How smart IS that cat?

I love my pets. I didn't really have pets until in my 50s, when my daughter asked why we let her father decide whether or not we had animals in our lives. We adopted two cats almost immediately. Those two , Sprite and Dr. Pepper, show up in my first book, More Than A Job. The black and white cat is Pepper. Slainte' (pronounced slawn' cha) was an abandoned, injured adolescent when I found her outdoors at a local  bakery shop. She was hungry and thirsty and the forecast for that day was over 110 degrees. They said to me, "Oh, don't give her food or water. We want her to go away." I made the mistake of picking her up, found the place where her leg was torn, and knew if I put her down there she would die that day. She was thin, pitiful, and yet let me pick her up. I didn't have a box or anything so I took her to my car. She ran around in the car a couple of times but got over her panic in seconds and laid next to me on the seat. I carried her into an animal hospital.  It is expensive to rescue a cat on your own. The shelter doesn't charge full price for the medical care. Slainte' needed to be spayed, had to have some of the dead tissue around her torn leg removed and then the leg sutured, needed de-wormed, and antibiotics to address the infection in her leg. I had just been laid off so had no regular income. What was I thinking?

But as soon as I picked her up I was committed. And she has definitely been worth it. Once she acclimated to the other cats, life settled in and we learned that we had added a very spunky, snuggly cat. She is the model for Dr. Al's cat in Animal Instinct. While my little calico has never saved my life or revealed ancestral secrets, she is a very positive part of my life. When we added a dog - Ollie - she and he vied for the top position in the house by sitting back on their haunches and boxing of all things. Today, though, they curl up together on the bed or on the pet bed in my office.

When my daughter and her husband added a beagle/basset puppy, she let Molly know who was boss, and is the only animal that Molly doesn't attempt to tromp.

Amimal Instinct will be available August 21.