Amy Newmark - My Very Good, Very Bad Cat: 101 Heartwarming Stories about Our Happy, Heroic and Hilarious Pets

Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Cat

101 Heartwarming Stories about Our Happy, Heroic & Hilarious Pets

Amy Newmark. Foreword by Robin Ganzert.

Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC www.chickensoup.com

Copyright 2016 by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the many publishers and individuals who granted Chicken Soup for the Soul permission to reprint the cited material.

Front cover artwork courtesy of iStockphoto.com/ WebSubstance (WebSubstance)

Back cover photo of cat with rope courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Astakhova (Astakhova)

Back cover photo of striped cat courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Azallya (Azallaya)

Interior cat illustrations courtesy of iStockphoto.com/andale (andale)

Interior photos of cats courtesy of Chicken Soup for the Soul employees

Photo of Amy Newmark courtesy of Susan Morrow at SwickPix

Photo of Robin Ganzert courtesy of Michael Price

Cover and Interior by Daniel Zaccari

Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Chicken soup for the soul : my very good, very bad cat : 101 heartwarming stories about our happy, heroic & hilarious pets / [compiled by] Amy Newmark ; foreword by Robin Ganzert.

pages : illustrations ; cm

ISBN: 978-1-61159-955-8

ISBN-13: 978-1-6115-9255-9 (eBook)

1. Cats--Behavior--Literary collections. 2. Cats--Behavior--Anecdotes. 3. Cat owners--Literary collections. 4. Cat owners--Anecdotes. 5. Human-animal relationships--Literary collections. 6. Human-animal relationships--Anecdotes. 7. Anecdotes. I. Newmark, Amy. II. Ganzert, Robin. III. Title: My very good, very bad cat : 101 heartwarming stories about our happy, heroic & hilarious pets

SF445.5 .C45 2016

636.8/02

2015956063

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

on acidfree paper

Changing lives one story at a time

www.chickensoup.com

I just love cats. Theyre ornery, goofy, surprising, clever, endearing and absolutely adorable. Fascinating, independent, hilarious and precious, they are great hunters, therapists, healers and heroes in our lives. From the meows to the purrs to the scratches, those of us who love cats know that every day is Caturday !

Our feline friends have long enriched our human lives. Even Winston Churchill commented about the personalities of cats in relation to us humans, saying, I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. I just love the cat-attitude!

If you love cat-attitude, humorous antics and heartwarming adventures, then be prepared to fall in love with these stories. We love the way that Chicken Soup for the Soul features rescued cats in their stories, and the way they highlight the merits of black cats and senior cats, the ones that are often left behind at the shelters. We appreciate that royalties from this book will help support the work that American Humane Association is doing, to promote cat adoption and animal welfare.

Youll read about ornery cats in Chapter 1, including Junior, an adorable little white cat who becomes a fierce warrior whenever a dog happens by. Its amazing how often we hear about big dogs that are terrified of little fluffy cats, isnt it? Whos running things around here, anyway? Oh yes that would be the cats.

I loved the goofy cat stories in Chapter 2, including the one about Scooter, a three-legged cat who finally overcomes his fear of the dreaded vacuum, attacks it while its off, and never runs away from it again.

Cats are wonderful healers for their human charges as well, and youll read all about those healer cats in Chapter 3. I cant stop thinking about a little stray named Lion who was rescued by a mentally ill girl and then stopped the girl from killing herself.

Chapter 4 is filled with stories about surprising cats. You wont believe all the different ways that cats manage to confound their humans. I chuckled when I read about the woman who was cat sitting for a friend and didnt realize she had inadvertently welcomed an interloper into the group. Two months later, she got to share in the kittens that resulted from that confusion.

We all know people who dont want cats and then fall madly, reluctantly in love with them. Youll feast on those I-told-you-so stories in Chapter 5, all about those endearing cats who turned unsuspecting non-consenting adults into cat lovers. One husband even gave up his fishing season when an adopted stray cat had her kittens in his beloved boat.

Clever cats abound in Chapter 6. I got a kick out of King Murphy, a big Maine Coon rescue who performs amazing feats, including playing board games with a little girl, even using the spinner and then wearing the jewelry he wins.

Sometimes cats have a bad reputation for being aloof, and thats just not right. Chapter 7 is all about those intuitive, friendly therapist cats who seem to know just what their humans need. Youll be wowed by the story of a stray kitten who attaches himself to a man dying of cancer, not leaving his side for one moment, and who then disappears, never to be seen again, as soon as the man passes on.

I think every cat owner knows about that famous hunting instinct, and Chapter 8, about hunter cats, shares stories about all the ways that cats have channeled that instinct in non-harmful ways. I loved the story about the cat family that went so far as to put an easel at the end of their driveway to display all the items their cat stole from the neighbors, so that everyone could reclaim their possessions.

Cats can be amazing nurturers as well, often mothering puppies or human babies. Those nanny cats are the subject of the stories in Chapter 9. One mom even reports that she learned some good parenting strategies from watching how her momma cat cared for her new human baby.

And finally, we read about heroic cats in Chapter 10, because, surprisingly, cats often save people and other animals. In the story We Rescued Each Other, a man with Aspergers and stuttering rescues a black cat because they are both not wanted. The cat has therapeutic value, and helps the man become happier, more outgoing, and more assertive.

I recognized all these cat attributes as I read these stories, because cats have always been a big part of my life. One of my first pets was Daisy, a stray kitty that found her way into our home in Arkansas. Daisy was with us for many years enjoying our familys weekly spaghetti night. She was my best friend while I was growing up. Ms. Kitty was another favorite feline in our home, as was Mercedes while I was in college. Years later, Annie and her litter of kittens showed up on our doorstep in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. My husband and I spent many hours helping Annie feed her new babies. Happily, we found forever loving homes for all of Annies kittens.