SBT says: Here is a photo of my dad’s cat, Toots. She’s a country cat out in rural West Virginia.

Just a couple of months ago, Dad noticed Toots had been gone a few days. Wanting to make sure she was okay, he went out looking for her.

Dad found Toots in an outside shed, crouched in a corner. When he approached her, he realized her entire belly was sliced open, from chest to butt, and all her innards were hanging out. She’d been attacked by a coyote and somehow escaped.

Toots was rushed to the vet, where she was operated on . . . and survived.

Toots is now sporting a 14-inch scar and working as a spokeskitty for Special K.

Thanks so much to SBT for the amazing submission. Glad to know Toots made it out okay!

Living in Florida means living with interesting wildlife, including lizards. For humans, lizards are just another reptile. For crazy kitties, lizards are lunch.

Lizards occasionally slip through the cracks in our screened-in patio, and that’s when the games begin.

It’s usually Kramer and Toester ganging up on some poor, helpless creature. But today, Kramer managed to catch the lizard all by himself and brought him inside to thank us for all our love and attention.

The hunt follows a carefully orchestrated routine designed to highlight the cat’s agility, dexterity, and coordination.

Mad Huntin’ Skillz - First, he dumps the lizard inside and starts the chase all over again, so we can see what a good hunter he is.

The “Swoop” - With a quick swoop of the paw, he once again captures the lizard, rendering the reptile blind and temporarily unconscious.

Sniff and Nip - At this stage of the capture, the cat presses his nose against the lizard and playfully taps the creature on the back as though to say “hello” before he chomps the reptile’s body in his razor-sharp fangs.

Playing dead - Knowing he’s met his match, the lizard pretends to die. This, of course, is part of the carefully choreographed representation of the cycle of life (or something like that).

Disinterest - Now that the lizard has served his purpose, Kramer completely loses interest.

Don’t cry. We’re happy to report that the lizard escaped with his life and is enjoying Mai Tai’s on the neighbor’s palm tree.

Perhaps someday, Vincent will be honest with his son.  Until then, Toester’s just going to have to assume that storks, bees, and birds are involved.

If you haven’t seen this video yet, you’re in for a treat. Funny!

Clicking on the video will take you to YouTube.com.

Last night, we had a bit of a crisis.

Chris and I were a little late giving the pets their Advantage flea treatment this month. We have one cat and a dog that go outside, so if they get fleas, everyone gets fleas.

We had a friend over, so all the pets naturally wanted to be the life of the party. I had Kramer in my lap and as I was petting his back, I felt what I thought was a scab. I parted his fur to check on it– and it was a TICK. A big, ugly tick. The hideous monster was obviously dying or dead because the Advantage was taking effect, but it was disgusting. I swear, the little heathen was sending me death rays, even in his dying moments.

We yanked that sucker out with a pair of tweezers, cleaned up the nasty, bloody wound, and rubbed some Neosporin on the hole. YUCK! I made sure I flushed that devil spawn down the toilet.

As soon as the tick came out, Kramer’s relief was incredible. He was ALL OVER the place, purring and loving on everyone. He even got in the paper bag from the Chinese food we ordered, making himself right at home. Look at how happy he is. !Que cute!

Later, he was rolling around on the pavers in the patio, scratching his wound as best as he could. Then Kramer started making love to our friend Matt’s flip flops.

It was bizarre. But Kramer was happy and the tick was gone!