Hello Furiends, It’s been a busy week here in our neck of the woods. Most of the time was devoted to The Human putting the finishing touches on her purresentation at the Cat Writers Association conference. She enjoyed some great seminars at the virtual conference. We liked it because she was at home with us on Friday and Saturday. We were very instrumental in helping her during the course of the conference as displayed in these photos. We have a nice view from the office window and since she was sitting at the big table, we were able to take over her pink office chair occasionally.
When we got bored we checked for squirrels
When The Human abandons the pink chair, it’s ours!
Alberto concentrating on the conference,
Alberto concentrates in a bed in the cat tree in the office
Oliver takes a break from learning to check out the woods.
Lily goes for a change of scene and hangs out in the living room.
Oliver returns to his focus on the programs.
After the conference, we went in the kitchen to see what the human was making from her Hello Fresh delivery. We were incensed to find out she was making a meatless dish and hastily made our way back to our sleeping stations on the cat tree in the office. It was a nice weekend and I’m sure The Human appreciated all the assistance we provided.
Where’s the meat and what’s up with the kale?
Today is “Evaluate Your Life” day and Lily, Oliver and I spent some time to honor the day. We suggest you do the same.
I hope you enjoy this week’s feline news.
A homeless cat is rescued and then finds an amazing furever home
We love The Dodo and find some of the most heartwarming videos there. This one gave The Human leaky eyes (she said only because it had such a happy ending). This kitty was abandoned when his humans moved away, was rescued and then adopted by a family that takes him on boat trips. This little movie is like a fantastic fairy tale. You can keep up with all of Richey, Kiley, Lori and Jason’s adventures on Facebook.
Meowza, there are a lot of video games featuring cats and here’s the latest on the list created by a man from Portland, Maine. The game features nine cats on a fictional island in Casco Bay.
The creator of the game, Eric Blumrick, calls this an adventure game about cats and their encounters in the small island town where they live. The cats wake up one morning and find that all the humans have disappeared. The game poses the question, “Are the humans worth bringing back?”
The cats need to discover what humanity is and what it is to be human and as they do, they discover the story of the island and its history.
“In the end, once they uncover all the stories of Peace Island, it will be up to the cats and the players to decide whether the humans are worth bringing back,”
Please note, this product is for you humans only and it’s pretty clever. The Burdick Chocolates menagerie, well known for its silk-tailed mice, now includes cats. The company created dark chocolate felines with a cherry ganache filling and a curved cashew tail. They’re almost two inches long, come six to a box and are being sold for a limited time online and at the L.A. Burdick shops in New York, Chicago, Washington and New England. The box of six chocolate kitties sells for $27.00
Hysterical compilation of news reporters’ cats making guest appearances
It’s clear from these videos that when TV reporters work from home, their felines like to get in the act too.
Hurricane Ian cats rescued by Indiana women on vacation
Two Indiana women, Samantha Grimes and Holly Irwin were vacationing in Florida news reports about animals in need because of the hurricane. Both women who work in animal rescue and are board members and volunteers at SOAR Initiative Indianapolis knew they wanted to do something.
When they heard that shelter doors had been reopened, they loaded 35 cats into crates and put them in their Kia Sportage. They had to move all of their items into the storage compartment on top of the car to fit the cats in.
I would say these Indiana tourists went above and beyond and that animal rescue folks are never “off the clock”.
Hello Furiends, Fall is here and we love the cozy weather, especially when The Human comes home and turns on the fireplace for us for a little while.
The Human bought us a drinking fountain. Lily and I are cutting it a wide swath but it’s early days yet and frankly, I don’t see the need to drink from that thing when I have The Human trained to turn on the bathroom faucet for me. Oliver is an early adaptor and he was the first to check it out and and he drinks out of it. Lily and I are in “wait and see” mode.
“What is this thing?”}“DRINK out of it? Hmmm”
Speaking of The Human, she had some work to do at home and I love helping her. Here’s a little slide show about my position as her purrsonal assistant.
“Hello Human, I’m here to help”
“As soon as I’m done makin biscuits we can get started working”
“FINE, I’ll just sit next to you on this chair .”
The Human asked Lily if she’d model her new collar (made from kimono fabric) since we talked about it last week. Lily took the meowdeling session quite seriously.
“How’s this pose?”
“Wait, maybe my staring off in the distance pose is better.”
And then there’s the magical day that The Human caught Ollie and I snuggling Lily (we rarely allow any photos of these events).
“Do you really need to take that photo?”
“I decided to let Lily snuggle. Let’s not make a big deal about it!”
And finally, one of the rarest photos of all, all three of us in one shot!
Well, that’s it for the happenings in our neck of the woods. And now the news.
Michigan man’s cats are tallest and have longest tail in the world, Guinness World Records says
Oliver wanted to use this news item to campaign to end his D-I-E-T but after purrusing the story I had to give him the sad news that “biggest” as described in this article is not girth, but length and height.
Two cats who live in Detroit have received theGuinness World Recordsdeclaration as the tallest and longest feline tail
Will Powers who owns the cats has a history of having big felines. Two of his previous cats hold the all-time records for tallest cat and cat with the longest tail before both perished in a fire.
Now, Fenrir Antares Powers which is a Savannah breed, and Altair Cygnus Powers which is a Maine Coon breed, have taken over the record of the largest living cats in terms of height and tail length.
“Call him the Big Chungus or the Chonk, he just grew and grew like Clifford the Big Red Dog,” Powers said in an interview with Guinness World Records, talking about Fenrir.
Fenrir is 18.83 inches tall. He comes from a long line of massive house cats and is the current record holder for tallest living cat. Powers says he is very loving, very outgoing, and he’s often used as a therapy animal at Powers pet rescue.
He also has a voracious appetite and is known for grabbing food off the counter – something only a cat with his size could pull off. He can even open doors when he wants to walk through the home.
The other cat, Altair is also called ‘The Floofus” due to his long and very fluffy tail which measures at 16.07 inches. His personality is a bit different from the other five cats that live with Powers. He loves cuddles and being held.
Maine Coon cats reach their maximum growth at age 5, Altair is not 5 yet so who knows how long his tail will end up being.
We have asked The Human to get out the tape measure and see how tall we are and how long our tails are. We’ll report back next week.
There are many stories of wonderful humans caring for and saving kitties during and after Hurricane Ian. We especially liked this story. A small staff at an animal shelter in Sarasota, Florida, managed to take care of over 100 cats and a four-day-old kitten even in the midst of the horrible storm,.
At Cat Depot in Sarasota, staff members hunkered down inside the shelter overnight as wind banged at their windows amid the hurricane. Some water did make its way inside the building. One of the workers said, “[It was] dripping off … and then collecting it into the litter box at the bottom,”
The people there mopped and cleaned all night. The center has a steel roof which is great for surviving a hurricane but lousy for peace and quiet and the cats were bombarded with much noise. The cats had places to hide and the staff put up sound adsorbing material to counter the noise.
Insulation on the roof partly came off, some items inside like dishes and laundry facilities were lost and the hot water and power in the building went out. Needless to say the staff got little-to-no sleep the night Ian hit.
Cat Depot also opened its building to the public if anyone wanted to drop off their animals as they braced for the storm. They are hoping to reopen on Saturday
The nonprofit relies on community donations and volunteers, and the cleanup process takes all hands on deck. The staff is grateful they missed the worst of Ian — and that all the animals are safe. Paws Up to these wonderful humans!!
As soon as we found this article, The Human said, “sign me up”. The owner of Whiskers and Wine, Nicole Smith said her vision was to build a place for the community to gather, while having food and drinks, surrounded by adoptable cats. With specialty cocktails like Jaz’s Pearfect Meowtini, Nick’s Whiskey Meower and the Peach Pussycat, the space is dedicated to felines down to the decor and the rooftop lounge where cats can catch some sun.
The cats come from Saving One Life, an animal rescue group dedicated to giving shelter and medical care to stray, abandoned and surrendered felines until they find permanent adoptive homes.
Just to make sure that people don’t get tipsy and decide to take a cat home rightaway there’s an adoption application to make sure that the kitties go to furever homes.
All the food and drinks are prepared behind glass, and there is a separate area where guests can watch the cats, but almost everyone enjoys the up-close company of cats.
The Human says this is her purrfect idea of a date, too bad it’s too far to get to San Diego from Northern Idaho!
It only costs $30 to reserve your cat therapy session and you can spend 90 minutes hanging out with the cats while enjoying food and drinks. Meowza, what a fun time! If any of our furiends live in San Diego and visit Whiskers & Wine, meow at us and let us know what you thought.
Big dog obsessed with cats gets his own feline
Archie the Samoyed is so obsessed with cats that he insists on greeting every feline he sees. Even when he’s at doggy daycare surrounded by other dogs, he begs to go outside to watch the cats for hours on end, which they call his “Cat TV.” His humans finally caved and got Archie his very own kitten. .It took B the kitten a little time to get used to Archie, but now they go on walks together and cuddle as well. To keep up with Archie & B, follow along on TikTok https://thedo.do/archieandbTT
“Headless” cats win photo award
The Comedy Pet Photo Awards has announced the winners of the 2022 competition with top honors going to Kenichi Morinaga with his photo of two cats sitting on a fence that makes them appear as if they are headlessly conjoined.
The photo, titled Boom! Boom! depicts a cartoon-like connection of two cats, beat out about 2,000 other entries to take the top prize, some of which were shown in the list of finalists published in July. The photographer is from Japan and says he enjoys visiting the small islands around his country and taking photos of the street cats he finds there.
This photo was also picked as the winner of the Best Cat photo category, took home the £2,000 cash prize, plus a £5,000 donation from Animal Friends Pet Insurance that goes to an animal welfare or conservation charity of his choice.
He says that after much deliberation, he decided to make his donation to The Cat Welfare Group, an organization based on the U.K’s South Coast that helps rescue and re-home stray and abandoned cats.
The Comedy Pet Photo Awards says that judging this year was the closest it has ever seen, with just 10 points separating the top six places and seven different countries were represented in the Category Winners, which are listed below.
Happy Wednesday Furiends, First, Oliver would like to thank you all for the get well wishes. He really apurreciated them. He had a rough few days but he’s back to his old sassy self now.
As The Human was playing nurse to Ollie most of last week and getting up at ungodly hours (and rousting Lily and I from our sleeping positions on the bed) she didn’t manage to capture any new photos of us so I thought this would be a purrfect time to feature Lily’s Remember Me Thursday video and brag that this little video won a Certificate of Excellence from The Cat Writer’s Association.
On September 22, 2022, the entire world shared the importance of pet adoption, and shine a light on all orphan pets waiting in shelters and rescues. Since its inception in 2013, Remember Me Thursday®has made more than 2 billion impressions on social media.
On #RememberMeThursday, love your rescue and help others #SeeTheLight. It’s up to you to spread the word. We’ll be celebrating again this year and hope you’ll join us!
I hope you enjoyed Lily’s story and that you enjoy this week’s news stories.
Now here’s a concept I can get behind. Shanghai’s first cat island is open and housing 20 stray cats and preparing to accommodate 200-300 in the future. The island has interactive activities for visitors and is also serving as an adoption center.
Those wanting to adopt are required to volunteer some time at the shelter and time to get to know the cats they want to bring home. This is to mitigate the possibilities that the cats will be abandoned and that they will have forever homes.
Paws up to the wonderful people that created his sanctuary!
I do not like purrlitical stories as they often result in much hissing and fuzzy tails but this story has to be shared. Larry the cat is appearing on billboards all around London announcing that the No. 10 Downing Street’s Chief Mouser has thrown his collar into the ring to run for prime minister.
While most humans opine that either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, of the Conservative Party will be the winner the #Larry4Leader organization is making sure he is considered in the race.
Larry was only four years old when he was adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats home to begin his new life in politics and has served as a trusted companion to three prime ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May and the outgoing PM, Boris Johnson. That means that Larry has more purrlitical experience at the highest level than the two humans running against him.
Larry’s campaign team is making his purrlitical positions clear which include, “responsible hiss-cal policy” and “no lying in No. 10 unless it’s on a comfy cushion.”
If you want to know more about Larry’s campaign you can visit his website.
There is a website, www.larry4leader.com, dedicated to Larry’s political efforts.
Two paws up for the humans who supported Lana’i Cat Sanctuary at their cat yoga session on the lawn of its shelter. The non-profit incurs costs of almost a million dollars a year to house the 680 cats that live there. They bring in about 200 new feral cats every year but they also adopt out about 100 cats a year.
This little island sanctuary that does so much good for felines doesn’t have the kind of opportunities for fund raising that larger places might have. According to the 2020 census there are 3,367 people on the island. That is about half of the population of the town we live in and we live in a small town. They streamed the yoga event on Facebook and plan to stream the next one they do.
A woman created an artificially intelligent (AI) infrared camera rig using a Rasberry Pi to monitor her cat’s poop after she discovered it was eating plastic after her vet advised her to monitor her feline Teddy’s bathroom habits as he is a plastic eater. The vet told her it’s important to make sure Teddy eliminates the plastic and it doesn’t get stuck in his intestines.
The woman knew this would be a challenge as she had two cats so she wrote a program and set up a camera motion sensor that would trigger every time Teddy used the litterbox so she could tell if Teddy was constipated from the plastic he ate.
Estefannie wrote a python script and set up a camera with a motion sensor that would trigger every time Teddy used his litterbox so she could tell if he was constipated or not.
She said, “I did a lot of research and found I need to take a whole bunch of pictures. Luckily I already have a picture taking script that can take several pictures a second,” she explains on her YouTube channel.
This project wasn’t without its problems. Teddy took exception to the flash so she set up a series of infrared lights and gave the camera an infrared filter so it could see in the dark.
Every time a photo is taken it is sent to a server which processes the image and sends back a message to Estefanni’s computer. It tells her which cat is using the litterbox and if they are pooping or peeing. This complex arrangement allows Estefanni to save all of the data so she knows when Teddy is not pooping and if he needs to go to the veterinary hospital.
How long did it take her to create this incredible set up? It took about a year.
Ah, one of my favorite subjects – working cats and what better workplace for a feline than a winery?
Wine magazine has done a feature article on these furry employees. Sometimes the cats arrive at the winery and make it their home, which was the case for the resident feline at Napa Valley’s Black Cat Vineyard. In the mid-1990s, a stray black cat wandered onto the property as proprietor and winemaker Tracey Reichow and her kids planted their first grapevines. Every day, he returned to snoopervise their work.
They named him “Black Cat.” The following year, Reichow decided to name the business after the friendly feral feline. Through her veterinarian, Reichow learned about other needy felines who were better suited to the outdoor life. Reichow would bring them to live on her property. At one point, she had 13 winery cats prowling over her 20 acres.
She has a cat door in case any want to come inside her home. But typically, they prefer to sleep in cat beds in the vineyard’s outbuildings like machine sheds and a huge barn, which she warms with heating pads in winter.
And these cats earn their pay by keeping rodents like gophers (that can tunnel through the roots of grapevines and kill the plants) away from the vineyard.
Many rescue organizations offer “barn cat” adoption programs for cats that are fearful or distrustful of humans. These cats would be stressed as indoor pets and that puts them at risk of euthanasia. But life in a winery can be the best solution for these cats. .
At Black Cat Vineyard, the cats hunt rodents like gophers that can tunnel through the roots of grapevines and kill the plants. One of her current cats, Peanut, even leaves gopher guts on the front porch each morning as a gift.
There are requirements for the humans who hire winery working felines. As the cats are territorial, adequate food, water and shelter is required or the cats will move and find new territory.
And if the furry winery employees decide they like the company of humans there are plenty of people for them to choose from such as employees and guests.
At Carlson Vineyards in Palisade, Colorado the three rescue winery cats—Hank the Tank, Gunny and Willow Taffy Snowball—seem to turn on the charm for guests, according to co-owner Garrett Portra.
“It’s almost like they know, ‘Showtime! Time to earn our keep around here,’” he says with a chuckle. “It’s amazing how many people come in just to see the cats.”
The cats live outside, but they sleep indoors at night since there are coyotes in the area. There’s even a cat bed next to the register, which is “purr-fect” for cat lovers who buy bottles of the winery’s popular “Laughing Cat.”
A beloved rescue cat named Jinx, who was “crazy as anything,” inspired the name of Crazy Cat Winery and Café in Bristol, New Hampshire, says co-owner Claudette Smith. At the end of the day, Jinx liked to come into the tasting room and do the “zoomies to entertain the humans. When Jinx crossed the Rainbow Bridge last year Smith was overwhelmed by the support of his fans. Jinx’s legacy continues as he is on the winery logo.
Now rescue cats Cricket and Jasper attract customers. When asked what they bring to the business, Smith doesn’t hesitate. “People. Cat people.”
Crazy Cat shares photos of the winery cats on social media, as well as posts about adoptable cats from rescues like nonprofit group FuRRR Feline Rescue, which rescued Cricket and Jasper.
The winery recently hosted a month long food and kitty litter drive for FuRRR. Anyone who donated received a 10% discount on bottles of wine, which have names like Whisker White and Cat’s Paw.
For the photography book Wine Cats, Craig McGill and Susan Elliott photographed 108 cats in three countries. They learned of a cat named Mr. Wu, who could detect cork taint whenever a wine writer opened a bottle that was off.
I’ve featured cats that work at distilleries too. At Beehive Distilling in Salt Lake City, Owner Chris Barlow and his daughter adopted a cat named Gimlet from Best Friends Animal Society after they hosted a fundraiser for the nonprofit.
Gimlet’s job is to deter rodents that may be attracted to the grain bags around the gin distillery. But her main job is to entertain guests that watch her strut her stuff as they enjoy a drink. She even sleeps in cat beds on barrels and steam pipes.
“It’s really nice to have a cat around,” says Barlow. “I think she just makes everything better.”
Ultimately, when distilleries and wineries adopt working cats, it benefits the business and saves the cat’s life, according to Megan McCloud, senior manager of lifesaving programs at Best Friends Animal Society.
“Just like people, cats have unique personalities and thrive in different environments,” she says. “Working cats are a great asset to businesses, and it’s a wonderful lifestyle for their unique dispositions.”
Paws up to the great wineries and distilleries who give cats a job and a home!
Hello Furiends, It’s hard to believe August is almost over! Now that The Human is better some of us felines have had our own health issues to deal with. Lily, as I reported before went for a tooth cleaning and had to have two teeth extracted.
“Let me just tell you that was NOT fun and boy am I glad my recovery is over!”
And poor Oliver. Lily only had two extractions, he had three and he’s not feeling happy about it. The Human keeps telling him that being proactive is good because our poor Angel Tucker had to have emergency tooth surgery because he had a terrible infection and he really suffered! Oliver’s not buying this reasoning but once he’s all better and eating treats again, he’ll be happy.
“I am not happy!”
As for me, I’m just crossing my paws and purraying that my wellness exam next year goes as well as this year and the people in the white coats will keep their paws off my fangs!
“I don’t want to even think of having any of my fangs removed.”“Human, please tell me there’s no tooth extraction in my future.”
Well, that was our week in our neck of the woods. I hope your week went better!
You all know I’m a huge fan of creative adoption ideas and this one is definitely creative. Well, here’s great one. In Olivehurst, California (about 40 miles north of Sacramento) there’s a house for sale in town with interesting terms. Or rather, two cats up for adoption with interesting terms. You can adopt two cats for $285,000.00 and the house they live in comes with them for free. This deal happened when a cat loving lady passed away and donated her tome to FieldHaven Feline Center.
The cats, Spencer and Ginger are ready for some new roomates I the cozy 2-bedroom house. FieldHaven says they are “impeccable houseguests”.
The house comes with a back porch where Spencer and Ginger enjoying hanging out. On the FieldHaven Facebook page it says, “Spencer and Gin have lived here for some time, and don’t need rehoming. They come with the house and expect food, water, and a bit of love,” FieldHaven said in a Facebook post.
The house is listed on Zillowand Realtor.com. The listing says the house has brand new carpet, fresh paint, a spacious kitchen and a single-car garage with added space for the washer and dryer. It also has a bonus bathroom and shower and a bonus room leading to a spacious backyard.
The proceeds from the home’s sale will go to supporting animal adoption efforts at FieldHaven.
I would suggest that the new homeowners consider putting a catio in for Spencer and Ginger.
Here is another one of my favorite news items. Whenever a feline has a happy reunion with their humans I am a happy cat!
It all started when a large ginger cat fell through the ceiling of Egron Energy. When some of the workers arrived to check their equipment they were greeted by the cat, whose name is Eugene and a hole in their ceiling. The cat ran out the door and for several days they could here meowing coming from the ceiling. They contacted Mackay Pet Rescue Incorporated (MPRI) who came out and set traps in the ceiling.
And during the waiting time the feline and workers developed somewhat of a relationship. They would look up occasionally and see Eugene staring down at them.
It took a few days but Eugene was finally caught and his humans were called. Imagine everyone’s surprise when they found out Eugene’s home was 1600 km (a little over 994 miles) from the office in Newcastle, NSW.
Eugene’s adventure began when his human Sophie Kilgariff and her fiancé moved from Townsville to NSW in December 2021. On the way, while cleaning Eugene’s carrier, he made his first dash for freedom, squirmed out of his harness and ran into the nearby cane fields.
After hours of searching the couple had to continue on to their new home and new jobs. Sophie’s heart was broken.
Several days later, Eugene was found and returned to Sophie’s parents, but a paralysis tick threatened his life. Sophie instructed her parents to take him to the vet and he beat the odds, recovering fully. He was brought to Sophie’s parent’s house but he escaped again.
This time months passed but Sophie never gave up, posting on Facebook and receiving sporadic notifications of Eugene sightings. Sophie became disheartened and clung to the hope that Eugene had found a new, loving home.
And then, eight months later she received the phone call from MPRI telling her they were calling about her cat. When she realized they were talking about Eugene she couldn’t stop crying.
Eugene is now happily at home in his new location in Newcastle. I’m thinking Eugene used up at least two of his nine lives on that adventure!
You all know that this feline is not sciency at all but I do enjoy a story about famous humans and their cats, even if the stories are only legends.
1. Albert Einstein and Tiger
Albert Einstein loved cats and all animals. “If a man aspired towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals,” he said, and was himself known to own multiple pets, including a dog and a parrot. But it was his cat Tiger who seemed to get the most attention. Biographers have recorded that Einstein was sensitive to Tiger’s moods, noting for example that the cat got depressed when it was raining.
Cats apparently held a big enough place in Einstein’s heart that they pop up in quotes historically attributed to him. I shared an Einstein cat quote in last week’s feature. He explained the telegraph like a long cat saying, “You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles”. .
“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life: music and cats,” is one of my favorite Einstein quotes.
2. Edwin Hubble and Nicholas
Portrait of American astronomer Dr Edwin Hubble, a pipe in his mouth, as he poses with a cat in his arms, California, 1951. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
If you think huge space telescope when you hear the name Hubble, you’re right. His discovery of galaxies beyond the Milky Way was revolutionary for the time, as was his work to support the theory that the universe is expanding. And he didn’t do it alone.
The center to Hubble’s universe, was his cat, Nicholas Copernicus, who, as Hubble explained, made a beloved nuisance of himself. According to the Huntington Library, where Hubble’s personal papers are stored, references to the giant black cat abound in the archives.
Hubble frequently referred to his home as “Nicholas’ estate.” And in her diary, Hubble’s wife Grace noted the close bond between her husband and the cat. In a moment that every cat owner will recognize, Grace observed that when Edwin would retire to his study to work, Nicholas enjoyed lolling on Edwin’s desk, “sprawled over as many pages as he could cover,” she wrote. “‘He is helping me,’ [Edwin] explained.”
3. Isaac Newton and Spithead
Legend has it that, in between developing the fundamental laws of motion and gravitation, doing groundbreaking work on optics and helping to invent calculus, the great Sir Isaac Newton also found time to invent the cat flap. Meowza, who knew?
As one version of the story goes, when Newton was at Cambridge, he requested that a hole be cut into his door and a leather or cloth flap put over it so that his cat, Spithead, could come and go at will.
While some scholars dispute whether Newton even had a cat, historical evidence makes it pretty clear that he didn’t invent the cat door. Apart from anything else, cutting a hole in a door — even one you might put a flap over — hardly qualifies as an invention. Humans have been cutting holes in doors and walls for thousands of years — since before we even domesticated cats — to allow feral felines access to barns and granaries. They could then hunt the vermin that fed on our food supplies.
But as vermin attracts us felines, so do great men often attract their share of legends over time, and Newton was no different.
4. Erwin Schrödinger and Milton(?)
The most famous cat in science history owes its name to the physicist and Nobel laureate Erwin Schrödinger, who won the honor in 1933 for his early work in quantum mechanics. But he is best-known for the thought experiment involving a theoretical cat in a box, and whether it could be said to be both dead and alive. Schrödinger proposed the scenario in a 1935 paper as a criticism of quantum theory at the time.
Forever after known as “Schrödinger’s Cat,” the paradoxical thought experiment has become a permanent — although frequently misunderstood — fixture in both science and popular culture.
People have sometimes wondered why Schrödinger used a cat in his example, instead of a rat or a plant or almost any other living thing. Some stories allege that Schrödinger had an actual cat, named Milton, and infer that the pet may have provided some inspiration to the physicist.
However, Milton may — and may not — have existed at all.
5. Nikola Tesla and Macak
Nikola Tesla was a brilliant but eccentric pioneer of electricity. Tesla was fond of talking about his childhood pet, Macak, whom Tesla once described as “the finest of all cats in the world.”
In a letter written to a young admirer in 1939, Tesla extolled the cat’s virtues at some length; the man was in his 80s by then, but time had clearly not diminished Tesla’s love for Macak. And that just shows you how much a great cat can affect a human’s life!
He told the story of a winter evening where he found himself stroking Macak’s back. In a moment that inspired his lifelong study of electricity, Tesla was shocked — literally — to discover that the cat’s back became “a sheet of light and my hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house.” It was a pretty dramatic moment — his mother told him stop for fear he’d start a fire.
Ah the amazing feline inspires another human again.
I love it when you humans represent us felines in new and creative ways. Kuala Lumpur-based artist Lim Heng Swee has been creating digital artworks of cats camouflaged as landscapes since 2019.. “I found that the body shape of cats lying on the floor is very similar to the shape of a mountain,” he says. “So I decided to blend or hide them inside colourful minimal landscape art.”
Now the amazing thing is that Lim Heng Swee has never owned a cat but you don’t need to share your home with a feline to be inspired by us.
Cats’ Tree Hotel in Paris gives felines the purr-fect guest experience
The Cats’ Tree Hotel gives felines a classically Parisian guest experiences and to that this feline says, “Réservez ma réservation!”.
Happy Wednesday Furiends! I am happy to report that The Human is getting better each day and, as a result, our level of service has begun to return to normal. She’s even cooking again. Once a week she gets a box that has stuff for her to cook. She says it’s easy and is saving her money because she keeps meowing about the fact that she can’t walk our of the grocery store for less than $50.00. Well, she seems to feel this human food delivery system is a good deal and I must admit, there are some tasty smells coming out of the kitchen again.
The other night she made a pork dish and before she could do the clean up, Oliver hopped on the counter and took a nap on the bag that had the ingredients in it.
The Human said it was a tasty dish and Oliver said it smelled great (since Oliver is on a D-I-E-T he wasn’t offered anything.
We were inspired this week by the news story of the artist who makes felines look like royalty so we had our Purrsonal Assistant take a stab at making us royal too.
“You may approach me peasant”“Finally, a chair that is fitting for my station!”“What part of , ‘Yes I AM king of the castle’ do you not understand?”
Well, those are the shenanigans from our neck of the woods this week. We hope you enjoy this week’s feline news.
This one will have you crying tears of joy. Sad Mouth Sam lived clear across the country in Tucson, Arizona, when Kate Perillo spotted her photos online. The Siamese cat appeared to have larger-than-average lips and crossed eyes, giving her a very unique look. Perillo couldn’t get Sam’s face out of her head, so she took a chance and reached out about the cat and she changed both of their lives forever.
Perillo said that when she saw Sam’s photo she knew she had to adopt her. Sam had been living as part of a feral cat colony with Poet Square Cats, and she had eosinophilic granuloma complex — an allergy triggered by food or environment. It only took a steroid shot, antibiotics and a move indoor to completely heal Sam’s allergy.
Perillo and her mother had always had Siamese cats. The last of the cats passed in 2015 and Perillo’s mother passed in 2017 and she felt it was time to adopt a new kitty. She flew from Massachusetts to Arizona to meet Sam.
It was love a first sight and now that Sam is feeling better her personality is coming through. She loves to find sun puddles and bird watching and she’s a huge fan of playtime.
Sam is a talker and has no problem letting people know what she wants.
Sam and her human are a match made in heaven and Perillo says that having Sam in her home is a small way of keeping the memory of her mother alive.
Granted, these portraits are waaaay better than the ones our Purrsonal Assistant did but that’s because Galina Bugaevskaya (aka Cat Universe on Instagram) is a real artist.
Bugaevskaya has been creating her Cat Universe for over three years. Her goal is to place photo shopped images of cats in unexpected situations. She says, “I am inspired by their faces: funny, stern, curious—so different. I adore non-standard photos and funny facial expressions, and I also love harsh frowning cats.”
Her series, vintage oil paintings are photo shopped with the expressions of the cats in mind. She has created felines in pink gowns, the robes of royalty and many more regal ensembles. You can follow Bugaevskaya’s latest creations on Instagram.
Now this really gets my shiskers in a twist. Firing a teacher because her cat decided to make an appearance in the teacher’s livestream class!
An art teacher in China’s Guangzhou city won 40,000 yuan ($6,000; £5,000) in an unfair dismissal case over a cat’s appearance in her online class. The teacher, only referred to as Lou in the lawsuit was running an art class and her cat jumped into the camera’s view five times.
The education tech company that ran the virtual classes fired Lou, citing the feline’s sudden appearances on screen as a reason. (I hiss in the general direction of that tech company).
The company said Luo had taken part in “non-teaching” activities during class, and was also 10 minutes late to a previous class.
Luo appealed the decision in arbitration but the tech company refused to accept the order to compensate the teacher for her unfair dismissal and the court costs she’d incurred.
In a court ruling, Judge Liao Yajing from the Guangzhou Tianhe People’s Court said that if employers require their staff to work from home, they should not have the same expectations as if they were working in an office. Well duh, especially if there is a curious feline in your home.
I am happy to hear the teacher was awarded damages and we hope she-and her feline-will be teaching online classes again soon!
· “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” –Albert Schweitzer
There are many wonderful quotes about the fabulous beasts we felines are. This article lists 60 of them. Lily, Oliver and I have noted our favorites. You can read the rest of the quotes in the article. And apologies to any of our barkie furiends we may have offended with these quotes.
“To err is human, to purr is feline.” –Robert Byrne“If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.” –Mark Twain“Dogs eat. Cats dine.” –Ann Taylor
Wooohoo, summer is here. We had a chat with The Human and were discussing how The Tribe would celebrate summer if we had opposable thumbs and our own money. Since we recently celebrated National Sunglasses Day (yes it’s a real holiday) we thought we’d take the concept a little further with our “how I’d like to spend the summer” photos.
Three cool cats!“My purrfect summer days includes a pool, a nice cool drink and many, many snacks!” Oliver“This feline fancies a nice, pampering spa day.” Lily“I’m taking my boat and giving white fizh wavez to my furiends the Tabbies O Trout Towne“ Alberto
We hope you’re enjoying your summer. Meow at us and let us know how you like spending your day!
I’ve written many news items about my fellow felines being stuck in trees and being reswcued by firefighters. In Madison, Wisconsin firefighters took this to a new level as they rescued a poor cat laying in a rain gutter
The cat was in great distress and “using her powers of purrsuasion” the firefighter was able to calm the cat, pick it down the ladder to the cat’s worried humans.
The article never said how the feline managed to be in a rain gutter on the roof but I think it’s safe to say that the cat will stay away from roofs from now on!
The Gauribidanur rural police station in Karnataka, India has ‘deployed’ two cats to rein in the rats at the station.
Sources at the police station said rats had started to nibble away important files and things got so bad, and the humans were unable to stop the rodent destruction so they hired some felines to do the job.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, Vijay Kumar, Gauribidanur the police station sub-inspector, said: “We have a lake nearby and it seems the rats found our station to be a better place to reside. When a cat was deployed, the rat menace reduced and we have brought in another cat recently. Till now, they have killed three rats.”
The police care for the cats giving them milk and food and they have become part of the police family at the station. My favorite take on the story was an Indian newspaper that referred to the cats as “claw enforcement” MOL!
The internet is exploding with photos of “judgmental cats” on Reddit. The article refers to humans getting “hissterical” about the judgy feline photos. Some of the comments in the thread were pretty funny: like this one; “[I] started singing out loud and glanced over to see my cat, Snuggles, staring at me with lots of judgement [sic]. Cats,” Redditor lscraig posted.
And Reddit isn’t the onl;y place where you’ll find my fellow felines scowling. The hashtag #judgmentalcat has more than 388,100 posts on TikTok.
The truth is that cat’s aren’t really judgmental and there are a number of reasons why our expressions might look that way to you humans. I asked The Human, who is a cat behaviorist and she said it oculd be one of many things. It might be that the cat feels cornered, maybe another cat is near ( a cat we’re not fond of), we might be in pain, scared or just unhappy about something that just happened. Whatever the reason for the funny expression, it’s just how we look.
And there are some cats (as there are humans) who have what many refer to as RBF (that means due to no fault of our own, we are just born with a cranky face).
Will Braden from Seattle, WA has watched, by his count, 100,000 cat videos in the past 10 years. Meowza, that’s a lot of videos!
He’s the cinematographer who used to shoot everything from commercials to weddings and now has a full-time job as the guy who puts together CatVideoFest, “the world’s #1 cat video festival.” It took place in Seattle June 24-26 at the Cinema Egyptian and at various times in 100 other cities, mostly in the U.S.
He never gets tired of the videos and says that “Everyone deserves a fun cat video to distract them from all the tough stuff in life,”.
Take a video such as “Bert the Cat vs Cat Balloon,” which has had about 8 million YouTube views since August 2011. Braden has seen that video dozens of times. The video features an orange cat named Bert facing off against an orange cat balloon. A few whacky paws at the balloon and Bert is in for a nasty surprise as it pops. Just good old slapstick comedy.
Braden receives about 400 submissions every year for the CatVideoFest and he also searches the web for excellent feline films.
When asked if there are any videos he won’t use he mentions the4 funny one of cats hacking up hair balls edited to techno music. He said it was funny but “too much”.
Braden is the Seattle guy who had transitory fame in 2012 with his Henri the Existential Cat videos (these are some of our favorite videos) That year the first Henri video won the first Internet Cat Video Festival, held as a bit of lark by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. And that was no easy win, the first contest drew 10,136 entries.
The story of Henri (who was really Henry) is that he was the Braden family cat. He was a Seattle shelter kitty and because of his elegant “tuxedo” black-and-white coloring, he became Henri le Chat Noir, translated to black cat.
Faking a French accent, Braden talked for Henri and his fictional angst. Henri amassed a huge fan base quickly and soon had his own You Tube channel. The Human has been an Henri fan for years.
Henry died in December 2020 at age 17. As Henri, he had starred in 11 videos that totaled 20 million YouTube views; had 168,000 Facebook followers; and with Braden had his angst-filled musings in two books.
Braden’s new cat, Nin has not starred in her own videos. “She does not have the imperious stare that Henry had,” says Braden. She does, however, keep him company at his home office as he works on the cat festival.
When asked why he thinks cat videos have taken over the internet , as opposed to dog videos, he said, “We don’t really like to see dogs screw up,”. “Dogs are loyal and man’s best friend. We like to see dogs show off their skills.” But cats, well. “We think of cats as being aloof. We like to see them taken down a peg, without being hurt,”
The CatVideoFest is part of the Seattle International Film Festival and a portion of the ticket sales support PAWS.
The Human often sees social media posts of cute kittens with the request, “I need names for my new kitten.” In our house, the kitten is observed and played with before a name is given. Sometimes a family member puts their two cents in like in my case, I was named after a Spanish Tour de France competitor, I looked exotic and I was sleek and fast as a kitten (still fast but not so sleek anymore) so my full name is Alberto Contador. There is a story behind each of our names. Oliver was the runt of the litter and when we came to The Human for her to foster and bottle feed us, he never could get enough to eat. He reminded The Human of Oliver Twist asking for more porridge. Lily was named after the little girl next door (Lily) who loved her (and all cats) but couldn’t have a cat because her dad was allergic to felines.
Still, not everyone goes to these lengths to name their felines so if you’re stuck for a name, try one of the ones below. And, if you have a cool story about how you got your name, meow about it in the comments and let us know where your name came from. The names below came from The Scotsman. We don’t know if the top ten names are different in the U.S.
Male Kittens
1. Loki Loki is a unisex name that originates from Norway – loosely translating as ‘The God of Mischief’. hmmmm
2. Leo Leo is a Hebrew name which translates as brave and/or lion. Or maybe people just really like the actor!
3. Charlie A gender neutral name, though it does translate from German as “free man.” It is derived from the Germanic word karal, which translates to “free man” or kerle, meaning “warrior.”
4. Milo The name Milo have increased in popularity with cat owners. Milo is likely derived from multiple sources. In Slavic languages, the root mil- means “dear” or “beloved.”
5. Simba It is no surprise to see the name Simba at the top of this list, especially if you’re a Disney fan.
6. Ziggy The name Ziggy is a great name for a cat – especially if you’re a household of David Bowie fans.
7. Jasper Another popular male cat name is Jasper, which is a masculine given name commonly believed to be of Persian origin, translates as “treasurer”.
8. Max Short and sweet, Max is derived from the name Maximilian, which means “greatest.”
9. Merlin Thought to originate in Wales, Merlin is another popular boy cat name often related to the famous wizard.
10. Oscar An Irish name which is derived from two elements in Irish: the first, “os”, means “deer”; the second element, “car”, means “loving” or “friend”, thus “deer-loving one” or “friend of deer”.
Female Kittens
1. Luna The most popular name for a girl cat in 2022 is Luna, which translates as ‘moon’ in Italian.
2. Loki Loki is a unisex name that origin came from Norway – loosely translating as ‘The God of Mischief’. Uh oh.
3. Nala The name Nala has Arabic and African origin. However, the African translation is perhaps best used for kitty’s, meaning queen, lion or successful woman.
4. Coco Coco is a popular name that has developed in America.
5. Bella Bella is a name that has been used for decades across the globe, thanks to its meaning of ‘beautiful’ in numerous different languages. And all cats are beautiful!
6. Lily Named after the popular snowy, white flower, Lily is often thought to mean purity and innocence due to its loose connections to the Bible character of Mary.
7. Lola Another name with Bible links is Lola. It is a short form of the Spanish name Dolores, meaning “sorrows”, taken from one of the titles of the Virgin Mary: Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or Our Lady of Sorrows.
8. Willow Following the popularity of the Buffy The Vampie Slayer character, the name Willow has grown immeasurably over the last few decades.
9. Daisy Another name taken from a popular flower is, of course, Daisy. However, did you know the name comes from the Old English word dægeseage, meaning “day’s eye”.
10. Molly The name Molly has Irish origin, meaning ‘star of the sea’. But did you know the name has been in use since the late Middle Ages?
The biggest news in our neck of the woos is the robin’s nest in the tree by the front porch railing. We have had hours of joy sitting in the kitchen window or watching out of the window by the door waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Robin to sit on the railing with worms to feed their kids. The nest is so deep The Human couldn’t see to the bottom of it to look at the baby birds. She didn’t want to get too close and disturb them so we never got a good look at them and now they have graduated and left the nest.
What a pretty nest!View from the kitchen window where the nest is well hidden.
Now that spring is finally here Oliver likes to find a sun puddle and check out the living room windows where he and The Human often have conversations.
“Lovely morning but The Human needs to clean those windows!”“Oh hello there Human, I didn’t hear you. If you’d quickly grab your coffee and tend to breakfast I’d appreciate it.”“Okay, you’ve had a couple sips of coffee now how about some breakfast? Oh and those litterboxes could use a little freshening up.”
And there is usually some dialogue between Oliver and The Human when she gets home from work. This happened the other night when she stretched out on the bed to rest after a loong day at the office and Oliver decided to plop his 22 pounds on top of her and have a little conversation.
“Sorry you had a bad day but wait until you hear about all the drama I had to deal with today. I tell you it’s exhausting to be the snoopervisor here.”No wonder The Human was trapped! Between his 22 pounds and those huge peets, there was no chance of her getting up!
That’s a glimpse from our neck of the woods this week, now let’s get to the news.
This little kitten was right by the side of her human during her pregnancy and she transitioned into a loving and protective feline nanny when the baby came home.
While so many of our humans went to school, had meetings and did work at home many felines purrticipated. Needless to say, I was very pleased to see a feline recognized for all her hard work and attention to their human’s schedule.
Suki, an 18-month old feline helped her human, Francesca Bourdier graduate from the University of Texas by attending all her lectures and watching every zoom class closely.
“I was pretty much at my apartment for most of the time and I had my cat next to me,” Bourdier told KTBC. “Whenever I would have my Zoom lecture on, it’s like she almost wanted to listen in on it, and she would always just sit by my laptop.”
Naturally Bourdier wanted to include Suki in her graduation celebration. She found a cap and gown online for Suki that matched her own graduation ensemble.
I was happy to read that Suki, although thoroughly involved in her human’s education would not be responsible for any student loan debt as the University defers those debts for cats.
My readers know I am a purrponent of entrepreneurial endeavors with a feline focus and this new company has a great idea. Samantha McConnell and Melanie Eng from Richmond, VA have three cats of their own; Henry, Jasper and Rylie and they want to fill a need in the cat focused pet market by designing a feline toothbrush and toothpaste.
When one of their felines needed expensive surgery for a rotten tooth they began paying closer attention to dental issues for all their cats. Our own Tribe has dealt with serious and expensive tooth problems too which is why The Human was excited when I told her about this new company. As a matter of fact, Oliver and Lily have teeth cleaning appointments coming up in August.
Pet dental products have been more canine than feline focused and McConnell, a registered nurse in dental anesthesia (for humans) wants to see that changed. She says that, “The really small toothbrushes are still too big for cats and likely cause pain and discomfort…it’s a bit like trying to brush your teeth with TV remote.”
The toothpaste is the tricky and costly part of this project as there are more hoops to jump through so it’s still a work in progress. Most cat toothpaste on the market has a sweet flavor and cats can’t taste sweet. Add to that most have a lot of sugar in them and it’s clear a feline tooth paste with a flavor that attracts felines is needed on the market. This feline says they should make the flavor taste like those Inaba Churu lickable treats, meowza are those tasty!
And speaking of feline focused entrepreneurial endeavors, we were contacted by the good folks at MYO cat trees to introduce their product. They make a cat tree that allows humans to set them up the way they want to. All the parts are made of hardwood and metal (no glue, cardboard or dusty carpet covers are used). If you and your humans move to a new abode, no problem, the cat tree is easily taken apart and reassembled in the new home. Putting together cat trees is not such an easy task, especially The Human as noted in the cat tree review we did. The Human never did get all the parts installed.
Of course the first question The Human had was how the tree accommodated CHONKY felines and they assured her that they were sturdy and even had a human sit on it to prove the point.
You get to pick the shapes and colors, make it short or tall, any style that suits your cat.
The texture of the wood is lovely which makes it a stylish part of the room and not an eyesore. They are working on adding new shelf designs and colors and even incorporating some soft items as well.
We like the idea of this product and are looking forward to watching the company grow.
Dear Human, please pack our bags and move us to Manchester, NH because these folks love, LOVE cats! They prove this with their Cat Alley and now, after 10 years, they’re calling on artists to refresh the murals and art there.
The refurb is being done via a community event and a grant. The grant will allow local artists to be paid to help repair some of the fading feline art and breathe new life into the beloved and whimsical landmark. The goal is to make the art along Cat Alley a little bigger and taller.
They are hoping to have Cat Alley ready for the upcoming Manchester Citywide Arts Festival, set for Sept. 12-18. The application deadline for artists is July 17.
Cat Alley received its name due to the street cats living there.In 2011 the Anagnost Companieswanted to have some fun with this story and started a city-wide initiative to have a group of artists transform the alley into the colorful façade of feline-themed murals it is today.
The facelift for Cat Alley has also included other cat-themed installments in the area of Elm Street. There are now cat bike racks in vibrant colors near the Bookery. Orbit Group has been having a little fun creating other cat-themed installments for the surrounding area on Elm Street. Putting cats everywhere downtown may seem a little kooky but honestly, that’s why it’s so much fun.
In an effort increase foot traffic towards the Cat-Alley a cat designed crosswalk was created (in conjunction with the Department of Public Works to make sure it met safety requirements).
There will be an LED light screen underneath the arch at some point to replace the existing non-working one there now. Once a screen is installed that can handle the harsh New England winters, the plan is to have it display fun cat-themed animations. This cat-themed animation has already been created for the new screen which you can see below.
Paws up to the humans who created and are expanding Cat Alley. The rest of the cities in the country should consider doing something like this!
We’ve enjoyed three seasons in the last week. We had a couple of days of sunshine and almost 50 degrees, a few snolw days, and some spring rain. The robins around here are really confused!
We decided just to hang out by the fireplace and now even Lily is getting into the act. I’m not sharing too many photos in this section because I have a bunch of photos in the first news item.
I hope your neck of the woods has a little more stable weather and that we’ll all be outside soon sniffing the flowers!
Oh my whiskers, did you know today is National Siamese Cat Day? Well this kitty is celebrating even though, as you will see when you read about my DNA information I’m not a Siamese breed but I think I look like one in these photos and I intend to reap the benefits all this day has to offer.
This is my “Siamese” self. I’m always curious, like to leave presents in The Human’s bag, keep watch for squirrels on the upstairs deck, inspect everything in the house and relax after being awesome.
Snoopervisor Police Cat Helps Keep the Station Running Smoothly
We felines are employed in a variety of careers, Brewery Snoopervisors, Chief Office Rodent Patrol, Bodega Customer Service and many more. This feline has a great job-he works for the police force. Watch the video and see how hard he works.
When The Human was studying Feline Behavior and Anxiety, she read many studies from HABRI (The Human/Animal Bond Research Institute). We felines help you humans with so much. HABRI’s research has demonstrated the role of pet ownership and human-animal interaction (HAI) for improvements in mental health, including reduced anxiety, depression, and alleviating symptoms for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Why even petting a feline for only a few minutes has been proven by the Cornell Feline Health Center improves mood.
We felines make excellent emotional support animals and there are even some feline breeds that are more helpful with human anxiety due to their more mellow natures.
Now, I’m no purebred feline but thanks to Basepaws DNA report, I know what dominant breed traits I possess. I suggest you use these breeds as guidelines and that you don’t forget there’s nothing like a thankful shelter kitty or rescue to reduce your anxiety and make your day brighter. I would say that my DNA results run very close to the description of the cat breeds below. My DNA is over 59% of a combination of Western Breeds (Ragdoll, Maine Coon and Siberian); Eastern Breeds (Oriental Shorthair, Burmese and Birman) and Exotic Breeds of which I have a sprinkle of Savannah. The Human says that I fit pretty will into these breed descriptions, especially the Oriental Short hair which pretty much describes me!
1. AMERICAN BOBTAIL The Cat Fanciers Association says American Bobtail cats “can both entertain through their antics at one moment and provide their owners a warm, soft shoulder to cry on in times of distress.” These affectionate sweethearts are also one of the only cats on this list who may take well to harness training. So, anxious folks who feel better after a nice walk outdoors may want to consider an American Bobtail.
2. AMERICAN CURL This breed has been described as “people oriented”; they love their humans and also adapt well to change.
3. AMERICAN WIREHAIR These cats are known for their quiet, steady personalities. They’ve been described as gently playful and undemanding.
4. BIRMAN These `guys hold the honor as being known as one of the laziest cat breeds. They are also felines who tend to have one favorite person.
5. CHARTREUX These fabulous felines are said to have been the companions to French monks centuries ago. They are very loyal and their fluffy blue-gray for makes them cuddly too.
6.EXOTIC SHORTHAIR Their builds are similar to Himalayans and Persians (2 other cats on this list) but their fur is short and more coarse. They have a tendency to be very curious.
7. HIMALAYAN Himalayan cats thrive in calm, easy-going households.
8. NORWEGIAN FOREST Some folks with anxiety enjoy the company of an animal but don’t need to be smothered constantly. If this is you, go with a Norwegian Forest cat as they like their alone time.
9. ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR These felines have made the list of “naughty” breeds but that’s only because they want to be part of every aspect of your life. These kitties thrive on companionship and interaction.
10. PERSIAN Everyone knows the charming faces of our Persian furiends. They are truly kind creatures and love lap lounging. They aren’t adventure seekers and thrive on routine.
11. RAGDOLL These gentle giants not only enjoy being near you, but they may also even scurry to say hello when you get home or keep you company while you’re cooking. Ragdolls also take several years to fully mature, which means a refreshing, youthful spirit well into adulthood.
12. SCOTTISH FOLD Scottish Fold cats prefer the company of others. Anyone surrounding themselves with more than one pet may want to consider a Scottish Fold as they gel well with other people and animals.
13. SELKIRK REX These, curly-haired cats are very friendly. While not annoying in their demands, they definitely won’t be content sitting alone—especially if they know you’re in the next room.
Bernie the cat was keeping a secret from his humans and they were shocked when they found out what he was really up to. You can follow him on Instagram and TikTok.
Okay, I admit it. There are times when you find us in some strange positions and doing strange things. But isn’t that part of our charm? The 3am zoomies, the penchant for climbing up to the highest point in the house to snoopervise you and balancing ourselves in places where we appear to defy gravity all create some strange moments.
Actually there’s a whole Twitter account, @weirdlilguys, dedicated to sharing the cases of our beloved felines “being weird little guys” (and gals!). After you enjoy these photos head on over to Twitter and check out some more feline funnies.
Oliver here. I really have my whiskers in a twist as our Purrsonal Assistant has completely failed in her duties.
Instead of working with Alberto to get our regular Wednesday feature out she allowed herself to become overwhelmed and has failed us. She also has not responded to your wonderful comments on our previous two blogs. To say we’re having a hissy fit would be an understatement. (Alberto is so upset he couldn’t even send you this update!)
the PA has promised to complete her Wednesday assignment tomorrow and I will remain on my scratching post sofa and judge her until she meets her obligations.
Hello Furiends, I hope things are going well in your neck of the woods. The temperatures are finally getting warmer here, so warm in fact that Weather Kitty expressed the exuberance we feel about this warmth! Why The Human even had to wear sunglasses to drive!
As to what The Tribe has been up to……not much. I have been enjoying sleeping on the new leopard blanket as I think it suits my coloring quite well. What do you think?
As for Lily, she’s a bit annoyed that The Human seems to have noticed, after all this time, what a long tail she has. The Human even woke Lily from a snooze to tell her she had a long tail. Lily says humans are very weird.
I’ve lived with The Human for seven years and she only now noticed the length of my tail?!
And then there’s Oliver who has some strange thoughts. This week he wants to educate you folks that spotted cats are spotted all over- even inside!
So human, you think spots are only on the outside?
Well that’s it for the week in our neck of the woods. Meow at us and let us know how things are going in yours.
I would say this cat’s face is more sad than grumpy. But lest you think Sushi really is sad, he’s not. He’s living his best life after being rescued as a kitten, wandering the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sushi has stretchy skin because he has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which is a rate medical condition. His human, Larissa Yamaguchi, found out last year about Sushi’s condition when she saw a photo of a cat with a similar look.
It was a long road to Shushi’s diagnosis and treatment. Larissa said, “It took four years for us to know Sushi had EDS. I spent $1,082 and he used a lot of different medications but nothing helped.”
Once they found a feline dermatologist Sushi got the help he needs. His condition causes him to have extremely dry and itchy skin and he needs regular moisturizing, a different diet, clothes and soft collars.
EDS affects each animal in a unique way. Sushi’s face skin is very flexible, especially his cheeks, and his arms. There are no internal problems and the major issue he has is his compulsive scratching.
I don’t know if I’d call Sushi the new grumpy cat but he sure does have a sweet, sad face.
This one should be titled, “What is wrong with you humans??” According to Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, a shelter that hosts a cat café located in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin, someone took a black and white cat named Bleu. Safe Haven says Bleu was stolen Wednesday afternoon by a customer who snuck out the side door.
According to Facebook posts on Safe Haven’s page, the animal shelter identified the cat napper. Evidently Bleu was held hostage in the persons apartment overnight and when the police arrived, refused to open the door.
The next day Save Haven posted a video on their Facebook page stating that Bleu had been returned. Safe Haven was contacted and told that a person was walking in the downtown area with a duffle bag. Someone associated with Safe Haven confronted the person requesting the cat be returned to them and the cat napper handed the cat (in the duffel bag) over.
What the heck was this person thinking? How about doing the right thing and adopting Bleu instead of stealing him? But, on second thought, this feline says anyone who stuffs a cat into a duffel bag and strolls around town doesn’t deserve to care for a cat!
As my regular readers know, we at Feline Opines are BIG TNR fans and salute the hard work of those who volunteer their time to do it. The 2021 Global Feral Fix Challenge had participation from veterinarians and clinics across 24 U.S. states as well as Greece, South Africa, the U.K., and the United Arab Emirates, who together sterilized over 45,000 community cats.
This was the 11th challenge and it finished on December 31, 2021. The event elicits veterinarian participation in trap-neuter-return programs by offering low cost or free spay/neuter clinics. The goal of the Challenge is to save feral cats from shelter euthanasia, starvation, and disease by humane population management.
Alley Cat Rescue founder and president, Louise Holton, explains the significance of this campaign: “The participation of veterinarians around the globe is very important to achieving our ultimate goal, which is the sterilization of all community cats. This process is the only way to reduce the population of outdoor cats; killing them, bedsides being inhumane, simply does not work as studies show new cats will enter vacated areas and breed until the number of cats there is back to the same level as before or even higher.”
The 2022 round of the Feral Fix Challenge is already underway. Veterinarians everywhere are encouraged to join by pledging to provide free or low-cost spay/neuter services to as many free-roaming cats as is feasible for their individual practices via this link. Will your veterinarian be participating? You can send an email to Debbie@saveacat.orgto request an invitation be sent to your vet or you can get an invitation to give to your vet purrsonally.
Paws up to all the veterinarians who help in this worthy cause!
As I am a refined feline, I apologize for the verbiage here but, if your human is not looking forward to Valentine’s Day because they have a less than wonderful ex, tell them to take heart.
Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association (Adopt Charleston on Instagram and Facebook), have announced a February “smear campaign” which allows you to make a donation to have your ex’s name on a cat litter box so that cats can actually poop on them. The campaign is called, “Your Ex is Crappy”
So, if your human’s flame fizzled, if they were catfished or dumped the adoptable kitties at The Charleston Humane Association have your human’s back and will “litteraly” drag your ex’s name through the filth.
If your human is interested they can purrticipate by clicking here. They will receive a photo of the “fun” once your ex’s litterbox has been set up. They do request first names only, as they don’t want people to be too catty. MOL!
Allow me to make clear that I do not endorse wild nights, or kitties out of control and partying the night away. Still, this “Pussy Kat Club” created by Brooke Holloway is pretty cool.
The club was constructed by several Amazon boxes and has a stuffed Snoopy outside the entry door who acts as a bouncer. Felines lucky enough to get an invite to the club will find a “Temptation Station” with martini shaped shot glasses filled with cat food and a bed in the corner (the Kitty Kat Lounge). The club features a full bar that is advertising catnip-infused vodka shots (not real vodka).
The video of the Pussy Kat Club on TikTok (posted by Brooke’s sister,@kaitlynhollo featuring felines partying the night away has become very popular and has received comments like, ‘My kitty asked for reservations to the VIP section,’ one person joked, while another added: ‘My cats ask for a pass.’ And ‘When your cats are cooler than you,’
If you are worried about the flashing LED lights coming out of the club’s speakers, don’t be as they are generally safe for felines.
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