filling the food bowl, opening the door, giving ATTENTION) that can reward the behavior. Remember that even bad attention is sometimes better than being ignored. (I suspect parents of two-legged kids will agree with that, too.) As I said, cats are very easily trained, but they’re even better trainers of us humans. Ahem.

So how do you manage your ankle-rubbing/biting-kitties? Right now, we’re just watching our step–literally–and stopping in place until Karma moves on. No motion makes feet less attractive and doesn’t reward paw-grapples. Because once the behavior is ingrained, it’s even more difficult to stop.

I’m gonna have to add this section to my ComPETability: Cats book! But there’s lots more fun info and tips for your rambunctious kitties, too (and you can “hear” me in the Audio version. of the book here.)

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

How to Brush Pet’s Teeth & Internet Root Canals

How to Brush Pet’s Teeth & Internet Root Canals

Give ‘em something GOOD to chew–a stick can cause all kinds of health problems if it splinters! Image Copr. EvansPhotoStudio.com/Flickr

How can you brush your pet’s teeth…without pulling back bloody stubs of fingers. *s* This is something veterinarians tell us to do daily for the best effect on our pets’ dental health. And of course, February is National Pet Dental Health Month (yes, I’m squeaking in with only two days to spare). Do you brush your dog and cat’s teeth?

QUICK UPDATE

…and then we’ll get on with the dental post. This post is late and here’s why.

Sometime between 10 pm Sunday night and 6 am Monday morning, my internet connection to this blog and several others (including my Puppies.About.com and personal website) was blocked. At first I thought my server had somehow blocked my IP address, or my computers were infected again, or hijacked or fill-in-the-blank. Contacting the server and the malware peeps who helped last time got me nowhere–turns out it wasn’t their fault but they couldn’t advise me, either.

After much tooth-gnashing angst (see that on-topic toothy reference there? huh, huh? *s*), I contacted my friend Jay Donovan from TechSurgeons.com and he immediately began an emergency transfer of both my shojai.com and amyshojai.com sites to his hosting service. That’s when we discovered it didn’t fix the problem. So Tuesday morning, Jay aka The White Night waved his magic tech wand and spent about an hour poking around long-distance inside my laptop sort of like a dentist probing for problems (ouch!) and he found the cavity. My verizon DSL router for some reason had blocked my own IP address from accessing these websites. Yikes! Weird-icity, huh? Meanwhile, Jay set up a techy work-around, sort of an Internet root canal, to bypass the verizon router until a new one arrives–and that’s why I’m at last able to post again. If you ever need website dental drilling, Jay’s your guy!

So thank you, oh wondrous White Knight, for pulling the fangs on that particular toothache.

BACK TO DENTAL ISSUES

By age four, most cats and dogs have some degree of dental disease. Yikes! And the top symptom is yucky breath. Do you want that stinky kiss slurped across your face? Besides the halitosis, keeping pets’ mouths healthy impacts the rest of their health, too.

Honestly, it is much easier to brush your puppy’s teeth than to attempt this with adult dogs, or with cats of any age. Oh, it is do-able. And I have a step-by-step how to brush puppy teeth here.

The key to brushing a pet’s teeth is to make it pleasant with good tasting schtuff, introduce the concept slowly, and make it a part of the normal routine. Make it a benefit for the dog or cat to put up with the process.

One trick is to hold the pup’s mouth slightly open by placing a chew-toy in his jaws first and then gently closing his mouth around the toy. That gives you the ability to brush the OUTSIDE of his toothies with a doggy dental brush, gauze sponge, finger brush or other pet product help. Don’t worry about the inside surfaces, the pet’s tongue takes care of that. Be sure to use dog (or cat) tooth paste, too. Pets don’t spit, and the flavor and foam is off-putting while the fluoride could prove dangerous in large quantities. NOTE: Use the pet tooth paste (chicken or beef or malt flavor, yum!) as a treat and even if you don’t brush, the enzymatic action benefits the teeth.

So…do I brush my pets’ teeth? Guilty confession here–nope. I did brush my first dog’s teeth and even scaled them at home (not recommended!). He also was a blood donor at the clinic where I worked, and in exchange got regular pro-veterinary dentals for free. I’m fortunate that Seren-Kitty has great “tooth genes” (yep, the tendency is heritable), so even at 17 has very good teeth with almost no calculus. She’s had one pro-dentistry for cleaning ten years ago.

Karma-Kitten is still young enough to have sparkly-white teeth. Putting anything in his mouth at this point is invitation for the kitten to bite-play.

Magic at age 7 has not yet had a professional cleaning, and he does have a tendency for calculus buildup. But so far, the veterinarian has said there’s no need for a cleaning because we’re keeping them clean other ways. How, you ask?

Both Seren and Magic eat mostly dry food. Granted, that helps at most to reduce food accumulation by about 10 percent, but that’s a start.
All three fur-kids get some human food. Magic loves veggies and that has some detergent action when he chews. They also get some lean meat, especially the cats, so they have to gnaw/chew.
I use the pet tooth paste as a treat. I also offer “dental treats” which do double duty as rewards for good behavior and training, and also to reduce dental problems. My crew loves the Greenies products, which have the VOHC seal of approval–that’s Veterinary Oral Health Council. Look for this on any product that claims to help your pet’s dental health, to ensure the claims have been proven by independent tests. There also are “dental foods” that have the VOHC approval. Such products may have ingredients or formulations that “scrub” teeth, help prevent or reduce plaque formation, and/or its attachment to the teeth.
Chew ops are important especially for dogs’ oral health. Right now, all the bitey-kitten-antics also help Karma keep his teeth clean, since he chomps down on stuffed toys during play (and even Magic’s “dental rope” toy. Magic has a number of chew options, and with supervision, he also gets raw knuckle bones a couple of times a year. That helps enormously to clean off any calculus. Be very careful of some hard chew objects like chew hooves and hard plastic since they can break teeth. You also can find “sterilized” prepared doggy bone chews that may be helpful. Moderation and supervision is key.

So what are some of your techniques for keeping your pets’ teeth healthy? or for solving tooth-gnashing angst-icty with the Internet? Do tell!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

 

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Monday Mentions: Blog Suckisity Angst

Monday Mentions: Blog Suckisity Angst

This is a first. I’m typing from my phone because my server has blocked my computer access to this blog…they don’t know how or why and tell me all is well from their side. Well alrighty then–makes me feel all warm and sparkly.

I just figured out how to do this from my phone. So forgive the delay and any typos and the less than finished look of the post. *s*

Check out the Authorgraph above. That’s a neato way to get EBooks signed. Lots of great links today too. Oh, and just to make me feel better could ya share your bad luck blog/net stories (with happy endings would be nifty ! )

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the neato-torpedo writer links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Check out the fun video at the bottom, too.  For new followers to the blog, welcome! and you can expect more cat and dog specific schtuff later in the week on Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully I’ll be back up by then.

WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF

Kindle-ization for Writers my popular online webinar happens again March 15 (use the GO INDIE code for $10 off!)

James Patterson Gives Loans to Bookstores so that literature won’t die….uhm, ‘scuse me?

Clueless Wannabe Agent Jane Dowry? Ya gotta laugh but only if it’s not you taken in

Indie ReCon Free Online Conference TOMORROW!

Salt Cay Writers Retreat Merit Scholarship Contest

The Business Rusch & Social Media Discoverability

Hugh Howey’s AuthorEarnings Project if you haven’t read this, you should

Why Trad-Publishing Should Surrender an answer to the AuthorEarnings discussions *s*

Voicing Nonfiction this is a GREAT entertining how-to for authors wanting to record their books

PET-CENTRIC SCHTUFF

I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen! Karma’s delighted because that’s the very first meal he had were free samples of the food when he showed up on the back patio…Purr-haps that’s why he decided to stay! *s* Get your own free dog or cat samples here.

Dogs Listen To Us?! Rumpy Dog tells all…and Karyl shared the science behind it.

Challenges for Kitty Caregivers from my colleague and terrific writer Sally Bahner

Psycho Kitty TV Program with the terrific Pam Johnson-Bennett

Tips for Finding Lost Cats

[image error]

Do you want to learn more about blogging and social networking with a furry twist? Check out the BlogPaws conference, coming in May! I’ve got my reservations and…unless something comes up…I’ll be going.

 

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!

Pros & Cons of Neutering–Really? there are Cons?

Pros & Cons of Neutering–Really? there are Cons?

Puppies rely on us to make informed decisions. Image Copr. Fernanda Cerioni/Flickr

Yes, actually, there are and that may surprise you. It did me. After all, we’ve heard from animal welfare advocates for years preaching the gospel of spay/neuter.  Heck, I preached this myself and for the majority of dogs and cats (ESPECIALLY cats!), “the big fix” is the best thing that ever happens to them.

There’s new evidence, though, that for dogs at least the pros and cons are not so black and white. While the University of Georgia’s sample of 40,139 canine death records from the Veterinary Medical Database from 1984-2004 concluded that neutered dogs could be expected to live a year and a half longer (on average) than intact dogs, other studies point out potential increases in hip dysplasia or cancer. Oy.

So what’s a responsible pet parent to do? One possible solution is a new non-surgical sterilization technique called Zeuterin from Ark Sciences, that renders the boy dogs incapable of fathering puppies but let’s them keep about 50 percent of their testosterone that makes a beneficial health difference especially in certain breeds.

Read my newest article of Zeuterin and Pros/Cons of Neutering here. My best recommendation is to find out everything you can, consult with your vet, and only then make an informed decision. What do you think? Go ahead and comment–let ‘er rip! *s*

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered–post in the comments. Do you have a new kitten and need answers? I’m a new Brand Ambassador for The Honest Kitchen and you can get FREE samples here, check it out! (Karma loves this!). Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my  THRILLERS WITH BITE!

 

AMY SHOJAI'S Bling, Bitches & Blood - Pet-centric Writer-icity & Thrillers With BITE!