Blogger help with Paws with a Cause with author Allison Kraft

Apologizes in advance for the long post and rampant abuse of parentheses.

I'm one of those people who, if left to my own devices, would probably end up with a zoo in her house. I love animals, but aside from a short phase where I had 4 ferrets (we all experiment in college, right?), cats are my go-to pet. I have no doubt that 30 years or so from now I will be that crazy old lady with the house full of cats. I've accepted and embraced this as my future. I even look forward to it, because cats are awesome, and I believe one can never have too many. (As long as you can take care of them, that is. Animal hoarders make me sad.)

Right now, I have 4 cats, the most I've ever had at one time (a tie with those aforementioned ferrets). This is mainly because I acquired said cats in pairs. The first pair came a few weeks after the death of my beloved Ginger, a fat, sassy tortoiseshell who passed at the ripe old age of 17. I found them at a veterinarian's office and instantly fell in love. They were sisters and looked nearly identical, and they just so happened to be named Kate and Ana-Lucia, after characters on my then-favorite TV show, Lost. They were 7 months old, and because they were so bonded to one another they couldn't be separated, the office staff had been having no luck finding them a home. Not many people want two cats at once, especially ones that aren't cute little kittens any longer. Seeing them in that cage together broke my heart, and I had to take them home with me. (The vet tech even gave me a two-for-one deal on adoption fees since they were so relieved I was willing to take them together!)

Kate and Ana were very skittish at first, but quickly warmed up to us and I have never regretted getting them instead of a kitten. They're beautiful (their coloring is called diluted tortoiseshell, which is a regular tortie pattern but in grays and peaches instead of black and oranges) and very adorable with one another. It's obvious how much they love each other, and for the first few months we had them, the only time you'd hear them meow was if one lost sight of the other. Once the missing sister answered, all was right with the world again. They have their own personalities, which are eerily similar to their namesakes - a big reason why I didn't rename them, despite Ana-Lucia being my least favorite character on the show. If you're familiar with Lost, Kate (both the character and cat) is bold and adventurous, while Ana-Lucia is more guarded and moody. If you hear a cat grumbling in our house, it's most likely Ana getting annoyed at one of the other cats invading her personal space. We wonder sometimes if they think they're dogs: they wag their tails when they're happy and Kate is a relentless beggar, especially at the dinner table. Kate is also a lap cat, but only with me and only when I'm sitting somewhere that wouldn't be comfortable for an extended period of time, like the floor or a barstool.

I don't know where Kate and Ana came from before the vet, but I suspect they may have been feral kittens at one time. In addition to their skittishness, they eat like the food won't be there later (which usually results in one or both of them barfing it up shortly after) and they're very quiet. I've read that feral cats don't meow because their mothers teach them to be quiet - making noise can attract predators, after all. Ana squeaks from time to time, and will sometime let out a mournful cry for no apparent reason, and Kate only meows when she's got a toy in her mouth. We call it her singing toy. We also call her our sidler (after the guy in that episode of Seinfeld) because she sidles up to you so quietly, you don't realize she's there until you almost step on her. Not the healthiest habit, but we've learned to watch our step around the house.

Ana (the one on her back) sure loves her sister.

Bloggers Help with Paws with a Cause with author Dani Harper

DOGS WITH JOBS – an exclusive by Fiona the Pug

Hi, my name is Fiona the Pug, and it’s about time Dani let me write another blog post! You see, I’m her executive secretary and I’ve tried to explain to her that this is part of my job description, but you know humans … they’re a little slow on the uptake.

Now you might think that assisting an honest-to-gosh author would be an exciting and totally glam position, but not really. (I’m still waiting for that rhinestone collar…) That doesn’t mean it’s not an important job!  Writers have to be encouraged constantly. I listen to her ideas, lick her toes if I like what I hear, or climb into her lap to proofread what’s on the screen for myself. Sometimes she needs a hug if things aren’t going well, and especially if she comes down with a case of the dreaded “writer’s block”. I don’t know what kind of illness that is, but it must be awful. I do my best to comfort her and remind her to drink enough coffee by sticking my face in her nearly empty cup so she has to go get another one.

It all keeps me pretty busy. Fortunately I have an assistant, Toby. Last time I blogged, he was just an apprentice, but he’s taken over some of the physical work now. Like barking out the window to keep the distractions away – especially the twenty or so cats that wander across the yard daily. No one told me that we were moving to a neighborhood with such a strong feline element. I would have advised Dani against it. Toby works very hard at keeping them at bay, though.

Bloggers helps Paws with A Cause with guest author/giveaway Sapphire Phelan and her cat Bast

Life is always interesting when you’re living in the “Bast” lane.  “Living in the Bast Lane” is actually words on a button a friend bought and gave to me at a science fiction convention a year ago. And my black tabby cat is definitely a delight to have in our home—since September 2009.

Now I have been asked if my male black werepanther, Montsho, in Dark Leopard Magic , my sequel to Beast Magic, is based off Bast. He’s not, and it’s not because she’s female either. No, that might be more the black shorthair, Samhain; I had once, until he died at age 13. Though Montsho, is a composite of many things in my imagination. And no, she wasn’t the inspiration of the black cat form my demon Familiar hero, Charun took, when he came to Tina Epson, for the first time in my new print release, The Witch And The Familiar.

We saw her for the first time in a box with her four sisters. My husband and I had just walked out of Petsmart, having looked at stuff for dogs. Our Siberian husky, Indy, had died at age 16 ½ the past April and we still couldn’t help looking at dog toys a few months later.

Bloggers Help with Paws with a Cause with author Laura Hunsaker

So you know how in PNR we always have an alpha male who is the biggest, and the strongest? Well, in my little pack, I have 2 cats and 2 dogs (we recently lost our horse). Our latest addition is a puppy named Conan. Conan just turned 1 and he’s very alpha. He’s been bossing around our female Lily, he thinks he’s the boss of all the dog toys, and he chases everything that moves. And yet, I’ve noticed that our little 8 lb cat seems to rule this pack.

Kellie is a teeny little cat but she doesn’t back down from our 110 lb puppy. It makes me laugh every time he tries to push her around. My daughter’s cat Buzz Lightyear is much bigger, but even he gets to high ground when the dogs are around.

Bloggers helps Paws with a Cause with author Teresa Gabelman

When I found about this event I couldn’t pass up the chance to join! I love animals, yeah even my son’s snake Steve Irwin. No, I haven’t touched it, held it or even fed it, but I make sure he’s okay by glancing in the huge glass case Steve calls home. Okay, I admit I’m also making sure he is still in his home. Anyway, I love animals, but dogs are my true love. I have had dogs ever since I was little. Actually, I cannot ever remember not having a dog.

Rennie, a white poodle, was given to us when the elderly couple next door couldn’t keep him anymore. I remember having to rescue him once when he ran away. I found him ten houses down cornered in the dog house of a very large female Rottweiler. To this day I’m not sure he wanted rescuing.

Corky, a mix breed of what we don’t know, was the next dog I got after my mom refused to get me another dog after Rennie passed away. Yeah, mom was a sucker for puppy eyes, mine and the dogs. Corky was a good dog, but liked to nip people on the butt when they passed by. Never vicious….just a little goose to get them moving. Right before I got married, my mom cried, not because I was leaving home, but because she thought I was taking Corky with me. Corky stayed with my mom

Bloggers help with Paws with A Cause with author blogger Laurie Garrison

I want to apologies up front for this long post.

First off I want to think my Co-host Danielle for all she has done for getting this cause together. Danielle @ Romance Book Junkies took this idea and created this awesome charity event, that any blogger would be proud of hosting, I know I am. THANK YOU Danielle your awesome!!

I also want to think all the bloggers and authors who donated their 1.00 or more for the grand prizes. I also want to think all everyone that helps with the donating to our cause. 

Now as most of you here at Bitten by Paranormal Romance know I hosted Pet Week least year and this year I wanted to take pet week add a pet charity with it so with Danielle direction pet week is now “Bloggers helps with Paws With a Cause”. What that means is the bloggers and authors that signed up for this week will be hosting some kind of post of pets each day during March the 1st to the 8th on their blogs. This gives you the chance to help with the charity by donating to Paws With a Cause during this week, which you'll find full instructions below on how to donate. We are hosting grand prizes and I know most of the authors who are participating will also be doing giveaways on the different blogs. Plus you get to see who has what kind of pets the whole week.  So please help us with this cause in any way you can.