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LOUISIANA’S WAY HOME by Kate DiCamillo

Lovely book we discovered the other day at the Chandler Public Library. LOUISIANA’S WAY HOME by one of our favorite middle-grade authors, Kate DiCamillo, tells the story of Louisiana Elefante, a young girl whose parents have died and who is living with her grandmother.

One day, her granny insists they must leave their home permanently as the day of reckoning has arrived. Granny has done this before but this time Louisiana knows it’s serious. They drive off, leaving behind everything Louisiana has ever known, including close friends, and a beloved dog and cat.

When Granny’s emergency need for medical care causes them to stop momentarily, Louisiana meets some new friends, namely a boy named Burke and his crow, who end up helping her discover who she really is and find home.

Granny, who seems mentally ill, though that term is never used, is irresponsible to the point of being borderline abusive, but somehow you can’t hate her. Louisiana’s voice is so original, so compelling and engaging, you can’t stop turning the pages until you’re sure she ends up well. Readers originally met Louisiana in another DiCamillo book I haven’t yet read, RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE, which of course I now must read.

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A Couple More Beautiful Picture Books: LOST IN THE LIBRARY and LADYBUG GIRL AND THE RESCUE DOGS

A couple more beautiful picture books I picked up at the recent Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Arizona. LOST IN THE LIBRARY tells the sweet story of the lions who sit guard in front of the main library in New York. In real life, of course, they are statues, but here they are given names – Patience and Fortitude – and they come to life, particularly at night. One morning Fortitude wakes up to see Patience is not there. He must explore the vast library searching for his friend so that they are both in place by the time guests begin arriving. Sweet story by Josh Funk and beautifully illustrated by Stevie Lewis. This is one of my favorite places in the world and made me miss New York badly!

LADYBUG GIRL AND THE RESCUE DOGS is a wonderful addition to the popular LADYBUG GIRL series by David Soman and Jacky Davis. This one focuses on rescue animals. Ladybug girl and her friends are in the park one day for a farmers market when she sees some tents off to the side bearing “adoption” signs and lots of fun-looking dogs. She wanders over to meet the dogs and rescue workers and wonders why no one else is coming over. Ladybug girl is clever and devises a way to get more people to see the animals, and even gets a few of them adopted! She and her friends, Bumblebee Boy and Grasshopper Girl determine to come back to the park every week to help with more adoptions. Love!

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My Cat Rhea’s Experience With Stereotactic Radiosurgery

My cat, Rhea, recently underwent stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). I thought I’d write a post about it since, after the oncology vet recommended it, we tried to research it online but found very little. Especially about SRS and cats.

SRS is a new kind of radiation therapy – well, new to use for animals; it’s been used for humans for some time. Instead of traditional radiation, which isn’t as effective, and can take many multiple treatments, SRS can be administered as little as once, or up to a few times. And, because the vet takes a CT scan of the tumor beforehand, it’s delivered very precisely to the tumor. This means that there’s little chance of the radiation affecting any healthy, non-cancerous tissues. And, every time the animal is given a dose of radiation, s/he has to be anesthetized, which is always risky and can result in complications. So, the fewer treatments an animal has to have, the better.

Of course SRS is costly. Luckily, I had pet insurance that footed a big chunk of the bill. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford it.

Rhea developed a tumor or the right side of her head, which grew very quickly. Above is a photo taken shortly after I first noticed it. I thought our dog, Sofia, had just played with her a bit too rough and she had an abscess. I took her to my regular vet who said it wasn’t an infection. She did some tests and it came back positive for cancer. So she referred me to a veterinary oncologist.

By the time I was able to get her in to see the oncologist – about three weeks later – it had grown substantially. It also seemed to be affecting her eyes. He did a full CT scan from her head to her chest and found that, thankfully, it hadn’t spread into her body; it was a sarcoma that was only above the bone on top of her head. The reason her eyes were affected was that it was growing so fast it was pulling the skin back, so she couldn’t close her eyes. This would mean I’d have to give her lots of eye drops, to keep her eyes moist. Anyway, the fact that the tumor was only on the top of her head made it ideal for SRS treatment.

The vet told me she would likely lose some hair on her head and when it grew back, it may be white. He also said some of the skin on the affected area could die. But the tumor was inoperable due to its size and location, and this was our only chance for her to have a full life (Rhea is 10 years old). Chemotherapy didn’t make any sense since it wasn’t metastasizing.

I was really scared! I was so afraid she was going to be in pain. I had several friends and family members who couldn’t eat for a long time after radiation because it burnt their mouths so. But both my regular and specialist vet said animals didn’t experience pain with radiation like humans often did. My regular vet said that’s the course of action she would definitely pursue if it were her pet. But I still worried. One of my friends referred me to a holistic vet and another to an animal communicator. I would have tried both if I had more money and time, but the tumor was getting bigger so quickly, I had no experience with animal communicators and had no idea what to expect and whether to trust one, they weren’t cheap, and my pet insurance plan pre-authorized my claims. So, I just went with it and trusted my oncology and regular vets’ opinions. And I prayed I wasn’t putting my cat through horrible pain.

So, Rhea had three days of SRS. I kept her at the hospital throughout because I felt like it was going to be traumatic to have to keep taking her there and back. So, I packed a little bag of food and treats and her eye medication. The man who administered the radiation called me every day with updates on how she did – which was well! When I picked her up, they gave her the little certificate below, signed by all the techs and the radiation administerer, along with the cute cape!

Everyone at AZ Veterinary Oncology was so wonderful, so supportive. I really appreciated all of their help, and that little certificate made me ridiculously happy!

When I got Rhea home, she seemed perfectly fine. She didn’t seem to be in pain at all. She went straight to her food bowl and feasted to her heart’s content, rubbed up against Sofia, then trotted upstairs and jumped from the balcony onto the top of the bookcase, always her favorite perch 🙂

Anyway, it’s been two weeks since the end of her SRS. We just went to the oncologist today for her check-up and he said the tumor has definitely shrunk, which I’d noticed but was afraid it was just wishful thinking on my part!

She honestly has not seemed to be in any pain whatsoever for the past two weeks. She’s been purring, wrapping herself around my feet, sitting at my desk while I work, rubbing up against Sofia, being tolerant toward our other cat, Katusha, (as usual), eating, drinking, pawing open cupboards and closet doors to explore, fitting herself into tiny spaces, making noise in the middle of the night, trying to get outside (I don’t let her, she is an indoor cat; but since she does like to explore the outdoors, I push her around in a little dog stroller 🙂 ) Basically, she’s been her usual self, and with all the purring, she seems perfectly happy. The only thing the doctor noticed is that she’d lost a little weight. I have noticed that some days she doesn’t eat as much as she normally does, although other days she does. So I’ve been trying to buy her her very favorite food, even if it’s not the healthiest 🙂

She has yet to lose any hair, although I suspect that still may be coming. I’m hoping that blasted tumor continues to shrink down to nothing, and never returns. For now, we can only hope she’ll continue her progress. I will keep you posted!

Below, today, enjoying the Arizona sun with Sofia 🙂

 

 

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A DOG’S WAY HOME by W. Bruce Cameron

We absolutely loved this book, and were so happy to be able to meet W. Bruce Cameron at the Best Friends National Conference over the summer, which is where we got a copy of A Dog’s Way Home. Above, our very dog-like cat, Rhea, who is always at my feet 🙂

This is a wonderful, very well-told story. And, even though a dog – Bella – is the protagonist, there are lots of cats! Lots of cats. Bella is separated from her mother early on and is taken in by a group of feral community cats who live in a building that is on the verge of being demolished. A cat who’s just had kittens takes Bella in as one of her own. Bella always thinks of her as Mother Cat, and the kittens as her siblings. A young med school student who cares for the community cats, Lucas, finds Bella and takes her in. Lucas lives with his mother, an Army veteran recovering from PTSD.

Unfortunately, Lucas lives in Denver and Denver has a pit bull ban. One of the things this book does so well is show the odious and irrational nature of such a law, especially given that there is no official recognition of pit bull as a breed. That gives power-hungry animal control officers the ability to declare any dog they don’t like a pit bull.

Which is exactly what happens here. Lucas has had run-ins with one such local animal control officer over his insistence on getting the community cats out of the condemned building before it is bulldozed. He works hard with a local animal rescue to do that, but it takes time and the landowner is eager to demolish the building regardless of whether cats are inside. The landowner threatens Lucas with taking Bella away if Lucas doesn’t leave him to his destruction.

As you can see, the dog on the cover of the book looks nothing like a pit bull – and many of the animal control officers in the book question whether Bella is a pit bull. But the landowner is friends with one animal control officer, and that’s all it takes – an officer deeming a dog a pit bull. Bella is banished from town, with Lucas promising he will find a home outside of Denver and will come get her from the foster as soon as possible.

But Bella doesn’t understand since she is a dog. She only knows that she has been separated from her human. So once she sees a means of escape from her new foster, she traces Lucas’s scent back home. The story is her journey, which is quite treacherous given that she is several hundred miles away and there are mountains and wild animals and horrid weather now separating him from home.

Along the way, Bella meets many colorful characters – most of them good, but a few rotten apples. My favorite of the characters is Big Kitten – another cat! Big Kitten is a mountain lion cub who is orphaned by trophy hunters who illegally shoot her mother. Bella mothers Big Kitten the way Mommy Cat mothered her and for a time they pal around together, hunting and sharing food. You know Bella will eventually make her way back to Lucas and his mother but you just don’t know how. There are so many twists and turns you remain on the edge of your seat  until the last page!

There’s so much I left out. There are so many memorable characters and scenes. Every animal lover has to read this book. It’s just packed with gems! The movie comes out early next year and will star Ashley Judd and Edward James Olmos. I really can’t wait!

Another pic of me meeting Cameron at that wonderful conference 😀

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Two Lovely Picture Books: RESCUE & JESSICA and BEFORE YOU WERE MINE

We bought these beautiful picture books while at the Best Friends National Conference two weeks ago.

The first, Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes is based on a true story. In the book, Rescue, a service dog, befriends Jessica, a double-amputee. The real-life Jessica (Kensky herself) is a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, though the Jessica of the book is based on a younger version of herself. Co-writer Downes, Kensky’s partner, is also a survivor of that bombing. Rescue is the dog who assists Jessica and brings her back to life and happiness after tragedy.

I was amazed at all the things Rescue can do. Aside from barking for help if Jessica falls, he can open things hard for her to reach, make a phone call, and help her cross a  busy city street by tapping on the “walk” button with his paw. But, ultimately, the most important thing Rescue gives Jessica is love, and vice versa. Sweet, and very informative story about the remarkable talents of service dogs with realistic, detailed illustrations by Scott Magoon.

Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts is a sweet story about a boy who adopts a rescue dog. The boy wonders all kinds of things about his new little pup, such as what kind of family he had previously, why they gave him up, and whether he ever slept on cold streets and in dark alleys – things anyone who’s ever adopted a shelter animal thinks about. But, ultimately, the boy realizes – as we all do – that none of that really matters. All that matters is that they belong to each other now.  Charming watercolor illustrations by David Walker bring to life this touching tale encouraging adoption.

Picture books are among our favorites since they teach children to love, understand, and respect animals 🙂

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Review, THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON

Normally, I focus on books about or starring animals as main characters, but this middle-grade novel was too brilliant to pass up! And, it has a couple of fantastical animals – a sweet little dragon named Fyrion, and an equally endearing huge swamp creature named Glerk. Both characters stole my heart, along with the humans, which are also a bit fantastical, since many possess some degree of magic.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill, very deservedly won the 2017 Newbery Medal for children’s writing. At the beginning the book reminded me of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” The townspeople – living in a place called The Protectorate – blindly believe that a witch demands they leave the first-born baby of the season for her consumption. Of course, whichever unlucky family must deliver their baby to her, by leaving it out in the forest, suffers unbelievable sorrow, some mothers never fully recovering. This is what happens to a woman who must leave her baby girl, later named Luna, the protagonist.

But who originated this story of the witch? Is she real? And what really happens to the babies left out in the forest? And what if someone begins to question conventional wisdom?

This book is amazing in the breadth of its themes: the power of myth, the ownership of a story, belief that is allowed to go unchallenged, truth, falseness, lies. Then, as the story goes on, the themes turn to love, forgiveness, and hope triumphing over despair. It’s a story for our times and it’s a beautiful one people’d by deeply endearing, enchanting characters and a twisting, turning plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat – whether you’re a kid or an adult!

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Review, DEWEY: THE SMALL-TOWN LIBRARY CAT WHO TOUCHED THE WORLD

I can’t believe I hadn’t read this memoir when it first came out in 2008! I’d somehow missed it, but found an updated edition from 2017 on kindle and just finished reading it as an ebook. This version has some added later content, updating us on the lives of the people who knew and loved this charming, wonderful cat and including sweet letters from readers showing just how much Dewey touched the world.

Vicki Myron, head librarian in the small town of Spencer, Iowa, found a tiny kitten, nearly frozen, in the library’s book drop one cold winter morning. She took the kitten to a vet, nursed him to health, and named him Dewey, for obvious reasons 🙂 She kept him in the library, since he was most comfortable there, and he became and remained the official library cat for the next 18 years.

Despite his sad beginnings (who would drop a tiny kitten in a book drop in dangerously cold temperatures?), Dewey turned out to be a very good-natured little cat, outgoing, affable, and happy, jumping up on people’s laps, cuddling in their arms as they read, making friends with special needs children and the elderly. At first there was some resistance – what if people didn’t like cats or were allergic – etc. etc. But everyone grew to like Dewey so much that any objections soon evaporated.

Spencer was a small town deeply affected by the emergence of factory farming, which destroyed small farms and a way of life. Dewey was instrumental in cheering  people up during very depressing times.

Myron is a really interesting, endearing figure herself. She became a struggling single mother after divorcing an alcoholic husband, and a non-traditional student when she went back to library school. Later, she battled breast cancer. Eventually Dewey grew old, and eventually of course he passed on, and Myron, along with the town mourned. In the 2017 edition, you learn about Myron retiring, getting remarried, and the new cat she adopted (Page Turner), starkly different from Dewey, but just as lovable in his own way.  Myron says she didn’t know how many details of her own life she should include, but you as a reader connect to the humans just as much as you do the animals they love. She goes through many of the struggles we all do, and so her story is very relatable.

Wonderful, wonderful book, and I will never forget Dewey, or Myron.

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Best Friends Animal Society National Conference 2018!

Just got back from the Best Friends National Conference and I am so invigorated and inspired and amazed at all the good work being done out there on behalf of animals! It was my first time at this convention and I met the most wonderful people.

Photo above: I got to meet author / screenwriter W. Bruce Cameron at the members only opening night party. Do become a BF member, by the way: it’s one of the best ways you can spend $25. And I was so excited to meet Cameron. He is one of my favorite “dog authors.” I can’t wait to read his latest – A Dog’s Way Home, and see the movie, which comes out in January!

I also got to meet the adorable and very cuddly internet sensation, Sunglass Cat! What a sweetie. She was born without eyelids so her mom has to give her frequent eye drops and she wears little sunglasses for protection. She really loved being held, and passed around from person to person 🙂

The excellent Jackson Galaxy was there, giving a very informative and entertaining lecture on his Cat Pawsitive program. His discussion of the awesomeness of cat cafes and how they are helping to get people to adoptable cats in new ways really inspired me to get my own bookstore / cat lounge open.

As did a little bookshop the conference had set up. So many books, and the store area was ALWAYS packed. Animals and books just go together! Above are all the ones I bought. Funny, but I listen to the Our Hen House podcast (excellent podcast about animals, with an emphasis on veganism, by the way!) and the second book from the left in the top row – The Animal Lover’s Guide to Changing the World  by Stephanie Feldstein – was the subject of their latest podcast, which I listened to after the conference. Now I’m all the more excited to read that one!

After the conference, we took a little tour of the Best Friends’ NKLA adoption center in West LA. What a beautiful place filled with wonderful adoptable cats and dogs.

Our tour guide mentioned that they have a “read to cats” program at their Mission Hills location up in the Valley, whereby parents can bring their kids just learning to read to read to the cats. It helps both kids with their reading skills and the cats, many of whom love to be cuddled and read to! I signed up to receive information about their program since I definitely want to do that here as well.

I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the information I received – grant writing, fundraising, marketing adoptable animals, building an organization, networking with other nonprofits, promotion, etc. etc. etc. – combined with all the info I’m receiving from the American Booksellers Association on opening a bookstore. But I really want to do this, and the conference made me all the more excited about it!

So no time for lazing around, as this little cutie was in the NKLA kitten room 🙂

 

 

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Jeoffry Has a Pair of Adoptable Kitties!

Jeoffry has a couple of very sweet kittens who need a home! They are four months old, boys, already neutered, and healthy, but they will need their vaccinations. They are a bonded pair so we’re looking for them to be adopted together.

We are located in Phoenix and our partner is willing to do FaceTime or drive them anywhere in the Phoenix metropolitan area to meet and greet potential new owners. If you are interested, please reply here or you can email us at mycatjeoffry [at] gmail [dot] com. And please share!

Update from the foster mommy:
We’ve named them – at least temporarily until they find their furrever homes – Simon and Garfunkel 🙂 Garfunkel is the white one and Simon the black and white.  Simon likes long pets along his neck and he purrs like crazy when you do that! Hence the impetus behind the musical names. They also “talk” to each other quite frequently. Their favorite snack is Tender Vittles. They are very good at using their litter box.  Please consider adopting, or spread the word!

Update: the kitties have found homes! But please visit our favorite rescues for more wonderful adoptables!

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Review of GOOD DOG by Dan Gemeinhart

This is a time when I wish I had a good book club for animal lovers because I’d so love to discuss this one with others! GOOD DOG is a middle-grade novel by well-regarded author Dan Gemeinhart. The book begins with Brodie having died and gone to a place between earth and heaven. He senses that the boy he has just left down on earth, Aiden, is in trouble and he wants to go back down and help him before going off to the Forever. But in doing so, he risks losing his soul and living in darkness forever. It’s a risk he has to take to save his boy.

Along the way he meets Tuck, a lovable pit bull, and Patsy, a tough-talking but deep down goodhearted tabby, who are both in the same situation but decide to help Brodie instead of focusing on their own humans. To find Aiden, they have to battle the hellhounds, dark dogs who’ve lost their souls and now need to feed on the light of others. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through their search for Aiden.

The stories of how each animal died are all so sad and overall this was a real tearjerker. But the expressions of love between each animal and their human and especially between Brodie and Aiden are so beautiful, so moving. I think this is a book kids – and adults who love a good story! – will cherish.