Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul The Mini Edition (Chicken Soup for the Soul) - Hardcover

Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark; Becker D.V.M., Marty; Kline, Carol; Shojai, Amy

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9780757307201: Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul The Mini Edition (Chicken Soup for the Soul)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0757307205 ISBN 13: 9780757307201

Publisher: HCI, 2007

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This Mini Edition of Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul holds a pocketful of stories about feline affection, mystery and charm. Hardcover, sturdy and portable enough to entertain you wherever you travel, it also makes a perfect gift.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Mini Edition packs stories from the playful and hilarious, to heartwarming tales of cat courage, healing and learning. Each touching story celebrates the special bond we share with our feline companions.

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About the Author:

Jack Canfield is a best-selling author and one of America's leading experts in the development of human potential. He is both a dynamic and entertaining speaker and a highly sought-after trainer with a wonderful ability to inform and inspire audiences to pen their hearts, love more openly and pursue their dreams.

He is the author and narrator of several best-selling audio- and video cassette programs, including Self Esteem and Peak Performance, How to Build High Self-Esteem, Self-Esteem in the Classroom and Chicken Soup for the Soul – Live. He is regularly seen on television shows such as Good Morning America, 20/20 and NBC Nightly News. Jack has co-authored numerous books, including the Chicke Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Mark Victor Hansen), 100 Ways to Build Self-Concept in the Classroom (with Harold C. Wells) and Heart At Work (with Jacqueline Miller).

Jack is a regularly featured speaker for professional associations, school districts, government agencies, churches, hospitals, sales organizations and corporations.

Jack conducts an annual eight-day Training of Trainers program in the areas of self esteem and peak performance. It attracts educators, counselors, parenting trainers, corporate trainers, professional speakers, ministers and other interested in developing their speaking and seminar-leading skills.

Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com.

Mark Victor Hansen is a professional speakers who, in the last twenty years, had made over four-thousand presentations to more than 2 million people in 32 countries. His presentations cover sales excellence and strategies; personal empowerment and development; and how to triple your income and double your time off.

Mark has spent a lifetime dedicated to his mission of making a profound and positive difference in people's lives. Throughout his career, he has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to create a more powerful and purposeful future for themselves while stimulating the sale of billions of dollars worth of goods and services.

Marc is a prolific writer and has authored Future Diary, How to Achieve Total Prosperity and The Miracle of Tithing. He is co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Jack Canfield), and The Master Motivator (with Joe Batten).

Mark has also produced a complete library of personal empowerment audio- and videocassette programs that have enabled his listeners to recognize and use their innate abilities in their business and personal lives. His message has made him a popular television and radio personality, with appearances on ABC, CBS, HBO, PBS, and CNN. He has also appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, including Success, Entrepreneur and Changes.

Mark is a big man with a heart and spirit to match — an inspiration to all who seek to better themselves.

Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com.

Dr. Marty Becker is passionate about his work fostering the affection and connection between animals and people we call, "The Bond." Dr. Becker is featured on ABC-TV's, Good Morning America, writes a weekly column for over 350 Knight Ridder newspapers and hosts two nationally syndicated radio programs, Pets Unleased, a two-hour live talk radio program and a two-minute pet vignette, The Pet Update. A contributing editor for Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy, and a frequent contributor to Reader's Digest, Marty is also the Chief Veterinary Correspondent for Amazon.com. Marty and his family enjoy life in Northern Idaho and share Almost Heaven Ranch with two dogs, six barn cats and five Quarter Horses. As a veterinarian, noted author, university educator, Dr. Becker has been at the forefront of changing the way we interact with and take responsibility for our pets. Dr. Becker is the author of the bestselling book Becoming Your Dog's Best Friend as well as coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul.

Carol Kline has been a pet lover her entire life. She is the codirector of the Noah's Ark Animal Foundation Dog Rescue Program, in Fairfield, Iowa, a volunteer effort that saves lost, stray and abandoned dogs.

Carol spends many hours a week monitoring the fate of animals that are brought into the city pound. She also walks, feeds and 'socializes' the dogs at the Noah's Ark facility, a cageless shelter for cats and dogs. 'The gratitude and love I receive from these animals are more fulfilling than any paycheck I could ever receive. Volunteering time with the dogs fills my heart, and brings great joy to my life.'

Coauthoring Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul has strengthened her existing appreciation for all animals and deepened her commitment to animal-rescue work.

A freelance writer for ten years, Carol, who has a B.A. in literature, has written for newspapers, newsletters and other publications. In addition to her writing and animal work, Carol is a speaker, self-esteem facilitator and certified instructor of the parenting skills program, Redirecting Children's Behavior (RCB). The first RCB instructor in Iowa, Carol presents workshops and in-service programs for childcare providers, and teaches a five-week program for parents. She has also been a counselor at a self-esteem camp in Missouri for teens and kids. Since 1975, Carol has taught stress-management programs to the general public. In 1990, she studied with Jack Canfield, and then has assisted as a facilitator in his annual Train the Trainers program. Her dynamic and engaging style has won her enthusiastic receptions from the various audiences she addresses.

Carol has the good fortune to be married to Larry Kline, and is stepmother to Lorin and McKenna. Besides her 'main' dog, Hannah, Carol houses foster dogs until they find permanent homes.

Amy D. Shojai, writes a weekly newspaper P'ETiquette™ column and the weekly online PurinaCatchow.com "Emotional Health" column.

Oscar, the Garbage-Can Kitty

Oscar was named after the Sesame Street character who lives in a garbage can because that is where we first became acquainted. I was working at a pizza-delivery chain and had been assigned garbage duty. While tossing bags into a Dumpster, I heard a faint meow. I began digging through the trash, and several layers down I found a cat—bruised and thin. I wasn’t sure if the cat had crawled into the Dumpster to scavenge for food or if he had been put there purposely. Our establishment sat directly behind an apartment complex, and unsupervised and abandoned pets were common.

Back on solid ground, it became evident that the cat had an injured leg. He couldn’t put any weight on his right hindquarters. The situation created a dilemma for me. Finances were tight, and I was moving back home to my parents’ house—with two cats already in tow. Dad barely tolerated the two established felines. His reaction to another injured stray was sure to be less than receptive. I took the stray to the vet, hoping to patch him up. After shots and X-rays, the vet discovered the cat had a cracked pelvis. I posted notices, hoping someone would claim the cat or adopt him.

Meanwhile, the response at home was swift and firm: No more cats! Dad insisted I take the cat to the Humane Society immediately. I protested that the cat would be put to sleep. Luckily, my mother intervened. She agreed the injury would make the cat unadoptable, so we would keep him long enough for his hip to heal. Then he would have to go—no arguments.

Oscar must have somehow understood his situation. He seemed to study the other two cats and their interactions with my father. We suspect he bribed Tanner, our golden retriever, with table scraps in exchange for etiquette lessons. When the other cats were aloof, Oscar was attentive. He came when his name was called, and he would roll over on his back to have his belly scratched. As his injury began to heal, he would jump on the ottoman by my father’s favorite chair, and, eventually, into his lap. Initially, Dad pushed Oscar away, but persistence paid off. Soon, Oscar and a muttering Dad shared the chair. At mealtimes, Oscar would come to sit with us.

Positioned on the floor by my father’s chair, every so often Oscar would reach up with one paw and tap Dad on the knee. At first, this provoked great irritation and colorful expletives expressed in harsh tones. Oscar, however, refused to be put off. Repetitive knee-taps soon led to semi-covert handouts of choice morsels.

Oscar greeted my father at the top of the stairs every morning and waited for him at the door every evening. My father sometimes ignored Oscar, and, at other times, stepped over him, complaining the whole time. Oscar mastered opening doors by sticking his paw underneath the door and rocking it back and forth until it opened. Soon, he was sleeping in the master bedroom at the foot of the bed. My father was completely disgusted, but couldn’t stop the cat from sneaking onto the bed while they were sleeping. Eventually, Dad gave up.

Before long, Oscar, aspiring to his own place at the table during meals, began jumping up into my lap. He was allowed to stay as long as his head remained below table level. Of course, an occasional paw would appear as a reminder of his presence.

Three months passed, and the vet pronounced Oscar healthy and healed. I was heartbroken. How could I take this loving soul away from what had become his home, from the people he trusted? Sick at heart, I brought Oscar home and told my parents what should have been good news: Oscar was a healthy cat with a healed hip. “I’ll take him to the Humane Society like I promised,” I said dully. As I turned to put Oscar in the carrier for the trip, my father spoke, uttering three magic words: “Not my cat!” Oscar is home to stay. He now has his own chair at the table and sleeps—where else?—in the master bedroom between my mother and father. He is their official “grandkitten” and living proof that deep within the most unlikely heart, there is a cat lover in all of us.

-Kathleen Kennedy

�2005. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.

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