Welcome to the April issue of A Dragon's Guide.

This issue is mostly about cats, to celebrate the publication of Cats in Charge: A Guide to the Training and Education of Humans. The true author is Tara, the main feline character in the series, A Dragon's Guide to Destiny. She told me what to write. Since I'm so accustomed to being enslaved by cats, I obeyed.

The book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Smashwords, and iTunes, accessible through iTunes.

You can read more about it here and see a table of contents here.

Note: Some of these stories come from blogs, which means they are no longer the lead articles. However, I've found these blogs to be well worth visiting, with lots of pet-related information.

Following the Newtown, CT., tragedy, Kitten Associates, a home foster-based cat rescue group, opened their doors to residents so that they might experience cat therapy.

Called Kitties for Kids, the program was originated by Robin Olson, founder of Kitten Associates and also an award-winning blogger at Covered in Cat Hair. She said, "We know the healing power that time spent petting a cat or watching kittens play with a toy can bring to a child, his or her parents, and even first responders and other adults who feel emotionally overwhelmed. Because animals have no hidden agendas and kittens aren't threatening, it's a special kind of healing you just can't experience any other way."

Olson, wanting to make the experience especially memorable for the children, wanted to give each a plush cat toy. She added this to the group's Amazon WishList and told her Facebook fans about the request.

Within an hour all the cats she'd requested had been purchased, and when she added more, they went within minutes. Emails poured in from those who wanted to help. The creator of K.T. Cat, a therapeutic toy that helps young children talk about their feelings, donated 50 of her creations to this cause.

"Though our mission is rescuing cats and kittens and placing them into loving homes, right now," Olson said, "we're also here to help rescue childhood innocence and put smiles back on the faces of children in our area. We hope in this small way, we can do that."

Please visit the Kitten Associates.

Working Cats: Crossing Guards, Guide Cats, and Day Traders

I have read and seen many stories reporting that cats need jobs. A great example of this is Oscar, the nursing home cat who miraculously appears whenever humans are about to die. Oscar's story is recounted in Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by Dr. David Dosa.

Another self-employed cat is Sable, who works as a crossing guard for for the Enterprise Middle School in West Richland, WA. Bad weather doesn't deter the 15-year-old feline. He's always there to supervise the children crossing the street.

He's so faithful in his duties that students and teachers now think of him as part of the team dedicated to helping children cross the streets safely.

I got this information at a great blog with lots of pet-related information.

We're familiar with guide dogs for disabled humans. Now the site, Love Meow reports on a guide cat.

Judy Godfrey-Brown adopted a stray cat named Pwditat and made an astonishing discovery when he became a guide cat for Terfel, a dog blinded by cararacts.

Prior to Pwditat's arrival, he had so often bumped into things that he spent most of his time in his basket. Pwiditat seemed to know at once that he was blind and easily learned how to guide him with her paws. The dog, with feline assistance, is now able to move through the house and into the garden. According to owner Judy, they are inseperable and even sleep together.

The Guardian (UK) reported that a male tabby cat, Orlando, out-picked a team of stock-picking specialists during the year 2012. The experts used traditional methods to choose their investments. Orlando threw his favorite toy mouse onto a grid of numbers that represented various companies.

In the final scores, the experts profited an average of 176 pounds sterling on a 5,000-pound investment. With the same initial investment, Orlando's profit was 542 pounds.

The human evaluation of these results is that the stock market is totally random. Orlando is too busy investing his profits into new toys and catnip futures to comment.

You can read more about this in The Guardian.

Finally, here's a non-cat-related video. Enjoy the beauty of birds of paradise of New Guinea.

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