Happy Wednesday Furiends!
I hope life is good where you are. We are almost having summer….well, it’s always a bit dicey here in the inland northwest in May and early June but things are greening up and we got to have our first foray out on the upstairs deck.

The Female Human ordered something she calls a “cat stroller”. Evidently taking us outside in a harness and leash and standing watching us roll around in the garden wasn’t fun for her, so she decided to get a contraption where she zips us in and then wheels us through the neighborhood. Until she can guarantee us that she is not walking us the stabby place we will fight being placed inside and will sing the song of our people the entire time. Then there is the other issue, I am sure the neighborhood thinks our Human has lost her mind and it’s a bit embarrassing when the neighborhood cats sit on their porches and mock us. Sigh. Humans, what are you going to do with them?

How to help your cat adjust to you going back to work after lockdown

Many of you humans have been at home for quite a while. You’ve been sitting in the places on the sofa where we like to lounge when you’re at work, you have meetings on your computer and you yell at us when we walk across  your computer keyboard and you have been giving us lots of extra attention.

Now we hear that you will be leaving to go to that place you call work soon and we felines want to ensure that you help us with this transition. We’ve just gotten used to having  you at our beck and call and now you’ll be leaving us alone again.

Some of you humans think we’ll be gleeful at your departure but the truth is, we’ve gotten used to having you around.

Now keep in mind not all  of us felines are the same. There may be some who watch you walk out the door with a sigh of relief but many of us will be missing you very much. What is true about all of us is that we are all sensitive to change, some felines more than others. To help  your felines gradually adjust to your absence, the good folks at the RSCPA have some tips for you.

Feline Funny? Purrfect! We’ve Got the 50 Best Cat Jokes Fur You Right Meow! 

And speaking of our humans being stuck at home and all the other crazy things going on, I think you humans  could do with a good chuckle. Here are 50 jokes to make you meow with laughter. I’m going to share a couple of my favorites…

What’s a cat’s favorite TV show? (Claw & Order)
When cats need to go to the airport, who do they call? (A Tabby)
What’s it called when the treats are gone? (A cat-astrophe)

Be sure and check the link for the rest of the jokes.

Arizona Cat Has 2 Lbs. of Matted Fur Removed in Stunning Makeover — and Finds a New Home!

When the Arizona Human Society was called to help a cat with horribly matted hair they had their work cut out for them.

“I have seen some rather horrific cases in my time rescuing animals, but had never seen matting this bad – they were larger than her entire body,”  said Arizona Humane Society emergency animal medical technician Julie Bolchalk, who responded to the call.

The good news is that those wonderful folks were able to groom this sweet kitty and underneath that mess was a beautiful feline. The shelter saved off 2 pounds of fur from the cat’s 8 pound body. This makeover has an even a happier ending than Fluffer’s new look, she was adopted two days afterwards! That’s a feline Cinderella story if I’ve ever heard one.
Be sure and check out Fluffer’s “after” photo, she’s one beautiful girl.

Perfect Cat Portraits

Now that it has been established that cats own the internet, you humans are going crazy taking photos of us. For those of you who have real photography skills (translation-=you actually use a camera and not your smart phone), this video will give you some good tips.

Running out of things to do with your feline? How about playing video games together?

We felines enjoy making toys out of things that you humans use, the tops of pens, paperclips, and other stuff. This was not lost on game developer Willem Delventhal  who developed “Mew and Me,” a collection of cat-focused video games that are designed to not just entertain felines but to also better understand the cats in our homes.

Delventhal watched cats viewing birds on TV and decided he wanted to do something that would allow the cat to interact more.  What he learned is that cat’s vision is a factor in their interaction with a screen.  Bringing the screen closer will cause the cat’s whiskers to come forward, compensating for their vision deficits.

He says that about 30% of young cats will play “Mew and Me” with no human prodding, and about 50% will play if their pet owner also plays with the app.

His goal is to use the app to help cat owners forge a deeper emotional connection with their cats. Our Human downloaded the app but hasn’t had time to introduce us to it yet but I will report on a future Wednesday feature.