Women Who Still Love Cats Too Much

by Allia Nolan, Nicole Hollander (Illustrator)

Overview

Are you covered in cat hair? Do you reek of Feliway? Is your kitty's happiness your one desire? Millions of women struggle with the same challenge. They feel inadequate when it comes to satisfying their kitties so they wind up on a never-ending quest to do more, be more, give more.

Some say being addicted to cats plays havoc with self-esteem, makes you the brunt of jokes, and interferes with your quality of life, relationships, and careers, but most women feel that's a small price to pay. Still, if you're on the fence about your feline addiction, Zobel Nolan has reprised and updated her book, and Women Who Still Love Cats Too Much can help.

It's been nine years since Allia Zobel Nolan first wrote her popular humor book, Women Who Love Cats Too Much, which is illustrated by noted Sylvia cartoonist Nicole Hollander. Since then the feline craze has exploded! Suzie Becker's All I Need to Know, I Learned from My Cat started the rage, now from Grumpy Cat and cat cafes to cat videos and blogs, anything and everything cat is hot . . . red hot!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780757318726
Publisher:	Health Communications, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/29/2015
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	850,325
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Allia Zobel Nolan is an internationally-published, award-winning author of over 200 children's and adult trade titles with over two million books in print. Her work reflects her two main passions, God and cats, and include such varied titles as Whatever: Livin' the True, Noble, Totally Excellent Life, The Worrywart's Prayer Book, Purr More, Hiss Less: Heavenly Lessons I Learned from My Cat, Cat Confessions: A Kitty-Come-Clean Tell-All Book, and the classic, 101 Reasons Why a Cat Is Better Than a Man, among others. She is a long-time member and past director of the Cat Writers' Association, who has appeared on Good Day New York, CNN, the Fox 5 "Pet Department," CBS News, and other nationally-syndicated television shows. When she's not tending to the every whim of her puddies, she lives and writes in Connecticut, where she loves her fur babies way too much.

Illustrator Nicole Hollander is the creator of Sylvia, an internationally syndicated comic strip that appears in over eighty newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit News, the Boston Globe, and the Seattle Times. She has published sixteen collections of Sylvia strips, as well as Female Problems and My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned. She lives in Chicago.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

I admit it. I'm a woman who still loves cats too much.

It's an addiction I've had from birth and one I've struggled with all my life. Okay, but things have changed since I initially wrote the first edition of this book. I've become more mature. I understand the dynamics of my obsession better. I've made more concerted efforts to course correct.

NOT!

Okay, so I'm still putty in my puddies' hands. But over the years, I have managed to cut back . . . a bit . . . a tiny bit . . . a little bit. . . .

Truthfully, I haven't cut back at all. How could I with those soulful eyes boring holes right through me? Look, there are worse things. I could eat bags of flour. Or be a hoarder.

Besides, cats are more popular now than ever before. So people are more understanding. Once they've been head-butted by their own itty bitty little fur baby, I'm sure any notion of skimping would be impossible. I mean, I don't know for certain, but I can guess Grumpy Cat's mommy has designer kitty litter flown in from France—the way I do for my darlings. And can you imagine a star like GC dining on anything but the finest sushi and $25-a-slice imported ham?

I'm afraid some might say I still put my cats before my husband. But hey, he's gotten used to it.

With two felines in my bed, (two of which are 20 and 23 pounds, respectively) a filtered waterfall that emits a grinding noise like a dysfunctional garbage disposal and plays havoc with my bladder, Kibbles in the drawer for midnight feedings, the door ajar with a heavy leaded cat statue so they can go in and out at leisure, and two step ladders perched so the babies have easier access to the bed, hubby has decided a room of his own wouldn't be such a bad idea. I mean, it's not as if I kicked him out or anything.

As for my friends, most of them couldn't put up with my codependency. So they're long gone. However, my true-blue buddies, though they may not understand my addiction, take me as is, covered in cat hair and smelling of Feliway and fish. They understand if I'm not always available and, on the odd day that I am, that I'll have to Skype the puddies every 15 minutes, and always, always take home two kitty bags of gifts as an offering for my absence.

Of course, my kitties each have an iPad to play with. And their own iPhone to text mommy in emergencies when, for instance, they need someone to scratch them under the chin or pad into the living room to get their favorite catnip mousie.

But I know those are poor substitutes. What my darlings really want is Mommy . . . at home 24/7 . . . adoring them face to face and catering to their every whim. I used to step out for the mail each day. But the meows were so loud and so soulful that I finally had to hire someone to do it for me.

Still, it's not as if I didn't try to seek help. I went to a twelve-step program. But the only thing I got out of it was what I gleaned from the others: things like what stores sell fresh-squeezed organic tuna juice, and recommendations for kitty massage therapists.

So you might say, I'm still a work-in-progress. I know I shouldn't be so wrapped up in my cats that I forget to have a life myself. But then, what kind of life would I have if I couldn't do all I can for my four-legged progeny?

Then too, I realize with the recent upsurge in adoration of cats that a lot . . . I mean a lot . . . more women (and okay men, too) are probably struggling with the same problems I have.

That's why I am reprising and adding up-to-date info to this book—so all you cat addicts can have the benefit of my experience. (Did you hear a meow?) So you'll know you're not alone. So you'll realize there are probably thousands, even millions of us out there who love our cats too much. (I'm sure I heard a meow.) I want you to know that even though I can't, you might be able to—with resolve, perseverance, and time—assert yourself and learn to put your family, friends, and yourself first, and the cats second.

But honestly, would you want to? (Now that definitely was a meow. Gotta go.)

—Allia Zobel Nolan

©2015 Allia Zobel Nolan and Nicole Hollander. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Women Who Still Love Cats Too Much. 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.