MSI Press Blog

  Bear (left) and Moo (right) at the water trough In our home of eight cats, water bowls are everywhere--at least, one in each room and on the catio. But the water trough is not just a convenience—it’s an institution. It started with Bear. A hunk whose solid part-Chartreux body fits his name. With the thirst of a marathon runner, he would drain bowl after bowl of water with such diligence that we found ourselves in the vet’s office asking, “Is he okay?” Tests returned with a shrug: healthy as can be. Well, a big cat needs lots of water, we figured, and kept filling those bowls every hour.  Eventually, we swapped out the master bedroom bowls for a large plastic container that looked like a trough. A water trough. These days, it takes over 100 ounces of fresh water a day to keep Bear and his siblings happily hydrated, most of slurped down by Bear. The cats love it. The master bedroom leads to the catio so it is a natural gathering spot for the cats, especially when the catio ...

  Tissou and one of her humans, CB She came with a limp, a crumpled ear, a bent tail, and a story that arrived in fragments. A ghost of someone’s loyalty. A survivor of someone else’s neglect. We didn’t know her name. We gave her one: Don Gato , a commanding title for a cat who marched—crooked but purposeful—into our home and made it hers. Later, the vet would gently shift that to Dona Gata with a quiet smile. Later still, we’d learn her true name— Tissou —and realize she had always known exactly who she was. We were the ones catching up. Tissou’s story, like too many others, carries the echo of abandonment. After years as the cherished only pet of a kind vet, her world collapsed when he died. His widow left her locked in a horse stall and walked away. For 18 months, Tissou cried into the walls of her exile. Neighbors fed her. Her sadness made enough noise for someone to eventually hear. Now, she lives with us—eight cats, nine humans, and a catio that buzzes with morning sun an...

  Continuing our Caturday "cats in war" series, we offer the following link for those who would like to help cats caught homeless in Ukraine. ROLDA, located in nearby Moldova, helps them and can always use donations.  Link to ROLDA . Learn more about cats. See our many  Caturday  posts. Be entertained. See all our posts about  cats . Be inspired. See posts by and about  Sula , parish cat, and her books. Have a chuckle. Read posts by and about Jeremy Feig's award-winning book (book of the year finalist, Kops-Fetherling Lagacy Award for Humor),  How My Cat Made Me a Better Man . Watch for Luna Norwood's forthcoming book,  Raising Happy Cat Families . To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount, use code FF25 at  MSI Press webstore . Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to buy for it? (1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it. (2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed. VISIT OUR  WEBSITE...