Happy Wednesday Furiends,
How is everything in your neck of the woods? Nothing much new to report but we did have a sprinkling of snow here in the valley. The ski area is getting enough to open all the trails and that’s a good thing. The Female Human purrfers a “light sprinkling” but I keep telling her snow shoveling is a good workout (and it’s quite amewsing to sit on the window sill and watch her). We kinda’ liked the white stuff we saw out of the window this morning, puts us in a festive mood.

The Female Human purchased a new kitchen rug without our consent. What hubris! I immediately went into the kitchen to see if I would be willing to give it a paws up. I must say I like it much better than the old one.

Even though I am the official snooperviser in the house, Oliver had to get into the act too. He is the living, breathing example of a copycat.

I do have one question for you. I have had this “cardboard sofa” since I was a kitten. It’s my favorite thing to hang out in when I’m chillin’ and keeping an eye on the goings on in the house. The Female Human thinks I should have a bigger one and frankly, it is getting a bit difficult to squeeze my large (but lean and athletic) frame into this one. If any of you know of a larger version of this cardboard sofa, please meow at us and let us know.

That’s enough about The Tribe of Five. Let’s get on with the latest feline news. Be sure and read to the end as I’ve added a new feature, “Alberto’s Weekly Feline Web Star” and who knows, some of you might end up in my Wednesday blog feature one of these days.

The age old battle, cats vs Christmas trees

My readers are well aware of the fact that this feline despises cat stereotypes but I must say, this is one stereotype that is not only true but hilarious. In our defense, if you humans insist on setting up something in the house that looks like a festive feline fun house you shouldn’t be surprised if it is the object of our shenanigans.

Two-day fair hosts thousands of cats in Moscow

Mewoza this was quite an event. Two days and 2,000 cats from 12 countries! I was purrticularily interested when I read in another article that one of the events was cat dancing. This caused me to set my purrsonal assistant on a quest to find out about this. Sadly, she failed to find any info about the cat dancing at the event but she reminded me I did do a report about the Moscow Cat Theater in a previous Wednesday feature. Evidently those Russian cats are quite accomplished. She found information about Russian dancing cats and about the Savitsky Cats, The Savitsky Cats are a family from the Ukraine that consists of mother Svitlana, daughter Marina, son Misha, and their 10 felines. Here’s a little clip when the Savitsky Cats were on America’s Got Talent (which is confusing to me if they are Russian cats-oh well).

Cats with jobs: Collierville Feline hires herself as a greeter

Cinnamon, a “semi-feral” cat resides in the outdoor area behind the shelter. In addition to her job description of “mouse removal” she decided that she needed to expand her business repertoire and has a new job as shelter greeter. It appears Cinnamon wasn’t getting enough human interaction and greeting filled that need.

Now lest you worry about the TNR feral cats who reside at the shelter, have no fear. They are well taken care of. They have small, warm houses to live in and special fan cooled areas for the summer.

The shelter will always try to help these kitties adapt to indoor life but for some, the “wild and free” lifestyle is more to their liking. The shelter staff says that Cinnamon has been there long enough to be accustomed to their routines. She’ll greet anyone who will let her, but never tries to get inside the building. I think Cinnamon has a pretty nice gig, a nice outside area to roam in and a job with room and board and benefits. Paws up to the good folks at the Collierville shelter for thinking outside the box!

New homes in Japan are designed with felines in mind

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Oh my whiskers, I’m telling The Female Human we must move to Japan posthaste. She’s not so keen on the idea so we’re trying to see if there are any innovative architechts furmiliar with these plans here in the good old US of A.

Felissimo is  famous cat related brand in Japan that produces fantastical feline products has just won a gold medal with this concept. They collaborated with Wada Kosan, a company that develops rental condominiums in Kobe, Japan.  The new cat homes took two years to develop with the input from professional architechts and cat owning Felissimo Cat club members.

These designs are purrfection and even the outside is a hat tip to felines as the building exteriors are designed to look like calico cat fur.  Tenants in these luxury rentals will receive a 5,000 yen ($46.05) coupon every month for Felissimo products. Someone send me to Japan!

Stowaway cat was found at a British port after surviving a 12-day journey on a cargo ship from Israel.

The tortoiseshell cat, thought to be about a year old, was discovered in a container which arrived at Southampton in April. Following a four-month quarantine stay, she has been named Izzy and is being cared for at the Cats Protection Newbury Adoption Centre, in Thatcham, Berkshire, which is hoping to find her a new home.

The shelter says, “Izzy is quite a shy cat, and we think she must have been a street cat in Israel – used to being around people, but not being handled.”  They said they’ll never know her full story, but it’s most likely she snuck into the container looking for food or somewhere cosy to sleep, and ended up getting locked in.

It’s quite remarkable that she survived for so long without food or water in what must have been very uncomfortable conditions. Izzy is described as “An independent girl, and she’d suit a home where she can have plenty of outdoor space. It may be that she’ll prefer to spend most of her time outdoors at first, but once she gets settled, she may well begin to come inside the home.”

As Izzy has been through a lot, the shelter would love to see her go to a home with a patient human who can give her the stable home she needs after such a turbulent few months.

Paws crossed that Izzy finds the purrfect home!

Alberto’s Weekly Feline web star

Hey furiends, I’m excited about this new feature I’m adding. I will be showcasing felines that I know (some of my feline blogging furiends) and felines furiends I meet in the many cat groups I belong to. This week I’m introducing you to my furiend Bear Cat. He and his pawtner in crime, Ellie Mae are fellow feline bloggers and they’re always good for some shenanigans. I think this photo of Bear Cat says it all. Go visit them at Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat.