
Happy Wednesday My Friends,
Alberto here, purrusing the best of the feline web. I hope you enjoy this week’s stories.
Purrs & Head Bonks,


BOY do I have my whiskers in a twist over this one! Now humans are blaming adorable feline antics for a decrease in work productivity! Interesting that there is nothing mentioned about dog videos. Could this be a purrlitical ploy by the canine party? Methinks I smell a rat!

Science Says Dogs Can’t Count but Cats Might, While Frogs and Chickens are Math Whizzes – People Pets
Hah, take THAT canines! Oops, sorry, I’m still a bit annoyed by the last story. Still, it’s nice to have science confirm what you already knew. Of course, the human scientists don’t give a full testimonial for felines. They even make the snarky comment “…they are so difficult to control in a lab environment…” “…only if they feel like it…” Seriously, humans, do you really want to perpetuate old stereotypes about felines?
At least they did make some scientific observations, stating that “Apparently when the cats did decide to cooperate, they were as good at mathematical tests as fish..but these “good trials” were few and far between.” Answer me this human scientists, how come every one of the Tribe of Five know when it’s breakfast and dinner time, even when those silly humans change to and from that daylight savings thing?
Hmph, now my whiskers are in a twist again. I need to find a nice, feel good story next.

Okay, this one calmed me down and was a very nice history lesson. Cats may have been imported to Iceland but we’ve been there for quite a while, the estimate is that we were brought there sometime from 870-930. At that time, cats were already very popular in Nordic countries (how enlightened they were).
Evidently there are more cats in cities than in the country and this article says that might be because you have to apply for permission to keep a dog in many municipalities and then dog owners must pay a yearly fee. There are no fees for cat ownership. So if you’re planning on moving to Iceland, kitty will be welcome anywhere but be prepared to fill out some paperwork if your canine is coming along!

Since the BBC did such a purrfect job of featuring working cats last week and, since this is one of my favorite subjects I thought this one needed to be included this week. Now Cricket Cats were completely new to me, as is cricket. But any game where a ball gets tossed back and forth works for me. And of course this is why the sport holds a fascination for felines.
The feline above, named Brian loves to hang out at the Somerset Country Cricket Club. “The handsome chap patrols the grounds and enjoys the ebb and flow of a county match.”
One of the most famous Cricket cats was Peter, the Lord’s cat, also known as the Marylebone Mog, who lived at the famous cricket ground in London from 1952 to 1964. When he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, he became the only animal to be given an obituary in the Wisden almanac. The obituary described him as a well-known cricket-watcher who could often be seen prowling on the field of play; that he loved publicity and frequently appeared on the television.

Do your humans mumble something about “bitcoin” or “crypto currency”? This has had no meaning nor did it create any interest with The Tribe of Five. Until we heard about KryptoKitties ,
Evidently this is a community where you can collect and breed virtual cats. Since the game was launched in late November, players have spent $19 million on this network. Meowza, that kind of money would buy a ton of cat nip, treats and fancy feline furniture!
Now CryptoKitties is about to get a lot bigger as it as a mobile phone app will be released in China, then Singapore and then globally after the China launch.
Players buy and sell digital kittens in a marketplace, and rent them out for breeding or have their own cats breed. Each cat comes with a specific set of attributes, and the rarest ones can get extremely expensive. So far the most valuable cat in the game changed hands in December for $110,000, according to CryptoKitties Sale.
Now , let me remind you that nothing beats the furry love a REAL kitty brings to your life and seriously, if you have $110,000.00 to spend on a virtual cat why not take that cash and donate it to your local shelter? You humans are really hard to figure out sometimes.