Happy Wednesday My Friends,
Alberto here, purrusing the best of the feline web. I hope you enjoy this week’s stories.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Microsoft Says it’s True: Cat Videos Distract Workers – Bloomberg
BOY do I have my whiskers in a twist over this one! Now humans are blaming adorable feline antics for a decrease in work productivity! Interesting that there is nothing mentioned about dog videos. Could this be a purrlitical ploy by the canine party? Methinks I smell a rat!
Science Says Dogs Can’t Count but Cats Might, While Frogs and Chickens are Math Whizzes – People Pets
Hah, take THAT canines! Oops, sorry, I’m still a bit annoyed by the last story. Still, it’s nice to have science confirm what you already knew. Of course, the human scientists don’t give a full testimonial for felines. They even make the snarky comment “…they are so difficult to control in a lab environment…” “…only if they feel like it…” Seriously, humans, do you really want to perpetuate old stereotypes about felines?
At least they did make some scientific observations, stating that “Apparently when the cats did decide to cooperate, they were as good at mathematical tests as fish..but these “good trials” were few and far between.” Answer me this human scientists, how come every one of the Tribe of Five know when it’s breakfast and dinner time, even when those silly humans change to and from that daylight savings thing?
Hmph, now my whiskers are in a twist again. I need to find a nice, feel good story next.
Reykjavík Catwalk: A Brief History Of Cats In Iceland – Grapevine
Okay, this one calmed me down and was a very nice history lesson. Cats may have been imported to Iceland but we’ve been there for quite a while, the estimate is that we were brought there sometime from 870-930. At that time, cats were already very popular in Nordic countries (how enlightened they were).
Evidently there are more cats in cities than in the country and this article says that might be because you have to apply for permission to keep a dog in many municipalities and then dog owners must pay a yearly fee. There are no fees for cat ownership. So if you’re planning on moving to Iceland, kitty will be welcome anywhere but be prepared to fill out some paperwork if your canine is coming along!
Whiskers in the Workplace, More Cats With Careers – BBC
Since the BBC did such a purrfect job of featuring working cats last week and, since this is one of my favorite subjects I thought this one needed to be included this week. Now Cricket Cats were completely new to me, as is cricket. But any game where a ball gets tossed back and forth works for me. And of course this is why the sport holds a fascination for felines.
The feline above, named Brian loves to hang out at the Somerset Country Cricket Club. “The handsome chap patrols the grounds and enjoys the ebb and flow of a county match.”
One of the most famous Cricket cats was Peter, the Lord’s cat, also known as the Marylebone Mog, who lived at the famous cricket ground in London from 1952 to 1964. When he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, he became the only animal to be given an obituary in the Wisden almanac. The obituary described him as a well-known cricket-watcher who could often be seen prowling on the field of play; that he loved publicity and frequently appeared on the television.
“CryptoKitties” is now coming to your phone—with new Chinese cats – Quartz
Do your humans mumble something about “bitcoin” or “crypto currency”? This has had no meaning nor did it create any interest with The Tribe of Five. Until we heard about KryptoKitties ,
Evidently this is a community where you can collect and breed virtual cats. Since the game was launched in late November, players have spent $19 million on this network. Meowza, that kind of money would buy a ton of cat nip, treats and fancy feline furniture!
Now CryptoKitties is about to get a lot bigger as it as a mobile phone app will be released in China, then Singapore and then globally after the China launch.
Players buy and sell digital kittens in a marketplace, and rent them out for breeding or have their own cats breed. Each cat comes with a specific set of attributes, and the rarest ones can get extremely expensive. So far the most valuable cat in the game changed hands in December for $110,000, according to CryptoKitties Sale.
Now , let me remind you that nothing beats the furry love a REAL kitty brings to your life and seriously, if you have $110,000.00 to spend on a virtual cat why not take that cash and donate it to your local shelter? You humans are really hard to figure out sometimes.
banned him from the building and even went so far as to create a wanted poster for the door.
instance, they do lots of neat things there and, aside from their special events, they even make it easy for visitors to understand what the cat cafe experience is. Check out their easy to understand graphic for visitors.
Japan’s First Cat Cafe Train Combines Eating, Traveling & Feline Bonding – Sora News 24
Stray Cats Find Home on Amsterdam Houseboat – SF Gate
Hundreds of Cats gather in Boston for first Caturday – Boston Globe
Step 1 – Clear the Way
Step 3 -Placing the Machine on the Mat
Step 5 -Turn the Human Loose
mean dangerous). You must remain until the walking is finished. We prefer two observation options, one is under the green chair and the other is as far away from the thing as we can get.
Step 7 – Cool Down Time
Step 8 -It Isn’t Just About The Human
Binky is not a cat to be messed with, as one criminal learned, the hard way. When this human tried to break in to a house, Binky was having none of it and not only did he prevent the burglar from getting anything in the house, he made sure the guy felt his wrath, the police had to call the purrr-a medics to treat the criminal’s injuries. Meow!
Cat Visits Every National Park And Enjoys It! – Distractify
A Formerly Homeless Tuxedo Cat Gives Back in A Wonderful Way – The Best Cat Page
Well this feline learned something new, never knew that cats were a tradition at the NY Times! The article says that the tradition started when foreign correspondents began to adopt and/or bring cats into their homes for companionship. Times journalists from Baghdad to Dakar to Pakistan, have continued the tradition of rescuing local cats and bringing them into their homes. It wasn’t only the love of cats but the ability to do something in places where there was so much misery and war. One correspondent described it this way, “At that point, in Baghdad, there were bombs going off several times a day, sometimes killing dozens of people at time,” he explained. “The cats were a catharsis. You were able to take care of them. You knew you were making a difference.” Many of these felines return home with the journalists and their families and find themselves in much “cushier” accommodations than their wartime digs.
Social media fame and stardom does have it’s drawbacks for felines just like humans. Take the case of Pepito, a French kitten with 34,000 Twitter followers (
The male human in our house is a tech professional and we often hear abut innovative stuff techies do. This is the first time I’ve heard of tech office news that is feline related. Ferray Corporation in Tokyo has 9 resident working felines at their office. Now lest my canine friends cry “foul”, no worries, Ferray Corp hosts bring your pet to work days and other species are invited. And even better, the company pays out a monthly bonus of 5,000 Yen ($42.00) to anyone who adopts a cat in need of a home.
Lisa Marie McKenzie received Romeo the cat as a Mother’s Day gift and she was thrilled, until she learned that pets weren’t allowed in her apartment. Rather than allowing her to give up the cat she loved, her neighbors stepped in with an unusual solution.
Those of you who follow my weekly Wednesday web wanderings know I’m a sucker for stores about cats with jobs and when the felines in question take matters into their own paws and get the jobs themselves, well, I must tell their stories.
While some people may be saying, “Are you kidding?” I say, IT’S ABOUT TIME!! The museum was created by Harold Sims, a retired college professor and cat shelter owner. Now I was surprised to learn that this is not the only cat museum in the world, there is one in Ohio that displays only Japanese toy cats, so this one is, strictly speaking the only one that honors house cats.
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