Katie and the cat's claws

ONE DAY, KATIE HAD SOMETHING TO HOWL
ABOUT, AND SHE DIDN'T REALIZE IT.

I was simply terrified. Our curious collie Katie (yes, I recognize the alliteration) was sniffing a long-haired gray cat in our neighbor's yard, and the cat was in panic mode.

And that put ME in panic mode.

That cat's hair was standing out from nose to tail, making it look like it had stuck its tail in a light socket. That cat was scared — panicked, actually — and I was afraid it would tear harmless Katie to pieces with its claws.

And then I'd have a huge vet bill.

The whole ordeal lasted less than 30 seconds. Fortunately, the cat kept its claws to itself. When Katie finished her inspection, the cat lit out like its tail was on fire.

And I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!