Hello There Furiends,
How has your week been going? Things are still pretty boring at our house so I decided I’d have to find some excitement on my own. The Female Human has this thing she calls a “foyer” (I call it the hallway by the front door) which she likes to decorate for the seasons or holidays. She took all the Christmas stuff off and now has the winter thingies there. I have no clue why she does this but I’m not complaining as she puts out tantalizing little knick knacks for me to knock down and bat around the house. The following photos show me checking out this very interesting area.

A cat’s got to do what a cat’s got to do and, if The Female Human insists on leaving us alone in the house during the day, she shouldn’t complain about the mischief we get up to!

And now, let’s see what wonders I discovered on the world-wide web.

What do a venomous primate and a cat have in common?

An international team, led by University of Queensland associate professor Bryan Fry, has been studying slow lorises in a wildlife reserve in West Java in Indonesia. Now you may be asking “Why?” and “What does this have to do with cats? Actually, quite a bit.

The bite of the large-eyed, and incredibly cute, slow loris can induce an allergy-like reaction in humans. They are the only primate that uses venom as a defense against predators. If you humans get bit by a slow loris, it will hurt and will also act and feel like an allergic reaction. These scientists think that studying the slow loris and it’s venom may help them understand why many of you humans are allergic to felines.  Evidently the DNA of the protein in the slow loris venom is almost identical to what is in a feline’s fur that causes allergic reactions in humans.  Cats secret this protein and coat themselves with it. The good doctor said, “Your pet cat wouldn’t know it, but it may have evolved a toxic defense to keep predators as far away from it as possible.”

Who knows, maybe the slow loris will be the answer to human/cat allergies. And, lest you think this is a hoax, the research has been published in the science journal Toxins.

Hero cat saves owner’s life over 50 times by detecting diabetic attacks

Hazel, a former psychiatric nurse, has type one diabetes and if her blood sugar drops while she sleeps, she can suffer seizures and even fall into a coma — with potentially fatal consequences, but not on Walter, the 9-year old felines watch.  Walter can smell the chemical change in her body that happens when her sugar is getting low, and pokes her around the face until she wakes up.

Hazel says Walter is her literal life saver and her hero. The first time Walter went into action, Hazel had no idea what he was doing. Walter refused to be ignored and smacked her with his paw. She finally gave up, turned on the bedroom light and realized that her vision was blurred, a sign her blood sugar was low. Since that day, Walter has never failed to alert her when her blood sugar dips.

Evidently, some diseases, such as diabetes create a chemical change in the body that produces a smell that is too subtle for human noses but not felines.

She said: “When someone is suffering from a disease such as ­diabetes, chemical changes take place in their body that produce a smell that is too subtle for our noses.

This talent is usually one that dog’s exhibit and in fact, Hazel had gotten a dog with the intention of training her to be a diabetes dog but the dog “didn’t have a clue”.

An English zoo’s jungle cats would like your leftover perfume. Preferably Calvin Klein.

File this one under, “You’ve got to be kitten me!” Evidently big cats are attracted to fragrance. If you decide you don’t like the perfume you receive on Valentine’s Day, re-gift it to a lion. The Banham Zoo in Norfolk, England, put out an appeal this Tuesday for any unwanted fragrances, explaining its big cats are running low. Who knew that, cheetahs, jaguars and ocelots really like perfume — and they have  a preference for the designer labels.  

“For some reason Calvin Klein perfume is a huge hit with all big cats but in all honesty any perfumes work well and we do like to offer them a variety of different smells,” Mike Woolham, the zoo’s animal manager, said in a statement, adding that donations of aftershave were also welcome.

The zoo demonstrated in a short video this week how the cats “respond very positively” to scents more typically found at mall department stores. The reason is the ingredient, civetone, The civet, a small catlike mammal found throughout Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, marks its territory by secreting a distinctive scent from its anal glands. For hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years, those pheromones have been used in perfume, although today most fragrances rely on civetone, a lab-made copy.

Although fragrances such as Chanel No. 5 and Jovan Musk also contain civetone, the scent that seems to be the most popular with wildcats is Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men. This has been confirmed with zookeepers all over the world.

Now this curious cat is wondering, do little cats like the scent as much as big cats? If any of my readers have a bottle of Calvin Klein’s Obsession around the house, give it a try and let me know the results.

Rachel McIntyre Smith launching cat cafe tour

This feline loving singer will be touring cat café’s during her Kitten Coma Tour. She will sell merchandise related to her song, “The Kitten Song,” with all proceeds from those sales going to animal rescue organizations. You can watch Smith sing that song and others on YouTube.

The Kitten Coma Tour will travel from Tennessee to North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio. Smith released her self-titled debut album in April of last year showcasing her blend of country, indie and vintage pop.

Holistic Pet Care Team to host a Facebook live event focused on cats

CBD Dog Health and Two Crazy Cat Ladies, an all-natural product brand for cats in Las Vegas, will be hosting a free online event Feb. 15 focused on cannabidiol (CBD) products and other homeopathic remedies for cats. The event, which will be broadcast via Facebook Live, is part of the Healing Naturally Tour.

“We share a common goal with Adrienne and Jae, [owners of the Two Crazy Cat Ladies], to get our pets off of dangerous and unnecessary medications and help them heal naturally,” said Angela Ardolino, founder of CBD Dog Health, a Lutz, Fla.-based CBD manufacturer. “I know that together, we have a lot of information to share with our fellow cat people, and I can’t wait for cat chat.”

The Healing Naturally Tour is an alliance between Ardolino and Julie Anne Lee, DCH, founder of Adored Beast Apothecary. The tour will continue through mid-February, and will include sessions at veterinary offices, grooming and boarding salons, and boutique shops throughout California and Nevada