Tag Archives: books

The Trials and Travails of a Working Cat

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Hello Humans,
I must apologize for the lack of posts here in the last few months. The Human was busy finishing the first two books in her new cozy series “Meowntain Mysteries” and is a quarter of the way through a new book. Needless to say this has severely hindered our posts on this blog as since we felines don’t have opposable thumbs, we are reliant on The Human to do or posting. Sigh.

It is nice to have her here in at the home office. Lily has trained The Human to give us treats on a regular schedule, so there’s that.

The big issue of late is The Human’s attempt to find some help with the housework. Of the three of us, I am the major contributor to the cat hair that floats throughout the house. The Human refers to me as a “super shedder”. You can find a visual of that in the post I did about my visit to the local feline spa. But I digress.

The Human’s solution was to bring a new form of vacuum monster into our home. There are few things I fear more than the vacuum monster she drags out of the closet and chases us through every room in the house. It’s more than a feline should have to bear.

I know she felt bad about this betrayal and she did all she could to make me okay with this machine. She posted a story about the new vacuum monster on her writer’s group blog which you can read below.

Much to the humans surprise, “The Maid” is much more quiet than the vacuum monster and, I find it a fascinating duty to follow “The Maid” around the house to ensure she fulfills all her cleaning duties.

It is exhausting to have to be the Snoopervisor of this activity but I have negotiated with management that extra treats be offered on roomba day.

So for now my dear friends, I must sign off as I can hear the electronic voice of “The Maid” announcing she will begin her thorough cleaning of the floors. The Human has vowed to better about keeping our blog updated.

Happy Wednesday and may all your vacuum monsters by like our quiet roomba!

Simplicity Day – A blog from The Human

While pondering the subject of my (Anita’s) post this month, I found out that July 12 is “Simplicity Day”. I knew immediately that I’d found my July blog topic as I am currently in the throes of a battle of wills with an evil machine all because I wanted to simplify my life.

I’ve waited a long time to simplify my housework routine. Living with three cats, one of which is a super shedder requires constant vigilance and attention to cat hair removal. The rugs, the furniture, even the drapes need to be constantly de-shedded. I keep lint (hair) rollers at strategic points in my house, so visitors don’t have to take furry souvenirs home with them. Finally, after hours of online research and conversations with trusted friends and families who have robot vacuums, I found the perfect one. This little cleaning machine is specifically made for homes with pet hair problems. I watched and waited for this incredible machine to be offered on sale. And then Amazon Days made it possible for me to place my order.

I was giddy with excitement the day it arrived. I knew my life was going to be changed forever. I placed the box on the floor as a peace offering for the cats. Of course, they had no idea that a “vacuum monster” had arrived in said box, but it made me feel less guilty.

After reading the quick start guide and downloading the app for my phone, I was ready to get started. Before I could do any programming, I had to name the machine. I chose the name “The Maid”.

I was now ready to run The Maid through her paces. I let her roam and create a map and as I followed her around through all the rooms, she seemed to be doing well. She stopped at the stairs, found her way around the walls and under tables and beds. I was impressed. The maid took herself back to her charging station to prepare for her inaugural cleaning. I eagerly awaited the day I would be sitting at my desk working while she cleaned, ah such bliss!

The first day I set her on her way to rid my house of cat hair, I used the deep clean program. It wasn’t long before I heard a noise that I hadn’t heard during the mapping out session. I went into the living room to investigate. The maid was attempting to eat the cloth on the side table by the sofa. After consulting the instructions, I managed to remove all the strings from the fringe on bottom of the cloth that she had attempted to devour.

I decided I should follow The Maid through the rest of her journey in order to be available for any future emergencies. In twenty minutes, she managed to get herself stuck under the sofa, completely ignore two area rugs she had mapped previously, refused to go into the bedroom to clean and did a quick circle in my office before she left without cleaning anything.

I sent her back to her charging station and had to take a moment to calm myself after the debacle of her maiden cleaning voyage.

I’ve spent the last couple of days figuring out how to reprogram The Maid and wondering if robots have feelings. Did the robot find my name choice offensive and was this her revenge?. Still, I remain an optimist and as I sit at my laptop typing this post I dream of a day The Maid will provide me with a cat hair free home.

If you would like to follow The Human’s writer’s group blog, you can find it on Facebook here.

Pet Crime Solvers -Think Twice Pet Owners if You’re Going to Commit a Crime!

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Hello Furiends,
It’s been a while since our purrsonal assistant updated our blog. She has been overly involved in research for this new book series, Meowntain Mysteries. The good news is that book one is finished and we’re nearing the end of book two. But since Alberto and I are key characters in these books we have a vested interest in them!

We’ve been learning a lot of cool stuff about crime solving animals. Did you know that cat hairs can be extremely useful in crime solving? No matter how fastidious a human perpetrator is about cleaning a crime scene, it’s unlikely that they will get rid of every single cat hair on their clothing. Just ask The Human, she is constantly whipping a roller out of her purse and attempting to banish every cat hair on her clothing, and failing miserably. (Note to The Human, don’t consider a life of crime!)

Now we have pages and pages about animal crime solving which would probably bore you so we thought we’d share an article from A & E True Crime Blog-How Animal DNA Puts Killers Behind Bars by Cara Tabachnick. The article is not that current but it is a good overview of this subject without going deep into forensic science.

There are three animal crime solvers in this article. The first is a cockatoo who gave his life and the clue needed to bring the killers of his owner to justice. The bird put up a fight, pecking one of the perpetrators in the head, causing it to bleed. The perpetrator touched his head and then touched a light switch and DNA evidence was also found on the beak and claws of the bird as well as on bloody knives found at the scene sealed the fate of the killer.

Help with the DNA detection came from The University of California, Davis Veterinary Genetics laboratory which is the foremost animal DNA center in the country. This laboratory is featured in both the Meowntain Mystery books. The laboratory has the capacity to run it’s own tests and analysis in house and as a result, the two men who murdered the man and his cockatoo were convicted and both sent to prison for life. There is a happier ending for a parrot that was a key witness in a murder trial of a woman who shot her husband. That parrot could mimic voices perfectly and he did a verbal “play by play” in the voice of the husband crying, “Don’t shoot!”. Needless to say this helped convict the wife.

And let’s not forget man’s best friend who solved the abduction and murder case of a 7-year old girl. In addition to the other clues and evidence, Police found dog hair similar to that of the Van Dam family’s dog on the perpetrator’s clothing. Prosecutors argued the dog hair became attached to his clothing  when the kidnapper took the child from her bedroom. The murderer was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002.

And last but definitely NOT least is the story of the feline crime solver, Snowball.

A Canadian man was convicted of murdering a woman after hairs on a bloodstained jacket were genetically matched to his parents’ cat. The man lived with his parents and Snowball, a white American shorthair. This 1994 case is one of the few times that nonhuman DNA has been used in a murder trial.

The murdered woman’s body was found in a shallow grave a few months after she disappeared and police suspected her former common-law husband. By then, the brown leather jacket had been discovered, stuffed in a plastic bag and left in the woods. The cat hairs were found in the lining. Police sent a blood sample from Snowball and hair from the jacket for testing and it was found that DNA from the two specimens was identical.

So human criminals, if you have a pet or live in close proximity to a pet, beware. DNA experts note that cats have a huge amount of fur transfer. Detectives should pay attention if there is a litter box. Dogs [that] are transported in cars can lick windows or leave nose print or paw prints. If you are a pet loving criminal reading this post, I’d suggest you have a hairless pet but that breed could get you caught as it’s not always fur that is your downfall!

I hope you found these stories interesting and I promise you, we have some amazing animal and crime cases for you to solve with us in our new cozy mystery series.
Your Furriend,
Detective Oliver