Dogs and Cats
It has long been said that there are ‘cat people’ and there are ‘dog people’, and somewhere along the progression of our lives, we each get divided into one camp or the other. I have always belonged firmly in the canine camp. I love dogs, especially big dogs. This would come as no surprise if you met our first dog Loki (a rambunctious and silly 98-pound Great Dane X who died in 2014) and our second dog Daisy (a clever and thoughtful 120-pound Great Pyrenees, who left us last February, and for whom my heart still weeps).
Whether Danes or Pyrenees or some other European destination, dogs are great.
But recently, I’ve been introduced to a cat — a small, talkative, personable, and precocious cat — which has caused me to question my allegiance.
Are you familiar with the concept of' ‘not-my-cat’? This not-my-cat has made herself very comfortable in our back yard. She joins me while I write, she waits at our door for affection, she chats away about… well, I’m not sure what she’s going on about, but she feels very passionate about the topic, and speaks loudly and incessantly on the matter. She’s lovely.
And I think she’s changing elements of my current manuscript. You see, the book I’m working on at the moment is a murder mystery, and the series of events that lead to the murder are kicked off by the (offscreen) death of a beloved cat. Now, I admit, this is a risky choice for an author. The rule is, don’t kill off pets, unless you want your audience to hate you — but I do want the audience to hate the killer, and this seemed like the perfect bit of shorthand to say, ‘see? this character is deplorable!’
I don’t know. I question my choices. This adorable, loquacious not-my-cat has brought such joy back into my life after Daisy’s death, and I don’t really want to see anything get hurt anymore, real or imaginary.
Maybe it’s time that I add a cat to the crew of the Circus Salmagundi — a healthy and happy cat, much loved by all, who never ends up as a tragic plot device. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched. After all, cats have long played an important role on ships, keeping them free of vermin while bringing comfort to the crew. According to shipping rules published in Barcelona in 1494, if a shipment of goods were devoured by rats, the ship master was automatically considered at fault, and responsible for compensating the owner. However, “if the master kept cats on board, he is excused from that liability.” It made good economic sense to keep a cat around: after all, rats might still damage cargo, but with a cat on board, it wasn’t your fault.
If you’re curious to know more, the CFB Esquimalt Museum has a whole page dedicated to shipboard pets: not only cats, but dogs, geese, a reindeer, a penguin, and a few lion cubs, too.
All this to say, if you have a cat or a dog, say hi to them from me. I’m still provisionally a dog person, but I feel like I’m starting to drift into cat person territory, and I don’t mind at all.
Coming Up…
Whether Danes or Pyrenees or some other European destination, dogs are great.
But recently, I’ve been introduced to a cat — a small, talkative, personable, and precocious cat — which has caused me to question my allegiance.
Are you familiar with the concept of' ‘not-my-cat’? This not-my-cat has made herself very comfortable in our back yard. She joins me while I write, she waits at our door for affection, she chats away about… well, I’m not sure what she’s going on about, but she feels very passionate about the topic, and speaks loudly and incessantly on the matter. She’s lovely.
And I think she’s changing elements of my current manuscript. You see, the book I’m working on at the moment is a murder mystery, and the series of events that lead to the murder are kicked off by the (offscreen) death of a beloved cat. Now, I admit, this is a risky choice for an author. The rule is, don’t kill off pets, unless you want your audience to hate you — but I do want the audience to hate the killer, and this seemed like the perfect bit of shorthand to say, ‘see? this character is deplorable!’
I don’t know. I question my choices. This adorable, loquacious not-my-cat has brought such joy back into my life after Daisy’s death, and I don’t really want to see anything get hurt anymore, real or imaginary.
Maybe it’s time that I add a cat to the crew of the Circus Salmagundi — a healthy and happy cat, much loved by all, who never ends up as a tragic plot device. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched. After all, cats have long played an important role on ships, keeping them free of vermin while bringing comfort to the crew. According to shipping rules published in Barcelona in 1494, if a shipment of goods were devoured by rats, the ship master was automatically considered at fault, and responsible for compensating the owner. However, “if the master kept cats on board, he is excused from that liability.” It made good economic sense to keep a cat around: after all, rats might still damage cargo, but with a cat on board, it wasn’t your fault.
If you’re curious to know more, the CFB Esquimalt Museum has a whole page dedicated to shipboard pets: not only cats, but dogs, geese, a reindeer, a penguin, and a few lion cubs, too.
All this to say, if you have a cat or a dog, say hi to them from me. I’m still provisionally a dog person, but I feel like I’m starting to drift into cat person territory, and I don’t mind at all.
Coming Up…
- So many markets this summer! Wasn’t it a lot of fun? To all of you that joined the newsletter after meeting with me at a market in 2025, hello and thank you for all your support. This autumn, I’ll be attending a new crop of markets in different communities around Vancouver Island, and I’ve added locations and times to my website.
- Also, I’m teaching this Saturday at Write on Bowen, and I can’t wait! I think tickets are still available, so if you want to join us for writing and conversation, visit their website for details.
- Also, we’ve started recording audiobooks. I’m quite excited to be adding this to our repertoire. Back in June, we released ‘Truly the Devil’s Work’ in large print, and it was amazing to see the reactions: people who had been avid readers, but who now found small print challenging, were happy to have an option! I hope we can continue that momentum with audiobooks, too.
- Lastly, I have a short story in the autumn issue of Comox Valley Collective, which comes out mid-September. I won’t say too much, except that it’s one of my favourites. I hope you enjoy it, too.
