Cat Tails: Tall and Furry

By Jan Kahn

Jan was born in London England. She worked in radio. Word got out that her boss, Rick, was a serious friend of felines. Six cats took up residence. Dusty, a silver kitten, made herself at home in Jan’s outbox. Each cat had an account at the vets and was written off the radio station’s taxes. The IRS accepted the deduction.

The cats were banished when the station was sold.

Dusty joined Jan’s family.

The author had an epiphany as she watched the cat interact with her grandchildren. She realized a cat could convey gentle insightful messages to empower children.

Illustrations add another layer to inspire parents, teachers, siblings, and friends, and all children ages four to a hundred and four to enjoy and share the fun.

With love and appreciation to Marissa, Braum, Jackie, and Asher, who is named Forrest in the story.

Special thank you to: Braum Katz for his technical expertise in resurrecting lost data, to Sue Kinney for her lessons in using the computer- most especially to paint, to Lauren Mattisse for the final edit, to Lynn Spain for sharing these “tails” with her special students and to Ernestine Martinez for guidance and support.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662441134

Book preview

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Cat Tails

Tall and Furry

Jan Kahn

Copyright © 2021 Jan Kahn

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-4112-7 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-4113-4 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Colors of Love

Cool Cats in Tune

Kitty Karma

Do Not Disturb: Sleeping Cat

Dinosaur Pill

The Cat’s Meow

Tall Tails: Chimpanzee Count

A Tail

Colors of Love

Dusty had been painting all day. She had blue paint on her left paw, red paint on the tip of her nose, and a big smudge of yellow paint under her chin. She had been working on a portrait of herself. Now that all this time had passed, she seemed to have as much paint on herself as she did on the canvas. One thing was for sure, the cat on the canvas did not look like the subject of the painting. To be honest, the cat on the canvas looked almost human. It did have whiskers, this is true, but the shape of the skull was not at all catlike; and those eyes, well, there is a distinct difference between human eyes and cat eyes, and the eyes were not those of a cat.

Dusty stood back to admire her painting. She was pleased.

As she contemplated her work, the door opened and in ran Braum. He stopped short and stood there for a minute. First, he looked at the canvas. Then he glanced briefly at the cat.

Hey, I like it. You’ve painted me with whiskers and cat ears, he announced.

Hmm, er, no, no, it is exactly like me, the cat declared.

She turned to look at Braum, who realized instantly that the cat had been working very hard and would have quite a time getting all that paint out of her hair.

It is a beautiful painting. It really is, he insisted. You have captured, um, a definite catlike quality, he continued. Do you think the head is rather large for a cat? he questioned her, trying to be tactful.

Well, perhaps, she demurred.

He just knew that he could help her. The question was, how could he make a few suggestions without offending the artist? At this time, the cat got off the tall stool where she had been sitting. She stretched her cat stretch and rubbed her soft little furry body against Braum.

Oh, Dusty. I know you love me. And I love you too. He bent down to stroke her and assure her of his affection. I just want to help you with this project, so give me a chance, please, he said.

Her lively eyes stared into his face; she seemed to be mumbling as she climbed back onto the stool and resumed her painting. Braum thought he heard the words, My painting is perfect, but I think I’ll listen to your advice anyway. Her concentration was profound. She painted furiously over the half-cat, half-human face that she had started. After some time, she paused and looked over at Braum.

Braum walked toward the work and studied it. He nodded his head. This time, the face had changed for the better. Now there were great big cat eyes staring from the strangely shaped skull. The cat looked at Braum; her gorgeous green cat eyes were alert and questioning. Braum could tell she was more open.

Do you think the head size is correct? His words were chosen very carefully. The cat focused on the painting once more. She cleverly converted the oversized head by changing the fleshy tones into long silky cat hair. Her brush strokes were uneven, which made the cat in the painting appear to need grooming, certainly an accurate portrayal of this kitty painter. Although the painting was becoming slightly more cattish in appearance, it was far from looking similar to its feline creator.

Braum sat quietly as the cat checked herself out in the mirror and proceeded to interpret what she saw onto the canvas. At last, the cat sat back and took a break. She stared at the painting. Braum sat there in silence, not quite knowing how he could contribute to her creation.

The cat looked over at