Hello There Furiends,
I hope your summer is going well. The Tribe is anxious to get outside and enjoy the pop-up catio but the weather has not cooperated so we snooze on the sofa and await the sunshine. You may have noted that my Wednesday feature is appearing on Thursday..our Purrsonal Assistant has been under a lot of stress lately so we allowed her a days grace on my feature, as long as it does’t happen again!

This photo is of me chillaxin’ in The Female Human’s bedroom which is the territory that belongs to Jasmine but Jasmine does allow me to visit if I behave myself. This is me behaving myself.

Since we have been forced to stay inside, window duty is very important to us because you never know what you’ll see out there. The other day we watched The Female Human pull out of the garage, stop the car and then run into the front garden waving her arms and yelling. As Oliver and I took up our post at the kitchen window we had a front row seat to the comedy that ensued. Our Human is shouting and waving her arms. The freeloader in the garden remained unfazed and took his time munching on the newly emerging flowers. Sheesh, The Female Human could use a chill pill.

I hope you enjoy my web wanderings this week and here’s to days filled with lots of treats and head scratches.

Mysterious ‘Cat-Fox’ May Be a Newly Discovered Species, Researchers Say

Okay, I will admit that I am a feline of limited scientific knowledge but this “discovery” has me puzzled.

On the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean, a strange, rarely seen beast stalks the night. Locals call it ghjattuvolpe – the cat-fox – and for the last decade, scientists have been hot on its trail, trying to unravel the mystery.

The article states that a “rare beast” has been discovered on the French island of Corsica. They call it ghjattuvolpe which means cat fox. Evidently scientists have been studying the animal for 10 years. They say it differs from domestic cats because of its large size, up to 35 inches or 90- centimeters from head to tip, wide ears, short whiskers and long canine teeth. Okay, maybe I’m off base here but this looks like a large feline with a floofy tail. There’s a video on the site but I’m still not convinced. What do you think about this “cat fox”?

Kitty Cure: New Research Suggests an End to Severe Cat Allergies Could Be in Sight

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There is hope for humans who love felines but who can’t get near them without itchy eyes and sneezing fits. Purina scientists have been researching how to manage cat allergens and have recently made a breakthrough in their research. Purina announced that they have recently demonstrated “a proactive way to significantly reduce the active levels of the major cat allergen, Fel d1, at its source in cats’ saliva.”

“These allergens have created a huge barrier to cat ownership and may limit the loving interactions between cat lovers and cats,” immunologist Dr. Ebenezer Satyaraj, Director of Molecular Nutrition at Purina and lead investigator on the research, said in a statement. “Our discovery has the potential to transform how people manage cat allergens.”

I give Purina our paws up award for working to improve the relationship between felines and humans!

Cat-astrophe: Pakistani politician’s event streamed on Facebook with cat filter on

MOL! I can’t stop laughing about this one. Evidently Pakistani politician Shaukat Yousafzai held a press conference was live-streamed on Facebook — with the cat filter turned on. He wasn’t the only cat filtered human streamed on the event as the filter shifted to whichever human was talking. The cat filter was left on by accident and rather than calling it a cat-astrophe, I’d say it was probably the best political live stream ever done on Facebook!

Just like their mothers: in cat breeds, behaviour is inherited

“I must have inherited my love of high places.” Alberto

The human scientists are at it again. First they noted that different cats behave in different ways…DUH! So a team from the University of Helsinki studied information about 5726 cats and found differences in behavior between breeds across five different areas: activity level, sociability with humans, shyness, aggressiveness and stereotypical behavior.

Their sample of 5726 included 40 breeds (there are 71 in total, according to the International Cat Association), some of which had to be grouped, forming 19 breeds and breed groups.

You can read the findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports.  Some of their conclusions are a bit suspect to me but what do I know, I’m just a cat.

Play with Your Cat for Science: New Online Study Seeking Participants Worldwide

It’s time for you humans to step up and  play with your cats for science. Anyone who owns a cat is asked to record themselves playing with their cat and submit the recording online. The deadline is June 30, 2019. You can take part in the study here. Here are more details. So get out that cat dancer and play with your feline!