Hello Furiends,
Well, The Tribe has been languishing in the heat that we are experiencing in our neck of the woods. We have no desire to do anything except hang out on the upstairs deck, sleep and eat (and Oliver and I occasionally like to bully Lily, which we get in trouble for). This will explain why our photos from this week are almost identical to our photos from last week, it’s all about the cool deck time.

At least this week’s news items aren’t the same as last week. I hope you enjoy them!

 Feline Fashionista takes Instagram by storm

I know, many of us feel a certain type of way about dressing cats. My regular readers will recall the disastrous dinosaur and sushi costume event that were my two (and only) kerfuffles with clothing.

Still, there many felines who love wearing clothes and Prunella is one of them.  Often sphynx cats wear clothes to keep warm and, if  you’re gonna’ wear clothes, why not make it fun?

That’s how Prunella’s human, Dee Kitsch, started clothing her. When Prunella arrived from the breeder, she was wearing a cute little sweater to keep her warm and the rest is history.

Five year old Prunella’s human is a photographer and it was a natural transition for putting Prunella on Instagram and have her pose in custom outfits.

The photos give people something to smile about and Dee Kitsch and Prunella love their photoshoot time together.

I know many cats who love to dress up and, if you have a feline who enjoys wearing clothing, let her fashionista flag fly. As for those of us who would rather go to the vet than wear clothing, please allow us to live happily au naturel.  

After years of reporting in a war zone, journalist wonders if the cats she cared for in Kabul would remember her

Please take the time to read this story. It will bring (happy) tears to your eyes and reaffirm the truth that we felines love our humans and remember them.

Detained ‘drug smuggler’ cat escapes Sri Lanka prison

Oh my whiskers! A cat detained at Sri Lanka’s main prison while allegedly trying to smuggle drugs and cell phone SIM cards has escaped, media reports said Monday.

How the feline managed to make it into the high-security Welikada Prison is a mystery.

This felonious feline had nearly two grams of heroin, two SIM cards and a memory chip in a small plastic bag tied around his neck.

That cat escaped from a prison room where he was being held.

I can only hope that this feline has seen the error of his ways and plans to stay on the straight and narrow from now on.

Woman becomes pregnant and realizes it’s her cat’s fault

Playtonic1 is a Reddit user who happily announced the birth of his first child.  The couple wanted a second child but decided that during the pandemic hysteria, it would be better to wait.  They purchased the usual products to prevent unwanted pregnancy however they forgot about their cat’s habit of tearing up items found in drawers and cupboards.

When Mrs. Playtonic1’s pregnancy test came back positive they were shocked and couldn’t figure out what happened, until they found the shredded cause of the new pregnancy.

Being a feline who purrfers to be circumspect I won’t report on any more details but I am happy to tell you that the couple is delighted, despite the craziness in the world (and their latex chewing feline).

To find stray cat a home, her foster dad is giving grants to artists for her portrait

File this one under “human goes above and beyond to find a furever home for a cat.”

When Kyle Cassidy learned that a stray cat was frequenting his friend’s porch in West Philly, the longtime feline foster dad offered to take the girl in, certain he could find a home for her in three days or less. He posted her pictures on social media and asked his thousands of followers to help name her. The name Stabatha won.

When his “name that cat” contest didn’t get Stabatha a home, Cassidy, a West Philly writer and photographer started posting creative informative segments about Stabitha on Facebook such as, “ “She has an IQ of 122, speaks some French, and has put three stockbrokers in prison for insider trading.”

When this didn’t get Stabitha a furever home, artist Deanna Leist Aliano painted a portrait of Stabatha as an incentive for prospective adopters.

Inspired by that work, Cassidy created an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise money to pay out-of-work artists microgrants of $50 to paint Stabatha’s portrait, in the hope that the artworks might move someone to adopt her. “It was all part of a not really elaborate plot to keep her on people’s minds and have a street team trying to find her a home,” he said.

Since he began the campaign Monday, Cassidy has raised more than $600 ($100 more than his goal) and has given out seven grants. Artists from London to Italy have submitted portraits of Stabatha, portraying her as everything from a doctor fighting COVID-19 to an isolated kitty living in a surveillance state.

Still, affectionate, snuggly Stabatha, one of more than 4000,000 stray cats in Philadelphia,  is looking for a home.

“She’s extraordinarily chatty. When I come down to visit her in the morning, she tells me the story of the entire night, of all the birds and opossums that walked past the window,” he said. “But when you sit down, she’ll curl up on your foot.”

Cassidy said he’s had people from as far away as Georgia and Virginia offer to drive up and adopt Stabatha, but he wants her to remain a Philly cat. “I think stray cat problems are local and perennial,” he said. “If you drive up from Georgia to get this stray cat, you’re driving past thousands of other stray cats.”

Those interested in applying to adopt Stabatha can contact City Kitties, the Philadelphia foster-based rescue service that’s handling her adoption. She’s received three local adoption applications so far, but Cassidy is hoping for many more, so City Kitties can find her the best home.

“This is a win-win-win situation. It’s a perpetual motion machine of joy. Everybody gets something out of it,” he said. “Artists get groceries. The cat gets a home. And I get my front porch back.”

I give Kyle Cassidy our Paws Up Award for one of the most creative adoption ideas ever!