So I was just minding my own business downstairs and I looked out and WHOA, what did I see?
Hey, I better get over there and see who this dude is, he’s certainly not part of our tribe.
Hi there. My name is Lily. What’s your name. Oh, and I don’t think you want to be in the woods in our back yard, there are raccoons, skunks and even bears sometime. I see you have a collar on so I suggest you skedaddle back home my furiend. Nice to meet you though.
Happy Wednesday My Furiends,
I don’t know what Wednesday means to you but at our house it means the humans in the big noisy truck come by our driveway, grab the green and the blue things The Humans keep in the garage and dump the contents into the truck. The Tribe of Five have pondered this weekly ritual and can only surmise it is some sort of human kitty litter cleaning exercise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these little gems I found in my weekly purrusal of the web.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
I am a great mewsic fan which is why this news story resonated with me. A songwriter in Nashville, Chris Gantry, leaves his house at 3a.m. to feed stray cats in his old neighborhood. He wants to bring attention to the growing stray cat population and raise awareness for these feral felines. He even wrote a song about it. He is a staunch supporter for TNR (trapping, neutering, and releasing stray cats) that have been on the streets their entire lives. He works with Metro Animal Care and Control with his TNR efforts.
He knows all his feral furiends but is especially close to a black cat called Midnight, who is the only feral not afraid to show herself to him in the day light. He calls her the Queen of Belmont. He calls Midnight a fierce, beautiful young black cat.
Before Gantry could trap her and get her spayed, she had one litter of kittens and Gantry took them to get neutered and adopted. He says of Midnight, “This cat is wild. She would never let anybody touch her accept me. Unfortunately, that’s the tough part.”
Two paws up for Chris Gantry and his work for feral cats!
Whenever you humans come up with a creative idea to help homeless kitties, I say “Bravo”. There is a lady in Milpitas, California doing just that. Instead of euthanizing feral felines, they’re gently coaxed to trust humans and to become loving house or yard pets.
Lorrie Sprain works in administration at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. But she focuses a lot of her attention in a garden just a few feet away. It’s called the Marilyn & Fred Anderson Community Cat Garden, a fenced in area which feral cats call home.
This lady is a real life cat whisperer who talks lovingly and softly to the new kitties who arrive at the garden, gradually winning their trust and calming them down. She says, “”You have to have patience, and you can get them to come out and eventually you can pet them.” The process can take a month but the rewards are great. This program has adopted out 260 felines.
Many feral cats taken to shelters are given a death sentence and this program gives them the second chance they deserve.
The community cat garden has been so successful, the Humane Society of Silicon Valley has gotten additional funding to expand it from a current capacity of about 12 to 24.
Bravo, purrs, head bonks and two paws up for this innovative program!
This is Oliver ignoring The Female Human
Dr. Uri Burstyn has created a YouTube video that gives you humans some insight into naming us felines. The doctor explains that we felines have ears that are fine tuned to hear high pitched noises. He uses his cat Lancelot as an example. Lancelot doesn’t really respond to his name but if he hears “Lan-CEY!” he does pay attention.
Now this makes me wonder if this is why The Humans have nicknames for all of us. Maybe they instinctively figured out that we respond to some names and not others. For instance, Tucker is often referred to as “Tuck-EEE” and Jasmine is “Jaz-EEE”. Lily is often called Lily Bug or Bug but based on this doctor’s premise, The Humans should just call her “Lil-EEE”. Oliver is “Oll-EEE” bat sadly, I am referred to as “Alberto or Al”. Purrhaps it’s time The Humans gave me a new nickname!
Once again our friends across the pond have something new and exciting for felines (and actually their humans as well). A new TV show is asking folks to send in information about their crazy cats. The call out from Athena Films, reads “We are on the lookout for crazy moggies for new series on when cats attack!
As hard as you many find it to believe, some of us do exhibit behavior that makes life with us a little difficult. You know, stuff like having to wear gloves and body armor to clip nails or needing an extra hour to get your furry family member into a carrier for that visit to the place with white coats. I certainly hope they will be offering advice and help to both the humans and the felines!
Aberdeen University’s favourite feline, Buttons, has been voted one of Europe’s cutest cats in an international ranking of campus animals. Buttons is a white tomcat and is a celebrity on campus, known to spend most of his time near the philosophy department.
Study.Eu, which offers information on English-taught study programmes in Europe, chose the puss based on his “political ambitions”. Earlier this year Buttons was nominated by students to become the university’s new rector, a position once held by Sir Winston Churchill.
His supporters claimed that since the cat was “apolitical” and “fluffy,” he would have been the “ideal candidate”. Sadly, Buttons did not win the seat but remained in good spirits after the loss.
Hey Furiends,
It’s Friday! Now I know that this day is one of great delight to humans who leave their felines at home and go to that place called “work” but for us cats, it’s just another day, As far as we are concerned, every day is Caturday. I’m doing this week’s fill ins and I hope you enjoy my answers. You can purrticipate by heading over to the hosts, 15andmeowing or Four Legged Fur Balls and join the blog hop. You are always welcome to opine about your fill in answers in the comment section of this blog post too.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
“God did indeed create a variety of creatures and every morning when the female human fills the bird feeder, I see them, large and small. I wonder if all kitties get to see so much of God’s creation. Do you humans appreciate God’s creation as much as I do? Maybe you need to find a wide window ledge to stretch out on and enjoy the wonder of what God has made.”
Hello Furiends,
We just had a pawsome time over at Deziz World and Dezi and Raena had some very nice things to say about our book. Here’s a look at what we were up to. You should hop on over and join in the fun.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Hello My Furiends,
Meong, לילל, miyavlamak, mjau, Μιάου. Why am I meowing at you in Indonesian, Hebrew, Azerbaijani, Swedish and Greek? Well, because it’s International Cat Day today, of course! In honor of this impurrtant holiday I’ll be featuring stories from around the world that celebrate our feline holiday.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
If we’re going to highlight International cat related news items, we must highlight posh feline accommodations across the pond. If any of my feline furiends are planning to travel to the UK, posh digs are a must. Make sure your humans book you into one of the Longcroft Cat Hotels. Rooms are temperature controlled and sound proofed and, if you travel with a kitty buddy, there are double rooms. Order off the a la cat menu which offers plates of slow cooked chicken, salmon and king prawns on bone china, and be sure to book a staff member, trained by vets, to give you a “relaxing paw massages”. I say the humans in the US need to think about opening hotels like this!
If you’re traveling to Japan, you don’t want to miss the Lucky Cat Temple in Tokyo. The Gotokuji temple has long attracted spiritual visitors with its thousands of figurines of beckoning white cats, thought to bring good luck. Lately, another group of visitors have been visiting, : Instagrammers.
One visitor said, “I actually Googled ‘Instagram spots Tokyo’. This was named one of the most ‘Instagrammable spots.'” Don’t forget to put this on your itinerary if your travels take you to Tokyo and make sure your human snaps a shot of you sitting next to one of the statues with one paw up.
We felines were famous long before the internet was invented and were a part of the ancient human world. A DNA study went back thousands of years and found evidence of two major dispersals from the Middle East, in which people evidently took cats with them. Genetic signatures the felines had on those journeys are still seen in most modern-day breeds. Researchers analyzed DNA from 209 ancient cats as old as 9,000 years from Europe, Africa and Asia, including some ancient Egyptian cat mummies.
With our ancient and proud heritage, I think you humans should show us a little more respect!
For my final world-wide cat article, we’re hopping over to Mumbai, India. Many feline fashionistas think Karl Lagerfeld, who made his kitty Choupette into a style icon is the cat’s meow of feline fashion but there are other designers that can qualify. We cats have inspired kitten heels, catwalks and much more. Designer Aniket Satam, from Mumbai says, “Cat fashion is about unabashedly celebrating the love for this feline divinity. Embrace the diva-like quality that comes with the feline species. They have always been these mystical creatures who are so intriguing. Felines have this star-like quality that appeals to me the most,” And to that I say an enthusiastic “Meow!”
Hello Folks,
Oliver here. The Tribe of Five is celebrating International Cat Day today. In order to salute our foreign feline friends we’ve been learning how to say “meow” in different languages. To my Greek furiends I say “Μιάου ” , to those majestic forest cats in Norway I say “mjau” and to the Turkish felines who are so loved in Turkey I say “miyav”. We made a little video to honor felines around the world, I hope you enjoy it.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Hello Furiends!
Oliver here. I’ve decided to do this week’s fill ins. If you don’t know about the Friendly Fill Ins, it’s a blog hop hosted by our furiends at 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs. You hop on over to either of their sites and join in or, you are welcome to opine about your own fill ins on this blog post.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Why won’t the Humans take me to CatCon? I want to see Lil’ Bub,Pudge and my favorite artist, Moshow the Cat Rapper.
“Okay, let me give some serious thought to your question,.”
“Oh you’ve got to be kitten me. Human, you can’t be serious!”
l
“Hey, Mr. Deer! I see you down there!”
“I see you up there fly! I may be chubby but I can move like lightning. Do not underestimate me!”
Hello Furiends,
It’s time to meander down the Internet Highway and see what fabulous feline news is out there. I hope you enjoy this week’s stories.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
I have reported on CatCon, a truly fabulous feline festival and now those moggy-loving humans across the pond are giving CatCon a run for it’s money. The promo says that CatFest will bring stylish buzz-worthy cat products, inspiring talks, books & art, music, fancy dress (that’s what the folks across the pond call “costumes”) vegan street food, cat-themed cakes and cocktails..all while helping cats in need. Meowza! Those folks know how 
to throw a purrfectly fabulous pawty! While The Female Human was oohing and aahing over the cat related jewelry and clothing, The Male Human decided the “Howler” cat house that looks like an amp is the cat’s meow. And since my brother Oliver and I are quite mewsical and especially enjoy the days The Male Human changes his guitar strings, we think this would be a purrfect addition to our house!
Every one of my feline furiends must insist their humans read this article! The Tribe of Five can’t decide which we like the best. I am purrsonally fond of the human who hired an interior designer to create cat space for his felines. Lily loves the built in catio (we have a pop up tent thingy but it doesn’t hold a candle to this amazing space). Oliver thinks the birthday pawties are nice as does Tucker (anything that includes food is top on the list for those two). Jasmine thinks the tent and tablet is the least humans can do for their felines in residence! What’s your favorite?
Now I will be the first feline to give credit where credit is due but methinks making this cat a rescuer might be stretching the truth a tad. While it’s true that Rosie Bloom, a little budgie had been missing for 7 weeks, the fact that 7-month old feline Bear showed up with said budgie in his mouth could not be strictly described as a rescue. You see, our furiend Bear,, who lives about a mile away from the Budgie and her humans, is in the habit of delivering mice and other birds to his family. Fortunately, for all involved, the screaming budgie was removed from Bear’s mouth and eventually found her way home via a Facebook post. Hero or not, Bear did perpetrate the rescue of this feathered friend and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.
Finally after years of us felines getting a bad rap about our ability to coexist with canines, the truth comes out. A new study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior — one that uniquely looks at the relationship between cats and dogs sharing the same home — suggests we get along just fine. The researchers surveyed 748 households with canines and felines. These homes were located all over the world in places like the good old U.S of A, Europe, Australia and more. Over 80% of those folks said that the inter-species relationships were just fine. And how many said that there were relationship issues in their homes, only 3%. So folks if you’ve been wanting to adopt a dog to add to your feline household or a cat to add to your canine household, get to the shelter and do it now!
I’ve heard a lot about great programs where little humans go to libraries or shelters and read to dogs. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think this is a noble and pawsome thing to do (they do it at our local shelter too), but I’ve had my whiskers in a bit of a twist because I never heard or read anything about the benefits of little humans reading to shelter cats. Until now that is. This program doesn’t just improve social skills for the little humans but for the felines as well. It also helps to calm cats and help relieve the stress they feel because shelters can be stressful places. Does your shelter have a program to read to cats? Tell us about it! If you don’t and want to learn more, check out El Paso Animal Services Facebook page.
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