Pet Posts: The Cat Chats - Book Tour and Giveaway

Pet Posts: The Cat Chats
by Debbie de Louise
Genre: Nonfiction, Pets 

Ever wonder what cats are thinking? If your cats could write a blog, what would they talk about?
In this collection, you’ll meet Debbie De Louise’s current cats and two from the past who share their everyday activities, health concerns, behavior issues, and more.
Floppy relates his hospital experience, gives advice about taking pills, and discusses feline diabetes. His younger sister, Holly, talks about her weight issues, describes how she made the change from a feral to a house cat, and even writes a fictional story featuring her fur and human family members. Harry talks about the merits and perils of being a black cat, shares his bad habit of wire and shoelace chewing, and even gives tips about how to cope with a crisis. His sister Hermione reveals her fascination with high and low places, discusses how she mastered the cat flap door, and even reviews the Cat Writers’ Association conference.
If there’s a feline in your home or you enjoy reading about these quirky, beautiful, wise, and inspirational creatures, you’ll find these fur-st person tails from the cats’ points of view a purrfect read.


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​My name is Floppy, and this is the first article in my new column for Themestream. I am an eight-year-old, gray and white American shorthair cat who lives with Debbie, a librarian and freelance writer, and Anthony, a computer instructor. I call them Mom and Dad because I don’t recall my real feline parents and, besides, they spoil me rotten. I also have a younger, red tabby sister (unrelated by blood) named Holly. She will be posting her own column soon because she likes to imitate me. We get along fine except for a bit of sibling rivalry, but I tend to get the upper paw because I’m the oldest and the sickest. I suffer from several health problems including diabetes and asthma that will be discussed in future columns for the benefit of other cats who have these conditions. More recently, I spent some time in that terrible place called an animal hospital for a bout of pancreatitis from which I am currently recovering. My hospital adventures are not for the weak hearted, but they do shed light (not to mention fur) on several veterinary procedures from I.V.’s to ultrasounds. Besides feline health information, of which I unfortunately have learned a lot about through my sicknesses, I plan to cover other important cat topics in my column including a few basic courses such as Birdwatching 101 and Introduction to Cat Toys. My sister and I will also occasionally write a joint column, and my mom may even make a few guest appearances in our columns.

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Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters-in-Crime, and the Cat Writer’s Association. She has a BA in English and an MLS in Library Science from Long Island University. Her seven published novels include the 4 books of her Cobble Cove cozy mystery series: A Stone's Throw, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Written in Stone, and Love on the Rocks, her paranormal romance, Cloudy Rainbow, her mystery thriller Reason to Die, and her latest psychological mystery, Sea Scope. She also published a romantic comedy novella featuring a jewel heist caper, When Jack Trumps Ac. Debbie has also written articles and short stories for several anthologies of various genres. She is currently querying agents to represent the first book of a new cozy mystery series. She lives on Long Island with her husband, daughter, and three cats.


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A Tale of Four Kitties and Two of Their Friends
By Debbie De Louise

I thought it would be appropriate to introduce the characters of my new release, Pet Posts: The Cat Chats. These “characters” also happen to be the authors. Here are the bios of Floppy, Holly, Harry, and Hermione. ​
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Floppy (1992 – 2007)  
Floppy was the first cat I had after I married. I chose him from a litter of 4 kittens up for adoption at the Newberry’s Department Store in November 1992. Shortly after I took him home, I discovered he suffered from asthma. He was treated with prednisone which likely contributed to his developing diabetes when he was six years old. Despite his illnesses and three hospitalizations, Floppy was a sweet cat who loved to play especially with lollipops that he batted under our refrigerator. He was the only cat I walked on a leash as a kitten and who climbed up a neighbor’s tree. In 1995, after we moved into our current home, he was joined by Holly, a 6-month-old feline red tabby who’d never lived indoors. He taught her how to use a litter box and became quite friendly with her, although they had their occasional spats. In Pet Posts, Floppy narrates his life in our home with Holly and relates his experiences with his various illnesses. ​

Holly (1995 – 2003) 
Holly was a feral cat we adopted. She loved to run after toy mice and enjoyed eating whipped cream. She was very bonded with Floppy and missed him during the times he was hospitalized. Rabies shots weren’t given the way they are today, and she developed a sarcoma on her back after receiving one. We had it removed, but the cancer spread to her stomach. She shares her adventures with Floppy and even a few fictional “tails” in Pet Posts.

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Harry (2008 – present) 
Harry was adopted by in 2008 along with his sister, Hermione. He is a handsome black cat who loves to jump and play with cat teasers. A lovable lap cat, he has a bad habit of eating wires and strings of all type, so we have to keep shoelaces, earbuds, and other items out of his reach. In Pet Posts, he offers his opinions about life with us and his sister and tells everything about his kittenhood.

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Hermione (2008 – present) 
Hermione is a dilute calico who was adopted along with her brother, Harry, from the Golden Paws Society. We originally met them at a cat café that had partnered with this rescue organization. Hermione can be affectionate on her own terms. She loves high places and soft blankets and enjoys sorting laundry with me. She’s climbed on top of refrigerators and wardrobes and often sleeps in my bed. Her favorite toy is a catnip mitten that was in her first Christmas stocking, and she also likes playing with coil toys. Her contribution to Pet Posts is similar to Harry’s, as she tells her story from the feline female’s point of view.


There are two other cats who play minor roles in this book but should be mentioned. ​
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Oliver (2000 – 2017)
Oliver was my mother’s cat. We took him into our family in 2012 when my mother went into a nursing home. He was a handsome Siamese who was loving and sweet. He entered our household with our other cat, Stripey (his bio follows). Oliver was a people’s cat and bonded deeply with me and my daughter. He developed kidney disease in 2015, and we had to make a painful decision in 2017 when his kidneys shut down. Although Oliver never wrote any blog posts or articles, he was the basis for the Sneaky the Siamese library cat in my Cobble Cove cozy mystery series who is also the cat who hosts my cat character’s blog: https://sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com. There’s an interview of Oliver in a bonus post at the end of Pet Posts.

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Stripey (2017 – current) 
We adopted Stripey a year after Floppy died. Our neighbor was trying to find a home for him after a co-worker had taken him off the street but couldn’t keep him because his wife had allergies. He was around 9 or 10 months old at the time. It was the summer before my daughter started Kindergarten, and she named him. We’d all suffered respiratory infections that summer, and I ended up hospitalized with asthmatic attacks a few weeks after we got Stripey. Because the doctor didn’t want me to be around cats when I was released, Stripey had to stay with my brother-in-law’s family until I was well enough to have him back in the house. When we did, he bonded more with my husband than me or my daughter. He isn’t the friendliest cat, but he’s mellowed over the years and is now close to all of us. He recently development hyperthyroidism for which he’s being treated. Having had to adapt to senior Oliver when he came along and then to two kittens, he accepted them all and discusses that in an exclusive bonus interview in Pet Posts.

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​Dec 13
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Nicole's Book Musings
Drako's Den
Books a Plenty Book Reviews

Dec 14
Mochas, Mysteries and Meows - GUEST POST
Binding Addiction
Literary Gold
Scrupulous Dreams

Dec 15
@theenchantedshelf
A Pinch of Bookdust
Craving Lovely Books
The Bookshelf Fairy

Dec 16
Our Town Book Reviews - REVIEW
Character Madness and Musings
Girl with Pen
Twisted Book Ramblings

Dec 17
Inside the Insanity - GUEST POST
Bedazzled By Books
Insane Books

Dec 18
My Plans Are Booked
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Midnight Book Reader

Dec 19
The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'
Books all things paranormal and romance
Musings From An Addicted Reader

Dec 20
IndiePowerd by No Sweat Graphics
Books, Authors, Blogs
T's Stuff

Dec 21
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ - GUEST POST
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
Sylv.net

Dec 22
All the Ups and Downs - GUEST POST
❧Defining Ways❧
Indie Author Book Reviews
The Faerie Review

Dec 23
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
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Teatime and Books
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