Loyal pets make for good reading AND companionship

Bella Tiani
I think my cat is gay and slightly retarded, I really do. Bella has been my shadow since I brought her home five years ago and she is the strangest feline I have ever met. She'll meow incessantly if she can't get near me, she'll curl up next to me in bed and lick any available part of my body- including my armpit- until my nerves are on edge from her sandpapery tongue, she'll find a way to curl up on me, whether I'm sleeping or relaxing (including rolling up in a ball on my shoulder) and she's even stuck her head in my mouth before. She gives me love bites that feel like an alligator mutilating its prey, she kneads me like I'm a ball of dough and she chews on my clothes. When she's not molesting me, she's jumping in water, chasing the sound of ice cubes or licking the inside of the dishwasher. Oh, and she sleeps in our recycled grocery bag basket when she's not eating dog food.
I love my beautiful, fat, white cat that has "eyeliner" on one eye and a raccoon-style tail, but she gets on my damn nerves sometimes. However, when I think of life without her, I feel like a piece of my heart is missing. My husband bought her for me as a Christmas present and she's been with me through our years of dating and subsequent marriage, the birth of our son and the death of my father. She may be weird but she's my girl.
Because I'm such an animal lover, I've read many a book about animals. Below are a few of my absolute favorites:
Marley and Me by John Grogan- This was an obvious choice. Who doesn't love a story with the tagline "Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog?" This true story took place when the author and his new wife brought home a cuddly little Lab pup, who turned out to be nightmare animal. Three new homes and lot of spackle later, a hilarious and heartwarming novel was born. The ending is, unfortunately, not for the faint of heart, but I'm sure the movie ruined this for everyone.
Steve and Me by Terri Irwin- While not necessary an animal book, as this novel was penned by the late Steve Irwin's family about his life, it was chock full of animals. The great Crocodile Hunter was an avid "wildlife warrior" and cared for many- both in the wild and in his reserve. One anecdote in the book that really stood out to me was when Steve was growing up in Australia, his family would rescue injured or orphaned Joey's found in their dead mother pouches, which were usually killed by cars. I thought Steve was only a crocodile advocate but was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a verifiable menagerie in his home, from dogs to snakes, tarantulas to cougar cubs. Unfortunately, this book also ends tragically with Steve's untimely death, but we also come to learn that his family is continuing in his footsteps by rescuing and rehabilitating hundreds of animals every year.
The Pig and I by Rachel Toor- In this humorous memoir, Toor takes readers through a string of romantic relationships with nice, eager-to-please men, spicing up the narrative with stories of how animals are far superior to men (and how she learned, among other things, to recognize her limitations in life thanks to a "diabolically clever" Vietnamese potbellied pig). As early as age five, Toor made "no distinction between the human and canine," and as she got older, it became clear that throughout her life—from childhood to college, several careers (including a stint in publishing), marriage, divorce and a menagerie of boyfriends—her relationship with her pets was the only thing that let her reach "the most tender, vulnerable parts" of herself. Toor renders such animals as a grumpy "bitch rat" named after scarlet-lettered Hester Prynne and a willful pony named Pepper who desperately wants to go inside the house as complexly as she depicts the decidedly mixed bag of men she encounters (a saggy, ponderous physics professor; a studly physics tutor; a balding, mustachioed Jewish doctor). It's consistent but one-trick-pony amusement, and Toor's deep insight into and focus on animals may prove to be both her strength and weakness in attracting readers, animal lovers or not.
Dewey by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter- The author's first thought upon hearing a strange sound coming from the book drop one frigid January morning was “this can’t be good.” In fact, for both the tiny kitten found shivering in the metal box’s corner and for Myron, director of the Spencer Public Library, the discovery was the best thing that ever happened to either of them, and to the tiny Iowa farming community struck by an unrelenting string of economic challenges. Filthy and frostbitten, the kitten was in dire need of massive doses of TLC; fortunately, the library staff, patrons, and townspeople had plenty to spare. The story of how a bedraggled orange fur ball became “Dewey Readmore Books,” an enchantingly irresistible library mascot capable of bringing international attention to a small midwestern town and melting the heart of even the most surly visitor, is uplifting and brilliant.
Cormac by Sonny Brewer- Cormac is a novel based on real events, and tells the tale of a Golden Retriever, who ran away from his Alabama home while the owner was on a book tour in San Francisco. Cormac had always been afraid of storms which made him cower and tremble. Maybe if Cormac's master had not been away from home, and his food and water poured for him by a stranger s hand, things would have been different. But on that day the young male dog took off into an adventure that would land him in the bed of a red pickup truck, driven by a mysterious woman who would hand him over to the dog pound, and the dog pound would hand him over to a rescue group who would take him to a clinic to be fixed by a routine scalpel and end his royal lineage. Cormac would be hauled to Connecticut in the back of a van, and turned over to another rescue group that would offer him for adoption on the internet. These things are known because Cormac s owner, Sonny Brewer, the author of this book, went door to door in his neighborhood gathering one clue and then another, one bit of information and then another. When the trail led him to the dog pound and the director there refused to disclose information to Sonny, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist friend promised the story would make national news in 48 hours unless Sonny was told everything he wanted to know. Doors and phone lines then opened and Sonny attempted to determine if the Golden Retriever the foster family called Cognac was in fact Cormac. Sonny felt 90 percent certain it was his dog and agreed to take him, paying a pet transport driver $300 to bring the Golden south to Alabama.
As I write this, Bella is laying at my feet, licking my big toe. That is her seal of approval on this review, dear reader. I hope you take her suggestions to heart.
Author: Nikki Tiani
Nikki Tiani is an Examiner from Pittsburgh. You can see Nikki's articles on Nikki's Home Page.
My Bio Subscribe to EmailAdd Nikki to Favorite Examiners
More About: Memoirs · Literature · Recommended Summer Reading
Articles from other Examiners:
EA has hands on game demonstrations during preview day at Comic-Con
Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire join together at the Joint
Ridley Scott returns to Alien
Clark County Library District arts offerings for August-September
Stargate Universe shows off at Comic-Con 2009
YOUR AD HERE

Comments
Rose Field, Pittsburgh Gardening Scene Examiner says:
I just finished a 995 page novel, "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett, and it was filled with horrible things that happened to people, all of which I accepted calmly, but when a sadistic nobleman tried to stone a cat, I was upset and haunted by the passage. I never want to read "animal books" because I assume they'll be too sappy, but this made me realize animal stories are powerful emotional triggers.
August 1, 9:14 PM
Kate White, Pittsburgh Relationship Angst Examiner says:
I totally feel you on the slightly weird cat thing. I have four: Emily Dickinson is allergic to 93 of the 101 common allergens, so we live in a bubble. Sylvia Plath has cancer, but hangs on tbecause she's not done being ornery or pretty. She sleeps in a FedEx box filled with knitted scarves and poops on Truman Capote. Truman is flamingly gay, screams like a girl, taught himself to beep, and stalks Sylvia (hence the pooping). Elizabeth Barrett (Truman's sister) is a softball playing lesbian who appears to wear eyeliner, like your cat. She also is epileptic and my old Dylan albums set it off, so no more Highway 61 for me.

Three other great animal books are: "Animals in Translation," by Temple Grandin, who is autistic and parallels that to animal behavior. "Out of Harm's Way," by Terri Crisp, is about finding animals after natural/unnatural disasters. And the one that makes me cry is "Not Left Behind: Rescuing the Animals of New Orleans," by Best Friends Animal Society. They rock.