Walk Through The Web Wednesday 1/08

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello there furiends,
Yes, I admit it, I took some time off and I quite enjoyed the rest (you know we felines need our rest!) But the proverbial party is over and it’s time to get back to work. I have a lot to cover since I’ve been slacking (and gave our Purrsonal assistant some time off). The Female Human is not a fan of early mornings and she and Oliver enjoyed hanging out and having a conversation over coffee (Oliver doesn’t drink coffee, he just likes the warmth of the cup).

I on the other hand, have been chomping at the bit to get back to work. The Female Human has an office that is for working and for doing crafts. I must say I love all the craft goodies on the shelf. I have no idea why she gets her whiskers in such a twist when I help myself to some craft supplies, sheesh, how selfish can you get?

“Hmm, let’s see what I can get into here. She really needs to tidy up these shelves.”
Alberto

The good thing about The Female Human having this craft/work situation is that she has a table rather than a desk and this table has an “Alberto extension”. This makes it much easier for me to snoopervise her while she works.

Well, it’s time for me to get to the feline news.

CHONK Statistics Revealed

For those of you who follow my Wednesday web wanderings, you know that our all time favorite Facebook group is This Cat is CHONKY. The humans and felines in this group are some of the greatest we’ve ever met (we’ll be writing more about why this is) but for now, here is only one example. A very mathematically motivated human in the group has created a Universal CHONK index so that the debate about whether your home is filled with CHONKS, SLONKS or FLOOFS can finally be steeled.

Ellis Mumford-Russell has taken on this herculean task and it has settled many debates in the CHONK community. We now have numerical and provable CHONK standards. If this is all a bit confusing to you I suggest you join the This Cat is CHONKY group and get to know the CHONKS AND the wonderful humans they live with and for heaven’s sake before you identify your felines as HEFTY CHONK, MEGA CHONK, etc. please refer to this index.

Universal Chonk Index Update

It is with great pleasure that I unveil the findings of our UCI survey. I charted the 54 data points, which you can see here.

(explanation of UCI here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/133018060894811/permalink/560333531496593/?hc_location=ufi)

A few things:
1. You’ll see cat names listed on the bottom. If people didn’t list cat names, I put the human’s name with an asterisk after
2. Remember, the smaller the number, the more chonky the cat

Most Chonky Cat = Matita w/UCI 1.17
Most Slonky Cat = Noel w/UCI 4.75
Average = 1.8657
Median = 1.7222
Mode = 1.7000

UPDATE: photos now included below for Matita and Noel so that we can see the scale of C H O N K –> S L O N K ??

Proposed Chonk Standards

Given that I presume that the sample group skews chonky, I propose the following standards:
this cat is C H O N K Y ≤ 1.7
this cat is A V E R A G E = 1.71-1.9
this cat is S L O N K Y ≥ 2

Diving further into the data, here are my suggested parameters for the following categories of cat:
some sort of snake cat ≥ 4
l o n g b o i ≥ 3
A fine boi = 1.71-2.9
He Chomnk = 1.6-1.7
A Heckin’ Chonker = 1.5-1.59
H E F T Y C H O N K = 1.4-1.49
M E G A C H O N K E R = 1.3-1.39
AW LAWD HE COMIN’ ≤ 1.29

Use these findings as you see fit.

View the data here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UlWWRg6kLF1-MIT7om4WV-7TmsX-t1AAwuEX7DMy7OI/edit?usp=sharing

LuluPet’s AI Litterbox will analyze your feline’s “deposits” and check for health issues

LuluPet’s intelligent litter box not only detects littering frequency and litter weight but also the condition of the litter (normal, constipation, diarrhea, etc.). After judging litter conditions through the use of AI image restoration, it uses this data to notify the owner of the cat’s health.

If our Female Human had a dollar for every time she’s had to describe to the vet the appearance and texture of the poop of The Tribe of Five, she’d be a rich woman, And gathering this information accurately when you have a multi cat household and numerous cat boxes is like searching for the holy grail.

But take heart humans, LuLuPet has a litter box with “built-in stool and urine image recognition” to analyze our… deposits. And why have an AI litter box that does this? It’s for the health of your felines, of course. The Female Human paid purrrticular attention when she read that the LuLuPet device can be set to determine which poop is from which cat.

When the cat walks into the litter box, the information is sent to an app on the human’s phone. The company says that the litter box is Alexa- and Google Home-enabled. This offers more questions than answers. Whose voice does it respond to? If it’s the felines, do we have to learn special meows? If it’s the human, what is the voice command? The next feature has Oliver’s whiskers in a twist because the litter box can weigh your feline and determine whether the cat is too fat. That brings me to another question; will they be employing the CHONK data information noted in the article above?

Evidently this wonder litter box can also determine if the cat needs more food or water.

LuluPets joins many other smart litter boxes but most of those boxes focus on cleaning the box and not analyzing the cat’s health. And there’s even a built in camera although this causes me to wonder, can’t a cat get some privacy?! The thought of my human watching me “do my business” over her phone app is a bit off-putting and frankly, an invasion of my privacy. LuluPet says that these photos are uploaded to the LuluPet library and are used to compare the different “deposits” of the other felines.

Now don’t get me wrong, this thing could really be a help with cat health, but I’m having a bit of difficulty believing that it will be as effective as the company says it will be. But, time will tell. This smart litter box is slated to be sold on Amazon in March for $149.00.

Canyon Ranch Inspired Resort for Felines…Human send me right meow!

Cat’s Meow resort was founded by Kim Thomas who took her business acumen and love of cats and created her feline resort, Cat’s Meow. She refers to it as the Canyon Ranch for felines. She began her feline career with a pet sitter service and said that she noticed many of the cats she cared for were in need of grooming. She did her research, connected with the National Cat Groomer’s institute and became a master cat groomer.

She loved grooming felines, bet felt something was missing in the marketplace. She wanted to create a place where cats could enjoy luxurious, stress-free, happy cat boarding without the distraction and fear of dogs —- along with the latest in cat grooming. and Cat’s Meow Resort was born.

The spaces at Cat’s Meow are pawsome and very elegant and the grooming options are amazing. If you want to up your feline’s star quality, this is the place to stay. I would be tempted but traveling. If I didn’t find the idea of being stuffed in a carrier and traveling the 2682 miles from my home to the resort holds no interest for me! If any of my east coast feline furiends have a stay or a grooming session there, let me know.

Gus the Cat Entered in Australian Dog Swimming Race

. Gus also enjoys paddle-boarding, cycling and hiking. Photograph: Alec Smart

The Scotland Island dog swimming race has been held for 44 years in the Sydney area. This year an entrant nabbed Gus shook things up a bit as he is an 11-month old Tonkinese cat. Gus’ human, Glenn Druery had been training the feline in Middle Harbor. Gus enjoys other water sports like kayaking and paddle boarding.

The Tonkinese breed is a cross between Siamese and Burmese and is known for not being fearful of water. Still, Gus is nowhere near the size and strength of the dogs that compete in the 500 meter swim. Druery checked the rules and noted that a human can swim alongside the four legged contestants.

Needless to say, ther4 was controversy about Gus’ entering the race with many saying that it should be kept as a dog race, stating reasons such as, “it’s cruel to the cat, it’s dangerous to the cat and it will upset the dogs.”

Druery assured the sceptics that he’d be swimming alongside Gus and, if Gus ran into any trouble, he’d climb on Druery’s shoulders.

Druery’s black Border collie, Bob, swam in the race twice and finished third and was declared the overall winner in the 2015 race. Sadly, Bob passed away from cancer.

Gus came in first in his category and is now a feline Australian sensation.

Osaka Hotel Offers Rooms With A View….Of Cats

Each room has an observation window looking into the cat’s play area

There are hotels for cats and now there are hotels for cat lovers. Neko Hatago is a hotel where guests can watch 16 resident rescue cats chilling in the adjacent cat café Neko Yokujo through an observation window in each hotel room. The hotel opened in mid-December. It has a traditional Japanese aesthetic, with traditional wooden fixtures, tatami mats and a rainbow Mt Fuji mural presiding over the cat café. The hotel is more hostel than a luxury property. The rooms have individual bunks for one or two people with a separate shared bath facility. There is an observation window in each room that looks into the cats play area. The windows are designed so you can observe the cats but neither you nor the other human guests can see each other. There are radio controlled toys that you can use to play with the cats.

Rates run between 8500 Yen ($79.00 USD) to 11,500 Yen ($105.00 USD) and include a two-hour session in the cat café outside of regular hours. And, if you and one of the kitties connect you can adopt a new friend as all the cats are available for adoption.

How Dare You Call My Cat Geriatric! (The Female Human Opines)

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Feline Opines

Although I didn’t say the words out loud that‘s exactly what I thought all those years ago when my beloved Miss P was being examined by the vet. I struggled to paste a smile on my face as I gazed into the blue eyes of my sassy Lynx Point feline. Granted, she was 10 years old but she still looked like the sassy little kitten I’d first met. The kitten who began life as “Puddy” but let me know in no uncertain terms that she required a more dignified moniker and soon became known as Miss P.

Miss P was with me for nine more wonderful years and during that time I began to learn to not only accept the geriatric time of her life but to embrace and enjoy it. She’s been gone for five years now and I am happy to say every memory I have of her is a joyful one.

A year and a half ago my world was rocked when 17-year old Jasmine was diagnosed with kidney disease. I immediately went to the worst case scenario, my heart was broken and tears flowed so fast couldn’t concentrate on the lesson the vet tech was attempting to give me in administering subcutaneous fluids. Then, something the vet tech said permeated my fog of sorrow.

“Anita, we’ve had so many kitties live many good years with this diagnosis on sub-Q fluids.”

I grabbed a tissue, blew my nose and said hopefully, “Really?”

Their Senior Years Are Only A New Stage

That was the moment I turned the corner and began to embrace the reality of my cat’s senior days. I thought through Jasmine’s treatment and felt that no matter how hard it would be for me to give her the fluids, she deserved much better than being terrified by a vet trip every other day. I screwed up my courage and learned how to administer the fluids myself. We discussed what Jasmine needed and how to monitor her health. I left the vets that day with prescription food, sub-Q fluids and a hopeful heart.

It took a few weeks to get Jasmine stable. We made one more vet trip when she seemed to be in distress but we managed to get her back on track. I monitor her weight, give her fluids religiously (although she has some issues with this as seen in this short video) and make sure she’s hydrated and her diet is low in phosphates. Instead of bemoaning the fact that she’s a senior I take the time to create new rituals and fun times together. Now, while I give her fluids, she also gets an Inaba Churu Grain-Free Chicken lickable treat and despite her meows to the contrary, she enjoys the new addition to the treatment.

“I do not appreicate being poked with a needle!
Jasmine

It’s natural to want our felines to remain kittens forever but if we don’t embrace all their stages of life we miss so much. Tucker, Jasmines brother, Jasmine and I have developed routines and ways of living together over these 17 years that are a constant blessing to me. Yes, there are adjustments. Tucker can no longer come out on the deck with me and sit on the railing as his poor depth perception has made him more tentative in gauging how much space he has on that ledge. There is a 35 foot drop into the woods from that ledge that he already misjudged a number of years ago so now he and all the cats enjoy the great outdoors in their pop up catio.

Tucker, in his younger days, sunning on the ledge of the upstairs deck.

Jasmine went through a stressful time of bullying and, as a result, she now lives in the bedroom suite. I tried to reintegrate her into the rest of the house for several years but I finally had to respect her wishes to have her own space. Since the arrival of my “foster failures” Alberto and Oliver, she does have periodic visitors and enjoys bossing them around. I constantly look for other ways to enrich her environment as well.

Tucker’ has always been a rather “laid back” fellow which is only enhanced in his senior years. Still, there are things he does that delight and often amaze me. He likes to jump up on the stools at the kitchen counter and then hop up on the counter to “snoopervise” the goings on in the kitchen (he is a cat that lives to eat and this proclivity for eating seems to have been enhanced over the years). I would never dream of chasing him off the counter. If the old guy can make it up there, he deserves to stay there. Any visitors to my house have to deal with the fact that the counter is religiously cleaned with cat-friendly disinfectant and is often decorated by a rather large, cross-eyed feline. He has also been known to enjoy box sitting sessions and giving the “young ones” the occasional whacky paw when he deems them to be annoying. Tucker makes sure he never misses an opportunity to roll in some nip as well..

A little “nip” sprinkled on the counter will always get this old guy moving. Look at that happy face.

Granted, life and routines change over time but that doesn’t mean the changes are bad. Many are quite enjoyable. As you navigate the senior years of your cat, consider these five lessons for living with and loving geriatric felines that I’ve learned.

The Five Rules For Your Cats Geriatric Years

Plan financially for your cat’s senior years. As they age, cats will require more veterinary visits than they did as young felines. Think about getting pet insurance when they’re young or, start a savings plan for their medical needs. I have a line item in my budget for “Cat Medical”. Whatever I don’t use in a month, I put in savings as insurance.
Make sure you begin a habit of yearly wellness exams for your cats. Wellness exams help your vet identify and treat potential problems at their earliest stages.
Have a first class pet sitter. If I have to leave home, I need more than someone who will come in and feed twice a day. Both Tucker and Jasmine have medical needs that must be addressed and medications that need to be dispensed. My sitter needs to know what to look for if the cats are not feeling well and when to take them to the vet. I always make arrangements with my vet before I leave in case my cats need medical attention.
Just because they aren’t as active as they used to be doesn’t mean they don’t need environmental enrichment. Tucker enjoys box sitting and catnip is still a favorite.Jasmine has an assortment of toys and enjoys the occasional roll in the nip too.
Love them and enjoy them and be thankful for every day you have with them.

Charles Dickens said, “What greater gift than the love of a cat?” and if we can receive that love for 19, 20 or more years, what a wonderful gift that is.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 12/4

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Feline Opines

Hi There Furiends,
I’m hoping we make it through this week without any technical difficulties. The Purrsonal Assistant is doped up on antibiotics but we asked Alexa (can’t Google without opposable thumbs) and we think the meds should not interfere with work, although Alexa kept trying to give us all sorts of useless information like “Meow is the sound a cat makes” and she even meowed back. I have no ideas why you humans are so crazy about these voice devices. When we can pry the Purrsonal Assistant away from her phone we might give SIRI a try.

It was a nice Thanksgiving although the Female Human went to another house and did not make the turkey and there was no turkey for us. She did redeem herself by giving us extra treats. As you can see below, Oliver and I were a bit lethargic in our regularly scheduled brofur wrestling match after eating so much.

Lily kept watch at the living room and dining room windows and alerted The Female Human to all our Thanksgiving day visitors.

Lily is on living room watch. What she usually sees there are raccoons, deer and the odd bear.

This is the forest moocher although there’s no food for her to steal in the forest. She does manage to come around, up the hill and munch on The Female Human’s cottage garden in the front yard.

We love to watch the little squirrel that frequents the upstairs bird feeder. We are told he is a pine squirrel and, despite his tiny size, he is FIERCE! He chases away the big fat “town squirrels” like an animal four times his size. We looked up information on these little guys. It appears that they are officially called Douglas’s Squirrel or Chickarees (around here the humans insist on calling them Pine Squirrels). They eat acorns, fruit, mushrooms, buds, and sap, and visit bird feeders for nuts. Their main diet is conifer seeds and they have plenty of those around our house. They’re bright, feisty and noisy. We can attest to the noisy part because if The Female Human is late filling the feeder good grief does he scream!

We hope you all had an excellent and animal-filled Thanksgiving and now on to this week’s notable feline news.

What are our feline expressions trying to tell you?

“You’ve got to be kitten me right meow!” -Oliver

There’s been a lot of meowing going on these days about you humans understanding what we felines are trying to convey to you. A recent study said that we also communicate with facial expressions.

Georgia Mason, a veterinary researcher and author of a study analyzing humans’ ability to understand cats has figured out the complexities of cats. “Anyone who writes cats off as sort of moody or distant is probably underestimating them,” said . Her work was published last month in the journal “Animal Welfare.” She says we felines are signaling things to you, it’s just subtle and you need to spend the time with us to figure out what the signals mean.

Mason and her colleagues were interested in gauging how accurately humans pick up on feline emotions written in their fuzzy little faces. They asked more than 6,000 participants to watch 20 context-free cat clips, collected via veterinarians or YouTube, and to decide whether the featured feline was experiencing a negative or positive emotion.

I’d love to say that the humans knocked it out of the park but sadly, correct responses were 11.85 out of 20. Still, there were some humans in the group who were purrticularily connected to feline expressions.

The researchers concluded that it is the human/cat connection that is the key. If you spend time getting to know your cat, you understand their expressions. Oh and another interesting note, female humans did better than male humans. Cat Daddy’s, you need to step up your game.

Sadly, we got to the end of the article and the researcher says that “data also show that cat owners are generally less bonded to their pets than dog owners — contributing to the sad outcome that, compared to dogs, cats are more likely to be neglected, abandoned and passed-over for adoption.”

I think this is a bunch of malarkey as we have furiends all over the internet whose humans are closely bonded to them. The researcher did redeem herself when she ended with this comment, ““We’re hoping [to conduct] more research to develop tools to help people read their cat better,” added Mason. “That would make living with a cat more rewarding.”

UK-based pet-whisperer gets all 17 of her pets to pose for a photo together

Now before you start meowing and saying, “Why is Alberto considering this newsworthy?”, I must remind you that the feat this human accomplished is not only noteworthy it is a clear violation of “Cat Code”. If you are not furmiliar with this part of the code it reads, “When a human advances toward a feline to take a photo, said feline must remain still until right before the photo is taken and then race out of the frame.”

In fairness, it did take this human who lives in Wales, several weeks to get the shot. This dear lady rescues animals (which is how she ended up with such a big tribe that also includes four parakeets, several fish and a baby hedgehog).

What magic did she use to get this shot? First she used treats for the dogs to get them to pose. She said the dogs were easy, they will always pose for treats. And then there were the cats.

Getting the nine felines to pose required that she rush back and forth with the camera at the ready to retrieve the less than enthusiastic felines who broke ranks and sauntered out of the frame (purrfect Cat Code behavior). She then put them back in place-again and again. The lady stated, “I now know the real meaning behind herding cats,” But she persevered finally, after two weeks she got this amazing shot. Hmmmm, I wonder if The Female Human will attempt to get all five of us in one shot.

Staff Sgt. Dan Brissey able to bring Sully and her only surviving sibling back from Afghanistan

Because of a surplus of funds raised after this story was posted, Staff Sgt. Dan Brissey was able to adopt Sully’s only surviving sibling, shown here. Both Sully — and her yet-to-be-named sister — will be making their home in the United States. Sully will be leaving Afghanistan in early January, but it is unclear if her sister will be traveling with her or at a later date.
COURTESY OF DAN BRISSEY

Staff Sgt. Dan Brissey, on his fifth tour overseas and his third trip to Afghanistan, has raised more than the required $3,000 to bring the feline he rescued and her sibling to the United States. Brissey found Sully while she was sunning herself in the crook of a concrete blast wall on his way back from getting fuel. Even though he is allergic to cats, Sully, one of a litter of four, bonded with him immediately. It was love at first meow.

Brissey serves with the Maryland National Guard and said his mind was blown when he realized how much money had been raised through Nowzad, the Afghanistan animal rescue through Facebook donations. Nowzad’s mission is to relieve the suffering of animals in Afghanistan and to provide and maintain rescue, rehabilitation and education facilities. A representative from Nowzad said the extra money raised will go toward the transportation costs of getting Sully to the United States. Anything beyond that will be used for the Nowzad shelter and clinic where Sully was spayed, vaccinated and microchipped. And, since enough funds were raised after this article was written there is enough to get Sully’s sister to her new home as well. Nowzad is the only official animal shelter in Afghanistan, and it is home to more than 130 dogs, 40 cats and seven donkeys.

Our Purrsonal assistant got a bit teary eyed when she read this comment by Sgt. Brissey, ““It makes the deployment days a little better when you have a furry little buddy to spend some time with,”

Cat’s Bike Ride Tweet Goes Viral

You never know what the next viral feline tweet or social media sensation will be. This week it’s a cat in New Delhi . A Twitter user posted a picture of a cat riding on a motorcycle, looking chill and quite at home. The tweet attracted a myriad of comments. Some lauded the calm feline and said that cats also want formal educati0ns and posted a pic of a cat in the University of Mumbai. Others expressed concern for the cat’s safety (this was our Female Human’s reaction). Some were even angry tweeting, “Should have tagged Mumbai Police and PETA for No helmet’, endangering the safety of an animal….”. We just hope the human bike rider gets a clue and puts a basket on the back for feline safety.

Palmerston the cat back at U.K. Foreign Office after time off for stress

Palmerston explores his new workplace in 2016 (photo courtesy of AP)

I have reported on the purrlitical felines in London and Palmerston, the Uk Foreign Office’s “Chief Mouser”. He disappeared from the spotlight earlier this year and there was great concern about his health and wellbeing.

Finally, a tweet appeared at @DiploMog Twitter profile, announcing his return to frontline duties. Working cats are no different than working humans and sometimes the pressure requires a little R & R. Sir Simon McDonald, the permanent Under Secretary and head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign Office, stated this week, “It was no longer an environment that was working for him. He was over-grooming on his front legs, a sign of stress.”

Palmerston, named after Britain’s longest-serving foreign secretary, was moved on vet’s advice to the home of one of McDonald’s staff in July.

“During his summer holiday, Cabinet ministers, colleagues and overseas visitors have asked me anxiously about his whereabouts,” McDonald wrote. “The good news is that Palmerston is coming back this week. But we must remember why he needed a break, and change our behavior towards him. He is happy, healthy and full of energy. His pelt is glossy and mostly grown back. We need now to keep him that way.”

The @DiploMog Twitter feed set out new rules for Foreign Office staff when the animal returns to active duty.

Dubbed the “Palmerston Protocols,” Palmerston’s posts said they were “designed to ensure my welfare and happiness.” Evidently the size of the building of Palmerston’s workplace was difficult for him to maintain, adding to his stress. He’s been given a more manageable zone and it was noted that Palmerston should be allowed to choose whether he wants to interact with staff.

In other words humans, keep your paws off Palmerston unless he invites you over for a petting session. Staff have also been advised not to wake him when sleeping and that Palmerston has “full choice and control of who he deigns to greet or imperiously ignores.”

The Twitter feeds of other government cats lit up with welcome back messages to Palmerston. And humans tweeted “good to see you back: messages as well.

The Tribe of Five is calling a meeting to set some ground rules for our workspace. I don’t believe The Female Human takes our job stress seriously enough.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 11/20

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Feline Opines

Hello There Furiends,
How are things in your neck of the woods? To be honest, it’s been a bit boring here. The Female Human is always meowing about keeping things tidy but when dinner time comes things don’t look so tidy. Tucker is afraid he’ll miss an eating opportunity, Lily doesn’t want to fight for her food with Oliver (who normally sits on the rug howling like a banshee) and I need to be up there to snoopervise.

I mentioned that Oliver likes to sit on the floor and wait for his meals, which is why this sight that welcomed our Human the other morning had her quite purr-plexed. It took her a while to figure out what Ollie was doing up there. I’m going to post the photos and see if you can figure out why he’s there and the first one to respond with the right answer in the comments will win one each of our Felines Opine books. (Hint, you might get a clue from the dinner photo). Happy guessing!

The first to guess correctly why Oliver is in this position in this unusual place wins both of 9ur books!

This was what The Female Human saw in the morning. Needles to say she wasn’t thrilled with the sight.

Instead of responding to “Oliver, what are you doing up there?!” Oliver just cuddled up closer to the side of the counter. What in the world is Oliver doing??

While you folks are trying to work out what in the world my crazy brother is up to, I’ll share my newsworthy finds in this week’s web wanderings.

Man plays piano for his rescue cats

This musician has 19 rescue cats, and they all love their piano-playing human more than anything. But there’s also a wonderful story behind the music. .

About 10 years ago, Sarper Duman, a 28-year-old pianist and music teacher ,suffering from deep depression attempted suicide. After spending an extended time in recovery he was in a park one day and a cat crawled up to him. He wanted to help this cat because he had needed so much help himself. That first rescue cat turned into 19 cats.

Duman began posting videos of his music loving felines and his Instagram followers went from 300 to 55,000 overnight. Today over a million people enjoy his videos. But, as you can imagine, 19 cats require a lot of food, litter and vet visits. Duman decided to set up a Patreon page for his followers to help earn some support from his videos. Duman expands his love of animals to strays around his home and his office and sometimes, people who know of his work, abandon sick and wounded cats at his house or work.

“Thanks to you and your endless support,” he says, “I have been able to help these poor animals to get the necessary medical treatment.”

If you want to watch Sarper’s videos, check out his Instagram page – and if you want to help him look after his cats, you can become a patron here.

Bonnie & Clyde rule the roost at Atlanta store

Okay humans this one is going o be a bit confusing. Bonnie and Clyde are cats, not humans. The Atlanta they’re talking about is not in Georgia, ,it’s in Texas-who knew?

Now that I’ve gotten all that straightened out I can tell you about these cats with jobs (and you know how much I love stories about cats with jobs)’

Customers at Atlanta Athletics are always greeted by the two felines employed there. Their job consists of stretching out on the floor awaiting belly rubs and customer service.

Clyde, the white cat, runs to greet customers as soon as he hears the front door opening. Bonnie, the black cat is slightly pickier as she likes some customers, others, not so much. Both cats agree that they love the Fed Ex, box delivering guy. I was unable to find out what salary these felines earn but based on their appearance, whatever it is it’s plenty to keep them healthy and happy. Working cats rock!

A cat’s journey from Portland to Santa Fe

Our Female Human runs a social media lost pet group for our area. She works hard to keep people who are looking for their lost felines optimistic and says that when humans see a cat they think stray before they ever think lost. This is why she ( and I ) love stories like this.

After five years of being gone from home, a beautiful black cat named Sasha, appeared in Santa Fe. This is exciting enough but when you realize that Sasha’s former home is in Portland, Oregon! After roaming the city streets of Santa Fe Sasha was picked up and taken to the animal shelter.

Shasha’s microchip revealed that his owner was Viktor Usov, who reported the cat missing years ago. (Note to you humans, microchipping is important!)

The shelter’s public relations officer, Murad Kirdar was astonished the cat made an almost 1400 mile journey. “Cats are notorious for jumping U-Hauls, trains and cars. Somehow it hitched a ride and ended up here,” Kirdar says. “How he managed to survive to get here is the million dollar question. I can tell you he hasn’t missed a meal.”

Thanks to the generosity of American Airlines, Kirdar and Sasha flew to return Sasha to his home and human in Portland. Kirdar says he has bonded with Sasha, and plans to keep in touch.

Minneapolis Airport therapy cat Stitches is the new favorite feline of the internet

Here’s another pawsome feline occupation. Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport is one of only two in the nation to employ a therapy cat. The other airport is Denver and I reported on that feline in one of my Walk Through The Web Wednesday features.

Stitches, has proven to be a calming influence in the hectic atmosphere of this large airport. It isn’t only the travelers who enjoy the 11-year old Stitches, it’s the airport employees as well.

Stitches knows quite a bit about stress as she was rescued after hurricane Hugo. “She’s wonderful. I’ve never seen such a calm collected cat,” pilot Andrew Dean said.

MSP Airport has had a therapy program for four years, with 96 dogs. Stitches is the very first cat.

“We knew going into it that people would really love Stitches, what we didn’t know is we would get media attention from around the world and that she would become this sensation,” MSP Foundation director of travelers’ assistance Laura Sartain said.

Way to go Stitches! Let’s get more felines in airports.

Man converts coolers to winter housing for feral cats

A wonderful man in Ogden, Utah turns old coolers into warm, insulated spaces for feral cats to take refuge in the winter. This DIY project only takes about five minutes and you can see how easy it is by watching the video.

He uses a 6 inch drill bit to drill through the cooler, then add some pipe insulation to pad it. You put straw on the inside and the project is finished.

These cat coolers are brilliant and in climates like the Inland Northwest where we live, they are a blessing for feral kitties.

We give our paws up award to this kind-hearted human, Philip Rogich. If you want to see how easy these cat coolers are to make, watch the video.

Paws Up award by FelineOpines.net for humans who do amazing things for cats

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 11/13

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Feline Opines

Hello Furiends,
It’s been an eventful week in our neck of the woods. It appears that my reporting on Quilty, the escapist cat (and purrhaps the reporting from various major news organizations) has created quite a stir. I recently learned that instead of being rewarded for his clever behavior, Quilty has been thrown in solitary confinement at the shelter where he lives.

Cats are protesting in the streets and the situation is getting tense.

Cats all over the country are uniting in their quest to see Quilty freed.

I contacted some esteemed feline friends to ask them their opinion about this miscarriage of justice (note, any resemblance to members of Feline Opines staff is purely coincidental).

Yo Dude, this solitary confinement stuff is bogus. Someone needs to get that guy out of the shelter!

I say there old chap, back in WWII that feline would have received a medal for his fabulous escape talents. Cheerio my little feline Houdini. .

So uh, like you know, I don’t really get into all that negativity stuff but I would say poor Quilty got a bad rap. ya’ know?

So I was hangin’ with some of my homies and they said, “Duuuuude, did you hear about that cat that got solitary for letting other cats into the lobby of the shelter?” And I was like, Woah, that’s messed up!”

What cat? What shelter? Were there treats involved? Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on? Hello! Hello! Where is everybody?

Okay, perhaps some of these public figures made a little more sense than others. The point is, all my furiends and followers in Texas, PLEASE help get this little guy out of the shelter and into a furever home (one with locks on the doors preferably!)

Enough about Quilty, lets move on to this weeks feline finds in my web wanderings.

Hero cat saves baby

Gatubela, a hero cat and purrhaps a European relative of Lily,

All hail the hero cat Gatubela who saved a toddler from falling down the stairs. It was all caught on a security camera as the feline distracts a baby and keeps him from falling down a fight of a dozen steps. Gatubela sat on the sofa watching the baby until the little boy headed toward the stairs. The kitty ran to the rescue and latched onto the toddler. We say, “Way to go Gatubela!” and give this feline a paws up award. Oh, and by the way, we’re wondering if Gatubela is related to our very own Lily.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/07/hero-cat-leaps-into-action-to-save-baby-from-falling-down-stairs/

Japanese loungewear truly is the cat’s pajamas

Felissimo, Japan’s leading cat-themed lifestyle brand has created the purrrfect loungewear for humans to show their feline side. The outfit in the picture is the Siamese version but they also have a black cat version (although why anyone would prefer the black cat over the Siamese is a mystery to me, especially as the cost is 4,500 yen (US$42). That makes it’ 200 yen more expensive than the Siamese version. I’ve been told that’s because the black cat outfit is mid-calf and the Siamese outfit is knee length If you’re worried that your feet might get chilly in this ensemble, have no fear, there are kitty themed socks to match.

Potato, this cat’s unique eyes have made him an internet celebrity

You humans do a lot of meowing about how being different is a good thing but some of you don’t really believe that when it comes to felines. Potato the cat, with his big green and black eyes bears quite a resemblance to Puss in Boots from the movie Shrek. As soon as his human adopted him she began posting his photos on Instagram and the rest, as they say, is history.

Potato today, at five years old, is a bona fide internet celebrity. We love Potato’s looks, what do you say?

Join Purina’s Feastivity celebration this Christmas

2019 Ornament. This year’s ornament celebrates all the extra little ways we give—and give back. brighten your tree and gift one to a someone you care about. We hope it helps you fill the holidays with love.

Feastivities is how the good folks at Fancy Feast celebrate the holidays. Each year they offer a unique, crafted ornament to brighten your tree. They partner with Adopt-A-Pet.com so all the proceeds go to helping pets find their forever homes. Over the years, the Feastivity program has raised over $230,000.00 Meowza, that’s a merry furever home for lots of felines!

Forget those humans pretending to be cats, THIS is the movie you want to see!

“The Cat Rescuers,” movie, introduces a handful of remarkable Brooklynites who have dedicated time, money, and an enormous amount of emotional fortitude to trapping, neutering, and returning — or adopting out — feral city cats. They devote their days and nights to rescuing abandoned or homeless kittens and cats.

The movie tells the story of each rescuer, you see how they trap and care for stray cats. They bring cats and kittens into their homes if they need to recouperate from medical issues.

This rescue group (and the movie) were born out of the passion a man and his wife had for cat rescue. There are an an estimated 500,000 street cats in New York City and that fact laubnched the idea of this movie to educate people about TNR. ,

Watch “The Cat Rescuers” trailer and be sure to learn more about Second Chance Animal Rescue .. The Tribe of Five would love to see this movie shown all over the country.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 11/06

Posted on November 6, 2019 by Feline Opines

Hello :Furiends,
How is your week going? The Tribe of Five had a pretty good week, a Chewy order AND an order from Petco, it’s been box heaven. Although the weather is cold in our neck of the woods so far, the snow has not made an appearance and there are some beautiful sunny days. The Tribe loves to find sun puddles wherever we can.

“Can’t a cat take a nap without having a camera shoved in her face?” -Lily

“This is my sun puddle location, stay away!” -Tucker

“Hey Ollie, can you scoot over just a bit?” -Alberto

“No I will not wake up and show you my beautiful blue eyes!” -Jasmine

We also have a bit of news. The Female Human is constantly meowing about being able to have someplace on our blog to opine. We reminded her that the name of this blog is Feline Opines, the world from a feline point of view, but this has had no effect on her so we will be launching a page on our blog just for the human to opine about feline things. Sheesh, everyone has to get in the game.

I hope you enjoy my internet finds that highlight how wonderful we felines are.

Don’t Fence Me In!

Quilty, a 7-year old cat available for adoption at the Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization in Houston got himself into trouble for freeing his fellow prisoners…err, feline rescues. He didn’t do it once or even twice. He keeps himself busy at night by freeing all the felines and calling them all to a meeting in the lobby. We say “way to go Quilty” and take the marketing campaign to get yourself adopted into your own paws.

Thousands of cats are rescued by tree climbers

I featured a story not too long ago about a hapless feline wo got himself stuck in a tree for hours during a storm. People, people, a cat will not always get itself out of a tree and this feline is very grateful for tree climbers who come to our rescue. For more stories from Canopy Cat Rescue, click here. If you live in Washington or Oregon, have your humans put this company on speed dial!

S hould cats eat their greens?

Do felines need to eat their greens? I’ve been snacking on wheat grass ever since I was a kitten. Lori Teller, a clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, provided some information on cats eating grass.

“Cat grass isn’t any one type of grass but can be a combination of grasses, such as rye, barley, oat and wheat,” Teller said. “Cat owners can buy kits at many stores to grow cat grass for their kitties.”

“Cat grass is not a required part of a cat’s diet if the food they are eating is well-balanced, but it is something that many cats enjoy,” Teller said. “Especially for indoor cats, it can be a source of environmental enrichment. In some cases, it may provide some micronutrients, such as vitamins A and D.”

The article goes on to say the experts really don’t know why cats like to eat grass. I would add that not all felines like cat grass. Tucker and Oliver are a bit “take it or leave it” about our cat grass but you would think the female felines in The Tribe are addicted to the stuff!

Traveling cats embark on the journey of a lifetime

We felines hate it when our humans are away from us for too long, These kitties are so bonded to their human that his frequent trips away from home made them very sad. His human, Daisuke Nagasawa decided he would try bringing them along with him when he traveled. Watch the video and see how happy the felines are now.

The agony of betrayal

Sometimes you humans can be clueless. Case in point. These humans bring home a kitten and then eave the cat in residence to sit by and watch them play with said kitten. Seriously, bring the cat into the process or there will be some swatty, swatty, hissy later! You can watch the video here.

Walk Through the Web Wednesday 10/23

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Feline Opines

Hello There Furiends,
I hope your week is going well. Things are good in our neck of the woods. Now that it’s fall and the temperatures are cooler (and The Female Human is stingy with the heat when she’s not home) The Tribe is getting back into “cuddle” mode. This is fine unless Oliver, the space hog shows up. No matter where I am he has to intrude and hog most of the space.

“Seriously Oliver? I was here first. Can you move forward a bit?!” -Alberto

When he’s done bugging me, Oliver will wander over to bug Tucker. Tucker does not put up with any guff so Oliver’s “snuggle time” is considerably shorter with Tucker.

Lily is Tucker’s official cuddle buddy and she’s the only one he’ll let get this closes to him.

And after he’s done bugging everyone Oliver heads over for some love from our human, Oliver is a dork.

Human: “Who’s a good kitty?” Oliver: “I am. I am!”

It’s always a little wacky at our house,. I think this sign says it all about our Human.

I hope things are all good in your neck of the woods (even if they’re wacky or you have a space hog like Olliver) and that you enjoy this week’s web wanderings.

Hero cats save italian couple

Perhaps calling the cats heroes is a bit of a stretch but their grateful humans believe they are. Claudio Piana and his wife Sabrina Pellegrini were sleeping in their home in Campo Ligure as torrential rains pummeled the area. Claudio said, “My wife got up because Simba and Mose, our cats, were making a noise and woke us up. She realized they were playing with a piece of plaster which had just fallen off the ceiling. Then we saw cracks opening in the walls.”

There had already been tragedies from this torrential downpour, a taxi driver was killed and dozens of people were evacuated from their homes. Rivers have overflowed, bridges have been washed away and this all created landslides. The couple were unaware that their home was damaged until the cats woke them up and tipped them off. They managed to get to their car but were trapped in a river of flowing mud. Their house collapsed and they lost everything in the landslide – except their felines who are safe with their humans. Note to humans, if we wake you up in the middle of the night you may want to see what we’re up to, it could save your life!

dear humans, please check your luggage!

Nick and Voirrey Coole were perplexed when they were pulled aside by airport security and asked if they knew what was seen when one of their carry-on bags was scanned. The couple was on their way to New York for a birthday celebration and were stumped by the question They had no idea what the security person was talking about.

The scanner found a cat, the couple’s black cat Candy, who had burrowed her way into the bag which was fairly empty so that the couple could put their New York purchases in it.

Everyone had a good laugh and Candy’s human grandpa came and picked her up so her humans could continue their trip. Again I say, humans PLEASE check your suitcases before you head to the airport!

MAN AFRAID OF HEIGHTS AND NOT FOND OF CATS IS A FELINE HERO

Last weekend was the fourth day of gusty winds, rain and sleet in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. It was a terrible time for a tabby named Milo to be stuck 80 feet up in a pine tree. Milo’s humans could not coax, scare or demand that he come down and they were at their wits end. Milo’s cries could be heard through the closed doors and instead of coming down, he climbed higher and higher in the tree as he hung on for dear life in the wind tossed branches.

Milo’s humans called the fire department, animal control and every tree service in the area with no luck. They finally resorted to Facebook to ask for help and the post describing Milo’s 4-day plight tugged at the soft heart of Matthew Leddy and he decided he would do something he never thought he’d ever do. Matthew Leddy doesn’t like heights and he’s not that fond of cats.

He consulted with a friend who had done cat rescues . His friend told him to bring a backpack that he could zip the cat in for protection for himself and the cat. He contacted Milo’s family and the rescue was arranged.

It took a few tries to get Milo in the bag but he finally managed to get him zipped in (all except his tail). After a tense descent, Milo was reunited with his happy family and Matthew was thrilled to see how happy they (and the cat) were.

Milo is back at home, dry, safe, happy and we hope thankful! You can watch a video of MIlo’s rescue here.

THE ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL CAT BEAUTY CONTEST

There is an International Cat Beauty Contest and I didn’t know about it? I have my whiskers in quite a twist about this. There are 200 cats taking part in the pageant being held Oct. 21-Nov. 3 and none of them are me. Despite the Female Human’s reluctance to go to the time and expense to fly me to the Istanbul Fair Center in Turkey, I found out that since I don’t have a pedigree or breed, I don’t qualify, so I won’t be attending.. Hmph!

I do grudgingly acknowledge the beauty and majesty of the Van breeds that will be competing. Van cats are fairly large, they have white coats and often have a ruddy color on their heads or hind quarters. Their eyes are either blue or amber or, they have one of each – Meowza!

Van cats are believed to be one of the oldest cat breed in the world and are often referred to as Turkish Vans.

Beautiful though they may be, I still think I could give those fancy felines a run for their money. All I have to do is enter in the “Cattus Fabulosa” category (that’s Latin for fabulous feline!”)

CAT MAKE UP ARTIST IS AN ACTUAL JOB

Before and after Church. Photo: Paramount

Church (or to be more accurate, the cats who play Church) the handsome Maine Coon in the 2019 movie Pet Sematary has his own makeup artist. I was surprised as I thought humans made the changes they needed with technology but that’s not so.

Groomer Tanya Graham and trainers Melissa Millett and Kirk Jarrett talked to The Cut about the cat makeover process. Here are some interesting tidbits. There are multiple cats in the movie. It took them almost two months of training to get them comfortable with the makeup process. The makeup used was digestible and safe for felines. The ingredients are approved by American Humane but the content of those ingredients is a trade secret.

The cat makeup artist did disclose some information however. For instance, egg whites and Cherry Knoll chalk block was used to make the fur look matted and then leaves, dry grass and light dirt was stuck on the top of that mixture. Fake blood was syrup with organic food coloring. The trainer and makeup artist said at no time did the cats look stressed and they enjoyed snacks and playing with toys while their makeup was done.

Makeup took about 10 minutes per cat. The cats were very pam-purred. They had their own trailers and bathing areas.

There were two “lead” cats out of the five feline cast members, Leo and Tonic. Tonic was 10 months old when he started training for his role. Leo is the older guy, much calmer and quiet and loves to interact with humans. He does a high five, catches treats like a dog and is very confident. He enjoys meet and greets and is usually the one who does the premiers.

Hmmmmm, I wonder if I should get The Female Human busy on checking out the possibilities of a Hollywood career for me.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 10/9

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
final-1 How are things in your neck of the woods? Our woods are getting a bit windy and frosty these days. Now mind you, we felines understand that we live in a four seasons kind of place but good grief, there needs to be some rules about when these seasons start. We already had snow last week (before The Female Human had time to get rid of the leaves in the yard!). Thankfully the snow didn’t stay but brrrrrr is it chilly and windy out there. Oliver was watching the enthusiastic waving of the flag on our front porch the other day.

Last weekend it got so chilly that The Female Human turned on the fireplace (yes, she’s lazy, we have a gas fireplace so all she has to do is flick a switch and not drag in a bunch of wood.) Oliver loves the fireplace so much that he even made a movie about it. Sometimes I wonder about my brofur.

The Tribe is back to snuggling together again too. I do sometimes wonder if Oliver has any concept of personal space though.
final-3

I checked in with Jasmine and she said she is feeling great now that The Female Human has been giving her Scruffy Paws Kidney Vitalize Chews. And wonder of wonder, Miss Picky really likes them! She’s put on a bit more weight although our furry diva has always been very tiny.

Alberto, what are you doing in my room? I’d really rather be alone!” -Jasmine

All in all, things are quite fine at our house and, as you can see, I’m just chillin’ and waiting for The Female Human to open a drawer or cabinet so I can get into it and look for rubber bands, plastic, or any other enticing thing to play with.
final-2

A different kind of love

Love doesn’t always look the way you think it should. Take Mo and Cricket for instance. Mo, a feline, is in love with his next door canine neighbor, Cricket. Mo loves Cricket so much that he heads over to Cricket’s house every day.

George the cat becomes a star thanks to his solo adventures on buses and trains

George

George, a 7-year old rescue Tabby is a special breed of adventure cat because he likes to choose his own adventures and go sans humans. He’s tried to hitch a ride to Scotland, regularly sneaks onto public busses ending up miles from home and even likes to take the occasional train trip. His travels have now been chronicled on Facebook and his page also helps those who have encountered George, far from his home, contact his humans. There are many “George sightings” on his page.

George’s usual trips take him away from home for about three hours and, if he is gone longer his humans know that it’s time to put out the alarm. When George is home he is a great comfort and feline nursemaid to his human, Dennis who suffers from dementia. And George loves to be held and petted by any humans he comes across outside of the house.

One of George’s recent adventures took him in the direction of a safari park with a bunch of school kids. George didn’t make the full journey however, his human said, “Fortunately the bus stopped and chucked him out before arriving there.”

The epitome of Feline Fashion – a behind the scenes look

Those of you who follow my Wednesday web wanderings know I love to report on this event. The Algonquin Cat’s Annual Celebration & Cat Fashion Show has been happening for 10 years in early August. It’s a benefit for The Mayors Alliance for NYC’s Animals. This year the theme was “It’s a small world” and cats were dressed up to represent nine different countries. Be sure and watch the behind the scenes video.

Revenge is sweet – and wet!

catinpool

You humans say that you can be petty to each other, well evidently that goes for cats too. These two got into a hilariously petty (and one-sided) cat fight.

The story was first posted on Twitter, the feline’s human said, “My cat came inside soaking wet, so I did some investigating and found this. She posted a video. Then she noted in another Tweet, “We did a further investigation, it was plotted revenge.” Both videos document the altercation and are hilarious (unless you’re the cat that got shoved in the pool).

How to hold a cat

HoldCat

Snark warning – I can’t believe a human actually wrote an article about how to hold a cat. Cats are all different and you need to get to know us so you can understand HOW we want to be held and IF we want to be held. Take Lily for instance. She does NOT want to be held and for the foolish human who refuses to believe this, The Female Human always has a supply of bandages available.

For every rule about holding a cat, there are cats who break those rules so, humans, read this article if you must be remember, not all cats are alike.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 10/2

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
Another week another Wednesday. I have nothing exciting to report from our neck of the woods but I do have a bit of a rant to share with you. It appears to me that The Female Human does not apurreciate all that I do around the house, nor am I properly respected by my fellow felines.

Case in point. I am always “Johnny on the spot” when it comes to helping around the house. Here you can see that I have taken time away from my important profession of feline blogging and writing to lend a paw in the kitchen and still, The Female Human does not show the proper apurreciation.

“Yeah, looks like the dishwasher missed a few spots with the cutlery. You might want to run these through again.”

“Well EXCUSE ME for trying to help around the house. Sheesh, what’s a cat got to do to get some apurreciation around here.”

And it hasn’t been any better with my feline family either. Just the other night I sauntered into the kitchen to enjoy my dinner and this is what I found.

“Whoops, sorry dude, I didn’t think you were coming for dinner.” Oliver

After the week I’d had, I figured when The Female Human came home and parked her purse on the counter I would be welcome to snoop through it and what a discovery I made!

“Yum, what’s that delicious smell in there?”

“Oh happy day look what I foiund!”

“Nom. nom,nom…”

I hope you all had a better week than I did and I hope you enjoy this week’s Wednesday web wanderings.

Special feline parlays her unusual looks into creating a non-profit

Maya

Do you know what kind of humans I admire most? Those who adopt older shelter cats or cats with special needs. The ones who take their kindness a step farther and help others are the cat’s meow!

Maya the cat is a special and wonderful feline and although her eyes are asymmetrical and her legs are short she is loved and she’s making a difference in the world. Maya was born with an extra chromosome, which means she doesn’t have peripheral vision and which gives her a unique look.

Maya was almost euthanized in a Virginia shelter after she was found beside a dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant. By the time she was taken to the shelter she was very sick. After three months at the shelter, Maya was scheduled to be euthanized but Odd Cat Sanctuary MA rescued her. They then posted her on their website. Her human, Lauren Beader and her fiancé, Harrison Makofsky saw her and ran over to adopt her. They didn’t just give her a loving forever home but they also made her an Instagram star.

Now they’ve leveraged Maya’s fame into great charitable works and a non-profit.

Maya’s humans wrote a children’s book last year and donated all the proceeds to Odd Cat Sanctuary MA and the Special Olympics, Massachusetts and that turned into the humans (and Maya, of course) creating the non profit organization, AllWorthy.

Maya is the face of the new organization that educates about and promotes disability inclusion and acceptance. She lives with her humans and her fur sister, Dragon, whose back legs are paralyzed. I think the partnership between Maya and her humans is absolutely purrfect!

Bohdi, the all season adventure cat from the Rockies

Bodhi

Oh how I admire adventure cats! Granted, Oliver and I do stroll around our garden and neighborhood but this cat, Bodhi, is a hardcore, fearless adventure feline! Bodhi hikes the Canadian Rockies with his human and he has an Instagram account that chronicles his adventures so more timid kitties can live vicariously through his photos.

Bodhi’s human says his training took a lot of patience but now Bodhi is an all season adventure cat. In the summer he sometimes exchanges his harness for a life vest for paddle boarding and swimming. Lest you think Bodhi’s human is not aware that there are big animals out there in the wilderness, she says that Bodhi will sense the presence of another creature and let her know he wants to go to his safe spot on her shoulders.

Mother and daughter sew pillows for shelter cats

Pillows

You humans who come up with creative ideas to help shelter kitties are heroes! In Tunkhannock, PA an 88 year-old woman and her daughter have been making pillows for the Meshoppen Cat Rescue. The kitties love the pillows that keep them cozy, warm and comforted and they help the humans too. Bertha Singer, the 88-year old mother has early-onset dementia and keeping her hands busy helps keep her mind active. These ladies deserve a Paws Up Award! Paws Up award by FelineOpines.net for humans who do amazing things for cats

Trader Joe’s Advent calendars are on the way

Our Female Human is German and one of her favorite things about Christmas is Advent calenders. She likes to make them and buy them for the adults and kids she knows. So I got to thinking, “Hey, what about us felines?!” I decided to do some research on this and found out that Trader Joe’s is coming out with a feline Advent calendar this year (let’s not discuss the fact that they’ve had a canine Advent calendar for a while). Then I thought, “What if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near your house?” (our closest is two hours away) and so I checked on Amazon and sure enough there were all kinds. So I say, humans (especially those of you of German or Austrian origin) no more excuses, get your felines their own Advent calendar!

Slay dragons, help cats

dragons

This is for all you feline loving gamers. Now you can sit in front of the monitor or TV, slay virtual dragons and earn money for cats. From October 3 to December 9, ZeniMax will donate $1.00 for every five dragons killed in the Elder Scrolls Online game. The money will be given to the Best Friends Animal Society and Four Paws Charities. Zenimax is committed to donating up to $200,000.00 in the Slay the Dragons, Save the Cats campaign. Humans, fire up your online game and start killing dragons for a good cause!

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
Since my weekly feline news report falls on 9/11 I wanted to take a moment to ask you all to remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Let us never forget.

An update on things in our neck of the woods. Fall is definitely coming and one of the final indicators of this is when The Tribe members begin to snuggle with each other again. Tucker and Lily haven’t gotten near each other while the temperatures were warm but as The Female Human likes to keep temperatures a bit cool in our house, snuggling has now become a need, not an option.

“Excuse me human. I just checked the weather app and the temperature is far too cool to leave both bedroom windows open. Can we get some heat in here, Please! – Jasmine

Jasmine is annoyed because The Female Human was raised by a hearty German mother who believed a bedroom temperature was not healthy unless you could see your breath. This does not take into consideration that we felines are heat seeking creatures. This does not make Jasmine happy.

The first hint that fall is coming is that all the colors outside begin to change. I can sit at the windows and check out the changes in the woods below. It is quite pretty out there but those pretty colors mean that the white stuff isn’t too far away. The up side to that is there will be plenty of lounging in front of the fireplace!

final-2

Hello there fall, I see you hiding out there. -Alberto

But enough about us. Let’s take a look at the latest feline news I’ve discovered in my web wanderings.

Are Yawns Contagious For Cats Too?

Yawns

You know how you humans yell at each other when one of you yawns because you don’t want to “catch” the yawn? Well, Japanese cat owner and Twitter user @nanao_ssan recently released photos to prove that we felines catch yawns too. Go to the link and see the sequence, Now the burning question is, can humans catch yawns from cats?

Here’s Your Chance To Fund an Open World PC Game About Mystery Solving Cats

You humans spend a lot of time on PC games. Most of them, IMHO are violent and do nothing to further love and understanding as you are focusing on killing each other.

Now you can change all that. A new PC game is in development where you play as nine different cats. It’s called Peace Island, and it’s being independently created. The original creators are backed by a team of about six people thanks to the nearly $13,000 per month they’re pulling in via cat-loving fans. The game is currently being developed for PC, Mac, and Oculus VR.

The story begins when the cats of the world wake up to discover that all their humans are gone. They start off slow with regular cat antics and mini-games that include staring at walls, but soon find themselves asking big questions, such as, “Are the humans worth bringing back?”

If you humans donate $25 to their Patreon you’ll receive a “postcard set, access to the Beta [version of the game], and the full game upon release.” It’s a pretty good offer for what looks to be a very cool open-world PC game. In a world where the idea of humans controlling their felines is laughable, this fantasy game is a winner. My only question is, when will they come out with the tablet version for felines to play?

New scale interprets pain from feline facial expressions

CatPain

One thing vets and humans always agree on is that we felines don’t always show when we are in pain. That’s why it’s time to sound the trumpets and purr!. Dr. Paulo Steagall, an associate professor of veterinary anesthesia and analgesia at the University of Montreal, presented the Feline Grimace Scale for the first time in the United States during a session in August at AVMA Convention 2019 in Washington, D.C. Details about the FGS will be published in Scientific Reports, a journal from Nature Research, soon.

Researchers categorized and tested five facial action units indicative of pain in cats: ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whisker position, and head position. A score of 0 means absence of pain, 1 indicates moderate pain or uncertainty, and 2 is obvious appearance. A total score of 4 or more means the cat is in pain and medical care. The maximum total score is 10.

Here’s how they score it.The scoring of 0, 1, or 2, respectively, for each facial action unit is as follows:

Ear position—Ears facing forward, ears slightly pulled apart, or ears flattened and rotated outward.
Orbital tightening—Eyes opened, eyes partially opened, or eyes squinted.
Muzzle tension—Muzzle relaxed (round), muzzle mildly tense, or muzzle tense (elliptical).
Whisker position—Whiskers loose and curved, whiskers slightly curved or straight, or whiskers straight and moving forward.
Head position—Head above the shoulder line, head aligned with the shoulder line, or head below the shoulder line or tilted.

I don’t know about you, but I’m very happy my human will be able to tell easier if I’m in pain (although she knows us so well, she usually figures it out).

“It’s raining cats and dogs”?

rainingcatsanddogs

Now that fall is here this is a phrase you humans often use. The Female Human is a bit of a word nerd and she loves to find out the origin of phrases. One explanation for this term is that it comes from mythology that says cats and dogs were believed to be associated with the weather. It was commonly thought they were even able to cause or influence it. English sailors attributed gales and violent rainstorms to cats. And in many areas of northern Europe, the dog was a symbol of the wind. The wind is often pictured in old German drawings as originating with the breath of a dog. So the myth of the cats and dogs brings both concepts together to create the term “raining cats and dogs”. Full disclosure here, I have never known a feline to cause rainstorms. That is very silly as anyone who knows cats knows we are not fond of getting wet!

How To Keep Your Cat Out of Your Christmas Tree

Christmas

Now lest you think I’m featuring an article about spoiling feline fun during the Yuletide season, this is about cat safety, not spoiling cat’s fun. There are many things on the Christmas tree that are not good for us; those little cords of lights for instance, a big no-no to chew on. Anything tinselly or papery will end up in a stomach x-ray in no time. You get the idea. I am a bit of a plastic and paper obsessed feline and there is so much on a Christmas tree that I enjoy chewing. It’s one thing to have to pick up the ornaments we bat across the living room; it’s quite another thing to spend a good part of your Christmas holiday at the vet’s office with your feline!