A different persepective: Interview with the cats

Athena wants to know why her interview isn't in the Wall Street Journal

Athena wants to know why her interview isn’t in the Wall Street Journal

When writing in the pet blogging universe, there are two basic voices. Either you write as the human who is actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), or you write as if you are the dog or cat (or ferret or turtle or parrot).

My site is a hybrid. The stories and articles are all me. The texts and haiku are written by me in my dogs’ and cats’ voices.

I like the idea of straddling both sides. I feel free to write stories from my perspective, without the inherent limitations of what a dog or cat sees, knows or understands. Yet, I love the opportunity to get inside Lilah’s head and ponder what she’s thinking when she’s served a bowl of kibble. It’s fun to be able to see through Calvin’s eyes from atop the bathroom cabinet.

Recently, I was given the opportunity for my cats to be “interviewed” by the Funny Farmer Felines from Jan’s Funny Farm. They provided the questions, and I had the delightful task of imagining what Dawn, Athena, Calvin and Elsa Clair would be like if they sat down in a room with a reporter and answered questions. How would they respond? What would the say? What do their voices sound like?  I think I enjoyed it a little too much, as the first draft of my interview was more than 3200 words, and I had to slash it by two thirds.

The final interview–posted on Mousebreath.com–was a fun conversation that eventually degenerated into a hissy fit in mid-discussion, as my cats disagreed on which one of them actually rules the house. Stop by the site and read the interview; it will give you a peek inside the brains of my feline family members.

Now I have to explain to my dogs why they haven’t been interviewed yet.

 

What are your thoughts on the different “voices” of pet blogging? If you’re a blogger, which voice do you use and why did you choose it? Do you ever break “voice”–write from the human perspective when you normally write from your pet’s? If you’re a reader, do you have a preference? Why?



5 Comments on "A different persepective: Interview with the cats"

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  1. We enjoyed getting to know all you kitties immensely. Maybe we should do an interview with the dogs for our own blog, JFF, so the dogs don’t get a complex. 🙂

  2. da tabbies o trout towne says:

    de dawgs did get a interviews…they just due knot rememburr it
    🙂

  3. The mom tried to write our blog in her voice but we decided we had waaaaay more stuff to say. So we hijacked the blog from her. 🙂

    We’re off to read the interview!

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