Angel Catbird Vol. 1 (Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas, and Tamra Bonvillain)

Wow, so what can I say about the first volume of Angel Catbird written by Margaret Atwood, illustrated by Johnnie Christmas, and coloured by Tamra Bonvillain? Well, it's definitely interesting. I first heard of it when I saw that Margaret Atwood would be at Fan Expo 2016 in Toronto to promote the graphic novel. Unfortunately, my brother and I couldn't go to the panel/book signing because we had another panel or photo op to go to but I had already met Margaret Atwood at Laurentian University in the Fall of 2014 so I wasn't too worried about missing it, even though I would have liked to have gone because Margaret Atwood is a very interesting person. I wanted to read it later, though, because I knew that it should be interesting due to the title and the fact that Margaret Atwood wrote it. Now that I actually have a cat, I thought that it was the right time to read it. And it definitely turned out to be... interesting (wow, I just said "interesting" a lot in this paragraph).

This graphic novel is about a man named Strig Feleedus who becomes part cat and part owl (while still being part human). His head is a combination of human, cat, and owl while his body is mostly human with the exception of the cat tail, large angel-like bird wings, and feathery legs with talon feet. He is later given the name Angel Catbird due to all of this. I expected him to be the only one of his kind and to just be a hero of sorts but the story isn't that simple. There are other people who are part cat. They call themselves half-cats. And they can also switch between their forms. For example, humans who are half-cat can switch between their human-cat form and their human form but cats that are half-cat can switch between their cat-human form and their cat form. Then there are other people who have other animals in them. In Strig's case, he is part cat and part owl. Count Catula is part cat and part bat as well as being a vampire. Ray is half-raven. And the villain, Dr. Muroid? He's half-rat. Obviously he wants the half-cats gone while he and his rats take control.

These half-cats also have their own sort of community. They have a nightclub just for them and they prefer to hang out with each other rather than with normal humans. I was confused by some of their names at first. For example, some of the cats in the nightclub have names like Trash, Cataclysm, and Alley. I wondered why one of the half-cats (and Strig's love interest), Cate Leone, kept saying these words. I started thinking that maybe these were swears that the half-cats use since Cate also says "Holy cats!" as a sort of swear and there are a lot of cat-themed references. It wasn't until I looked at the collection of labelled sketches at the end of the book that I figured out that these were the names of characters and that whenever she said them, she was talking to them. I feel really sorry for the cat living with the name "Trash." Because of all of these cat references, I was reminded of a lot of children's books that do the same thing. It gets kind of cheesy after a while but it's still kind of fun. I would not recommend that children read this however, since there are parts where Strig and Cate think about sex with each other but in a cat way. For example, there is one part where Cate is thinking about how cute Strig looks in his cat-owl-human form and she thinks about how they could maybe get together next time she's in heat. In another part, Strig thinks about how he'd love it if Cate had his kittens or laid his egg. These parts are both sexual (especially the part about the next time Cate is in heat) and there are other scenes that seem a bit sexual as well. So, I'd say this book is more for adults.

A big part of this book is about spreading the message that cats should be kept indoors rather than being outdoor cats. Indoor cats live longer because there are many dangers that they could face if they were outside. Also, keeping cats indoors means that wild birds are also safe from them. There are little boxes at the bottom of certain pages with information provided by Nature Canada. The information is all about the risks of letting cats be outdoor cats and the benefits of indoor cats. There is even a website that they encourage readers to visit: catsandbirds.ca. These messages are even included in the story. At the beginning of the story, Strig tells his pet cat that he has to stay inside since he is an indoor cat. Before Strig changes into Angel Catbird for the first time, his cat escapes from the house and he yells that it's dangerous outside before his cat runs onto the street after a rat and ends up getting hit by a car. When the half-cats who change to cat form when they are not in half-cat form change into cats so as to lie low until the dangers that the half-cats are facing are figured out, they state everything that could happen to them outside like getting hit by cars, chased or eaten by other animals, or getting rabies. The message really jumps out at you in these parts of the story. You can see that they were deliberately placed there. I actually find that they don't fit in... smoothly, I guess? As though they are forced into the story. Then there's the big part of the story that addresses the issue of outdoor cats and the safety of wild birds from cats: Angel Catbird himself. He is part cat and part bird. So, he knows the dangers that cats face outside and he also knows the dangers that birds face from cats. He understands what both species are going through. I really like this part. It fits in nicely, even if it's weird.

So, will I read the next volume? Probably, especially since this graphic novel series is different from other graphic novels that I read and it also has that great message about cats and birds. Now that I'm a cat owner, I know the importance of keeping cats indoors. As someone who also owns pet birds and loves wild birds, I know how important it is to keep them safe too.

Cheers,
Kaylie

There Is Now A Cat In My Family

I always thought of myself strictly as a dog person. I never thought that my family would own a cat. This was mostly due to the fact that we thought that my Dad was allergic to cats since he used to be allergic to several animals. He was allergic to the guinea pig that we had years ago and we didn't figure it out until the guinea pig died and my Dad's allergy symptoms and asthma symptoms decreased (we later tested him out with a skinny pig/hairless guinea pig in a pet shop but he even reacted to that!). He has always been okay with all of the other pets that we've had like dogs, rabbits, birds, and hamsters. He got allergy shots (never finished them but got enough of them to manage most of the allergies) when he was younger. I guess that's why he's okay with a lot of pets. That and the exposure that he's had since we have always lived with several pets at once. But we have still never owned a cat because we thought that he was still allergic to them. He always seemed fine, however, with the cats at my aunt and great-aunt's house. I always liked the cats at their house but I kept my strict dog person label because I had accepted that my family would never have one. I never even thought that I'd have a cat when I was older. I just really love dogs since I have had them for all of my life.

This year, my Mom suddenly seemed interested in visiting cats in adoption centres and I soon found out why. Not only was she thinking about volunteering at one, but she was also thinking about actually fostering a cat. We visited three different adoption centres, visiting two of them several times. I opened myself up to the idea of having a cat. It would be fun! Cats are different from dogs. They don't require as much attention and they just do their own thing. They aren't as rough as dogs and they can be very cuddly. I became quite excited but I couldn't get my hopes up because we still didn't know if my Dad's allergies would act up and there was also the fact that my Mom was thinking of fostering a cat which meant that it would go to another home if someone wanted to adopt it. I'll tell you the truth, I didn't think that I could deal with fostering a cat. I think anyone that fosters pets is absolutely amazing because a lot of people will actually foster several pets (whether they be dogs or cats) at a time, giving them a loving and caring home until they can be adopted. But I get really attached to my pets. Fostering a cat would mean that there was a possibility that the cat would be given away and then I would be sad. I know that people are probably thinking "Well, you just have to get used to that if you choose to foster a pet." I understand this. But when I get a pet, it becomes family. And having to give it away would be really hard. We once had a horse that we had to sell to someone else because he was not trained enough for us to handle him but that wasn't hard because I never got attached to him enough. Of course I loved him, but we didn't spend a ton of extra time with him because he wasn't safe enough to ride and I was kind of scared because I didn't have a lot of experience with horses (my Mom was the one who had experience with horses).

We didn't end up fostering a cat, though, because we adopted one! My Mom met a really nice tuxedo cat named Pingu one time when she was visiting an adoption centre and, after looking up more information about him through the online posting that the adoption centre put on the internet for each of their cats, she wanted to go back to see him with all of us. He was found in one of the neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Sudbury and ended up in the animal shelter for a few weeks before ending up at the adoption centre. My Mom told me that they keep the animals at the shelter for a few weeks just in case the animal escaped from a home and has owners who come looking for them. It gives the possible owners a chance to claim back their pet. If nobody claims the pet, then they end up in an adoption shelter. Pingu was neutered and had his shots updated before going to the adoption centre. When we met him, we all loved him. He was such a sweetheart. We could tell that he was nervous but he let us pick him up and hold him without any kind of struggle. We got my Dad to hold him to test him out and my Dad was fine! If my Dad would have reacted, it would have been instant. We decided to adopt him. It was March 13th. We bought a starter kit but we couldn't bring Pingu home until the next day, March 14th, since the day that we adopted him was just too busy for us. We took advantage of this time by buying cat supplies, preparing the downstairs bathroom for him, and I read a booklet about caring for cats. We decided that we would keep the name given to him at the adoption centre because Pingu was the name of a claymation TV show about a penguin that my brother and I used to watch as kids and we thought it was such a cute name.

When we brought him home the next day, we put him in the downstairs bathroom and kept him there for the next few days. He had everything he needed: food, water, litter box, blankets, scratching post/tree, and toys. There is even a window in that bathroom that has a ledge so he can sit and look outside. We wanted him to adjust to his litter box and food and water dishes in his new home. We didn't want to stress him out with a house that has a main floor and a basement plus several other pets. We would visit him in the bathroom which is now his bathroom. He was so sweet when we'd visit him. If we were sitting, he would often walk over to us and climb up into our laps to cuddle. After a few days, we started letting him out for short amounts of time to let him start to explore a bit. He started with the basement and my Mom started bringing him upstairs, with him eventually going upstairs on his own. He got to meet our other pets: our dog, our rabbit, our birds, and our fish. Our dog was very interested in Pingu but Pingu would hiss at him or swat at him if he got too close. Our rabbit was scared of Pingu. The first time he saw him, our rabbit was in his own cage but he was still scared and he stomped. One time, our rabbit was out hopping around the living room and when he saw the cat he became frightened and raced back to his cage. Our pets still all have to get adjusted to Pingu and Pingu still needs to get used to our other pets but we see little signs of all of them starting to adjust to each other.

So far, Pingu has really been adjusting to our house. We are now seeing his curious, playful side. He loves exploring. He doesn't really like playing with little balls or little plush toys but he loves chasing the light from a laser pointer and he also enjoys stealing larger stuffed animals or pieces of clothing to play with. He is also quite vocal. He often meows while he's walking around. He also meows every time we pick him up as if he is protesting but he never bites us or scratches us. When he's exploring, he prefers to cuddle by his own choice. If we ignore him and let him do his own thing while he's touring the house, he'll sometimes jump up onto our laps to crawl up and rest. Sometimes he'll just jump up onto an empty chair or the couch to curl up for a nap. He has his playful times and his nap times, just like our dog and rabbit. He has his own little personality and it's ending up to be very cute. I have fallen in love with this cat, just like I have with all of my pets, and he has become a part of our family. I can now say that I am both a dog and a cat person (as well as a rabbit person). Having a cat, if only for a few weeks so far, has shown me how amazing these animals are. Now, hopefully his presence will keep the mice out of the house too.

Cheers,
Kaylie