By Familiar Means Book Review

I've been looking forward to reading By Familiar Means since I finished the first book, A Familiar Tail, in A Witch's Cat Mystery series by Delia James.  I can tell you that By Familiar Means did not disappoint!

After discovering her special abilities, Annabelle Britton decides to make Portsmouth, New Hampshire her new home.  Anna's grandmother is coming to visit - she hasn't been to Portsmouth or seen her coven in 30 years.

Anna worries about how she's going to pay the rent on her cottage.  So when an opportunity comes up for painting murals for the new coffee shop, it's like her wish has come true.  However, spooky noises has one of the coffee shop owners convinced the building is haunted, and he wants Anna and her coven to get rid of the spirit before the shop opens.

Annabelle doesn't believe in spirits, but she agrees to check out the shop anyway.  Her Vibe leads her to finding smugglers' tunnels and a dead body.  Now Annabelle, Alastair, and her coven must figure out who the killer is.

My Thoughts: By Familiar Means didn't focus as much on the development of Anna's magical talents as did A Familiar Tail.  I would have liked to see more time spent focused on this area.

Despite that, though, this book was an excellent read!  I loved Alastair's antics, of course.  His behavior will make any cat lover laugh and adore him.

I enjoyed learning about Anna's grandmother and her role in Anna's life and magical journey.  It seems that Anna's grandmother will be sticking around for future books in the series, and I look forward to getting to know her personality better.

I really loved this book, and I highly recommend it to all cat and cozy mystery lovers!

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of, "By Familiar Means: A Witch's Cat Mystery," by Delia James for a fair and honest review.  Receiving the book did not influence my opinions in any way.  All opinions expressed on Fur Everywhere are my own.  

It's a Fuzzy Friday with Carmine

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!  Did yous miss mes?

The Mom has been typing a lot at the computer, but clearly hers hasn't been helping mes post on our bloggie!  Hers has been writing things for other peoples to try to keep up with the cost of all of our medicines now that Lita takes three medicines for asthma.  But hers found some time to help mes post here tonight - aren't yous glad?

At my last visit to the vet, mes had losted more weight.  In fact, mes losted 12 ounces, which alarmed the Mom and the vet.  Theys stole my blood and theys think mes might has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, whatever that means!  All mes knows is that since then, mes has been poked a bunch of times at home, and mes doesn't like it.  

The Mom here.  Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency occurs when a cat cannot absorb the nutrients from its food because he is lacking the pancreatic enzymes necessary for the job.  This can be a complication of chronic pancreatitis, so I would not be surprised if this is what Carmine has developed.  The vet and I agreed to try B12 injections at home to see if that would help him.  He had to receive the injections one per week for six week (hence all the pokes he mentioned).  Now we are down to an injection once a month.  I hate sticking him, but I hope it helps him maintain his weight.  He is also getting Prozyme on his food.  Anyway, back to Carmine...

Last month, I selected Purina Muse Natural Chicken Recipe Accented with Spinach in Chicken Broth Adult Grain-Free Cat Food Trays for Carmine and Lita to try as part of the Chewy.com Influencers program.  To be quite honest, I wasn't holding my breath with this food because Carmine and Lita almost always turn their noses up with grain-free food, but they really enjoy other foods Purina makes, so I figured it was worth a try.

Before we get to Carmine and Lita's review, though, I'd like to share the benefits of Purina Muse with you.

Purina Muse Natural Chicken Recipe Accented with Spinach in Chicken Broth Adult Grain-Free Cat Food Trays:

• Is made with real hand-filtered chicken as the first ingredient.
• Is fortified with essential nutrients and provides your cat with a complete meal.
• Is accented with spinach.  Spinach adds an extra vitamin and mineral boost to the food.
• Has added taurine, which supports good vision and healthy heart function.
• Contains sunflower seed oil, which is a good source of omega fatty acids.  Omega fatty acids help maintain a healthy skin and coat, promote a healthy heart, and promote circulation.
• Contains no grains, wheat, corn, or soy.  
• Contains no poultry by-product meal, added artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.