Hello Furiends,
The Female Human tells me that summer is coming to and end. This is very upsetting to me because she has not taken me out in the kayak yet. I know she’s had a tough few months and is extra busy trying to get things settled at our house and in her life but sheesh, this shouldn’t affect the felines!

All this upheaval has made us all a bit needy. Me in particular.  I regularly demand access to Jasmine’s domain in the bedroom. Here I am looking cute and attempting to tell The Female Human I should be able to stay. Still, despite my cuteness, I am  being punished simply because I stretched out my unusually long legs and  kicked Jasmine off the end of the bed and across the room when she was in a deep sleep. Hey, mistakes happen and look at me, how could you banish me from the bedroom when I look so cute?!

If The Female Human tries to ignore me, I just get on top of her and stare into her face and I will often put my paws on her shoulder to make sure she notices me. I am one big guy (lean but long and full of muscle) and when I am sitting on your chest and purring, it is extremely hard to ignore me -or to breathe.

I am not the only Tribe member who is a bit unsettled these days. Oliver and Tucker are always looking for extra love and assurance too.

Despite the changes we are experiencing I am happy to report that we are still the spoiled, loved pampered Tribe we have always been.

Well, enough about us, it’s time to see what fantastic feline facts I’ve uncovered this week.

Walter Chandoha’s Cat Photography: A 70-Year Love Story

Oh my whiskers, you humans need to get out and buy this new book, Walter Chandoha Cats: 1948-2018, “a career-spanning retrospective of the greatest cat photographer.”  by Susan Mitchell. Not only are there amazing photos of felines but some great ones of the photographer showing how he got those amazing photos (humans take note)!

Everything you need to know about ‘sheep cats,’ the curly-haired cats going viral on Instagram

The Tribe is made up of rescue cats who are basically mutts, no pedigrees here. But there are some pawsome felines who do have a pedigree and these “sheep cats” are one of those breeds.

They do have a breed name, which is Selkirk Rex and they are curly, even their whiskers are curly! They’re a newer breed and came into being in 1987 when a Montana cat breeder named  Jeri Newman found a curly-haired cat at an animal shelter. He bred said cat with a Persian, and gained official recognition for the new breed by the Cat Fanciers Association in 1992 and all Selkirk Rexes are descended from Newman’s original cat named, Miss DePesto.

These curly beauties can be long or short-haired and usually have a chunky build.   Their coats are dense with three layers but they require very little grooming.

Police Mascot Sgt. Butters loses his job but finds a new home 

Sgt. Butters at his swearing in ceremony at the Mocksville Police Department.

After reading this report below, I too have some concerns about Sgt. Butters. Why won’t anyone say where he is? What’s the big cover up? Clearly, cats and politics don’t mix!

More than 50 people gathered Aug. 20 inside the chambers of the Mocksville Town Board of Commissioners, and several more stood in the Town Hall’s lobby.

It was the largest crowd ever to attend the monthly meeting of the town board, Mayor William Marklin said.

The reason for the turnout? Concerns about the fate of Sgt. Butters, the feline mascot of the Mocksville Police Department, who was taken out of the department and whose Facebook page was taken down last week. A town commissioner was reportedly concerned about the cat’s presence around a pregnant employee who has said that she cannot be around cats.

On Aug. 20, the mayor attempted to reassure the crowd that Sgt. Butters is living comfortably at the home of a friend of the police department.

Sgt. Butters didn’t attend the meeting.

Officers rescued the cat in 2018 after spotting him around the department’s building on Main Street. They nursed him back to health and he had been allowed him to stay in the police department’s offices.

Marklin said that the year-old cat’s social media page will return soon with its usual posts and pictures.

“While decisions regarding social media and Sarge Butters are made by town management and have not been addressed by the (town) board, the commitment of this agency to protect and serve the citizens of Mocksville remains our first priority, and as always, we will protect the well-being of Sarge Butters.”

Marklin spoke about the cat before a public-comment period in which four people told the town board about their concerns regarding Sgt. Butters. Afterward, the town’s board took no action regarding Sgt. Butters, and none of the five town commissioners spoke about the cat.

Alan Bagshaw of Mount Airy, a native of Mocksville, said he was troubled that town officials haven’t spoken much publicly about the cat’s fate.

“Silence is the message that the town of Mocksville has sent, to the nation and not just Mocksville,” Bagshaw said.

“True, Sgt. Butters is just a cat. We all want what is best for him.”

Bagshaw described Marklin’s statement about Sgt. Butters as ambiguous. Rumors are circulating about the cat because town officials have declined to publicly discuss Sgt. Butters, Bagshaw said.

“If Sgt. Butters is able to be cared for, and the police department is not the suitable place for him, I understand,” Bagshaw said. “But let’s talk about it. What the town of Mocksville did is set a precedent that they will treat a living creature as just a piece of property and throw it away when it’s no longer needed.”

Susan Whitener of Advance, a representative of the Save Sarge Butters Facebook Page, said that town officials should have considered the public’s concerns about the cat.

“Then one day, last week … Sarge was evicted from the probably only home that he’s ever known,” Whitener said. “Ripped from all of his fans and supporters, Sgt. Butters was gone. You should all be ashamed. I beg you to rethink your decision.”

Barry Williams of Advance acknowledged that Sgt. Butters is a good public-relations image for the police department, but he said that the public’s concern for him might be misplaced.

After the town board’s meeting, Marklin declined to say whether Sgt. Butters was living in a home in Mocksville or somewhere else in Davie County. Town Manager Matt Settlemyer declined to comment on the matter.

In addition, Police Chief Patrick Reagan declined to discuss Sgt. Butters.

‘Crazy cat lady’ stereotype has no evidence to support it, study finds

My feline furiends, gather your female humans around the computer for this one.  A recent report found that dog owners are just as sensitive to their pets’ needs as the proverbial “crazy cat ladies” we’re always hearing so much about.

In fact, a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science appears to debunk the idea of the “crazy cat lady” altogether, not only because dog-owners are similarly empathetic to the sounds of their distressed pets, but also because cat owners show no signs of being more anxious, emotional or depressed than their doggie-doting counterparts.

Researchers at UCLA initially hypothesized that cat owners would be more emotional, or suffer from more anxiety and depression, than other groups they observed, including dog owners and folks with no pets at all. Upon examining the results from the study’s 511 participants (264 owned pets, 297 did not), their hypothesis didn’t hold up.

“We found no differences between cat owners and the other participants on any of the self-reported measures of anxiety, depression or experiences in relationships,” the study explains. Hah! Shows what you know UCLA!

The pet owners, overall, did appear to empathize more with their dogs and cats upon hearing the animals’ meows and whimpers, as they rated the sounds “sadder” than the group who didn’t already own pets.

Interestingly enough, the sounds of a whimpering dog were rated “significantly sadder” than the meows of cats.

“We found no evidence to support the ‘cat lady’ stereotype,” wrote the study’s authors, who traced the trope as far back as 1872, when The New York Times published an editorial called “Cats and Craziness.”

So there you go, the truth is finally out!

Girls and their cats – a new book

Now that we’ve debunked the fiction of the “crazy cat ladies” I bring you another new book from fashion and beauty photographer  BriAnne Wills, Girls and Their Cats, which started as an Instagram photo series of the “cutest cat ladies and their feline companions”.  The  book full of portraits and profiles of 50 women – artists, entrepreneurs, writers and activists – and their furry sidekicks.

She says, “Our relationship is symbiotic. Cats give us what we need and vice versa, and we don’t take anything more. We respect each other and sometimes even learn from each other.” She has two cats, Tuck and Liza. Tuck is a black and white tuxedo who loves attention and wags his tail like a dog when he’s excited. Liza is a brown tabby, a mama’s girl with a thing for vegan cheese.

I say paws up to a book that celebrates beautiful cat ladies and the felines they love.