Amy Shojai's Blog, page 135
April 2, 2012
Monday Mentions: Hairball Creatures, Writer-icity & Pee Champion
Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the TASTY neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this "schtuff" can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.
WEIRD-ICITY SCHTUFF
Just who IS that celebrity look-alike? And what kind of craft items were used? Can you guess?
For the last three years, RomeotheCat.com and FURminator have teamed up to celebrate National Hairball Awareness Day in April. The event is designed to raise awareness about the prevention of hairballs through grooming and is always a lot of fun! This year, bloggers were challenged to make a celebrity look-alike hairball creature using the fur collected from using the FURminator de-shedding tool. I'd already used one for the Magical-Dawg and loved it, and they sent me one designed especially for kitties (review to come later this month).
So I am very pleased and oh-so-proud to announce that my hairy-icity (above) is one of the 10 creatures chosen to be featured on PeoplePets.com, and the five finalists will be open to viewer votes on the FURminator FB page!
That's why I got my Seren-kitty and Magical-Dawg to make a (hack-cough-sneeze) furry contribution. The FURminator corporate team will vote on their favorite Hairball Celebrity, and the winner will receive a $1K donation for the cat-related non profit of their choice–and I've chosen the Winn Feline Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding health research for all cats. So here's hoping that the (ahem) creation above makes it into the top 5. Even if my creature fails to make the fuzzy cut, it's a great cause for some worthy cat organization. I'll keep you posted.
Meanwhile, anybody care to hazard a guess who that spittin' image celebrity look alike might be?
Here's some more awesome Monday Mentions.
Drug Shrinks ALL Tumors (people & pets)
How to Get Science Write/Right
REVIEW SCHTUFF
Cats Can't Shoot is the second book in Clea Simon's Pru Marlowe "pet noir" series, and I was fortunate to receive an ARC. Clea is a prolific author of three mystery series, and includes cats in her work (yay!). Pru Marlowe is an animal behaviorist with a talent for "hearing" the thoughts of critters around her–cats, dogs, ferrets and more–but of course there are translation problems that cause misunderstandings. When a white Persian cat is accused of murder–setting off an antique dueling pistol that kills the owner–Pru sets out to discover what really happened. Since the Persian perp refuses to "talk" (cat got her tongue?), Pru meets with a host of furry residents hoping to get the inside scoop. This is a fun mystery with a quirky strong heroine and unique premise. I liked Pru better than many of the critters, though, since many of the pet voices seemed snarky and held little affection for humans (granted, often with good reason!). Many of the animal conversations got interrupted before any real information could be given, which was frustrating not only to Pru but also to the reader. Clea has NAILED the animal behavior content, and obviously has great affection for all-things-furry. Fans of cozy cat mysteries will lap this up like cream as they second-guess if cats really CAN shoot–and who framed this Persian beauty and why.
Clea also sent me a review copy of Grey Expectations, the fourth title in her Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery series. This isn't your usual cozy mystery and could honestly be called a litter-ary puzzle, since Harvard Grad student Dulcie is working on her dissertation covering a 1790′s gothic novel. When a student friend calls frantic for help, and then disappears, Dulcie is thrust into a search for her missing friend that may be tied to the theft of a priceless manuscript, with both good guys and bad guys suspecting Dulcie played a part. Dulcie is aided by tips and advice from her new kitten as well as the ghost of a dearly departed cat Mr. Grey, who speak to her in waking dreams with sometimes cryptic messages. Murder most foul, mistaken identities and red herrings keep the pages turning in this cozy amateur sleuth story. When Dulcie's attacker is knocked cold with a leather-bound folio of Ben Jonson plays by the mouse-like librarian, I nearly fell over laughing with delight! Highly recommended.
WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF
Astraea Press Open for Submissions
The Complete Digital Author Online Workshop taught by Bob Mayer and Jen Talty
Children's & YA Hardcover Sales Up 69%
Big 5 Publishers & Apple Close to Agency Settlement Deal
Inside Look at PublishAmerica's "Literary Agent" Program from Author Beware (yep, you guessed it–steer clear!)
Logline Contest from Backspace Writers Conference
When Should Writers Work for Free
Twitter Hashtags for Writers and also How To Make Your Tweets Stand Out (hmnnn, is that really something to do?
On Copyediting–A Writer's Best Friend
PET SCHTUFF
All Things Cats–Reader's Choice Award Winners!
Meeting Jackson Galaxy, fun blogs from a starstruck (and great writer) fan!
Finally, does anyone out there have a pee-crazy pooch? Take a look at this video and then decide if you have a problem to match, LOL!
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat behavior, cat books, cat care, cat grooming, cat hairballs, Furminator, PeoplePets.com, romeothecat, writing advice, www.amyshojai.com
March 29, 2012
Thoughty Thursday: Kittens, Curious Cat Facts & Author Trivia
This week seems to be all about cute kittens and that's due to my WANA friend Ali Dent and her awesome blog. She offered to review my book Complete Kitten Care and then followed up today with an author interview (gulp!).
Truly, to me kittens and cats are way more interesting than authors. And to prove that fact, here's some curious kitten trivia from the book:
Newborn kittens can't regulate body temperature.
Although blind and deaf at birth, newborns scent-mark Mom-cat's milk bar and usually return to the same nipple each time.
The prime socialization period for kittens is 2-7 weeks of age (BEFORE they go to new homes)!
A four-month-old kitten can go into heat and become pregnant.
Kittens "talk" more with silent body language and scent than with spits, hisses, purrs or meows.
Meows tend to be aimed more at humans than at other cats.
Learn more in the book, of course. 
And if you're very bored and want to find out what makes this weird pet-centric writer work, please visit Ali Dent's blog for her interview with me–AMY SHOJAI, THE UNTOLD STORY!
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care Tagged: Ali Dent, Amy Shojai, author interview, cat trivia, Complete Kitten Care, cute kittens
March 28, 2012
Woof Wednesday: How Dogs Show Happiness
"Happiness is...my own bed, chew toy, ball, snuggles..." Copr. JuliusM
It goes beyond the wagging tail or the slurping face-lick. Canine happiness can be expressed in many ways. In fact, our dogs show their love toward us in a variety of ways (here are 14 ways cats show love, too!).
We should think about our pets' happiness every day, not just on special occasions like Valentine's or Mother's Day. It doesn't take much to treat them with love.
It's important to remember that pets are individuals with unique personalities. They're like furry snowflakes, with no two alike. Here are some examples of how dogs show us they're happy.
How do your dogs show happiness? How many kinds of tail wags do they have (check out the Ask Amy below). Do they play a special game, or beg attention, or dream with their furry toes a-twitching as they chase dream squirrels? Do tell!
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai. www.amyshojai.com, dog behavior, dog communication, havanese, how dogs show happiness, how dogs show love, puppies, what do tail wags mean, why do dogs wag
March 27, 2012
Tuesday Trumpet! Cute Kitten Pictures & Review!
Last summer I took an awesome email class from social media maven Kristen Lamb that connected me with some of the most savvy, brilliant, and innovative writers I've ever met, like Ali Dent! Some of us have the good fortune to already have books out, while others are on the journey toward their debut publication. Ali has an awesome "literature club" book project in the works that will benefit kids and encourage reading. How cool is that?
I have one paw in each world, actually. After pub'ing 23 nonfiction pet care books with high-profile New York publishers, I've only this past week received an acceptance on my debut novel. So I'm both an old hand at this publishing game ("old" being the operative word!) and a newbie to fiction.
The fiction wouldn't have happened without the nonfiction going ker-FLOOOEY (that's a techie word). If my nonfiction books hadn't stopped selling, I wouldn't have gotten rights back and re-released them to the world. And the success of my kindle-ization journey gave me the confidence to return to fiction.
Publishing is a constant fight!
COMPLETE KITTEN CARE book has nine lives, I swear! The original title was "Kittens for Dummies" but the "dummies" company was sold and the book orphaned and never published. Incidentally, a good friend and brilliant writer in her own right got the chance to write the "dummies" kitten book later so I celebrated for her–because I got paid for it anyway (yay, me!). And on top of that, I reformatted the manuscript with a new title and sold it to New American Library for another goodly paycheck. And now, the book has yet another a new life and is pouncing off the shelves!
I've shared some of the pictures from the book (below) as a taste because with spring comes kitten-season and a lot of folks out there will need this info (plus some SQUEEE! fun cat legends and suchlike).
If you have a new kitten in your life, or know someone who does, see if the book might be a fit by reading a review (no, I didn't write my own review! But hmnnn, wonder how I could get away with that?….) Today my WANA friend and awesome blogger Ali Dent has reviewed Complete Kitten Care, so after you stop drooling over these cute kitten pictures find out more about the book on her blog here.
Don't be bored...visit Ali Dent's Blog to learn more now!
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Ali Dent, Amy Shojai, blogging, book reviews, cute kitten pictures, kitten advice, kitten books, Kristen Lamb, publishing tips
March 26, 2012
Monday Mentions: Pets, Writing & Hero Dogs
"Num-num-num-nummmmmm...." Picture courtesy of Eduardo Luderer
Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the TASTY neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this "schtuff" can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.
WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF
Register for Thrillerfest and Craftfest–some of the confirmed instructors include Steve Berry, Grant Blackwood, Allison Brennan, Jan Burke, Lee Child, Catherine Coulter, Bob Dugoni, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, Andrew Gross, David Hewson, Peter James, Steven James, Joan Johnston, Gayle Lynds, Donald Maass, Phillip Margolin, David Morrell, Michael Palmer, Ann Rule, and they'll also be featuring martials arts expert and Marine, Jack Hoban, who will be conducting an in-depth workshop on Fighting: Ethics, Tactics, and Techniques for Writers.
Marijuana Mystery Someone mailed more than eleven pounds of marijuana to Macmillan's St. Martin's Press offices. The Smoking Gun broke the story today. Bound for an apparently fictitious employee named Karen Wright, the shipments had a potential street value of $70,000. Does that mean our books are going up in smoke? (ahem)
Taking the Mystery Out of Mystery Writing by Dennis Palumbo, a very interesting post.
How to Market Books to Libraries from Publishers Weekly
Jane Friedman on Writing (all kinds of good schtuff)
Chicken Soup for the Soul call-out for writers
Who Is In the Middle? from Bob Mayer. Writers create, readers consume, where does that leave the rest?
Neat Post on Lemmings, Words & Pithy Sayings A side note: recently my co-writer and I discovered nobody knew what we meant by "blowing smoke." Sheesh.
Digital Bookworld Article Inventing the future of publishing, terrific article!
Can You Self-Pub Your Way to a REALLY BIG DEAL?
Publishing Resources–Contracts, Terms & More from the ever-awesome Writer Beware. You'll want to bookmark this one!
Protection Re: Pinterest which now may be slightly outdated since they just REVISED their terms.
Poisoned Pen Press's new Discover Mystery Contest for unpublished writers will accept entries until April 30. This competition is similar to the Malice Domestic/St. Martin's contest and the MWA/St. Martin's contest for first mysteries. The prize is publication by Poisoned Pen and a $1,000 advance.
Crime Book of the Year 2012 contest from Bloody Scotland, you could win £ 3.000 and window displays across the country
Are You A Work-Aholic? Guilty…but this article says working more than a 40-hour week is likely counter-productive. Hmnnn.
Wanna Write About Pets? New "American Pet Magazine" may be your opportunity
PET SCHTUFF
Nominate A Hero Dog! for some nifty funds for charity, courtesy of American Humane Association (check out the video, below)
Leggings For Life helping disabled cats get a paw-ahead. This is awesome! from terrific artist/writer Bernadette Kazmarski
Dogged Politics–speaking for politician's pets
Famous Paintings IMPROVED by Cats, thanks to Naomi Bulger for sharing.
Judge Not, a moving and oh-so-MUST-BE-READ post on losing and finding that special pet from terrific pet writer Phyllis DeGioia
Spring Advertizing IMPROVED by Cats, thanks to Charlotte Reed
Facebook Rejects Puppymill Ads
Cats Need Help–priest cutting off the kitty food, can you believe it?!
On Desire, Work & Success a great post from dog mystery author Sheila Webster Boneham
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat behavior, cat books, dog behavior, dog books, training, writing advice, writing tips, www.amyshojai.com
March 23, 2012
Feline Friday: All Stressed Up–We Can Fix That!
My cat Seren(dipity) hates visiting the veterinarian. Nothing against the vet, he's marvelous and is the first practitioner who has managed to give her any semblance of a thorough exam in years! No, my little 6-pound dynamo simply prefers to stay home and in fact many cats are home-bodies that love the status quo and turn into kitty-maniacs at the first sniff of change.
But of course, all cats need veterinary check ups on a routine basis. And since Seren is now 14+ years YOUNG, it's even more important that she receive regular health checks.
THUNDERSHIRT
A few weeks ago, I learned that Thundershirt (originally designed for thunder/noise-phobic dogs) was available for cats. In fact, the kind folks at the company offered to send me a sample to review. They asked me about my pets, and imagine my surprise when they sent not one sample but FOUR! Yes, they provided me with a small, medium and large Cat Thundershirt, and a GINORMOUS-SIZE Dog Thundershirt for the Magical-Dog (stay tuned for a review of the doggy version).
Now, Seren could care less about thunder, fireworks or other loud noises. She simply runs to the window, hurls cat curses and demands cooperation from the weather. But she DID have her next veterinary visit due and I figured that would be the purr-fect test to see if the claims for stress reduction actually held merit. I knew that similar products like TTouch wraps used gentle pressure that offered a calming influence, and in fact I've been using a harness for several years to mimic this effect. The harness also gives the owner something to grab when the kitty wiggles or otherwise tries to escape.
10 YEARS AGO
A little background–about 10 years ago Seren had a dentistry at the vet's (a different clinic than the current one). She didn't really have bad teeth but I wanted a thorough check and some baseline blood work. The tests indicated a problem so the doctor also ran a urinalysis that showed she had diabetes.
Huh? Really? This surprised (and scared me!) because the tests indicated full-blown disease and Seren had none of the signs of increased thirst or urination or weight loss. So I contacted a veterinary internist/specialist Dr. Dottie LaFlamme (awesome vet who answered me immediately!) and ended up running a home urine test that said she was normal. It was the STRESS of the vet visit that created a false positive for diabetes.
SEREN'S VET VISIT
Fast forward a decade, and my petite kitty still stresses during vet visits despite the halter. Also, for the past few months I noticed an increase in water intake and urine output. At first, I attributed it to her awesome new CatIt water fountain that she LOVES, and so she drinks more. But…she's the right age for all sorts of metabolic or other issues to rear ugly-icity such as hyperthyroid disease, kidney failure and (gulp) diabetes. All can be treated and managed, but they just ain't conducive to a happy situation.
I scheduled an exam, and a week out began introducing Seren to the Thundershirt (small size). All fasteners are with multiple strips of Velcro so are easy to fit the somewhat stretchy material. She already walks readily with either an H-harness or figure-8 harness so I didn't expect too much of a learning curve. It's not unusual for cats first fitted with a halter (or Thundershirt) to fall over and act PARALYZED-I CAIN'T MOVE! from the odd feeling.
Seren didn't object to being fitted with the Thundershirt. She didn't fall over, and actually stood still during the fitting, but loudly complained (normal for her!). The strap goes around the neck/chest, and the cape-like "shirt" drapes over the back and is wrapped snug around the tummy. But even the small size was a weeeee bit long in the body for my tiny cat, and she did a lot of plantigrade stance (back feet heel-to-floor) unless I scritched her tail area to create that elevator-butt effect. That seemed to convince her that she COULD move while wearing the thing.
Some cats would take longer to acclimate. Seren wore hers for five and then 10-minute stretches a couple of times a day for three or four days. She continued plantigrade stance up until the last day before her vet visit. And while at the vet this past Monday and wearing the Thundershirt, she was far less vocal and hiss
y than in the past. She even allowed the vet to look in her mouth and ears, and had the check up only required vaccinations and suchlike, it would have been a wonderful success right there.
SEREN'S TEST RESULTS
It's amazing the noise level a 6.1-pound cat can produced when picked up and carried into the back room by the vet. Wow–wonder if they make a Thundershirt stress reliever in "owner size" category?! In any event, for the third time in her life (once for spay at 4 months of age, once 10 years ago for dental), Seren went to "kitty jail" at the vet for a full blood panel, urinalysis and thyroid function test.
The doctor told me Seren was actually quite good (huh…degrees of good-icity?) once away from "mom." She was sedated for the blood draw. With her history of stress-induced sugar-spill I was amazed that the urinalysis came back absolutely normal! To me, that indicated some major stress reduction. Was it the Thundershirt? It's difficult to point to a direct cause-and-effect but certainly, Seren was more willing to be handled during her time at the vet.
Her CBC and other blood panel values came back normal, too, although kidney function was "borderline" indicating she's close to falling into very early kidney disease. I had to wait for the thyroid tests to come back from Texas A & M. I got the call this afternoon–NORMAL! Wow, my stress levels dropped accordingly.
The take away message, I think, is to pay attention to your pet's normal behaviors and get a check on anything that seems outside the norm. As it turns out, maybe I could have waited on Seren. Kidneys are amazing organs, though, and compensate so well that by the time you see obvious signs (more drinking, more urination) up to 70% of kidney function is gone. Learn more about cat kidney disease, feline diabetes, and cat hyperthyroidism (and how to treat) in COMPLETE CARE FOR YOUR AGING CAT.
Seren will get a new diet, one that takes a bit of the strain off her kidneys to give this 14-years-YOUNG cat as many more happy, healthy years as possible. Because 14 years are not enough. And if stress reduction helps her keep kitty-calm during vet visits, the Thundershirt is an easy and practical, non-invasive option.
I am a fan. And–check out Seren-the-Model in the video, below. FYI, she always talks (from both ends…tail never stops!).
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Cat Behavior & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat behavior, cat books, cats, complete care for your aging cat, diabetes, hyperthyroid, kidney disease, stress, Thundershirt, veterinarian, www.amyshojai.com
March 21, 2012
Woof Wednesday: How To Talk To Dogs
"Say, what? I don't get it..." Image copr. Lewis Gardner
Once you understand the language of dogs and what your puppy "says" with his barks, wagging tail talk and other body language, you'll know how to talk to a dog with effective puppy communication. Remember that your puppy is not a mind reader and what's "normal" behavior for people may be a totally foreign language and offensive to dogs. Instead, you can use "dog talk" to get your message across. Here's an article with some detailed "do's and don'ts" about how to talk to your dog.
Are there certain words, phrases or silent signals (hand gesture commands?) that you've taught your dog? Did you teach them, or did the dog simply pick them up? Magic understands "car ride" and "Frisbee" and learned on his own, but I taught him hand signals for sit, down and wait. Here's the first in what I hope will be a series of Ask Amy videos on how to talk to your dog. What else would you like to see?
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, Ask Amy, dog behavior, dog behavior puppy, dog training, dogs, How to talk to dogs, puppies, video
March 20, 2012
Tuesday Trumpet! Music, Cat-astrophe & Thrilling News!
NEWS-ABOUT-KURVES!
First off, I've added audio files to the KURVES, THE MUSICAL page (above) so folks can finally hear some of the songs.
NEWS-ABOUT-CAT!
Seren-kitty had her vet visit yesterday. She's not a youngster any more and I've been worried about her health since she's drinking/urinating more. I'll have a full recap on Friday but wanted to thank everyone for the good wishes. It is NOT diabetes (whew!). It may be early kidney issues (her tests are 'borderline' and not yet in failure). We're expecting Texas A & M results tomorrow or Thursday to let us know about thyroid function. Paws crossed that's negative…
NEWS-ABOUT-FICTION!
Some of y'all know that I've long aspired to write thrillers. Last Thursday, just before I headed out for the KWA Scene Conference, I heard from my editor at Who Dares Wins Publishing that they will publish my thriller LOST AND FOUND probably this fall (date tba). SNOOPY-DANCE-O-JOY!
Animal behaviorist September Day has 24 hours to find her autistic nephew and his service dog before he–and hundreds of other children–become victims of a deadly experimental autism treatment. And yes, there is "dog voice" as well as a highly-trained kitty, along with assorted quirky two-legged characters in the book.
To say I'm thrilled is an understatement. But today I also learned that I've been accepted as an ITW Debut Author class of 2012/2013. When I got that email I bawled. With happiness, of course. But that really upset the Magical-Dawg. Any tears upset him. And yes, the hero dog in the fiction came about by channeling my inner dog/cat. *s*
Anyway, I had to let y'all know my news. It's been an "on top of the world" to "worry-icity" to "floating-again" sort of week. Sometimes you reach for, grab, and actually catch the brass ring.
*humming* If I can do it, you can do it too…
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Theater & Performance, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat, cat behavior, Debut Authors, Kurves, theater, Thrillerfest, Thrillers, writing advice, www.amyshojai.com
March 19, 2012
Monday Mentions: Hill's, KWA & Avalanche SAR Cats!
Hill's Global Pet Nutrition Center hosted our Tuesday evening dinner at the Kansas Historical Society Museum--a lovely venue with even better dinner companions!
I'm just back from a week of two major trips, and playing catch-up for the work ahead. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, the great folks at Hill's Pet Nutrition invited more than a dozen pet bloggers and journalists, offered lectures on cutting-edge nutrition science, gave us a tour of the facilities in Topeka, KS, and answered all our questions–some quite hard-hitting, indeed. I'll soon have some updated (and brand new) articles and blogs here and at my Puppies Site sharing what I learned.
Writing nutrition articles was delayed while I attended the KWA Scene Conference in Wichita on Friday and Saturday (just returned late Sunday). The event was everything a writers' event should be–congenial well prepared hosts, terrific speakers, and eager and talented attendees. I was honored to present two sessions, one on my Kindle-ization journey, and the other on Media Training for Authors (yes, I've shared some of this on previous Tuesday Tips blogs).
Finally, stay tuned for some audio and perhaps video of the performance of KURVES, THE MUSICAL sometime this week. Oh, and I've got news on the thriller writing front, too! Whew!
Meanwhile, Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this "schtuff" can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.
WRITING SCHTUFF
Your Brain On Fiction A very interesting post about how specific words affect the reader's brain, from DP Lyle, MD
Writing Contests with Hidden Agendas from the always awesome Writer Beware
Agent Weighs In on Repping Self-Pub'd Authors And I heard the same from agents this past weekend at the conference. Sales numbers must be substantial–used to be at least 5000 in a year, now more likely 10,000 (and going up!)
Smashwords Removes Censorship Policy
Facebook Timeline Tips it's gonna happen, folks, by end of the month. Yes, I need to do this, too, arg!
Cautions about LinkedIn and Hackers
PET SCHTUFF
Highly-trained search-and-rescue cats save avalanche victims--meeeeWOW!
SAR Cats Save Avalanche Victims! Move over, dogs, the cat-heroes are leaping ahead!
9 Dental Issues You Share with Pets, my latest Hufffington Post article
Kitten Rescue Tips from Examiner.com writer Stacey Ritz
AKC Announces Most Popular Dog Breeds
Scott's Miracle Grow Bird Seed Poisons Birds! fined $4.5 million, sheesh…
Pet Services Industry Poised to Grow despite the economy
Julian: Throw-Away No More, a touching story of a rescue cat, from a guest blogger at Sally Bahner's Exclusively Cats blog.
Shoes with Dog Lovers In Mind Amore Dei Cani features breeds–and donates to a good dog cause.
Catalyst Council Warns About Cat Poisons during National Poison Prevention Awareness Month. Many of the same poisons affect dogs and puppies–learn about
Thanks to Elena Aitken for sharing this hilarious video:
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with pet book give-aways!
Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Theater & Performance, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, avalanche cats, cat behavior, cats, dog behavior, dogs, Hills Pet Nutrition, Kansas Writers Association, writing tips, www.amyshojai.com
March 16, 2012
Ask Amy-Why Cats Suck?
Some baby-cats want a pacifier even after the milk-bar closes. Image copr. MariaMagnus
Now you negative-thinking folks out there, just STOP IT! I'm not talking about anything negative about cats, just that some like to–well–use fuzzies as pacifiers. Dogs do it, too, and I've addressed that before in previous Ask Amy videos.
Do your cats suck on toys or other objects? Kittens taken too early from their mom sometimes develop these behaviors and will suck on their own tails or a litter mate's toes, for example. Others target fabric which may develop into a behavior described as "wool sucking" that seems most common in Oriental-heritage cats (Siamese, Burmese, etc) as a part of pica behavior–eating inedible objects.
The sucking behavior seems to be accompanied by kneading, which makes sense. Kittens knead against the mom-cat's breasts to stimulate the milk to be released. So in adult cats, the kneading behavior hearkens back to this feeling of safety and well-being, and some cats simply take it a paw-step further and suckle on something at the same time.
Do your cats suck? How do you handle the behavior? Is it a problem for you, or an endearing foible? Does the suck-isity turn you into a better housekeeper to keep woolies out of your cat's paw-reach?
And for the doggy version:
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Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Cat Behavior & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat behavior, cats, kneading, why cats suck, wool sucking, www.amyshojai.com
