Raining Cats, Dogs, and Other Critters

April showers … It’s raining cats and dogs and a few other things in our Astraea Press authors’ lives. A few of us got together to talk about our pets. To protect the privacy of the authors’ pets, stand-ins have been used in pictures. Except for mine, because they get right in to their celebrity status and take over the show.

_____

Cats. I have a mama cat, Luna, and five kittens.

Stephanie Taylor
The Picture

******************

We have fishes – they aren’t on your list. I have a large tropical tank with three mad clown loach, a huge fish called Mr Whiskers, some cory, rainbow fish, kissing gourami, swordtails, mollys and platys.

Love Nell
Romance with Heart
http://www.nelldixon.com
Dangerous to Know    Making Waves

********************************
We have a cat.  He’s black with 4 white paws and white around his neck.  Almost looks like he’s wearing a tux!  We named him Mr. Whiskers!!!  Mainly because he has more than his fair share of whiskers!

Felicia Rogers
The Perfect Rose
http://www.feliciarogersauthor.webs.com/

***********************************

Right now, I have a beta fish, dark blue with green highlights. He sleeps on the bottom of the tank, so every morning he looks dead until I tap the glass. Then he wakes up, shakes himself, and follows my finger along the tank wall to his food. And then he attacks. Until I got betas, I never knew fish were interactive toys.

I’ve also got two parakeets, a blue male named Pete and a yellow-green female named Tweet. Or Peetie and Tweetie, as the mood hits. She chews everything, so whatever I put in or near the cage must be parakeet-bill-proof, or I should have a spare handy. This includes perches, toys, feed dishes, and the netting that goes around the cage’s bottom to keep the mess inside. The cute wooden ladder I bought her  wound up in shreds across their floor and some of it I’m sure she ate.  Pete is henpecked but occasionally snaps back. He cheeps. And he cheeps. And he cheeps. And he cheeps. Whoever said women talk more than men has never met Pete. He also loves his mirror, and yanks at it so hard that sometimes he rips it off its little plastic hook and crashes it.

We also keep birdfeeders in the back yard, so I suppose I should include the sparrows, finches, cardinals, grackles, and so on. And the squirrels, who are fighting me for the vegetable garden. So far, it’s a draw.

-J. Gunnar Grey
Deal With The Devil, Parts 1 and 2
Mysteries and Histories

******************************************

I like a cat or a small dog.

Elaine Cantrell
A New Dream
http://www.elainecantrell.com

*******************************************
Dogs of all sizes. 🙂

Kristine Cheney
Spartan Heart Part 1 and Spartan Heart Part 2
http://www.spartanheart.com/
*********************************************

Dog, which I have, a rescued pug named, Homer. Would love a cat but have developed BIG allergy and can’t even be in the same room for long. Horses always scared me now they intrigue me. If I ever get to move to Pine Grove with my characters, I’m gettin’ a horse or two!

Jean Joachim
Sunny Days Moonlit Nights
http://jeanjoachim.blogspot.com/

***********************************************

Border collies all the way!!!!! (I have 2 girls, Liberty and Freedom) And we have a St. Bernard/Lab cross named Justice…but those Border collies…they are something else… Just this past month…one has opened the fridge and ate all the leftovers, opened the front door (I’m talking the one with knobs and locks, mind you…) and walked out of the house, opened the door to my mom’s basement, opened the power windows on the car, (she can also open the door, hence the reason the doors are childlocked…) and a host of other things. This is the same dog who is not allowed to watch crime dramas because she barks at all the bad guys…she’s one of a kind…

I had a Norwegian Forest Cat named Chloe. She got out one day when she was ‘staying’ with my dad while I was in a move transition. I couldn’t find her anywhere although I looked and looked. (You’d think a pink cat would be easy to find in a small town…but…) Exactly a year later (on my dad’s b-day, so I remembered when she went missing) I pull into my dad’s driveway. By the time I get to the door, I’ve been greeted by a little pink cat. I was floored! I had her another seven years after that. I miss that cat!

Bridget Lashbrooks
Olivia’s Journey
http://bglashbrooks.webs.com/

**************************************************
For pets, I am definitely a cat person. My husband talked me into buying a house in exchange for getting cats. The house closed and two weeks later, I had my Halloween kittens from the shelter, one orange tabby and one black and white tuxedo. The orange tabby went missing, poor guy, (full story is here) and after 4 months, we gave up hope and adopted a Maine coon kitten. Then the tabby showed up 10 miles from home four months after that, and now we’ve had all three for a year. I adore them, though three was more than I ever wanted. Growing up, I had cats, dogs, rabbits, lizards, and hamsters, but three cats seems plenty these days. I occasionally consider a dog, but then I remember how needy they are, and I give the cats an extra pet in thanks.

Rebecca Gomez Farrell
Maya’s Vacation
http://www.thegourmez.com/

*********************************************
Two overweight crochety beagles. One could probably find his way home from Florida and the other couldn’t find his way home from across the street.

Joselyn
Sucker For a Hot Rod
http://joselynvaughn.com
Sweet, small town romances
Indulge your softer side

*************************************************
Dogs – especially pit bulls! Currently Derby – who has saved Tony’s life and Cage’s life so he’s king in our house

Horses – we have 5 right now and we trail ride, Tony and Jaci barrel race, and we basically spend all our money feeding them:) They’re amazing animals, though

Kim Bowman
Wayward Soul
http://kimbowmanauthor.blogspot.com/

*********************

And for me, it’s been a little of everything, from snakes to tarantulas, to parakeets, cockatiels, and lovebirds, as well as Japanese quail, to African hissing cockroaches, to snakes (large and small), lizards (you name it, I’ve probably lived with it), gerbils, mice, Egyptian spiny mice, rats (including hairless rats), fish, newts, tree frogs, turtles, tortoises, cats, ferrets, rabbits, dogs -large and small – and I’m POSITIVE I’ve forgotten something. (I have four kids-they all had their pet preferences.) Currently, my life has settled into a handful of dogs, including this pair – Cybil (the little one, is a chihuahua mix who used to live on my desk) and Camille (a Staffie/Lab pup who was brought to me rather sickly by a neighbor and turns out she’s the daughter of my daughter’s wandering lab). Cybbie is the one in charge.  Always.

Kay Springsteen 
Heartsight
Lifeline Echoes
Facebook

_____________

We hope you enjoyed this look into our lives with our four-footed, two-winged, finned, hoofed, etc. friends. Check out the above authors and so many more at Astraea Press.  What kind of pets do YOU have? (Or what would you like to have?)