#Furbaby Friday: How Many Cats is Too Many?

Welcome to the very first "official" post of Furbaby Fridays with Dr. Tammy. I say the first "official" post since last year I had talked about a variety animal/pet related topics on Not Enough Time in the Day. After nearly 20 years as a veterinarian, I've seen and experienced quite a few memorable cases. Some of them would break your heart just as much as others would make you smile. Today I'd like to talk about a topic that quite a few people don't ever think about until they have a problem.

Just How Many Cats Is too Many for One Household?

If you put ten veterinarians in one room and ask this question, you will undoubtedly get ten different answers. Over the years I've come up with one criteria that will help you determine if you should have a cat in the first place and just how many you are willing to share your space with.  Drum roll please...you need a MINIMUM of one litter box per cat.  That's right. I said one box per cat. The rule of thumb is actually one box per cat plus one. So if you have two cats, you should have at least three litter boxes.

But I live in a small studio apartment? I can't have more than one box.

Well, then you shouldn't have more than one cat. Sure, two cats may do fine with the one box if it's a large one, but once you start adding the third, fourth and fifth cat to your furbaby family, you are asking for a world of hurt with only one litter box. 

Cats are very territorial. If they start to feel crowded or stressed in any way, they are going to start exhibiting behavior problems. The first of which is inappropriate urination. This doesn't just mean spraying urine on walls, doors and windows. Stressed cats will start urinating on bedding, furniture and clothing. You name it, they will pee on it. 

Stressed cats can develop a syndrome called FLUTD: Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. This can be a life-threatening condition in male cats. Cystitis can develop because of the stress causing the cat to be unable to urinate and it's bladder to fill. Toxins normally expelled from the body through the urine will then back up causing kidney problems, even kidney failure, electrolyte imbalances that can cause a fatal arrhythmia, not to mention the cats are in excruciating pain. It's not pretty and requires an emergency run to your veterinarian.

The second most common behavioral issues with a crowded cat household is aggression directed at one or more of the other cats, or even human family members. Many cats are euthanized every year because of aggression towards humans. Most of these cases could have been avoided if the warning signs were noticed from the beginning. 

My cats do just fine with one litter box because they know if they start peeing on my stuff, they will be banished outside.

Good luck with that. As a veterinarian who has to treat outdoor cats for injuries from fights, dog attacks, hit by car/truck injuries, not to mention the contagious viral diseases that affect cats, I always recommend cats stay indoors. My two cats are indoors and they are quite happy. They have four litter boxes, multiple toys and scratching posts to keep them busy and we give them individual attention. We don't have fighting between them and we don't have any urinations or defecations outside of their litter boxes. Now if someone could find a way to retrieve all the bottle caps they've tossed under the stove and refrigerator, life would be "purrfect" for them!

If you live in an area where your cat is able to go outside and roam around without being exposed to the dangers I described above, more power to you. The folks who live in heavily populated areas should think twice about letting their cats roam. You may not mind having strange cats in your yard, but your neighbors may not be so happy about it. Some cities also require outdoor cats to be licensed and others have a limit on how many you can have in the house so make sure you check with the local animal control office for the local regulations.

Think twice about bringing home a cat!

I'm not saying DON'T have a cat or several cats as part of your family. I want you to think about a few things first before you bring that cute little fur ball into your home.

1. Is your living space big enough for the required number of litter boxes?

2. Are you willing to scoop out those boxes at least once a day and completely clean them out at least every other week?

3. Do you have a local veterinarian to be sure each cat is healthy before you bring them into your home and to help you keep them healthy afterward? This includes vaccinations, annual checkups, grooming if long haired, nail trims, dentistries, and proper nutrition. (For you vegetarians and vegans: cats are CARNIVORES. Their diet has to be mostly MEAT. If you can't handle the idea that your pet has to eat meat, then don't get a cat.)

4. Cats and dogs are a lifelong commitment. You can't just get rid of them when they no longer suit your needs/desires.

5. Are you willing to give up being the Master of your house? Once a cat enters, everything and everyone is there to serve them. ;)

I hope this post helps to give you some insight on what it takes to be the "guardian" of a cat. You can't make them fit your lifestyle. They allow YOU into theirs. Once you are "in," it's your responsibility to make sure they have everything they need to keep happy and healthy for many years to come.

Until next time...

~Dr. Tammy

New Look for the New Year!

Welcome back to Not Enough Time in the Day! It's been a bit hectic around here trying to juggle all of my hats and get time in for my writing. Of course there are always those unforeseen issues that crop up to throw a wrench into the best laid plans and I'm beginning to wonder if the entire tool box hasn't been dumped on me! LOL

Currently I'm on a "sabbatical" if you will. It's not something I chose to do, but it's being "forced" upon me. It seems the state of California doesn't feel it needs to move into the 21st century and give all of it's regulatory agencies automated. They rely on the good old snail mail for their license renewals and they tell you it can take up to 14 days to process said renewals. FOURTEEN DAYS!!! Who the hell takes two weeks to post a check? The California Veterinary Medical Board that's who!  Even the Department of Motor Vehicles would rather you do most of your business with them online if at all possible. Why can't this agency do the same?

I have my own idea on that subject...and yeah it will be made into one of my books! HA!

So since I now have a bit more time on my hands, I thought I would get caught up on some of the things I had to put on the back burner during the last holidays. I've updated this blog and gave it a new look.  Do you like it? Let me know. I can always change things up. Blogger makes it so easy to do...unlike some other agencies. :P

I'm going to work on cleaning the house for our little family get together this weekend. I was sick during the Christmas break and missed seeing the nieces and nephews. Now we get to have a second Yule/Christmas celebration here at our house and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'll be back in my element cooking for the bunch. LOVE IT!

I have multiple packages to mail out this weekend as well. Several people have won prize packages for the various blog hops I was a part of and now they will finally get their rewards! Like I said, it's been hectic around here and I wanted to be sure their packages wouldn't get lost in the mail. The winners will receive emails when the packages go out. I have one special winner who waited so patiently for two hand crafted crochet bunnies. Well, I have a surprise for her. She'll get her bunnies and a few other goodies as well. Thank you so much for your patience, Jean P! You are the best!

Sassy Vixen Publishing is getting larger and moving into a new area. We will be creating a shared world series set on an island where you will find Temptations Resort. It's a place where adults go to fulfill all of their sexual dreams and fantasies, whether they are sweet, sensual, exotic, or erotic and taboo. Temptations will have it all for them and more. Check with Sassy Vixen Publishing tab at the top of this blog to learn more. I'll be releasing my second book of poetry through Sassy Vixen within the next few weeks and within the next month new poet Doug Beindorf will have one out with us as well. I've known Doug since high school so to have the chance to publish his poetry is an exciting venture. 

The Vixen has also branched out into book reviews. Sassy Vixen Reviews with The Vixen got started in response to Amazon deleting reviews of books posted by other authors. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, Amazon was trying to make the playing field fair. There were some authors behaving badly by creating dummy accounts to give themselves great reviews and then slam their competition. So until they get that worked out, Amazon was going around and randomly deleting reviews and stopping some authors from tagging books. 

Not Enough Time in the Day will still continue the Writer's Words of Wisdom on Wednesdays and start up a new feature called Furbaby Fridays with Dr. Tammy. I'll be setting up those posts to cover the various funny things that happen to veterinarians and their staffs on a daily basis as well as try to touch upon animal health issues.  As always, this blog is open for guest authors of any genre. I've tried to keep the adult stuff on my other blogs so the fans who are under 18 can visit here without having to worry about posts that have rated X excerpts from the erotic romance authors.  If you would like a guest spot here, see the tab above for the guidelines and contact information.

Well, that's about where things stand for now. Here's looking at a bright new year for one and all!

~Tammy

#WWoW: My Two Cents About Self-Publishing

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So you've finally finished that manuscript you've been slaving away at for quite some time. It's as polished as you can get it, been through three or four rounds of brutal edits, and now you're ready to send it off to a publisher. Last week, fellow WWoW author Lacey Wolfe wrote about making sure you do your research before just sending off your "baby." Her post was filled with excellent advice and it made me want to take it a step further. Instead of sending it off to a publisher, why not do it yourself?

Relax. Stop hyperventilating for just a second and let me explain.

I've published my writing now in both the traditional and Indie routes and I have to say I LOVE both of them. They are different experiences and I've learned a great deal over the last year. I was lucky enough to send my very first erotic romance to a well-established publisher in the market. They encouraged the authors to interact with and learn from each other. As a "newbie" I really appreciated that sort of guidance. It was because of these fabulous authors, that I decided to take what they taught me and venture out on my own a bit by self-publishing my first book of poetry. 

One thing I learned a long time ago and a bit of advice that still holds true today is NEVER, EVER pay to have your book published. This does not mean not to pay to have someone design your cover art, or do professional editing. What it does mean is that you shouldn't have to give a "publisher" money up front in order for them to publish your book in print or ebook form. If you do sign a contract with these vanity presses as they are called, you could be in for a world of hurt. Not only have you paid them to put out your book, but you may see very little royalties from them at all. To top it off, some of the more unscrupulous types have you under contract for your future endeavors as well. 

Don't be so hell bent on getting your book published that you fall for this kind of trap. There are so many FREE alternatives out there. For me, I started out with Smashwords. This is an excellent way for you to get your ebook out to multiple markets at the same time. They distribute to Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble, Amazon (although they've had some formatting issues that are still being worked out), libraries and various other outlets. 

Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords, put together a complete guide to formatting your manuscript so that it will be able to go through their system. The Smashwords Style Guide is a concise and straight forward manual. You can't publish to the site without following the precise guidelines, so go ahead and download your free copy today. It's even available on Amazon.  The guide was recently updated in June 2012, so make sure you get the latest version. I got mine from Smashwords.

As I mentioned previously, Smashwords and Amazon were having some issues with their systems not being compatible or something odd. So instead of waiting for them to work that out, I chose to opt out of Smashwords sending my book to Amazon so that I could upload my book there myself. Amazon requires the file to be in PDF format to upload to their site and they have a few other rules you'll want to follow. Here's the GUIDE for them...and yes it's free too. If you choose, you can opt into the KDP program (Kindle Direct Publishing Program) where you agree to keep your book exclusively on Amazon for at least 90 days. In exchange, you can offer your book for free at specific intervals. This could be a good marketing tool for you if you choose to do it. 

I liked that idea, but didn't want to keep my book just with Amazon. If you go with Smashwords as well, you can create coupon codes to be able to offer your book at a discounted price or even for free at different times. This option has worked great for me and for many others. Some of my other author friends have enjoyed the KDP program with Amazon. The choice is yours. Pick the program that fits YOU and your writing the best and run with it!

So now that you've got the ebook publishing under your belt, how about print? Well, Smashwords doesn't offer that service and Amazon KDP program is for the ebooks, so where do you go? Amazon to the rescue here! They have an affiliate called Createspace. Here you can upload your book, pick the size of the paperback you wish to put out, choose your cover from their prefabricated covers, or upload your own. Once you have things the way you want them, you can order a proof to be sent to you for final approval. This is the only cost to you at this point. For my poetry book it was less than three bucks. 

Once you approve that, within a few days (usually less than 24 hours), your book will be available for purchase through Createspace and Amazon. That distribution is free. If you wish to have your book sent to some other groups such as libraries and universities, you can opt into that distribution program for less than $30. For me, this has already been paid for ten times over through the sales of the print version of my book. 


So after you've done all your research and chosen a publisher, go ahead and submit your manuscript to them for consideration. While you wait for their answer, read up on how to publish through Smashwords and Amazon. Finish up that next manuscript and publish it yourself. You too can reap the benefits of working with a traditional publisher and going the Indie route. Trust me. You'll be glad you did!

Here's another article for your consideration when doing research on Indie publishing. Five Reasons to Publish Your Ebooks On Smashwords puts it out there in black and white why you should give Smashwords a try.

Please visit the other Writer's Words of Wisdom Authors participating this week. 

Paloma Beck

Lacey Wolfe

Melinda Dozier