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!

And now, let’s get to the best of feline news on the web.

Once again, cats upend what scientists thought they knew about our fabulous felines

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.

Tabby, the new dating app for feline fanciers

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…”

John Nicolson’s cat’s tail interrupts meeting

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.

Cat has issues about human’s opera singing

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!

Klepto-Cat has strange preference for items he steals

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.