MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from Tale of a Mission Cat   by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission --      About Me and My Predecessors Did you know that every one of the Spanish Missions in California used to have a Mission cat? Some still do. I am one of them. My name is Sula, and I am the Mission cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista. If you come to the Mission, you can meet me. It seems that quite not of my own doing, I have nonetheless become rather famous of late. Rather than chasing mice (really, there are no mice at the Mission these days, just people, whom I love to comfort; that is, after all, my mission), I try to raise money to save the Mission, which desperately needs to be retrofitted against earthquakes—and to have the roof repaired so that my home, the Mission, does not leak in the rain. How I do that is by giving interviews, writing books, and putting my pawtograph on my books, including at special event book signings. I like my vocation: helping people at the Mission. I also like my avocat

  photo from Animal Friends Shelter Last Caturday focused on the  plight of animals and their caregivers in war zones .  It focused as the first in a planned series on Animal Friends Shelter in Gaza City. This Caturday, we have an update -- reportage from 10 First in Australia. View the video/report  HERE . Animal Friends Shelter is on Twitter:  Animal Friends Shelter (@AnimalFriendsAF) / X (twitter.com) And for those who wish to donate (AFS is a charity) to help -- it seems possible to do that, at least pre-invasion (let's hope there is not an invasion) att  PayPal.Me . For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  X ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  a

  photo from Animal Friends Shelter This is the first of a series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts I

  Excerpt from Surviving Cancer, Healing People  by Sula -  One of Fr. Jerry’s homilies was so very interesting that I had to get up out of the pew and go down and listen to him. He was talking about the animals and what they brought to the baby Jesus. He talked about what the donkeys brought and what the camels brought and what the sheep brought and what lots of other kinds of animals brought. That homily interested me much more than any other homily I had heard from Fr. Jerry although all his homilies are good. All the people who take care of me agree, which is almost everyone when you count all the people who love and pet me. But, he did not say anything about what the cats brought! That made me very curious. I wanted to know what the cats brought. I wanted to hear more of the homily. I wanted to hear it clearly. I really wanted to hear what the cats had brought to Baby Jesus. So, I walked up to where Fr. Jerry was standing and talking and sat down in front of him, eager to hi

  Reposting from Twitter on behalf of an animal shelter in Gaza in dire straits because of the conflict that has just spring up. The message: Please it is a TOP URGENT situation🚨. We don't have time and we have to secure food and needs as fast as possible. The suppliers are about to close their door due the unfortunate conflict here in Gaza Donate🙏 https://paypal.me/DonateAFS?country.x=IL&locale.x=en_US Please consider to repost, it is UMERGENCY🚨 COMMENT: I HAVE FOLLOWED ANIMAL FRIENDS SHELTER FOR SOME TIME. THEY SHOW WONDERFUL VIDEOS OF INTERACTITONS WITH THE CATS AND HOW WELL THE CATS GET ALONG. THEY WERE SCRAPING BY -- AND THEN THIS WEEKEND'S CONFLICT HIT. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO SPARE SOME CHANGE, AND IF MONEY CAN HELP IN ANY WAY (THE SITUATION IS TOUGH TO GET ANIMAL FOOD RIGHT NOW), PLEASE CONSIDER DONATION. and please spread the word

  Isn't it amazing how sometimes just a picture can brighten a day. Here, Intrepid shows how he earned his name. Always curious. Always fearless. Always wanting to be wherever the humans are -- and sometimes above them! Yep, he liked to help change light bulbs. (We lost him to lymphoma a few years ago, but his intrepid spirit remains.) For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  X ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information

  This is a series of Caturday posts on the topic of taking in  feral cats .  General information (from previous posts): For a few decades, we have rescued feral cats. In fact, with only one exception, our "domestic" cats have been ferals that we brought inside to join other ferals, already domesticated, as part of a bonded cat family. Right now, we have five cats (alas,  Murjan , the single non-feral cat we had, died from cancer last fall, and  Intrepid , closely bonded to Murjan, died three years ago from the same kind of cancer, and, most recently, Snyezhka , who had been valiantly fighting three kinds of cancer, died from a saddle thrombus, probably related to her chemotherapy but, of course, no one is going to suggest that and it really does not matter since knowing exactly what caused the reason for her death won't bring her back). All five of our feral cats get along pretty fabulously -- and they also got along well with the three predecessors. Of course, all of th

  This resource fell under my hand recently. I am passing it along in case it could help others.  Happy Caturday! Search for free or low cost pet support services like veterinary care, pet food pantries, temporary pet care and more. ZIP  Search If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the  Suicide and Crisis Lifeline , chat with them online via their website, or text HOME to 741741 (multiple languages available). If this is an emergency, call 911. This curated database of resources is provided by Human Animal Support Services and its partners to keep people and pets together. For more Caturday posts, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact

Simone (middle) and Wooper (right) would like to take Murjan (left) for a walk.   Happy Caturday! I hope you enjoy the picture of two of our cats trying to take a third for a walk. Beloved Murjan crossed over the rainbow bridge last year, but the picture still makes me smile. And, for Caturday, I hope you enjoy this helpful article I came across recently:  12 Unusual Cat Behaviors to Look Out For – and What They Mean! (msn.com) . For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?  Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@m

  We had a cat, Murjan, who seemed to be going blind. He seemed to walk into objects upon occasion that did not have anything to do with motor control. He would look intently at people talking to him. Yes, he was social, but it also seemed like he was trying to make them out. And it was different from cat staring , which is generally a sign of affection. So, I was a bit concerned. Unlike with people, the doctor could not tell if Murjan could see. The physical structure of the eye looked okay, but other than that, there is no visual acuity test for cats -- yet. So, we never did find out. So, recently, when I came across this very interesting and in-depth article about cat vision, it seemed appropriate to share for Caturday since I doubt that I am the only one asking if my cat can see and how well. Here is the article: What Colors Can Cats See? (Note: the article talks about more than just color -- worth reading.) For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC news

  excerpt from  Intrepid  by Carl Leaver and Betty Lou Leaver Preface All cats are special, but occasionally one is unique—so unique that you know that this one time, this one cat’s lifetime, is the only time you will encounter such a soul. That makes every day with the cat a delightfully special day, and it makes the death of such a cat a real tragedy. The memories linger, and they are no less sharp a year, or two years, or three years later than they were when they took place. Intrepid was just such a cat for us. So many things remind of us him nearly every day: replacing a light bulb—he would always climb the step ladder to help, putting up a Christmas tree—we never could when he was around because he would eat it or any plant, and the silence of waking up in the morning—he always woke us by pushing onto the floor any moveable item he found on the bureau (and, regardless of weight, he could usually find a way to move any item there). Missing Intrepid is part of our daily life now. F