Walk Through The Web Wednesday 8/29

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Well hello there furiends,
Boy did Wednesday come quick this week. Our terrible smokey air is getting better and we even had rain this week! The temperatures are much cooler and fall is coming. Here’s hoping all the fires that surround us will be contained completely. We worry about the humans and the poor forest creatures that are burned out of their homes.

I hope you enjoy this week’s items.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Siamese cat with blue eyes

These Cats (and a dog and a chicken) make way more money than you – Fashion Spot

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Choupette Lagerfeld

The Female Human is constantly whining about The Tribe of Five “earning our keep”. We remind her that we are internet sensations and she responds with “Show me the money.”  Now in our defense, Karl Lagerfeld’s is already famous and his cat, Choupette, earns the equivalent of 692 black Chanel 2.55 handbags annually — or a total of $3,808,000. With 114,000 followers on Instagram, Choupette rose to fame in 2012 when she started her modeling career in V magazine. Two years later, her book Choupette: The Private Life of a High Flying Fashion Cat was published. Not too shabby for a young cat. (I think it’s important to insert here that The Tribe of Five wrote a book too). So, my response to The Female Human is, “What have you done to become famous?”

Now the phenom, Grumpy Cat, became famous all on his own and his human remains in the background. Grumpy earns $12,693,333 a year. (That’s a lot of catnip!).  And do you remember Keyboard Cat? He has now crossed the rainbow bridge but he’s still bringing in $95,200,000 a year! If you want to know what other famous pets earn, go to Pets of the Net, an online calculator created by pet food brand Webbox, and find out  how much six of the most beloved and popular pets are earning. Meowza, The Tribe of Five really needs to step up our game!

 

 

Nathan the Beach Cat – Popsugar

black cat loves swimming in the ocean

What’s cooler than a sleek house panther? A house panther that likes to swim in the ocean! Nathan — or Nathan the Beach Cat was found in a box on the freeway in Australia and adopted by humans Rian and Mel and now she’s living the vida loca!

Nathan has to 318,000 Instagram followers and is capturing the attention of the internet because of her swimming skills. Nathan’s favorite pastimes are swimming our lounging on the beach with her humans.

cat on boogie board in the oceanThe Tribe of Five have a water loving feline friend called Purrseidon who is an ocean loving, boogie boarding feline. You can read Purrseidon’s story here. 

You can also read about Purrseidon’s first boogie board lesson in case your feline in residence is interested in this sport.
Sadly, due to the fires that have surrounded us all  summer and the very unhealthy air quality, my kayaking training has been postponed. I’m crossing my paws that we have a long, warm fall so that The Female Human and I can give it a try.

 

Purr-fectly adorable: 5 cute things we saw at Pop Cats in Austin – Austin360.com

cat art

You know I’m a sucker for feline themed events. This one called Pop Cats,  a vendor market, adoption fair and overall celebration of all things cats in Austin, Texas sounds like it was a purrfect event. There was cat art, the cat rapper Moshow, a caticorn, a cat cosplay and of course, cats, cats and more cats. I’m glad the humans had fun but the most important part of this event was the cats, those who were looking for furever homes and those who traveled to the event with their humans (this was a BYOC (bring your own cat) event).

Why Do Cats Eat Grass? – Mother Nature Network

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The Tribe of Five loves our grass. Normally we eat wheat grass but we have been known to munch on the grass outside as well.  There are lots of reasons we eat grass.  Grass acts as a natural laxative, when we have tummy aches, eating grass often helps us get rid of whatever is bothering us (can you say “hair ball”?). Sometimes if we felines eat grass obsessively it can mean we are stressed.

If you humans want to provide grass to your felines in residence, pleases make sure it is good for us!

 

 

Adorable Rescue Kittens Get a Sweet Newborn Photo Shoot to Help Them Get Adopted – My Modern Met

Ginger kitten in baby picture

I am always a fan of creative ideas that shelters use to promote feline adoptions. Photographers have a very important role to play and the more creative the photos. the better chance the feline has of finding a furever home. We have a great photo lady at our shelter (Panhandle Animal Shelter) and she’s always coming up with new ideas.

A human named Brandy Suppi rescued a Momma cat who had just had kittens. She asked her friend, photographer Heather Scott of LaMon photography to do a newborn kitten shoot. Well, all you have to do is look at these pictures to know these humans came up with a fantastic idea! The photos and adoption information was posted on Facebook 
and it looks like these little guys will all be enjoying a furever home soon.  Does your local shelter have a “picture lady” or “picture guy”? Maybe they might want to try kitten baby photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tucker Opines On Grumpiness& Fears in This Week’s Friendly Fill Ins # 119

Hello Furiends,
Tucker here. I hope you’re enjoying your Friday. The Tribe of Five is getting ready for a relaxing Caturday but before that, I am sharing my fill in answers this week. This blog hop is hosted by 15 and Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs and you’re invited to join in. If you’d rather opine about your answers here, just note them in the comments. Have a great weekend and thanks to all of you who sent prayers and good wishes to my sister Jasmine. She is doing better and we’re grateful!
Purrs & Head Bonks,
TuckieSig

Here are this week’s Fill In Questions:

1. ______________________ brings out the best in me.
2. _______________________makes me grumpier than Grumpy Cat.
3. If money grew on trees, I would _________.

4. I have a fear of _________.

Here are my answers:

1.A fresh, new box brings out the best in me.
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2. Getting my breakfast or dinner late makes me grumpier than Grumpy Cat.

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3. If money grew on trees, I would have The Humans buy a furry throw for the sofa to enjoy my morning, mid-morning, afternoon, mid-afternoon and evening naps.
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4. I have a fear of the evil vacuum monster.
siamese cat on flowered sofa

Oh no, she’s taking out the vacuum monster!

 

Jasmine Opines On Take Your Cat To The Vet Day

Hi There Furiends,
Jasmine here. I am talking to you about this important day because I’ve been seeing quite of bit of the folks in white coats the last few weeks. Even though The Female Human takes us all to that place every year for wellness exams, sometimes things still happen. In my case I became very sick and was diagnosed with kidney disease. The Humans are giving me sub-cutaneous fluid every other day and antibiotics and I am beginning to feel better and am putting on a little weight.

You say, when you go to the vet for regular wellness visits they have information that makes it easier to diagnose you and to help you. Even though I’m a lady kitty a bit advanced in years, my vet, and yours, can help you to be your most healthy self. Please make at least a yearly wellness visit to your vet!
Purrs & Head Bonks,

Jasmine

Alberto Opines on Sleeping Positions, Snoopervising and Other Stuff on Friendly Fill Ins 118

Hello There,
I’m doing the Friendly Fill Ins this week and hope you enjoy my answers. This is a blog tour so you can hop on over to the host’s sites, 15 And Meowing or Four Legged Fur Balls to enter. If you prefer, you can opine about your answers in the comment section of this post.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Siamese cat with blue eyes

Here are this Week’s Questions:

1. I am going_________________.
2. I want to be more ______________.

3. Once in a blue moon, I _________.

4. I have a large collection of _________.0

Here are My Answers:

1. I am going to be more creative in the sleeping positions I choose. Here are some of my “greatest hits”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

2. I want to be more assertive when it comes to fighting for a spot in a box. Oliver seems to be taking over the box supply. I think I’m too polite. 
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3. Once in a blue moon, I have to have a serious discussion with our Purrsonal Assistant about her job purrformance.

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Need I remind you that “Walk Through The Web Wednesday” needs to actually be published on Wednesday?

 

4. I have a large collection of toys and I still can’t find anything to play with.
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Lily is Thankful

Hello There Furiends,
Lily here. I am purrticipating in  Brian’s Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. I am very thankful that The Humans have reserved a special room just for me. It has a great view to the garden below and a nice fan over the bed for hot days. I often hang out there and just think about things. You know, the important stuff cats think of like how long ’till dinner, when will The Female Human break out the catnip again or when will the next empty box arrive?”
I don’t understand though, why they call my room the “Guest Room”. Why don’t they just call it “Lily’s Room” and if any of those so called guests show up, just tell them they will be staying in Lily’s room!
Siamese cat on bed

Lily Makes Friends

So I was just minding my own business downstairs and I looked out and WHOA, what did I see?

Siamese cat sees Tabby cat

Hey, I better get over there and see who this dude is, he’s certainly not part of our tribe.
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Hi there. My name is Lily. What’s your name. Oh, and I don’t think you want to be in the woods in our back yard, there are raccoons, skunks and even bears sometime. I see you have a collar on so I suggest you skedaddle back home my furiend. Nice to meet you though.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 8/15 Alberto Opines on

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Happy Wednesday My Furiends,
I don’t know what Wednesday means to you but at our house it means the humans in the big noisy truck come by our driveway, grab the green and the blue things The Humans keep in the garage and dump the contents into the truck. The Tribe of Five have pondered this weekly ritual and can only surmise it is some sort of human kitty litter cleaning exercise.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy these little gems I found in my weekly purrusal of the web.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Siamese cat with blue eyes

Local Musician Takes Care of Stray Cats – News Channel 5 Nashville

Nashville musician feeds stray black cat

I am a great mewsic fan which is why this news story resonated with me. A songwriter in Nashville, Chris Gantry, leaves his house at 3a.m. to feed stray cats in his old neighborhood. He wants to bring attention to the growing stray cat population and raise awareness for these feral felines. He even wrote a song about it. He is a staunch supporter for  TNR (trapping, neutering, and releasing stray cats) that have been on the streets their entire lives. He works with Metro Animal Care and Control with his TNR efforts.

He knows all his feral furiends but is especially close to a black cat called Midnight, who is the only feral not afraid to show herself to him in the day light.  He calls her the Queen of Belmont.  He calls Midnight a fierce, beautiful young black cat.

Before Gantry could trap her and get her spayed, she had one litter of kittens and  Gantry took them to get neutered and adopted. He says of Midnight, “This cat is wild. She would never let anybody touch her accept me. Unfortunately, that’s the tough part.”

Two paws up for Chris Gantry and his work for feral cats!

California community cat garden helps feral cats get adopted – abc7 eyewitness News

cat garden gets feral cats adopted

Whenever you humans come up with a creative idea to help homeless kitties, I say “Bravo”. There is a lady in Milpitas, California doing just that.  Instead of euthanizing feral felines, they’re gently coaxed to trust humans and to become loving house or yard pets.

Lorrie Sprain works in administration at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. But she focuses a lot of her attention in a garden just a few feet away. It’s called the Marilyn & Fred Anderson Community Cat Garden, a fenced in area which feral cats call home.

This lady is a real life cat whisperer who talks lovingly and softly to the new kitties who arrive at the garden, gradually winning their trust and calming them down. She says, “”You have to have patience, and you can get them to come out and eventually you can pet them.”  The process can take a month but the rewards are great. This program has adopted out 260 felines.

Many feral cats taken to shelters are given a death sentence and this program gives them the second chance they deserve.
The community cat garden has been so successful, the Humane Society of Silicon Valley has gotten additional funding to expand it from a current capacity of about 12 to 24.

Bravo, purrs, head bonks and two paws up for this innovative program!

Pick A Cat Name Your Cat Will Answer To – Lifehacker

black and white cat under sofa

This is Oliver ignoring The Female Human

Dr. Uri Burstyn has created a YouTube video that gives you humans some insight into naming us felines.  The doctor explains that we felines have ears that are fine tuned to hear high pitched noises. He uses his cat Lancelot as an example. Lancelot doesn’t really respond to his name but if he hears “Lan-CEY!” he does pay attention.

Now this makes me wonder if this is why The Humans have nicknames for all of us. Maybe they instinctively figured out that we respond to some names and not others. For instance, Tucker is often referred to as “Tuck-EEE” and Jasmine is “Jaz-EEE”. Lily is often called Lily Bug or Bug but based on this doctor’s premise, The Humans should just call her “Lil-EEE”. Oliver is “Oll-EEE” bat sadly, I am referred to as “Alberto or Al”. Purrhaps it’s time The Humans gave me a new nickname!

New TV Show Looking for Crazy Cats – ChronicleLive.UK

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Once again our friends across the pond have something new and exciting for felines (and actually their humans as well). A new TV show is asking folks to send in information about their crazy cats. The call out from Athena Films, reads “We are on the lookout for crazy moggies for new series on when cats attack!

As hard as you many find it to believe, some of us do exhibit behavior that makes life with us a little difficult. You know, stuff like having to wear gloves and body armor to clip nails or needing an extra hour to get your furry family member into a carrier for that visit to the place with white coats. I certainly hope they will be offering advice and help to both the humans and the felines!

Aberdeen University’s favourite feline voted one of Europe’s cutest cats – The Press and Journal

white cat Buttons from Aberdeen college

Aberdeen University’s favourite feline, Buttons, has been voted one of Europe’s cutest cats in an international ranking of campus animals. Buttons is a white tomcat and is a celebrity on campus, known to spend most of his time near the philosophy department.

Study.Eu, which offers information on English-taught study programmes in Europe, chose the puss based on his “political ambitions”. Earlier this year Buttons was nominated by students to become the university’s new rector, a position once held by Sir Winston Churchill.

His supporters claimed that since the cat was “apolitical” and “fluffy,” he would have been the “ideal candidate”. Sadly, Buttons did not win the seat but remained in good spirits after the loss.

 

 

 

The Tribe of Five Have a Play Date with Dezi & Raena from Deziz World

Hello Furiends,
We just had a pawsome time over at Deziz World and Dezi and Raena had some very nice things to say about our book. Here’s a look at what we were up to. You should hop on over and join in the fun.

Purrs & Head Bonks,
black and white cat Oliver

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Walk Through The Web Wednesday 8/1

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello Furiends,
It’s time to meander down the Internet Highway and see what fabulous feline news is out there. I hope you enjoy this week’s stories.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Siamese cat with blue eyes

London’s Catfest, London’s Answer to CatCon – Katzenworld

catfest-London

I have reported on CatCon, a truly fabulous feline festival and now those moggy-loving humans across the pond are giving CatCon a run for it’s money.  The promo says that CatFest will bring stylish buzz-worthy cat products, inspiring talks, books & art, music, fancy dress (that’s what the folks across the pond call “costumes”) vegan street food, cat-themed cakes and cocktails..all while helping cats in need. Meowza! Those folks know how img_2054to throw a purrfectly fabulous pawty! While The Female Human was oohing and aahing over the cat related jewelry and clothing, The Male Human decided the “Howler” cat house that looks like an amp is the cat’s meow. And since my brother Oliver and I are quite mewsical and especially enjoy the days The Male Human changes his guitar strings, we think this would be a purrfect addition to our house!

 

 

17 Cat Owners Who Set The Bar Extremely High – Buzzfeed

InteriorDesigner

Every one of my feline furiends must insist their humans read this article! The Tribe of Five  can’t decide which we like the best. I am purrsonally fond of the human who hired an interior designer to create cat space for his felines. Lily loves the built in catio (we have a pop up tent thingy but it doesn’t hold a candle to this amazing space). Oliver thinks the birthday pawties are nice as does Tucker (anything that includes food is top on the list for those two). Jasmine thinks the tent and tablet is the least humans can do for their felines in residence! What’s your favorite?

Missing Pet Parakeet Rescued By Neighbor’s Cat – US Magazine

cat and parakeet

Now I will be the first feline to give credit where credit is due but methinks making this cat a rescuer might be stretching the truth a tad. While it’s true that Rosie Bloom, a little budgie had been missing for 7 weeks, the fact that 7-month old feline Bear showed up with said budgie in his mouth could not be strictly described as a rescue. You see, our furiend Bear,, who lives about a mile away from the Budgie and her humans, is in the habit of delivering mice and other birds to his family. Fortunately, for all involved, the screaming budgie was removed from Bear’s mouth and eventually found her way home via a Facebook post. Hero or not, Bear did perpetrate the rescue of this feathered friend and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.

It Turns Our Cats And Dogs Get Along Fine – Mother Nature Network

cat and dog cuddling

Finally after years of us felines getting a bad rap about our ability to coexist with canines, the truth comes out. A new study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior — one that uniquely looks at the relationship between cats and dogs sharing the same home — suggests we get along just fine. The researchers surveyed 748 households with canines and felines.  These homes were located all over the world in places like the good old U.S of A, Europe, Australia and more. Over 80% of those folks said that the inter-species relationships were just fine.  And how many said that there were relationship issues in their homes, only 3%. So folks if you’ve been wanting to adopt a dog to add to your feline household or a cat to add to your canine household, get to the shelter and do it now!

Reading Program Lowers Anxiety Within Cats, Kids – KFox14

child reads to shelter cat

I’ve heard a lot about great programs where little humans go to libraries or shelters and read to dogs. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think this is a noble and pawsome thing to do (they do it at our local shelter too), but I’ve had my whiskers in a bit of a twist because I never heard or read anything about the benefits of little humans reading to shelter cats. Until now that is.  This program doesn’t just improve social skills for the little humans but for the felines as well. It also helps to calm cats and help relieve the stress they feel because shelters can be stressful places. Does your shelter have a program to read to cats? Tell us about it! If you don’t and want to learn more, check out El Paso Animal Services Facebook page.

 

 

Lily Opines on Friendly Fill Ins 7/27

Hi There Furiends,
Lily here. It’s my turn to opine on the Friday Fill ins. The Female Human (also referred to img_4850as our “purrsonal assistant”) asked me to send her apologies in not transcribing our responses to your comments on our blog this week. Jasmine had to go to  emergency in the place of the white coats Saturday night and only came home Wednesday. She’s been on a special diet, antibiotics and pain killers for a few days and is finally beginning to feel better but the Female Human has been playing “nurse”.  This is Jasmine a few days ago, she’s looking much better now and beginning to act like her old diva self.

Things are getting back to normal and we’ll be having our assistant transcribing our responses soon! As always, you can hop on over to the hosts of this blog hop at 15andmeowing or Four-Legged Furballs. And of course, you are always welcome to opine about  your fill in answers in the comment section of this post.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
LilyLogo

This Week’s Fill Ins

1. I deserve a gold star for _________________ today.

2. Right now, I am loving _____________.

3. The best advice I’ve ever been given is _________.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be _________.

My Answers:

1. I deserve a gold star for not licking the butter the Female Human left out on the counter today. I eyed it for quite a while but I restrained myself.

I'm eyeing the butter but I've decided to be a good cat.

Lily

2. Right now, I am loving  the summer weather and sitting on the window ledge at the stairs watching the local wildlife come to our little waterfall to drink and take a bath.
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3. The best advice I’ve ever been given is when you’re an adopted kitty, find another feline in the Tribe that can be your cuddle buddy. Tucker is my cuddle buddy.
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4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be Your Royal Highness, Your Majesty or Queen of the Universe, any of these would be acceptable .
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