Category Archives: Cats and Other Animals

by Luanne | March 2, 2026 · 10:26 am

What’s in the Collage on the Cover of Scrap?

I’m very annoyed with Substack. On Substack in addition to writing posts like on WordPress, you can post quick little notes which have a different feel than a post. But this morning after I posted a note I discovered that I couldn’t comment on other people’s posts and notes. So annoying. I tried a couple of fixes, but I have had so many things interfering with my time lately that I’m at the screw-it stage of social media repairs.

My mom’s financial and medical affairs continue to take up a lot of time, but also both the Gardener and I have had some health stuff going on. And, really, every day something new in the house needs fixing. I can see why my dad always wanted to move to a brand new house after we had been in a home for a few years.

Meesker’s ashes and pawprint came home to us last week. I also ordered a pawprint for my son because Meesker had been his cat to begin with. I still feel some PTSD about Meesker dying at home although I wasn’t here when it happened. Maybe that’s been even worse for me. Not being here with him.

Perry is also hanging out with us more than usual. I think he probably discovered Meesker passed away on the bathroom floor before our pet sitter did. A couple of days after we got home, the gardener and I went out for a few hours and when we got back Perry ran up to us excitedly than looked disappointed when he saw Meesker was not with us.

Here’s what I posted today over at Substack. It has to do with SCRAP that will be officially released on March 20, 18 days from now :).

The collage on the cover of my forthcoming memoir-in-flash, Scrap (ELJ Editions), is by Lorette Luzajic. Every item on the cover shows up in Scrap: Salvaging a Family.

Take a look at that red tomato pincushion, for instance. You’ve probably seen one just like it, especially if anybody in your household has ever sewn. Why are so many pincushions in the shape of tomatoes? Here’s an article that explains.

The Mystery of the Tomato Pincushion has been Solved

(And if your pincushion has a little strawberry attached to the tomato it’s filled with emery so you can sharpen your pins and needles). I had to look up emery. It’s “a dark granular mineral that consists of corundum with iron oxide impurities (such as magnetite) and is used as an abrasive” (merriam-webster.com)

You can still pre-order the book at the publisher’s site (and it might be a couple bucks cheaper than it will be on Amazon):

PRE-ORDER SCRAP

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Filed under Cats and Other Animals, ELJ Editions, Flash Nonfiction, Memoir, SCRAP: SALVAGING A FAMILY, Writing

Tagged as cats, memoir; hybrid memoir; flash nonfiction; ELJ Editions; collage; Lorette Luzajic; objects, Scrap: Salvaging a Family

by Luanne | February 14, 2026 · 2:13 pm

Such a Good Little Boy

Five months ago I wrote an update about my cats on the post “Kitty No-News News and Other Updates.”

I’m sorry that we are now one kitty less over here. Meesker has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

In September I wrote this about Meesker:

Meesker, the other one of my son’s cats. He’s shy and was bullied by Lily for years, so for the last couple of years he’s lived in the back of the house with Sloopy Anne. However, just recently, he decided he likes it out front with Perry. Lily doesn’t dare bully Meesker out here because Perry keeps her in line. Perry is the benevolent king. Meesker is so skinny (GI issues) that he slides between the bars of the gate we put up so he can come and go as he pleases. (Actually so can Perry when he really really wants to do it). All black with black whiskers and toe beans.

After I wrote the above, Meesker got skinnier and skinner. The veterinarian changed the dosage on his medications a few times, but an ultrasound had shown that there was something going on in his GI system. I had to go out of town for two nights, and after the first night the pet sitter found Meesker passed away.

I’m extremely upset that I didn’t take him in to be put to sleep before this happened, but he didn’t tell me he was done with it all–and the vet never said it was time or nearing time. I have never had a cat die in my house before. The trauma for the cat, for the other cats, and for the humans is too much. And a vet years ago told me that waiting until they die is cruel because they suffer and feel pain at home and that they should be put out of their suffering before that point.

Also, I feel terrible that the pet sitter had to go through finding him and grateful for my son-in-law who rushed over and took Meesker’s body to the vet for cremation.

Anyway, we are all upset and Perry and I are both sick with stomach ailments. And he looks so so sad.

I’m going to close comments because I don’t feel well enough to be online much, but I will treasure your “likes” as a sign of sympathy. xo

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Filed under Cats and Other Animals

Tagged as cats, grief, loss of a cat, loss of a family pet

by Luanne | October 20, 2025 · 5:20 am

Those Elusive Smells

Now that the days are not as hot in Phoenix–more like 85 than 105–I started up my daily walks again. I had to stop when my hip got so bad, but now that I’ve had the replacement there is nothing stopping me. I love the smells outside, although the last two days there has been an unfamiliar funky odor (possibly bobcat pee) in the air, as well as the usual perfume of flowers, grass, leaves, and sun-kissed concrete.

The intensely blue sky during my walk

Not being able to “show” you the smells annoys me. I can take photos and write words and even post audio if I want to. But I can’t post scent. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy adding olfactory descriptions in my writing; however, sometimes I’d just like to share how something actually smells. Or smell something my nose can’t reach.

This brings me to what I was thinking when I woke up yesterday. I’ve always loved history and as a kid used to wonder what it would be like to have lived in a different time period. Or to visit, even invisibly. Choose a time period. How about 1515 CE? What would it have stank like? I think even if I arrived in my time shuttle inside a palace that I would be gasping for air. I’d be holding an entire bottle of Gris Dior up to my face. I’d have to keep a little puke bag handy. I’m sure I’d be begging to come back to the present time. And that’s with palace peeps, not inside the hut of a poor person.

Yes, this is the kind of thing I think when I wake up in the morning. Maybe because I’m not writing every day. If I do write daily, then I’m apt to think of a story or poem while I’m still in bed. But I have finished my Remedios Varo-inspired ekphrastic chapbook. Gosh, I hope I can find a publisher for it. It’s hybrid, being both fiction and poetry, so that makes it harder to find publishers to submit to.

And, in other news, my hybrid flash memoir, Scrap: Salvaging a Family, should be available from ELJ Editions in March! Watch for cover reveal and so on in the future. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in a blog tour this spring, send me an email at luanne[dot]castle[at]gmail[dot]com. You can post a review or I can write a companion post to my book for your blog. I can get you a pdf. Here’s a link to publisher’s page: ELJ Editions forthcoming.

On the cat front, it’s been all puke/pee/poo/puke/pee/poo. If you plan to have multiple cats, try to space out their ages a bit so you don’t end up with all seniors at the same time. (just kidding, sort of)

In less than a week my grandson will be 21 months old! I can hardly believe it. He’s such a delight. He went on vacation to the beach and loved every moment.

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Filed under #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, Blog Tour, Cats and Other Animals, Ekphrastic, Flash Nonfiction, Grandparenting, Memoir, Poetry

Tagged as #poetswithcats, ELJ Editions, flash memoir, flash nonfiction, grandparenting, hybrid memoir, Memoir, Poetry, prose poetry, Remedios Varo

by Luanne | August 17, 2025 · 7:17 am

I Thought I Heard the Shuffle of Angels’ Feet – read it at MasticadoresUSA

Hope you enjoy this teeny prose poem/flash published at MasticadoresUSA, thanks to Editor Barbara Harris Leonhard. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2025/08/17/i-thought-i-heard-the-shuffle-of-angels-feet-by-luanne-castle/

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Filed under #poetrycommunity, #writingcommunity, Cats and Other Animals, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Publishing, Writing

Tagged as #ampublished, #writingcommunity, Flash Fiction, MasticadoresUSA, prose poem

by Luanne | June 5, 2025 · 9:42 am

Missing Everyone

I’m still here, folks! This recovery period from hip replacement surgery has been a little challenging, but I hope to be in good shape at the end of this adventure. Don’t let anybody tell you how easy a hip replacement recovery is, though, because it isn’t for even the healthiest and everybody is different with a different recovery period.

Every morning I find Perry’s squid placed carefully where my back lies on the couch. If he’s worried, he drops it in my lap.

I have bought a lot of medical items on Amazon, only to end up with a tub of returns. Velcro shorts and underwear, compression stockings that were the wrong something or other, rubber gloves for the compression stockings that the Gardener won’t use, and so on.

The journal Waffle Fried published a flash story of mine that is close to my childhood memories. By that I mean that while the story is fiction, the emotions, sensory details, places, and characters are true to my childhood.

https://wafflefried.com/sumac/

I am wondering if these elements are only true to my experience or if they ring any bells for you.

Leaving you with a little poem:

pain pulses through me

the pills can’t work fast enough

Perry lies next me

all is well

Throughout all this the past few weeks, I’ve missed you all!

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Filed under #writingcommunity, Cats and Other Animals, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Writing

Tagged as #bloggingcommunity, #writingcommunity, cats, Childhood memories, Flash Fiction

by Luanne | March 24, 2025 · 7:17 pm

Miss Alma Milligan Visits MacQueen’s Quinterly

Have you ever met someone like Miss Alma Milligan? My high school history teacher was the inspiration. Though she grew up in the city and was sophisticated and traveled all summer every summer, the basic nature and character of my teacher found its way into this character.

Huge thanks to Editor-in-Chief Clare MacQueen for publishing this monologue micro. Feel free to use this micro for your acting auditions, just give me credit when appropriate :).

http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ27/Castle-Miss-Alma.aspx?fbclid=IwY2xjawJO70JleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWyS9LZcXKry-v8dChpzuQegdKA5b7kX0YWjjDeeNLceV5PV4qxviiVgCQ_aem_bdwSBO8FEMcX5MsMafOANw

Completely free clipart of a hen.

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Filed under #AmWriting, #writingcommunity, Cats and Other Animals, Flash Fiction, Literary Journals, Microfiction, Writing

Tagged as #ampublished, Flash Fiction, Luanne Castle, MacQueen's Quinterly, microfiction, Miss Alma Milligan

by Luanne | January 16, 2025 · 7:39 am

Missing My Cats

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time you may remember the year of cat rainbow heaven (2021). In July of that year, my daughter’s cat Isabella Rose passed. We had a close relationship because we used to babysit her at our house a lot. Perry loved to watch over her, so we called him the babysitter. When Izzie suffered a sudden and never diagnosed illness and was failing, my daughter asked me to come to the emergency vet so I could say goodbye. When I got there, the on-call vet pressured us to let him euthanize her before she coded. They never told us what was wrong. We all–but especially my daughter–still miss her a lot.

A month later we lost our sweet sweet boy Felix.

A month after that my heart completely broke with the loss of the amazing love (and nurse to all who are sick–human, cat, dog), Pear Blossom.

Pear Blossom

What a difficult year. But what followed was a worse year. Heart-rending family troubles, and the loss of Tiger Queen Princess Mimi. I wrote a hybrid poem/story/journal that is mostly nonfiction (some time elements were shifted, etc.). You could call it hybrid nonfiction/fiction. Founder and Editor of the new journal Feed the Holy, Barbara Harris Leonhard has published this piece today. I hope you cry a little, but then can smile.

https://feedthehol.blogspot.com/2025/01/journal-from-year-after-several-of-my.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawH19mdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS2KrLj8JUWfD6FmONxP1g60hnuILFReTWuxPMg9acU9U853ncR4UKxfuQ_aem_m7QeVSF3ab1C2nV4sZbXcw

Tiger on the piano

If you’re still reading you can also find three of my collages at the journal Thimble. Yay!!! You can find them all at this link. Let me know which one you like best if you have time to check them out!

https://www.thimblelitmag.com/author/lcastle/

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Filed under #AmWriting, #poetswithcats, Art and Music, Cats and Other Animals, Flash Nonfiction, Literary Journals, Memoir, Poetry, Writing

Tagged as Barbara Harris Leonhard, cats, collage art, Feed the Holy, hybrid literature, loss of cat, missing my cats, mixed media art, nonfiction and fiction, Poetry

by Luanne | September 20, 2024 · 7:19 pm

Mourning a Courageous Spirit

I spoke too soon in my Kitty Cat Update post last week. Sadly, one of my cats has passed away. Here is my eulogy about Kana.

Our girl Kana has gone to meet her furfam over the rainbow: Pear Blossom, Felix, Tiger, and Isabella Rose. The first night in early 2015 when the Gardener and I started volunteering in the cat room at the shelter, Kana was in a cage and pushed herself into the front corner, against the wires, begging me to take her home. At the time, I couldn’t do that because Mac was sick and needed a lot of care, and we had other cats as well. Kana waited for us for months because the progression of Mac’s illnesses dragged on. Nobody asked to spend any time with her. The shelter sent her to PetSmart, hoping someone would take an interest in her. Nobody wanted an 8-year-old black cat, and I saw her get more and more depressed. As soon as Mac passed, I picked up Kana from the shelter. By this time, she was very cantankerous and didn’t even want to go home with me any longer. We discovered that she not only had IBD, but the ultrasound showed that at one point her back had been broken. She lived with chronic pain. After a few months, Kana realized that she was home, and that she could relax. Her final illnesses really took a lot out of her. We now realize she was in a LOT of pain and feeling very sick, but she was always brave and fierce, a real hero.

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Filed under #bloggingcommunity, #poetswithcats, Cats and Other Animals

Tagged as #catsofWordPress, #poetswithcats, cats, losing a cat, mourning a cat, rainbow bridge

by Luanne | September 16, 2024 · 5:20 am

Kitty Cat Update

Since I haven’t been able to blog much because of caring for grandbaby (missing you all!!!!) I know I haven’t blogged about my cats in a long time. So time for a cat update!

I still have five cats: Perry, Kana, Lily, Sloopy Anne, and Meesker.

Perry, of course, is the closest to the grandbaby, but he’s also the one that gets the most jealous. Therefore, I often have my arms full of baby and cat at the same time! Say hi, Perry!

Perry is still on his meds for GI and heart and getting lots of hugs. His ruff looks greasy because his medicine is oil-based. He’s the youngest, but even Perry is a senior. All my cats are old.

Kana is at least 17 and has failing health. She has kidney disease. She has a hard time walking. I have to lift her up on the couch when she wants to lie next to me at night–and lift her down again. She spends her days in a kitty playpen (not zipped in—it’s by choice) near the sunlight.

Lily is Lily. She’s the worst cat I’ve ever had. She’s also the most beautiful (long-haired orange and white), vain, and we love her a lot. Hah. She’s the reason we had to build a gate in the middle of our house, to protect Sloopy Anne and Meesker from her. And when she feels like it she pees on the living room drapes and kitchen rugs. She needs lots of attention, whether from us or anyone who stops over.

Sloopy Anne lives in the back of the house, an independent tortico (tortoiseshell and calico markings), and she is the cat who sleeps with us. In that way we make up to her for giving her the least attention during the day.

Meesker lives in the back of the house, but has his own room that he can be in when he needs to feel secure. It has a gate on the door (open most of the time during the day), which he could jump over if he realized it. We’ve never told him about that fact though, so he doesn’t even try. The gardener spends some time with him almost every afternoon and almost every evening. My physical therapist (don’t ask–another mobility issue) wants me to lie on my stomach for five minutes a couple times a day, so I started doing it in Meesker’s room. He lies next to me in the same position, just like a little copycat.

Lily and Sloopy Anne prefer the gardener. Kana and Perry much prefer me. Meesker is a happy bouncy guy and likes us both the same.

Here’s a pic of the baby who refused a nap all afternoon and then conked out the second he went into his jumper.