Hello Furiends,
I hope this finds you all healthy and still holding on to your sanity. The Tribe is trying to keep pawsitive and since the snow is finally melting, there is more to see outside. The neighborhood moose has been making his rounds and as soon as the spring bulbs come up, the deer will be showing up in the front garden to chomp on them (this makesThe Female Human very cranky!)

Now that the snow is finally melting and the sunshine is making an occasional appearance, The Tribe is taking advantage of every sun puddle we can find.

And speaking of Oliver, he’s really getting cranky about the Sunday morning wake up call for this “church” thing. In the good old days, The Female Human quietly slipped out of the house to go to this “church” place leaving us to snooze in as late as we wanted.

We’er getting so bored we decided to help The Female Human when she brings out that pink, comfy mat that she claims she does “exercises” on while watching a lady on the TV. I think she should just leave the thing out in the living room and let Oliver and I have fun with it.

But enough about the Tribe. Let’s talk about the interesting feline stuff we found on the wen this week.

Big Boy the UC Santa Barbara Cat is Enjoying the Indoor LIfe

There are a lot of campus kitties and I hope they are all being looked after as well as this UC Santa Barbara cat named Big Boy. Despite the fact that most employees are working at home now, Big Boy was offered a luxurious stay at the home of his “person of record”.

His daily schedule consists of feedings, occasional nizzles with the resident canine and a lot of naps.  He’s enjoying the domestic life so much the human is considering offering him retirement from being the community cat so he can continue the cushy life he is enjoying now.  Right now his other human caretakers are considering his future when everyone returns to school. Maybe semi-retirement will work but, whatever it is, we know Big Boy has good care! You can see more photos of Big Boy enjoying his new life here.

Soothing sounds of nature played to keep cats calm during lockdown

Do you know that we felines can be easily stressed? There are many reasons for this but one of the big ones is changing our routine. Cat’s like predictability and routine and when shelter cats are cut off from the world and don’t have access to their shelter workers and the public they are stressed.

This wonderful human,Senior cat care assistant Jane Francis realized that even though the workers were taking care of cats in her shelter, things were really quiet so she decided that, “… stimulating as many senses and natural behaviours as possible, without overloading them, could only be beneficial for the cats, especially the more sociable ones and kittens who are still learning about the world around them.”

She noticed that the cats and especially the kittens seemed to flourish and become more confident after they introduced the sounds into the shelter. You can watch a short video of Charlie the cat’s response to the soothing music.

MP3 players were set up in the cats’ pens for them to enjoy a variety of sounds like rainfall and bird songs, general garden sounds and other sounds of natue and the cats are responding positively! Way to go Mitcham Homing Centre in Surrey, run by Cats Protection!.

Sick of Being Stuck AT Home? This Traveling Cat’s New Book Will “Take You Away”

Suki makes a purrfect virtual tour guide. She has traveled the world with her humans Martina Gutfreund and Kenny Hildebrandt and now her humans have compiled her travels in a new book, Travels of Suki the Adventure Cat, which will be available in May from Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Suki came to live with her humans three years ago and they knew they wanted Suki to travel everywhere they went…and she did.  Suki has taken to the wandering life like a duck to water. Her humans call her “extremely curious, energetic and bold”, traits that make her the purrfect adventure cat.

Regardless of where they go, Suki is content on their trips as long as she gets to visit nature — she adores “hiking, canoeing, or just lounging in the woods” — and even earns her keep with modeling sessions.

St. Petersburg cat cafe launches online video service featuring Hermitage felines

And speaking of virtual travel, a famous Cat Café in St. Petersburg Russia has launched an online video service where cat lovers can watch the felines.

The café has published CV’s for all the felines as they all are available for adoption. The Café states that, “All our cats have a veterinary passport and a “dowry.” Now I’ve never heard of a cat with a dowry but purrhaps this description is due to the difficulty of translating from Russian to English.

Man Files HR Complaint Against His Feline At Home Coworker

Andrew Stych and his wife, Sheila, are experiencing the phenomenon of working at home with four felines.  One of the feline coworkers, Penelope,  has proven to be a bit of a problem, so much so that Andrew had to file a complaint with HR.

“Penelope, this letter serves to formally document your failure to comply with household regulations, and your lack of adherence to workspace polices,” says the hilarious letter. “You have been a great contributor to workplace morale and have been meeting your quota with regards to cuteness and chasing hair ties. However, your continual insistence on attempting to (or succeeding in) shutting off the power strip and computer in the middle of work hours, insistence on stepping on the keyboard during critical company events, and general mayhem has resulted in significant loss of productivity. We value your contribution to the household, but you must demonstrate an immediate and permanent alteration to your workplace habits or you may face more severe repercussions up to and and including withholding treats.”

Evidently, the whole human/feline coworking thing may not be as successful as some of you humans think.