Callie Smith Grant - The Cat in the Window: And Other Stories of the Cats We Love

Callie Smith Grant

L ets put to rest the silly competition between cats and dogsor rather, between cat people and dog people.

I realize that many people consider themselves either a cat person or a dog person (Im not one to choose sides; Im a fan of both). But lets agree that cats and dogs are unique creations, made so differently they really should not be compared to each other at all. That said, heres an interesting fact: American homes have far more cats than dogs. Not that were competing, of course!

I am one lucky person in that I get to curl up and read story after story about this very cool beast, the catand then pass the really good stories on to you, the reader. As you read on, youll find cat stories as varied as the fur patterns on catssome charming, some serious, and everything in between. Youll meet cats who show up at what seems to be an appointed timenot just for the cat, but also for the human in some kind of need. Youll read stories about cats finding just the right home and humans finding just the right cat. There are stories from moms whose interactions with cats help them and their families in surprising ways. One cat lives happily in a fourth-grade classroom and becomes a teacher of sorts himself. Im always excited to find a story where a cat directly saved a life, and thats here, too. Sometimes a cat shows up mysteriously, sometimes its not so mysteriousjust blessedbut often it seems that the Creator of the beasts of the earth directed a cats padded feet straight to where the cat needed to go.

It is always my hope that these stories will not only be an entertaining read for you, but might also prompt you to adopt another deserving cat if you can. I know the many writers in this book who went to their local shelters to find their special companion will be inspiring to you. Youll even meet one writer who rescues and fosters kittens and catsan amazing 1,200 of them so far!

This is a book filled with felines wherever they may be and however they came about. In these pages are indoor cats, outdoor cats, pampered cats, working cats, stray cats, litters of catscats who live in houses, on porches, in barns, in laps, or wherever else they may land. But lets still encourage cat people to spay and neuter and to consider keeping a beloved cat indoors. Let me take a minute to remind us all of the following three facts: Too many unwanted kittens are born every day, a cat has a better quality of life when its been spayed or neutered, and most cats live better and longer lives if they live indoors.

Now, before you curl up in your chair and read on, let me share one more thing about the dog-and-cat competition. I know I started out saying we should put it to rest, but before we do that, lets have a chuckle. My first two animal-themed anthologies included a book of cat stories and a book of dog stories that were published at the same time at Baker Publishing Group. It became kind of fun at the publishing house to track how the two books sold side by side. This tracking, of course, has a whiff of that competition between those calling themselves dog people or cat people.

So which book sold better? The dog book. At first. Then sales of the cat book not only caught up with the dog book, they actually took over.

Steve Oates is a marketing man at Bakerand a man who keeps a photo of his cat on his cell phone and grows his own catnip. Ive received many fun emails regarding the feline world from Steve over time, but heres my favorite. He copied me on an email he wrote to Dwight Baker, president of Baker Publishing Group and an animal lover himself, regarding the ongoing sales of my first two books, and it went like this:

Please correct me if Im not reading the numbers correctly, but it appears that the sales of these books are pretty much just like cats and dogs themselves. The dog wagged his tail and was eager to get started, but the cat, with a slower and steadier approach, has now handily surpassed the dog in usefulness.

Dwight replied:

If these books behave in the retail stores in the manner of their subjects, the dog book leaps on incoming customers, barking and slobbering. The cat book will sit apart from the entire scene, waiting patiently for the approach of a customer who is worthy of consideration. Most people will fail to reach acceptable standards as a book buyer, regardless of their income or intent.

Are cat people surprised?

I hope you have as nice a time reading these stories as I did pulling them together. And may God bless you and your petor in your endeavors to pair up with the perfect one.

A Wise Man Said It

There are two means of refuge from the misery of life: music and cats.

Albert Schweitzer

Callie Smith Grant

S uffice it to say that a lot of unfortunate factors conspired together in the case of Percy the cat. The details arent necessary to this story, really, because in the end, they simply added up to one thing: Percy needed to pack up his pet carrier and move to a new home.

Thats where I came in. Percys human was an old friend of mine who was in the middle of some hard life events. For weeks I had been asking my friend what I could do to help. Nothing, she told me, but thanks for asking. Then one day she said with some hesitation, Well, there is something... can you find Percy a new home?