Some cats won't eat anything new; some want it all.
Why
are cats so finicky? Or, I guess I should say, why are domesticated cats so
finicky?
I
mean, feral felines do just fine scrounging for scraps and hunting for mice and
birds. In fact, they establish vast colonies that become problematic in cities and
on islands, making it necessary for humans to trap and neuter them to reduce
their number. So, why must my fat, lazy and lovable companion animals demand that
I search the earth for the most select morsels of tasty delights to place in
their dishes before they will deign to eat?
Now,
to be fair, it’s only my younger cat, Flash, who is the picky eater. Shadow, my
older cat, will eat anything. She’s lived on the streets and eats like every
meal is her last. That’s the problem. She’s overweight and has health issues,
so she needs “special food” (read: expensive food) to manage both.
For
a while that meant actual diet food, which she happily ate, but it did nothing
for the health problems. So, I switched to “fresh food” for both cats, which I
buy on subscription and arrives frozen. Shadow scarfed it up, so no problem
there. And it helped. She lost some weight and her health issues improved. Hurrah!
Flash,
though, doesn’t like change. The transition to the new food was rough. She
turned up her little nose at the new food in her bowl. I mixed it with her old
food. Nope. I put salmon flakes on it. Some interest. Beef was a complete
no-go. Turkey was only occasionally okay. Chicken was acceptable.
Oh,
but then there was an interruption in shipments from the food supplier! (There
was a mix-up with an order.) To keep the flavors and texture similar, I ground
up canned salmon and chicken for the cats until the cat food folks could get
back on track. All well and good; the cats ate it. The fresh food has arrived this
week from the cat food supplier, but now I’m back at square one with Flash, who
won’t touch the “new food” again. AAAGGH!
My
daughter, whose cats willingly eat plain kibble, thinks I’m crazy. Maybe you
do, too. But “free-feeding” isn’t an option for my cats, since Shadow would eat
her food AND Flash’s food all at once, then throw up. I have to measure out her
food in three feedings and monitor the meal so she doesn’t eat more than she
should. Plus, wet food is better for elderly cats, who need more water to avoid
kidney problems. Yeah, I know, the things we do for our pets!
On
the other hand, my daughter’s cats aren’t the least bit friendly. They hiss and
won’t let me pet them. Mine, meanwhile, like to cuddle and purr. Shadow seeks
out pets from our guests, and Flash likes to play with the dogs. So maybe all
that fussing over their food has some benefits, after all.
I'm visiting family in wild and wonderful West Virginia this week, so I have no blog post for you. But enjoy this picture of Flash, who wanted to help me with the packing as I was getting ready to go! I'll be back next week as usual.
Today I welcome another of the Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 authors, Jessica E. Subject, who is well-known in the science fiction romance community, to tell a story about an adventure she had with skinks!
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I have had at least one pet for as long as I can remember. But, over the years my strangest animal encounters have always been with lizards. I’ve never been grossed out by snakes, lizards, frogs, or any other type of reptile or amphibian. But, they don’t listen the way a dog or cat would.
My grandparents used to live in a house located in a provincial park here in Ontario. Every summer as children, my brother and I visited them there for at least a week. One of the stops we made while there was to the Visitor’s Center. It was far away, and often we had the opportunity to feed the snakes and hold them around our necks. We also would go out to the forest nearby to see what kind of creatures we could find. One day I found two skinks under a log. I was proud of my find and decided to take them back to the Visitor’s Center to see if they could use them in a display. I had them cupped in my hand and held them against my shirt. It didn’t take long before I reached the Visitor’s Center, but when I arrived the skinks were no longer in my hand. They had disappeared. I didn’t remember feeling them slither out of my hands, and became worried that I’d stepped on one or both as I’d made my way out of the forest.
Then I felt one move. It was on my stomach. In fact, both of them were there. They had crawled out of my cupped hands and under my shirt. We managed to get them peeled off my stomach and they were put in a habitat display at the Visitor’s Center. Though, that was the last time I brought any skinks back.
Gib and the Tibbar
A Novella in the Galactic Defenders Series
By Jessica E. Subject
A dedicated Defender to the core, Gib is willing to go to any planet the Galactic Alliance sends him. That is, until he’s sent with his squad to Hemera for their Alorama ceremony, far from any threat of Erebus invasion and with no chance for promotion.
Vilarra has lived on Hemera all her life, working hard in the kitchens of the royal palace until she achieved lead hand. But learning of the universe beyond her world reveals her insignificance and shreds her sense of accomplishment and purpose.
With the help of a furry, little tibbar, Gib is determined to win the affection of Vilarra, prove to her how significant she is to him and the people who depend on her. But will his personal mission be cut short before he has the chance to win her heart?
About the anthology:
The pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject, Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!
10% of the first month’s profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.
EXCERPT:
A small, furry white creature scampered between the Defenders and the fire. Gib yanked his feet back and gasped. He tried to follow the path the animal took, and when it disappeared into the grassy field, he relaxed a little. Not that he was afraid, only startled by the sudden appearance of the critter.
But his watch partner reacted differently. The cowardly Defender stood on his bench, reaching for a low branch on the ropral tree as if to lift himself farther off the ground. “What in Gaspra was that? No one told me about any deadly creatures on this planet.”
Gib laughed and slapped his hand on his lap. “I wouldn’t call the fluffy little thing that raced by us a deadly creature.”
“Okay, Hemera is infested with vermin, then.” Zair examined the area around him before he dared put a foot on the ground.
A high-pitched squeak sounded, and Gib’s surveillance partner returned to reaching for the branches. The little creature stood on its hind legs below Zair’s bench, peeping as if telling him off.
Gib couldn’t hold in his laughter. Not just at the other Defender’s reaction, but also the thoughts running through Zair’s mind, thoughts he’d failed to block in his fear.
“It’s not going to eat you.” Gib shook his head, wondering how his squad mate could see the creature as dangerous. “Would you please get down from there? Defenders are supposed to be brave and fierce. Right now, you’re neither.”
“Go to Gaspra, Mingot. And stay out of my head.” He yanked his plazer from his hip holster and aimed it at the critter. “If I don’t destroy it, it will bring death to everyone on this planet.”
Stepping into the line of fire, Gib yanked the weapon from his squad mate, thankful the safety remained on. “You’re being ridiculous. Besides, if you fire your weapon, you’ll cause a panic. The Hemera will think Erebus have arrived.”
The frightened Defender shook a foot at the creature. “Fine, then. Kick it into the fire. Or you could stomp on it.”
“Don’t you dare!” A Hemera woman burst from the bushes, storming toward Zair like a mother rehn protecting her young. She shoved him off his bench and shouldered past Gib before scooping the noisy creature into her hand. “This is my tibbar, not some kind of vermin.”
“Tibbar? Try nasty rodent that tried to eat me.” Zair smoothed out his uniform but kept his distance from the creature now perched on the woman’s shoulder.
“You’re both on nehbred.” She kicked dirt at them, her pink lips pursed and her dark eyes set in a deadly stare. “You don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to my pet or my planet.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you could not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.
When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to go to fitness class and walk her Great Pyrenees/Retriever her family adopted from the local animal shelter.
Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com.
I’m stepping out of my kennel a bit on this
topic, dear readers. After all, I’m not the Spacefreighters blogger with a secondPets In Space anthology on preorder right now (that would be
Laurie). But I do feature a Belgian shepherd mix therapy dog in my latest
novel, Not Fade Away, Book 4,
Interstellar RescueSeries. (Available
November 14 from INK’d Press.)
I had to pitch this novel to my
agent/publisher, since our original contract was just for the first three books
in the series. But before she agreed to write a new, expanded contract for
future books, Michelle said, “So, you have a therapy dog in this one. The dog
survives, right?”
I assured her the dog was alive and well at
the end of the book.
“Good,” she said. “Because if not that would
have been a deal-breaker.”
Which made me think there are distinct rules
for writing about companion animals in novels, particularly if you ever hope to
sell those novels to romance readers. Here are my Top
Five Rules for Fictional Fidos (or Fluffies or whatever):
1)The animal MUST
survive.Kill everyone else in the book
if you have to, but don’t kill the dog or the cat. Most of us have never
forgiven Disney for OLD YELLER.
2)The animal must
have a purpose. Like anything else in a novel,
Fido or Fluffy should be integral to the story, rather than be window-dressing.
At the very least, the companion animal should illustrate something about your
hero or heroine (beyond the fact that he or she is an animal lover). In a book
I just read, a blind bulldog symbolized the spirit of its owner, who had
recently recovered her sight. Maybe, like Happy in Not Fade Away, the dog has an actual job. Maybe like many novel felines,
the cat helps solve the mystery. Or maybe the pet provides a silent partner for
dialogue with the hero or heroine.
3)The animal must
have its own personality. Anyone with a pet knows every
cat or dog is unique, with its own quirks, its likes and dislikes, its body
language and means of communicating. The animal character should be just as
vivid in its own way as any of your secondary characters. That means it has to
be consistent, too—the same dog on Page One and on Page 300, unless you’ve
given it a reason to change.
4)The animal must be
present and/or accounted for. If your heroine has a cat,
your heroine always has a cat. I discovered this when writing the first novel
in my Interstellar Rescue series, Unchained Memory. When the heroine,
Asia, is attacked by unknown assailants on what is supposed to be a weekend
trip and is forced to go on the run, her cat J.J. is left at home. I had to let
the readers know she’d made arrangements for her friend to take care of him.
Because Rule Number One. Similarly, Happy is in nearly every scene of Not Fade Away; he and his owner,
Charlie, the heroine, are very close. I had to let the reader know where he is
when important things happen.
5) And, finally, the animal must cement the bond between hero and
heroine by approving of the relationship (and vice versa).
That is, the animal must like his owner’s lover and the lover must like the
animal, if not at first, then certainly by the end of the book. Rafe, the hero
of Not Fade Away, is distrustful of
Happy at first. He’s never been around a dog of Happy’s size. But Rafe’s
father, suffering from dementia, takes to Happy right away. And, of course,
Charlie loves the dog. It doesn’t take long for Rafe to come around—and for the
dog to include Rafe in his circle of protection.
So, there you have it, my list of the Top Five Rules for Fictional Fidos. Got any others you’d
like to share?
