The story of Dewey, a fluffy ginger cat, is a heart-warming true story that reminds one of the true purpose of pet ownership.
Sadly, Dewey’s story starts in the worst possible way. In January 1988, when only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the “returned” book slot at the Spencer Public Library, in the northwest part of the US state of Iowa. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Seeing the tiny kitten, almost frozen to death, Vicki’s heart melted.
Bringing the cat inside, the helpless kitten won over the rest of the library staff by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. News of the cat’s arrival spread, and more people started coming to the library. More children came for story time and everyone loved it.
Dewey was an amazing cat in many ways. When someone walked into the library, he would greet them
The staff decided to adopt him. After the library’s board of trustees and the city council approved, the kitten was declawed, neutered, and given the proper vaccinations. A competition was held to pick a name, and Dewey Readmore Books was officially added to the staff.
Dewey was an amazing cat in many ways. When someone walked into the library, he would greet them. When it was story time, he would choose one lucky child and sit on their lap until story time had ended. He also loved playing hide and seek. Soon, Dewey started to become very famous.
The story of Dewey, a fluffy orange cat, is a heart-warming true story that reminds one of the true purpose of pet ownership.
He was featured in the local paper, Country Magazine, Cat Fancy Magazine, on the Sioux City television stations, in books, and on postcards. He was a video star in Puss in Books, a 1997 documentary about library cats, and another film made by Japanese documentarians. Dewey would receive thousands of fan mail letters from people all over the world.
His obituary ran in more than 250 publications, including USA Today and The Washington Post
As Dewey got older, his digestion problems became worse. He was a happy cat but he had become very frail because of hyperthyroid disease for which he was receiving medication. Sadly, Dewey passed away on 29 November 2006 due to complications from a stomach tumour. He died in the arms of the library director, Vicki Myron. Dewey had celebrated his 19th birthday 11 days before he died. His obituary ran in more than 250 publications, including USA Today and The Washington Post.
Vicki would go on to pen a highly successful book about this cat who touched the heart of so many people over the course of his life. The book details how Dewey became a town mascot who lifted the spirits of residents hit hard by the 1980s farming crisis. No outlandish claims are made in the book. Dewey didn’t turn the town around singled-pawed. Yet he did cause people to get to know their local library as a community centre, a place where one could not only get books, but also learn about new job opportunities in the locality, or courses to study, or simply pick up a “career change guide”. People from the farming community, suffering from the worst of the farm crisis, who might never have ventured into a library all too often, found they could pick up a home repair book, when the cost of hiring a repairman or buying a replacement was out of the question.
Published in 2008, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, sold more than 1m copies worldwide and stayed on bestseller lists for six months. The book was followed by Dewey’s Nine Lives, published in 2010. Other books on Dewey have appeared for children including Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library! (2009) and Dewey’s Christmas at the Library (2010).
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The story of Dewey, a fluffy ginger cat, is a heart-warming true story that reminds one of the true purpose of pet ownership.
Sadly, Dewey’s story starts in the worst possible way. In January 1988, when only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the “returned” book slot at the Spencer Public Library, in the northwest part of the US state of Iowa. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Seeing the tiny kitten, almost frozen to death, Vicki’s heart melted.
Bringing the cat inside, the helpless kitten won over the rest of the library staff by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. News of the cat’s arrival spread, and more people started coming to the library. More children came for story time and everyone loved it.
Dewey was an amazing cat in many ways. When someone walked into the library, he would greet them
The staff decided to adopt him. After the library’s board of trustees and the city council approved, the kitten was declawed, neutered, and given the proper vaccinations. A competition was held to pick a name, and Dewey Readmore Books was officially added to the staff.
Dewey was an amazing cat in many ways. When someone walked into the library, he would greet them. When it was story time, he would choose one lucky child and sit on their lap until story time had ended. He also loved playing hide and seek. Soon, Dewey started to become very famous.
The story of Dewey, a fluffy orange cat, is a heart-warming true story that reminds one of the true purpose of pet ownership.
He was featured in the local paper, Country Magazine, Cat Fancy Magazine, on the Sioux City television stations, in books, and on postcards. He was a video star in Puss in Books, a 1997 documentary about library cats, and another film made by Japanese documentarians. Dewey would receive thousands of fan mail letters from people all over the world.
His obituary ran in more than 250 publications, including USA Today and The Washington Post
As Dewey got older, his digestion problems became worse. He was a happy cat but he had become very frail because of hyperthyroid disease for which he was receiving medication. Sadly, Dewey passed away on 29 November 2006 due to complications from a stomach tumour. He died in the arms of the library director, Vicki Myron. Dewey had celebrated his 19th birthday 11 days before he died. His obituary ran in more than 250 publications, including USA Today and The Washington Post.
Vicki would go on to pen a highly successful book about this cat who touched the heart of so many people over the course of his life. The book details how Dewey became a town mascot who lifted the spirits of residents hit hard by the 1980s farming crisis. No outlandish claims are made in the book. Dewey didn’t turn the town around singled-pawed. Yet he did cause people to get to know their local library as a community centre, a place where one could not only get books, but also learn about new job opportunities in the locality, or courses to study, or simply pick up a “career change guide”. People from the farming community, suffering from the worst of the farm crisis, who might never have ventured into a library all too often, found they could pick up a home repair book, when the cost of hiring a repairman or buying a replacement was out of the question.
Published in 2008, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, sold more than 1m copies worldwide and stayed on bestseller lists for six months. The book was followed by Dewey’s Nine Lives, published in 2010. Other books on Dewey have appeared for children including Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library! (2009) and Dewey’s Christmas at the Library (2010).
Read more
The reign of King Neptune
Sergeant Stubby: the most-decorated dog of WWI
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