FOUR CAT BOOKS THAT GIVE BACK TO CATS (GREAT GIFTS!)

We’re fortunate to live in a time with a plethora of fabulous cat books to peruse and purchase for ourselves or to gift to our cat-loving friends. A wealth of riches!

If it seems a tad overwhelming and you need a way to narrow down the field, purchase a cat book that give-back to cats! If you’re not sure which ones do that, here are four suggestions from IHC.

Kip’s literally chomping at the bit and wants me to start reading these awesome books to him asap!

1. LOLA: DIARY OF A RESCUE CAT, by Dawn White

Lola was a very young cat when she was found in a dumpster and taken to the AC&C (New York City’s kill shelter). Once there, she became ill and was put inthe “sick room,” which usually means euthanasia is the next stop. But Lola had luck and a fighting spirit on her side. A woman by the name of Leslie, who I’m proud to say I know because of Lola, happened to be accompanying a friend there to adopt a cat in the very same sick room.

While the atmosphere was grim, and most of the cats had resigned themselves to their fate, Lola wasn’t having it. Upon seeing that Lola still had life in her and desperately wanted out, Leslie knew she had to do something, and ultimately got her out of the shelter and to a vet where she would be cared for until she was health and fit for adoption.

Thanks to Facebook, I learned about Lola and went to visit her on my 40th Birthday. She was the most pathetic looking thing I’d laid eyes on. Full of snot, skinny and unable to even meow. Another Facebook fan – Dawn White, who I’m now also happy to say I know personally because of Lola – had also spotted Lola and knew she could give her a good home with her other rescue cat Lexy.

Lola straight from the shelter (left) and today, totally transformed, living the good life in Queens.

This book tells Lola’s story along with the stories of other rescue cats. I was so honored to be asked to write a blurb on the back of it and stand by what I wrote there: “this book will make your heart both hurt and sing.” It’s nice to read a rescue book with a happy ending.

15% of all sales from this book go to various rescue groups selected by Dawn personally. But thanks to Dawn’s generosity, if you order “Lola: The Rescued Cat” using the code “CityCritters” at check out, you’ll be benefitting the local NYC group that saved all three of my cats.

City Critters is a small group that relies on donations and a network of foster parents – of which I was proud to be one (fostering over 22 cats and kittens) before my “failed foster” Miss Haddie decided she wasn’t have any more cats or kittens in the home she had staked out for herself!

1. OSKAR & KLAUS: THE SEARCH FOR BIGFOOT, by Mick Szydlowski and Travis Bossard

If you’re a fan of internet celebrity cats, then you know Oskar the Blind Cat and his brother Klaus. Oskar was rescued by Mick and his wife Bethany as a wee kitten who was born blind. He became a viral sensation the day he took particular interest in Bethany’s hair dryer (I believe the story goes that she was drying off Klaus for one reason or another).

He was so adorable fighting with the air, Bethany posted the video, “Blind Kitten Versus Hair Dryer,“to share with friends and family. Three years later the video has been viewed well over three million times. The rest as they say, was history.

In real life, just as in their first book, Oskar and Klaus are the best of friends and share many adventures together. Mick describes them as “the feline odd couple” since, “Oskar seeks out new adventures at every turn, while Klaus prefers to play it safe by lounging around the house.”

In case you needed me to tell you, Klaus is on the left, and Oskar on the right. How adorable are these two?!

In this beautifully illustrated book, Oskar and Klaus take a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest (where they live in real life). Somehow Oskar convinces Klaus they must go on a quest to find Bigfoot! Along the way they make new friends and learn more than they could have ever dreamt.

The book is appropriate for children ages 4-10 (or so they say, I’d venture a guess there are quite a few teens and adults that would love to have this beautiful book).

Each month, a minimum of 10% of sales will go to a different charity group. In December, $3 per book will be donated to The Paw Project, a group dedicated to educating the public about the cruelty involved in the declawing of cats.