Caturday, and an excerpt!

I generally always have pets of some kind in my novels. Usually cats, because I’m a cat person. I’ve rescued cats and do feral feedings on top of having a few of my own. I love writing about them, and they are easy for me to write.

 

Beacon

This is Mr. Meowgi, my inspiration for Beacon in One Wrong Move. Notice the clipped ear? It means he was a trap, neuter, and release! Although he is now part of my household, cats with ear-tips are harmless and should be left to live peacefully in the wild.

 

In celebration of #Caturday and the fact One Wrong Move is still at $0.99, I’m sharing a never before seen excerpt of One Wrong Move!

In this excerpt, Camden has already taken Rayma to a safe house (practically kidnapped, but that’s another except for another day). She is furious with him that she had to leave her cat, Beacon, who received his name when she discovered him beaten on her back porch after she’d moved to the Texas Gulf Coast. She considered him her beacon that she was in the right place.

So in this excerpt, Camden has gone to her house to rescue the cat and bring him to the safe-house where Rayma is staying.

***

“Beacon?” He explored the apartment, trying not to notice the femininity surrounding him. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” he called as he took shorts and shirts from the closet. He found her socks and panties, and stuffed them in a bag. The sooner he got them out of his hands, the better. He found shoes, sandals and her purse and by the time he filled the bag, it wouldn’t close.

He didn’t care. He needed to get out of here, away from the scents, away from her lacy thongs, and away from the tiny dresses hanging in her closet.

When he walked into the kitchen pantry in search of cat food, the cat waltzed up to him and circled his feet. Camden knelt to pet him. Beacon arched his back, purring.

“You hungry? Sorry about that, kiddo. Let’s get you back to your mom.” He found a few cans of food, dropped them into the bag wrapped around his shoulder and grabbed the cat, prepared to leave, when a shadow in the doorway stopped him.

Beacon scrambled from his arms and shot down the hall. Camden dropped the bag. Cans of food banged to the floor. The guy stopped one with his foot as it rolled toward him.

“Who the hell are you?” Camden hooked his thumbs in the loops of his pants, presenting a casual attitude but preparing to pounce if necessary. The guy filled the doorway, and there was nowhere for Camden to go but forward.

“Rayma’s boyfriend.” The guy remained still as a stone in a rippling pond. “Who the hell are you?”

“How did you get in here?” Camden asked. He recognized Dare’s accountant but had to play it cool.

“A key.” The guy held it up for Camden’s inspection, as if that would make the fact more powerful. “How did you?”

“What’s your name?” Camden asked.

“Excuse me. I am the one with the key to Rayma’s house, not you. Why don’t you tell me?”

“She told me she broke up with you weeks ago,” Camden lied.

 

OneWrongMove3D

 

Feral Cats

This is Greta before treatment.

This is Greta before treatment.

Greta after surgery. Yes, she's a little upset.

Greta after surgery. Yes, she’s a little upset.

Greta-one year later

Greta-one year later

One year ago, I had a few feral cats hanging around my property. I “inherited” feral cats when I moved into my home, but I made the mistake of not having enough knowledge or foresight to do a trap, neuter, release program with them. I have my own indoor pets and I fed the outdoor cats to help them, but that was the extent of my knowledge and care.

Boy have I learned a lot since then.

First, if you don’t know what a feral cat is, let me explain. To many, “feral” denotes savage and uncontrolled creatures, but that is not true. A feral cat is an untamed, undomesticated cat that prefers to be outside away from humans. Doesn’t mean it won’t eventually learn to trust humans and it doesn’t mean it is aggressive or full of disease. What it does mean is that it doesn’t trust you and likely will always have fear. Which is probably best, because there’s a lot out there for them to fear. Feral cats are often scared, but can still make good pets. I have made feral cats into pets.

Many people believe that killing feral cats is the best way to deal with them but what they don’t realize is if you kill one, more will take its place. Cats are territorial and will rarely let other cats in, unless they are gone. So if you kill one, more will take its place. What’s the point in that?

Last year, this particular cat I speak of had babies. She was incredibly wild but we were working on getting her to trust us. Before we got her close enough to us, she ended up dying, I’m pretty sure because my neighbors shot it with a BB gun. Unfortunately, that BB eventually killed her (yes, BBs can kill, although not always right away!) This cat had kittens, and I was able to rescue them. Soon, I had them tame and on an eating schedule. They were a little messed up, their hair matted, ringworms all over their body.

That word is enough to scare anyone, but it didn’t scare me. I did my research and know that most healthy cats can get rid of the fungus and yes, you can get rid of it around your property, too. So I bought lime sulfur dip, and the results were almost immediate. Soon, the kittens were growing back their hair and were the cutest, softest, cuddliest babies I’ve ever known.

I did get ringworms, I will admit. That’s because it was the springtime and I thought I had mosquitoes. I put cortisone on it, the worst thing you can do for fungal infections! It looked worse than it was, but I lived through it none the worse for wear.

It isn’t okay to kill nuisances. I know most people would have done that, but I am not most people.

Because I intended to spay/neuter the cats and release them back into the property and care for them, I took them to my local humane society to be fixed. I was nervous and scared of what would happen to these animals since I’ve never done this before. I had bonded with, but I’ve never been so impressed with a facility as I was with The Austin Humane Society. Walking in, I saw many animals for the TNR program, some from a company who helps people and some from people like me who were trying to help the world.

The humane society had other cats they allowed you to visit while you waited, and I felt so sad for these animals. Yet, these animals weren’t exactly abandoned. They had a home in a no-kill shelter, given free time to play and be petted. I blinked back tears as I checked in so no one would think I was crazy, but I cried. Some of the cats lost their parents and were relinquished. Some might never be adopted out. And the effort of the humane society, the love these people felt, the good they were doing with their jobs, made me realize there is still good left in this world.

Molly before

Molly before

Molly now. The ear tip indicates she is spayed. Leave her be.

Molly now. The ear tip indicates she is spayed. Leave her be.

Next time you see a cat with an ear-tip, leave it. It was part of the trap, neuter, release program and is fixed, released back into the wild, where it will make its home. Don’t consider it a nuisance because killing it will only bring in more animals. And if it isn’t fixed, consider trapping it or calling someone to find out if there’s a local trap, neuter, release program nearby. For more information about ear tipping, go here http://www.feralcatproject.org/faq.aspx

My dad, being the cautious dad he is, lectures me on rabies. TNR programs also do rabies shots, and now the cats are tame enough I can give them their updated shots. I’m still working on helping the other neighborhood cats get fixed, and am still feeding the wild ones that won’t get close enough for me to tame. Call me a crazy cat lady, but I love what I do and love helping these animals!

Romeo before

Romeo before

Romeo now. He comes by his name naturally. It's a close-up, but those are his real eyes!

Romeo now. He comes by his name naturally. It’s a close-up, but those are his real eyes!

Emirys lounging in the sun!

Emirys lounging in the sun!

Esme. How can you say no to that face?

Esme. How can you say no to that face?

So that’s my experience. If you want to know more about trapping and releasing animals, feel free to ask. Curious about ringworms and how to safely help them? Lemme know and I’ll be glad to give you info. I promise it isn’t as bad as it sounds.