From Hairballs to Hair Straightening . . . Women face certain challenges when they reach, um, a certain age and who doesn't enjoy a funny cat story? With essays, really bad poetry and ridiculous photos of the author and her cats (as well as some unsuspecting family members), "Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady . . . And Othe Possibly Demented Meanderings" offers the best of both worlds. Topics cover the full gamut of two- and four-legged dilemmas-divorced and dating after many years of marriage, purse envy, weight loss and gain, body image (human) and escape attempts, euthanasia, and rock-swallowing (critter), among other subjects. Culled from a massive literary database (aka the rather demented mind of author Sandra Gurvis), some writings appeared in publications such as Columbus Monthly, I Love Cats, and the anthology CAT'S MEOW, while others are completely original. This book is a must-read for cat ladies, aspiring cat ladies and/or people who love cats and/or women. It can also serve as precautionary guide for those wishing to avoid cat ladydom. But like potato chips and sometimes felines themselves-the stories may be hard to stop reading after just one!

Do depictions of crazy cat ladies obscure more sinister structural violence against animals hoarded in factory farms? Highlighting the frequent pathologization of animal lovers and animal rights activists, this book examines how the “madness” of our relationships with animals intersects with the “madness” of taking animals seriously. The essays collected in this volume argue that “animaladies” are expressive of political and psychological discontent, and the characterization of animal advocacy as mad or “crazy” distracts attention from broader social unease regarding human exploitation of animal life. While allusions to madness are both subtle and overt, they are also very often gendered, thought to be overly sentimental with an added sense that emotions are being directed at the wrong species. Animaladies are obstacles for the political uptake of interest in animal issues-as the intersections between this volume and established feminist scholarship show, the fear of being labeled unreasonable or mad still has political currency.

Throughout her years visiting people's homes as a cat groomer, Anita Kelsey has amassed a vast array of funny, cute and ridiculous stories about cats and, of course, their owners. In Claws, she picks out just a few of her favourite tales to share with the reader from, 'Sammy the Swooner' to 'Tubbs: The Fat Cat Caught in His Flap'. Claws is a must-have book for all cat lovers by an author drawing on a lifetime of living with and professionally caring for cats in their various guises and eccentricities. In the pages of Anita Kelsey's entertaining and heart-warming book, you'll meet twenty of the most characterful cats, all eventually calmed and preened to their natural beauty and animal magnificence by the author. Meet their owners, too, and enjoy Anita's take on the individual relationships between pet and owner.

Professor She’s way too innocent for me and I know it—and I should leave it that. If I knew what was good for me I would. Cop I’m not violating any rules, but this is my best friend’s daughter, which means she’s hands off all the way, right? Fighter She’s a good girl from the right side of the track. I’m anything but. Which means I should keep my goddamn eyes and my hand to myself. Gamer I have no idea why Raelynn Walker is pretending to be her famous recording artist sister. I know it’s been five years since high school, but did she honestly think I wouldn’t recognize the shy twin? Millionaire She’s my best friend’s kid sister, and I had long ago vowed to keep away. But when she asks me to help make her dream man jealous at her work’s annual weekend getaway, I just about lose my Sh$%. CEO I’m the hard-ass president and CEO of a multimillion dollar company. I have rules and do things strictly by the book. Until sweet and innocent Holly crashes her car in a thunderstorm, and I take her to my cabin—my off limits sanctuary—for safety.

Millie Glockenfeld will never fall in love. She will never get engaged. She will never get married. She will never live in a house with a white picket fence and 2.4 children. And all for one very simple reason: She is ugly. Fortunately, one thing Millie has learned over the years is that she doesn't need a man. She's got a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crazy but lovable cat lady who lives downstairs from her. What more does a girl need in life? But then one day Millie meets Sam Webber. He is adorably handsome and absolutely perfect (well, almost). And Sam thinks that Millie is beautiful. Now there's a chance that Millie might get the happy ending she's always secretly wanted... if only she can learn to look in the mirror and see what Sam sees.

For years, Tom Cox might have seemed like a regular, hard-living sort of bloke -- a lover of late nights, rock music and beer -- but he had a dark furry secret. Tom was a cat lover. Always had been, in fact. For a while, he kept his passion in check, but there was only so long he could postpone his true dream, especially after he met Dee, his moggy-loving soulmate. In 2001, Tom left London and his job as a rock critic behind, and he and Dee, replete with Dee's cat Janet and three new kittens, moved to a remote part of Norfolk, a county where they knew not one living human soul. They thought it would be easy. They thought their cat madness had reached its limit. They were very wrong on both counts. In UNDER THE PAW, Tom records the chaos of owning seven of the most charismatic, idiotic and duplicitous cats in the country. How exactly does a person go from living a fancy-free young metropolitan life to suddenly thinking it is normal to be on 24-hour call for multiple sets of whiskers? What are the essential rules of disposing of a dead pheasant? How do you learn to love your wife's ex's favourite pet? Tom addresses all these issues and much more, encountering death, depression, flying fur and the first human sentence spoken by a feline along the way. Running through all the maelstrom is the heartbreaking story of his long and chequered relationship with The Bear, his oldest cat: a "painfully sensitive" survivor moggy who may or may not be an evil genius.