Hey There Furiends,
It’s my web wandering Wednesday. I hope you enjoy the news I scratched out for you this week.

Before I present my stories, I thought I’d do a quick catch up. Things have been a little crazy in our house and our Purrsonal Assistant has been a bit distracted so her work product is not up to par (translation, she has not transcribed all our responses to our blog yet and we are mortified that this is taking her so long).  She also has some friends at our house. Very nice people but there is a bit of an issue with The Tribe regarding ONE of the visitors.

Here is how the conversation went:
Female Human, “Al, we’re having some friends come to stay for a while. Very nice people. Oh, and they have a dog.”
Alberto, “Excuse me I thought you said they were bringing a dog.”
Female Human, “Thant’s right but she’s a sweet dog and you’ll love her.
Alberto , “You’ve got to be kitten me!”

I will report on more of this next week.

Another update. I featured a fantastic cat group in one of my recent Walk Through The Web Wednesdays called THIS CAT IS C H O N K Y  The Tribe of Five has been quite active in this group and we’ve learned some things about the fantastic people there. Absolutely NO shaming about anything is allowed. They are true cat lovers and many of them are dedicated to adopting older cats from shelters. Oh,  and these humans have a wicked sense of humor and are very creative. I can’t tell you how many times The Female Human has spit her coffee across the computer screen because she was laughing so hard at a post there.

She posted this photo of Oliver with the statement that he’d recently been put on a diet and feared starvation was imminent.  The comments were delightful and outright hysterical but these photoshopped pics were the best.

Okay, I’ve digressed enough, on to the news items. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

UI online survey aims to determine how face shape affects cats’ health

University of Illinois researchers are asking cat owners to participate in on online survey to determine whether cats’ face shapes are associated with certain health and wellness characteristics. They are purrticularily interested in finding out if brachycephalic cats — the breeds with flat, squishy faces  experience breathing issues similar to those of squishy-faced dogs.  So if you are a squishy faced feline, have your human wander on over to take the survey and help these folks out.

 

FELINE FANS DESCEND ON SOCAL’S ANNUAL CATCON TO CELEBRATE OUR FURRY FRIENDS!

One of the biggest feline events in the country, CatCon LA made a big splash again last weekend. One of the top feline photographers, Erica Danger, was there to capture every beautiful feline at the purrfect moment. A Kat Von D beauty bar was set up to teach everyone how to get the perfect cat eye. – Apryl Triana, a Phoenix, AZ-based tattoo artist was there providing cat tats and there were many, many more cool feline related booths. There were lots of cat-loving celebrities and best of all, Best Friends Animal Society had an adoption village for felines to find furever homes.  I must insist that The Female Human attends next year!

Square Paws – Architect Designed, Artisan Crafted Cat Products

If run of the mill, blah cat condos. beds, etc. are too pedestrian for your feline, then you need to check out the stuff at Square Paws. Now it will cost you but, really, aren’t we worth it? Check out this video and see the amazing stuff you could buy for your feline.

 

 

AI Keeps Cats And Their Kill Out of The House

Who says automation and AI is useless when it comes to cats? Not Ben Hamm,  an engineer at Amazon who , noticed his cat often brought dead animals back to the house as a ‘gift.’ It wasn’t that he wasn’t thankful for the presents but it just was unpleasant  to wake up to a dead rat. So he decided to explore AI  and built a model that would lock the cat door when his pet tried to bringing a dead animal with it. Now the article has a lot of geek speak to explain how it works and if  you like that kind of stuff  you can read more and watch the video.  Hamm says the prototype is working well, only locking the cat out once when it shouldn’t. He gets texts with photos of his cat. Pretty cool, who’d have thought I’d be reporting on AI and cats in the same article?

19 Cat Myths That Need to Go

You humans believe some of the silliest things about us and some of the things you believe can be downright harmful to us felines. Like the belief that cats can be vegans, no, no and NO! Now The Tribe enjoys a gnosh on some wheat grass now and then but we are obligate carnivores. We NEED meat.

And then there’s the misconception that you should get a cat because we are so low-maintenance. You can leave us alone over the weekend.  Uh NOPE, we like companionship and even though we are all different purrsonalities, we miss you when you’re gone.

And then there’s the “cats always land on their feet” myth. Unless we don’t. Yes we can twist in midair to position ourselves to land feet first, there are times when we, just like the best Olympic gymnast, don’t stick our landing.

You can read the other 16 myths in the article just to be sure you’re not believing some old wives tale about your felines.