Hello There Furiends, It’s been a while since we purrticipated in Friday fill-ins and we’re looking forward to joining the blog hop this week.
Every Thursday Ellen of 15andmeowing and Lorianne of Four-Legged Furballs, provide Friendly Fill-in questions. All you need to do is answer the questions and then join the “hop”. You are always welcome to meow your answers in the comments too,.
Here are the fill-in questions: 1. If you want ___________, you have to ____________. 2. During the month of August, I plan to ______________. 3. Others might think it’s strange that I _________. 4. _________ seems so far away.
And here are my answers:
1. If you want to see the squirrel in the tree, you have to have a lot of patience!
2. During the month of August, I plan to move as little as possible. It is far too HOT in our neck of the woods!
3. Others might think it’s strange that I am interested in developing my skills as a chef.
You humans need to keep track of your felines! I can’t believe how many stories I’ve featured this year about hitchhiking cats! There was even one who stowed away on a plane.
This feline from Redvers, Saskatoon in Canada took an unexpected trip to the United States. Thankfully he made it back home thanks to the help of truck driver Jack Shao.
Chylisse Marchand said she let Spooky the cat outside along with her two other cats Wednesday night. “I just kind of assumed that in the morning … they would all three come running the way they normally do,” she said. “And my other two cats did but Spooky did not.”
Chylisse began to grow more nervous as the day went on. She went through her community searching for her kitty but no one had seen a black cat.
Imagine how surprised she was when her veterinarian called her at 11:30pm and said, “I have a Jack Shao, a trucker on the other line, he’s in the U.S. right now, but he has your cat.”
The trucker was going to be back in Redvers the next day and was willing to bring the cat back but he was nerovous about bringing a cat across the border (Spooky wasn’t carrying his passport with him).
Marchand phoned the border and made arrangements for Spooky to cross and arranged to meet the truck driver to pick up Spooky.
It was a happy reunion and a good reminder to you humans that July is National Lost Pet Prevention Month. If Spooky wouldn’t have been microchipped, he might never had made it home.
Qiu Qiao has been making clothes for her cat, Liu Liu. Since she decided to quit her job and turn her cat clothes into a business, she’s been cashing in. She designs, selects fabrics and matching accessories for her feline clothing line. Her Taobao shop in China sold out of all it’s items on opening day.
Now, a year after the store opened she has 16,000 fans for her clothing line and her top model, Liu Liu.
I happen to know a number of felines who enjoy wearing clothing and think they would look pawsome in some of these outfits.
No, this lady isn’t painting cats on canvas….the cats are the canvas!
After being stressed out by her corporate job, Patricia Lee decided she’d switch careers and use her artsy side to become a cat groomer.
Patricia has creatively groomed over thirty different cats, and does traditional cat grooming as well. Her star feline runway model, Princess Shadowina, with whom Patricia has won several awards, passed away at the age of 20 earlier this year. She is now training two of her current pet cats, two-and-a-half-year-old Special Agent Gibbs and five-and-a-half-year-old IV Baby to be her next catwalk models to showcase her crazy designs.
Patricia said: ‘Dogs can guide themselves down the runway to be judged in grooming competitions, but I have to steer the cats myself. ‘They take longer to groom than dogs because they don’t stand still. (Well if I had some wacky human heading toward me with clippers and dye, I wouldn’t stand still either!)
It’s not surprising that Patricia has faced some negative comments from people who accuse her of mistreating her feline friends, but she says she is certain that the cats love being groomed as much as she loves grooming them. She said: ‘It’s not cruel as you’re not doing the designs on every single animal. ‘It’s all about doing it on the right animals.‘If it’s a cat that doesn’t like being handled then it’s not the right candidate. ‘My other cat Squishy doesn’t get creatively groomed because she doesn’t like being petted. ‘It depends on the character of the cats.’
Hmm, what do you think furiends? I took a look at the photos and those kitties didn’t look too happy.
It this monitor can do all it says it can do we are on board! Having lost our beloved Tucker and Jasmine in the last 4 months, we know how fast feline health can change.. These folks are running a Kickstarter program to fund their WeCare health monitor that they say works by monitoring litterbox habits by marking subtle changes in weight and other litterbox issues.
Our first thought was, “how does this work in multi cat households” but it appears they’ve already thought about that. Evidently the device recognizes different cats and each cat’s health history can be tracked separately. Now all we need to find out is if our humans can afford multiple devices for all the litter boxes in the house. What do you think about this?
A creative animal shelter is using the age old debate, “Are cats or dogs better?” to raise money for a new facility. Tri-County Humane Society in Minnesota is asking animal lovers to put their votes (and their money) where their hearts are. Money donated will benefit all the animals that TCJHS cares for and help them move into their new facility. They need lots of votes as the new facility is still about $2 million short of opening.
Those who give at least $50 through the Cats Vs. Dogs campaign will be able to have their pet’s photo featured in a mosaic that will be hung in the new shelter. I would certainly hope that my readers would be voting for the felines!
We have some wonderful furiends at Zoolatry who create beautiful monthly tributes to those who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We wanted to share the tributes for our Angel Tribe members Tucker and his sister Jasmine. We sure do miss them!
If you click on the photo it will take you to their memorial page
Hello Furiends, It’s been rather boring in our neck of the woods. The Female Human’s ankle is healing nicely and our pampering schedule is back to normal.
It has been a bit warm. We’re not used to any temperature in the high 80’s so when it gets hot, we just hang out and do as little as possible. In case any of our furiends do not have the skill of “hanging out and doing as little as possible” Oliver has included visual instructions.
We trust these instructive photos will be helpful.
Well, enough about us and on to the latest feline news.
I’ve heard of cat furniture and human furniture but this is the first time I’ve heard of cat AND human furniture. The CatYou in a circle is a new modular design for both.
The marketing material says that the set includes “a floor sofa and a coffee table that aims to create a relaxing space for cats and their owners”. The designer of this furniture distributed questionnaires and, after 233 responses, began the design. It was discovered that 1/3 of cat owners live in spaces that are under 50 square meters. That’s just a tad over 538 square feet. Methinks this survey was not done in the U.S.
What the designer learned from the surveys was that cats don’t have enough hiding space, traditional cat furniture takes up too much living space and people want more room to bond with their cats.
CatYou in a Circle didn’t want to separate the pets from their owners so it is designed to bring them together while also maintaining boundaries. The hollow armrests and backrest offer cats a playground and hiding territory while the coffee table provides a place to sleep. The woven bamboo texture makes it possible for owners to see their cats even when they are hiding and play with through its holes. There are fabric cushions at the bottom of the armrests and coffee table.
Our Human is still trying to figure out what she thinks about this furniture. Meow at us and let us know what you think.
Image copyright PA – Churchill requested that there should always be a cat with four white paws and a white bib at Chartwell
Now you human leaders take note. Sir Winston Churchill requested that a specific type of feline always take up residence at his home. A new rescue kitten is now living at Chartwell, in Kent, England.
The former prime minister was given a marmalade cat by one of his private secretaries, Sir John “Jock” Colville, for his 88th birthday in 1962 and Jock made it to many cabinet meeting. There is a rumor that meals could not begin unless Jock was at the table. (I sure wish we had that rule at my house!)
The good folks at the National Trust, which was left the property by Churchill’s family in 1966, has always honored the request. This month, seven-month old Jock VI moved in.
Trust officials say he takes afternoon naps, eats tuna and lounges on Persian rugs at the house. Jock had a tough start to his life but he’s living the vida loca now!
The folks at the Natural Trust say, “He’s a very caring, loving cat and I think our visitors will get lots of enjoyment from seeing him around the property for many years to come.”
This is a good news/bad news story and our Female Human insisted I include it because I have a bad habit of chewing plastic and rubber. Vets originally thought five-year-old Waffles had cancer, however an operation revealed the large mass in his tummy was actually hair elastics, string from cat toys, and yarn from his scratching post. Now, it’s good news that Waffles didn’t have cancer but the bad news is that all surgery could have been avoided had he not eaten that stuff! Note to self, stay away from the rubber bands!
This one is for all you humans with too many cat trinkets…and you know who you are.
A couple in Menomonee Falls have rescued 21 cats from the streets or shelters — and thousands of cat items from secondhand shops. At last count they had more than 1,750 cat figurines, hundreds of collector plates, enough artwork to fill full walls of their home, as well as toys, cookie jars, jewelry, and more.
The clever husband came up with the idea to put all these treasures on display for others to see and to raise money for cat rescues. and this is how Redner’s Rescued Cat Figurine Mewseum was born.
“It (the museum) is very time-consuming because I want it to look good,” he said. “It takes time to get the right pieces in the right place.”
Redner estimated that they have spent “a couple thousand dollars, a few bucks at a time” on the collection and now you can see it too!
A soft opening for the museum was scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. July 19.
Moving forward, Redner plans to have the museum, N88 W15114 Cleveland Ave., Menomonee Falls, open from noon to 6 p.m. the third Sunday of every month. For updates, visit the museum’s Facebook page.
Admission is $5, which will be donated to local rescues; kids age 12 and younger get in for free. As operations get underway, Redner hopes to host a different rescue group every time the museum is open to talk about what it does and provide cat adoption information.
In the future, Redner dreams of moving the museum into a separate building and adding a cat adoption center.
Purrhaps it’s time for our Female Human to consider putting some of her cat collection on display!
We felines have taken over the internet and although most of the cat stuff you see online is good, the Meow Bot is NOT!
It seems as though the Meow Bot was created to destroy databases that leave themselves open and exposed online without any security access controls.
Sadly, dozens of databases have already fallen victim to the unknown attacker.
Who is behind the Meow attacks?
Although the motive behind the Meow bot attacks is not yet known, nor has anyone figured out where the attacks come from, some computer experts say it could be the work of a vigilante “trying to give administrators a hard lesson in security.”
This is a heads up to all you feline aficionados who run databases, make sure they are secure! And for all of us with PC’s the Meow Bot is not designed for us but it’s always prudent to be very careful about what you open or click on! And by the way, I hiss in the direction of those malicious bot creators!
Hello There Furiends, It’s been rather quiet in our neck of the woods as our Human was a bit incapacitated this week. I wish I had an exciting story to tell you about how this happened but sadly, it was a rather dumb “accident”.
She exited her car a few days ago, clad in a pair of her favorite espadrilles like the ones in the photo. As she commenced her walk into the place she calls “her business” her left foot hit a very rough spot in the pavement, her ankle buckled and she “fell off” her shoe. She soldiered on and spent the rest of the day walking, climbing stairs, etc. until the pain became so bad and the swelling so big she had to come home.
Once home she attended to her rapidly expanding ankle.(It was not a pretty sight.)
She phoned her doctor and followed his instructions. She hobbled over to the sofa and propped her ankle up with a bag of frozen veggies to staunch the swelling. She took a Tylenol and had a glass of wine. She no sooner settled herself when the designated feline physician (Oliver) hopped up and began to administer purr therapy. I am pleased to announce that the ankle is almost healed, the pain is almost gone and our meal, petting and play times have commenced according to the regular schedule. The moral to this story is – never underestimate the power of purr therapy!
Dr. Oliver to the rescue
And now, let’s get to the best of feline news on the web.
Once again you humans have had to rethink the things you thought you knew about us felines. In a new study, scientists examined the relationship between humans and cats during the Neolithic Period to pinpoint when cats became pets. This study indicates that, in Europe, the road to becoming a housecat began when Near Eastern wildcats, the ancestor of domestic cats, followed early farmers to the continent. Folks, we’re talking about a study based on wildcat bones discovered that are dated to 4,200 to 2,300 BCE.
I’m not going to get into all the detailed sciency stuff but the bottom line is the scientist who made this discovery from cat remains found in caves in Poland found out that the cats followed the farmers to Europe. She says that the relationship between cats and farmers ignited cat domestication and the descendants of five wild cat breeds spread across the world.
The scientist said, “”In the light of data we published previously and in the current paper, cats accompanied people in Central Europe for thousands of years, staying somewhere between being wild and domesticated, and possibly also feral.For millennia, cats were only natural allies of humans in their constant fight against rodents, rather than domesticated pets.”
These Poland cave discoveries prove that they are the earliest evidence of the migration of the Near Eastern cat so far and that cats and farmers had similar relationships as cats and farmers do today, the cat enjoys shelter, friendship, and some food from the famer while the farmer enjoys the rodent extermination abilities of the cats. It’s a “win win” that’s been going on for centuries.
Now that I have debunked the myth that women are not interested in dating men who are cat lovers, I was pleased to see that sisters Leigh and Casey Isaacson have developed Tabby, a feline lovers dating app.
Cat lovers will be able to meet, plan cat friendly dates, get deals from cat companies and share videos, photos and stories. The release date for Tabby is set for August 8 which is International Cat Day. You can get on the waitlist for Tabby if you go to their website where they say, “Coming soon. Sign up to get on the waitlist, we’re not kitten around…”
MOL! I don’t know whether this should be classified as “cats in politics” or “cats in video meetings” This British member of Parliament, John Nicolson, had his virtual meeting interrupted when his cat Rojo’s tail made an appearance on the screen bringing a temporary halt to a Parliamentary committee discussion.
I….can’t…stop…laughing! This is one of the funniest videos this feline has ever seen. The human decides to punish the cat for hissing by singing opera and the reaction of the feline in this 11-second video is definitely a MOL moment! The title of the video is “I’ll never hiss again”. Poor kitty!
I’ve reported on thieving felines who took shoes, underwear, socks, etc. but this is a new one. Avery, a cat from Bristol, England has recently taken to bringing swimming goggles to his human. To date Sally Bell, Avery’s human has received eight pairs of these goggles.
The human has checked with the neighbors but no one seems to be missing goggles. In the past Avery has gifted his human with mice and frogs but it seems he has changed his gift giving habits. Avery doesn’t play with the goggles, just leaves them as gifts for his human.
Sally Bell put out a call on social media to attempt to try and reunite the goggles with their owners. No one has claimed the goggles but Avery has become a celebrity and the folks in England have gotten a good laugh out of Avery’s strange habits.
I am thankful that even though we are indoor kitties, we have lots of windows to look out of and we get to “walk” around the garden or “stroll” around the neighborhood!
Hello Furiends, I hope all of you in the good old U.S.A. had a fantastic Independence Day. Our Female Human had a great time, helping to build floats and hanging out with her relatives at the lake. The closest we felines got to water was the shower in the Human’s bathroom!
I am not happy. The Female Human left us alone and spent time hanging out with a dog!
So we were left behind and the Human scampered off to the lake to spend time with her human relatives and (gasp) our canine cousin. And where were we? Left alone at home. Oh the cruelty!
While she galavanted around the lake with our canine cousin, the only water we had to play in was the shower but there was no one to turn the water on for us!
Playing at the lake …
Here is the proof of The Human’s treachery.
…while we are left to find water in the shower!
Well, enough griping, let’s get on with the best of the feline news for this week.
I’ve reported on the new “Grumpy Cat” and now I’ve found out there is a “saddest cat in the world”.
This feline from China has markings that make him look very sad. A student first spotted the cat, videoed him and posted the video on TikTok. The cat became a world-wide sensation and some folks call him “a real life emoji” The student believes the cat is a stray and returns to the street regularly to make sure he has food and water and is okay. I sure hope someone gives this melancholy guy a furever home soon.
Bob Carter, the coordinator of Honiton Cat’s Protection was so excited about the shelter’s reopening that he and four members of Axe Valley Runners in England ran a 5K route shaped like a cat. The women in the race wore cat ears.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, those Brits are cat loving folks!
I reported on the antics of the cat at Canterbury Cathedral when he disappeared under the Dean’s robes during an online church service. Well, that camera loving feline made another appearance on an online church video when he hopped on a chair next to the Dean to help himself to some milk.
Do felines dream? According to Dr. Katy Nelson, senior vet at Chewy the answer is yes. Dr. Nelson says, “There are two types of sleep: REM and non-REM,” During REM, the sleeper’s eyes move rapidly and the brain’s activity is similar to an awake state. This is when dreaming occurs. Young animals spend more time in REM than older animals possibly due to the large amount of new information that they encounter each day and the need to process it all.
You humans dream about your lives and, according to Dr. Nelson so do cats. She says, “Well, since we’re unable to ask them what they dream about, we have to deduce that, similar to us, they dream about their day,. If they went outside and saw a bird and another kitty friend, those images are likely what is playing through their mind during sleep. Perhaps they’re even dreaming about you, their delicious dinner, and the pens and chapstick that they pushed off of your table just so they could watch them fall!”
Can cats have nightmares? The doctor says, “Just like us, animals dreams may not always be happy or based on their reality. Nightmares are suspected to be the way that our minds determine the best course of action in case that dream experience occurs during waking hours,” says Dr. Nelson. “Our cats aren’t likely to dream of monsters or missing a final exam like we do, but who knows…maybe they dream of oversized mice or seeing the bottom of their food bowl!”
And that answers the mystery of “do cats dream”! And right now, I’m dreaming of some nice tuna for dinner.
I’ve reported on cats taking “surprise” vacations in the past but this is a new one. This feline hitched a ride on a military flight that landed in Bangor Maine Tuesday night and flew out Wednesday.
The airport marketing director, Aimiee Thibodeau said, “We’re calling it the feline recovery mission.” No one is sure when the friendly gray and white male boarded the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane.
The origin of the flight was Travis Air Force Base in California and it made a stop in Colorado Springs before arriving in Bangor.
The plane’s flight crew discovered the cat in the cargo hold hiding behind some crates. It wasn’t clear if the cat was discovered in-flight or after landing in Bangor. Crew members brought the cat to the airport maintenance office, where the feline stowaway tried to make a break for it but was quickly captured. Once the cat was in the captor’s arms he snuggled down and began purring.
The cat was taken to the Bangor Humane Society where he is now resting after his possible 3,200 mile trip which could have been even longer as the plane was headed overseas.
The mission now is to get the cat back home. Both Air Force bases have been contacted but no one knew about a lost cat but the shelter workers are sure that this cat did have a home.
A photo of the cat has been posted on the airports Facebook page and the Human Society will be posting a photo on their social media.
The Shelter says the cat doesn’t have a microchip but they are convinced by their observations of the behavior of the cat that he has a home……somewhere.
Home | felineopines 