Walk Through The Web Wednesday 10/27

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Happy Last Week of October Furiends,
This was quite a busy week. The Human attended the annual conference of #The Cat Writers Association and BOY did she learn a lot. The Tribe was uninterested in hanging around the computer (it was a virtual conference) so while she sat at her desk and scribbled notes, we enjoyed the beautiful view from our office.

“Hey, I thought there were squirrels down there.” – Alberto

“Alberto, the squirrel is hanging around the bird feeder, you guys spent some quality time making fools of yourselves trying to intimidate him from the dining room window.” – Lily

“Sigh, Human when will you be done? I’m getting bored!” – Alberto

“How can you guys be bored with that beautiful view?” – The Human

“Hey, it’s me Oliver, under your desk. I’m getting faint from hunger. Will there be any treats forthcoming?”

Okay, purrhaps it wasn’t as bad as we’re making it out to be and we are proud to announce that we won a Muse Medallion this year!!

Well, time for the news and for us to finish working on our contest announcements for Friday.

Humane Fort Wayne holding Feline Fall Festival to build 300 shelters for community cats

I love when you humans get together and do something for kitties who don’t have forever homes. Humane Ft. Wayne in Indiana is inviting the public to help assemble shelters for community cats at their annual Feline Fall Festival. They will be building 300 outdoor shelters to keep their local felines warm and safe.

Humane Ft. Wayne estimates that there are 16,000 community cats living in the area. If you live near this shelter I hope you’ll help out but, if it’s too far, there are other shelters in different cities doing the same thing. If your city is doing shelters for community cats, meow about it in the comments and let the folks in your area know.

Century-old photos of cats dressed in human clothes shows people have been humiliating their pets for years

Oh my whiskers! I thought this costume thing was a method of modern humans to mock and embarrass their felines and now I find out, you’ve been doing this for years!

The book, Kittens and Cats: A First Reader was a hit with children of the day who loved reading about, Queen Cat, Dunce Cat, Granny Gray, and Party Cat.

The book was meant to be read aloud, and is about a feline kingdom whose inhabitants are getting ready for a fabulous party thrown by the Queen.

One kitten in the book boasts, “I’m the only cat in our country who has an automobile.” I guess the other poor kitties had to walk to the pawty.

The photographer didn’t receive credit in the book but it’s believed that Harry Whittier Frees, famous for his kitten photography, took the photos. Lest you worry that kittens were harmed during the shoot, it was said of Frees that he had “great patience and invariable kindness”.

The book was meant to be educational. The back of the book says that children would be taught 600 vocabulary words and teachers were advised to conduct classes by “assigning a cat character to each child, having them read in order the text devoted to their special character. The children should impersonate the different cats and tell their tales to amuse the Queen, who sits on her throne,” the author recommended.

This book is now in the public domain and you can read it online at Archive.org and even download it.

This feline is still no fan of costumes for cats, even for educational purrposes!

Behind the Spooky Eyes of Cats

Have you noticed that around Halloween, humans like to post photos of their felines making the cat’s eyes look creepy? Well, Physicist Helen Czerski has some interesting things to say about our eyes (and by the way, our eyes aren’t creepy at all!)

First she says the pupil of the eye is the gatekeeper. Light has to pass through the pupil to reach the back of the eye where the light sensitive cells are located.

Cats have vertical slit-shaped pupils which are common in nighttime ambush predators who also need to function during the day. The muscle structure needed to open and close a slit-shaped pupil is simple. That means we felines can narrow our slits to the tiniest sliver, and then open them up in the dark until they’re round. Domestic cats are able to change the area of our pupils (and therefore the light it lets in) by a factor of 135. You humans are only able to change yours by a factor of 15. That means we see much better in the dark than you do.

Felines have a narrow pupil in the horizontal direction but a wide pupil in the vertical direction. Anything along the horizontal plane is in beautiful sharp focus but the image will be more blurred in the vertical direction. At the right focal length, the image will be perfectly in focus in both directions, and that gives the cat an extra way of judging distance. The slit gives the cat a second way of doing this (the other is the stereo images from both eyes, which is how humans judge distance); the two complement each other to produce pinpoint accuracy. Well, that just goes to show you that we felines have amazing eyes.

So there you go, another amazing fact about the wonderful felines that live in your house!

Every kitty needs an advent calendar

As you can see, we are ready to get in the holiday spirit and a good part of that is having The Human get us an advent calendar to count down the days. We found some great ones for this year.

Fancy Feast has a fancy advent calendar this year. It has 24 flavors that include classics as well as new, limited edition holiday recipes like Yuletide Turkey Feast in Gravy and Hearthside Salmon Platter with Pumpkin and Spinach Pate. Just think of your human opening a can of this goodness for you every morning during Advent! The calendar is $24.99 and you can find it at Amazon, Chewy, Walmart and more.

Since Oliver is on a D-I-E-T The Human is not so enthusiastic about extra treats, which is why she likes the idea of the Merry & Bright Holiday Feline So Festive with Cat Toys 25-Day Advent Calendar. This calendar has 25 Christmas themed toys and sells for $17.00.

Staying on the theme of no-calorie advent goodies, the Merry Makings 12-Days of Thrills Cat Toy Advent Calendar is another winner. This one comes with just 12 toys and the cost is $13.00.

Our Lily wants this one because it’s called Lily’s Kitchen Christmas Cat Advent Calendar. There are 24 meaty gourmet treats of many flavors for the refined feline palate, such as chicken with liver and turkey with cranberry, The cost is $32.00

If you want snacks that will help you retain your girlish (or boyish) figure then you’ll love Snif-Snax Holiday Cat Advent Calendar, Atlantic Salmon and Seaweed . This one is a real bargain, with 73 treats that are divided into 25 snack filled days of ocean delights for $10.00.

If you’re one of the lucky felines who don’t have to worry about your physique, Scrumbles Cat Advent Calendar is for you. The British based company packs this calendar with a variety of natural, healthy treats. They also give 50p (about 69 cents) per purchase to Woods Green The Animals Charity for the cats and kittens they help there. This organization has been around since 1924 and is one of the UK’s largest pet charities. They have a converted farm in Godmanchester that’s purpose-built, ready to help dogs, cats and more animals. This calendar costs $33.00 and has a variety of healthy, meaty treats for 24 days.

Lucky the Black Cat Went From Being Abandoned to One of the Most Handsome Felines on Instagram

I would be remiss if I didn’t do a feature on a black cat for the month of October. I love this black cat named Lucky who is a hit on Instagram. He went from feral to fancy and is now living his best life. He has a signature look for his Instagram photos which includes dark shades and he’d never be caught at a photo shoot without them.

You can read Lucky’s story in the article and also get some tips from his purrsonal photographers about how they get those great shots of him. Black cats rock!

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 8/18

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Feline Opines

Hello Furiends,
Before I get into happenings in our neck of the woods I wanted to thank all of for voting and sharing the information about my attempt to get my mug on a beer can and also raise money for the Charleston Animal Society. Oliver wanted to be a part of this so I let him do my “thank you” image (note how excited he looks).

Thank you all and thanks for contributing to the fund raiser for this shelter!

As for the rest of the goings on in our neck of the woods, we have all been looking for ways to beat the heat. Oliver has figured out that water helps but evidently he requires help to get the water.

I however, purrfer to just dive in and get a drink and a cooling off at the same time.

Lily, showing her usual restraint and logical thinking, waited for the day we had cooler temperatures and enjoyed the breeze blowing in to the kitchen window.

It’s been a blessing to have a little rain but there are still fires raging around us. We are purraying for all the humans and animals affected all around the west (and our furiends in Canada!)

Cat’s meowing helps rescuers find owner, 83, who fell down a ravine

Oh my whiskers, this is for all you folks who don’t give us felines any credit. After police were called to search for a missing 83-year old woman one of her neighbors noticed the lady’s cat, Piran, meowing and attempting to draw attention to a corner of a cornfield near the lady’s house.

A neighbor, Tamar Longmuir, located the missing woman as soon as she went over to the cat. She said, “The cat is very attached to her, and he was going back and forth in the gateway and meowing, so I decided to go and search the field.”

That hero feline was responsible for his human being rescued after falling about 70 feet down a steep embankment. The poor lady had been there for hours.

Both the lady and her cat are fine and safe at home. Meowza, what a hero kitty!

How high can a cat really jump?

Have you ever wondered how high your feline can jump? Well an adult cat can jump five or six times its height on average, (4-5 feet) Now there are exceptions depending on breed and the cat’s physique.

One study recorded a cat jumping to touch a suspended cotton ball that was 7-8 times it’s height. And according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest horizontal jump by a cat was 7 feet, held by Waffle, the Warrior Cat.

Cats were built to jump but, if we’re jumping on places you don’t like you can get us a cat tree or install wall shelves for us to attain the height we love. People, jumping is in our DNA so please provide safe places for us to jump to our heart’s content. And make sure you watch where we jump up so that we’re not in danger of falling as this happened to our Angel Tucker and I don’t know who was more scared, The Human or the cat! And of course there was the time when Oliver was a kitten when he jumped up on the half wall in the living room and “flew” down the stairs.

Nerf Made a Blaster for Cats That Shoots Catnip Discs Instead of Foam Darts

Now here’s a CAT TOY! Why should the barkies have all the fun?

The folks at Blaster Hub, recently tried out the Nerf Catnip Disc Blaster (which is available exclusively at Petco) and found it was about what you’d expect from a $15 toy blaster. It works with a manually primed spring-loaded mechanism that launches catnip discs about 10 feet. The testers said it’s probably best for kittens. If your human wants something with a bit more oomph, they could buy a more powerful blaster (some shoot up to 50 feet). They could spray the disc with catnip spray and voila! I think that 10 feet would work just fine for Ollie, he’s not big on running.

20 Things you may not know about cats and why you should adopt one

This is me at the shelter the day I met The Female Human. – Lily

Now I realize I’m preaching to the choir here but I’m sure that many of you have furiends who till don’t know or understand the delights of having a feline in residence. I wont list all 20 reasons here but you can find them all in the article. Here are a few of my favorites.

Cats have been in residence for 9500 years according to some French archaeoligists who discovered a 9500 year old cat grave in Cyprus and that gives that kitty the distinction of being the oldest pet cat, predating the Egyptian art depicting cats by more than 4,000 years.

Cats walk like camels and giraffes…really! Our walking sequence is both right feet first, followed by both left feet, so we move half of tour body forward at once. Camels and giraffes are the only other animals to walk this way.

It’s believed that Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat door. HowStuffWorks writes that while Newton was working on his experiments at the University of Cambridge, he was constantly interrupted by his cats scratching at the door. So he asked the Cambridge carpenter to saw two holes in the door, one for the mother cat and one for her kittens. Apparently these holes can still be seen at the university today. Now that’s ingenuity and it was inspired by his felines!

And this just might be my favorite….a cat’s brain is biologically more similar to a human brain than it is to a dog’s. Both humans and cats have identical regions in their brains that are responsible for emotions.

Did you know there were 17 black cat breeds?

Even though Black Cat Appreciation Day was yesterday I still wanted to celebrate as I have so many fantastic black furred furiends. Our Angel Buster was a handsome black cat. Cats come in many colors and patterns including black. The closest thing to a black cat breed is the Bombay. Bombays always have sleek, black coats and copper-colored eyes. Besides the Bombay, you can find a black coat on just about any breed (and mixed breed) of cat.

Black fur in domestic cats and wild panthers is genetic,and that black fur gene is dominant, but both parents must carry it to have black kittens. The interesting thing about this black gene is that it’s found in the same protein family responsible for fighting diseases. This is why some scientists believe that black cats have better immune systems than other cats.

The author of this article, the editor at Pure Wow has other interesting black cat facts and some great info on black cat breeds. Check it out and Purrs & Head Bonks to all my ebony furred furiends!

Harry Chats!

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Feline Opines

Hello Furiends,
It’s that time of the week when we felines get on (or rather in) our soapboxes and let the world know what we’re thinking!

We are always looking for feline “chatters” for this feature. What gets your whiskers in a twist? Do you want to brag about your clowder or your human staff? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a photo and your thoughts and you could be chatting to! (FelineOpines@gmail.com)

Harry is our guest this week. He’s a member of the clowder at Debbie’s house where Hermione and Stripey live. Thanks for meowing for us Harry!

Tucker Opines on Treats, Black Cats and Watching TV Alone.

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Feline Opines

Hi There Furiends,
Tucker here. I’ll be doing the fill-ins this week. The Friday Fill Ins are a wonderful blog hop and you can hop on over to the host’s blogs and enter. Just visit 15AndMeowing or Four-Legged Furballs and add your fill in answers. Of course, you are always welcome to opine about your answers in our comment section.

Purrs & Head Bonks,
Tucker_SigInChair

Here are this week’s fill ins:

1. _______________________ is an awful _______________________.

2. I always read __________________________ sections of the newspaper.

3. Black cats _________.

4. _________ is my favorite treat.

Here are my answers:

1. Sitting by myself with no one to cuddle with when the Humans watch the moving picture box is an awful way to spend an evening!

2. I always read zero sections of the newspaper. I have no idea what a newspaper is because our Humans are geeks and they get all their news on those flat tablet thingies that we play “Jitterbug” on. The photo below is Alberto playing Jitterbug, I find the game a bit childish for an Alpha to play.

3. Black cats are absolutely pawsome! Check out some of these amazing black cat photos.

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4. Any treat is my favorite treat. Some cats eat to live, I live to eat. Every night when The Female Human comes home, I seat myself at the counter awaiting my before dinner treat, followed by my after dinner treat.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 10/17

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hey There Furiends,
Here are my Wednesday web wanderings for the week. Feline Opines has some exciting news..we’ll be releasing our first Halloween video on October 29th, featuring Alfred Hiss-cock. We’re very excited about it, I hope it doesn’t scare you too much~

Purrs & head Bonks,

Siamese cat with blue eyes

THE CAT-COVERED LOUIS VUITTON X GRACE CODDINGTON CAPSULE COLLECTION – Fashionista

Louis Vitton cat themed luggage and products

Attention all feline fashionistas. If you only want designer everything then Louis has just made your day. In a co-clawberation with Grace Coddington a new feline-furendly collection has been released. Oh my whiskers, this stuff is fancy!

The State Department’s Cat Photo Email Is Perhaps The Cutest Pic You’ll See Today – Bustle

cat in onesie

As my faithful readers know., I prefer to stay away from things purrlitical (unless my brother is running for Purresident) and you humans seem to get your whiskers in quite a twist when you talk about purrlitical stuff. But this is a good story and I don’t think anyone will be upset.

Instead of an invitation, the U.S. State Department accidentally emailed a cat photo to some lucky recipients last week. The U.S. embassy in Canberra said the cat photo and accompanying email was “a training error” in a statement to the Australian Associated Press.

The email newsletter was titled “meeting” and included some Latin paragraphs and the option to RSVP, as well as the cat photo. US Mission to Australia Public Affairs Counsellor Gavin Sundwall sent an apology acknowledging the error two days later, according to the Australian Associated Press. “Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this ‘cat pajama-jam’ party, but such an event falls well outside our area of expertise,” Sundwall wrote in an email. I don’t know about you but I feel much better knowing that folks in our government are cat lovers!

Snapchat’s Face Feature For Cats Is What Every Pet Owner Has Been Dreaming Of – Bustle

snapchat cat face feature

Snapchat users rejoice. there is now a Snapchat’s selfie filters for cats. The social media app where you waste hours applying funny filters to your face announced the new cat filters on Twitter, and people are wasting no time snapping their cats, effectively giving a whole new meaning to the term cat glasses. So if you felines want a new look in your photos, have your humans head on over and get you some selfie filters!

These Insta-famous felines prove how photogenic black cats truly are – Mashable

black cat scottish fold

Black cats are the bomb and this month is International Black Cat Awareness Month. I’ve written about our angel Buster who was one pawsome and handsome dude. If you appreciate “felines noir” than you should head over to Stephen Lopez’s crouchendcatclowder Instagram account where he documents the life of his handsome black cats Mr. Bob and Miss Molly (and his tabby cat Alfie,) in London, England. He said in an email that black cats are wonderful and because they’re generally “underdogs” and they “tend to shine more to stand out and get attention.” Here’s a paws up to black cats!

The Klepto Kitty With Very Specific Tastes – stuff

KleptoKitty

Why are you staring at a photo of shoes you ask? Well, Cooper, a 3-year old Tabby who lives in England has brought home more than 100 shoes in a series of thefts he undertakes at night. When Cooper was adopted from The Cats Protection League last August, his humans were made aware of his criminal habits. Evidently, Cooper’s crime spree has a seasonal aspect. He stopped thieving in January and didn’t start again until September.

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 10/10

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Feline Opines

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hi There Furiends,
I hope that you had a great week wherever you are. It is still beautiful in my neck of the woods. The fall colors are amazing and there are lots more critters showing up for a handout since the weather has cooled. I hope you enjoy this week’s finds from my web wanderings.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Siamese cat with blue eyes

Woman Nabs Coveted Job of Russian Town’s Cat Chief – Huffpost

CatChief

Okay, you know I love stories about cats with jobs but I also love stories about humans with cat-related jobs and this one is great! The advertisement for this job in a Russian town said, “Wanted: Cat chief. Location: Zelenogradsk, Russia: Duties: tending to the town’s approximately 70 stray cats.”

There were about 80 humans who applied for this job in a town that is working to brand itself as Russia’s most foremost cat-loving community. Local resident Svetlana Logunova won the job and she received a bicycle and uniform with a bright green jacket, black bow tie and hat. And she gets paid to do this! It’s only about $85.00 per month (5,700 roubles) but she’s happy with her new career. She loves feeding the cats, petting them and giving them a turn around the town in the basket on her bicycle. Paws up to this Russian town for trying an innovative solution to it’s feral kitties. Be sure and click on the link to watch the video.

Ten Best Beach Destinations for People Who Love Cats – Coastal Living

black and white cat on the beach

When humans travel what should they want to do? Spend time with felines, of course!
This article highlights some purrfect vacation destinations where humans can interact with many fabulous felines. They even include Amsterdam, although not technically on the beach, it still offers the Poezenboot, or “Catboat,” which sits on the picturesque Singel Canal. The sanctuary started in the ‘60s, when a cat caretaker living alongside the canal pondered the question, “If people could live on houseboats…why not cats?” I featured this on an earlier Web Wednesdsay but it’s worth another mention. The destinations include Hemmingway’s 6-toed cats of Key West, a big cat sanctuary in Floirida, a Greek Island, a cat village in Malta and more. Meowza, I think it’s time for The Humans to get out their travel calendar and start thinking about their next vacation!

A black cat named Monk has been gaining popularity on social media thanks to his enormous fangs – Sputnik

Black cat with long fangs

My regular readers know how much I hate costumes for cats! The humans tried that with me once….once being the operative word. You can read about that fiasco on our blog, I do love however, when a feline attracts positive attention because of their unusual looks. Monk is a case in point. Now, I do not agree with the ensemble they’ve dressed him in but he seems to be okay with it so who am I to judge? Monk has a great Instagram account called Monk & Bean (Bean is his brother). You’re one handsome guy Monk!

Story About Missing Cat Will Actually Brighten Your Day – Metro.co.uk

Black cat om wood stump

There is nothing joyful about a cat missing from home but sometimes stories have happy…and funny endings. The story of Stu is one such story told by his human in tweets. It’s a story of a cat doing what cats do…causing their humans to worry for no good reason and then strolling home, completely unaware of the trauma he’s caused.

These Cat Slippers Purr When You Walk – PopSugar

cat slippers that purr

I hear The Female Human complain about how much she misses us when she and The Male Human have to travel, so I’ve put these slippers on the Christmas list. These big paw pairs of Twitchy Kitty Cat Paw Slippers ($35) are purrrty amazing! They actually purr when you walk. I mean, what footwear could be better than this? Now if anyone could tell me where a feline can get his paws on $35.00 I’d appreciate it.

Oliver Celebrates Black Cat Appreciation Day

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Feline Opines

black cat appreciation day

Hi There Folks,
Since I am the only Tribe of Five member who could even come close to qualifying as a black cat (or almost black cat) I am posting about some amazing black cats of Instagram. The Tribe did have a black cat named Buster who went over the Rainbow Bridge and he was quite the gent. I sent our purrsonal assistant out to find some pawsome black cat photos at #blackcatsofinstagram. So put your paws together and celebrate our inky feline furiends!
Purrs & Head Bonks,
black and white cat Oliver

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Walk Through the Web Wednesday 1/31

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Feline Opines

Hello There My Friends,
Alberto here taking my weekly meander through the pathways and byways of the Internet highway. I hope you enjoy this weeks finds.
Purrrs & Head Bonks,

Rock Photographer Holds Auction to Benefit Kitten Krazy Cat Shelter – Cleveland Scene

I normally steer clear of purrlitical things (unless my brother Oliver is running for Purresident) . This purrlitical statement is for an excellent cause and I think every human should have one of these shirts. The world would be much better off we felines could get it to purr! A local Cleveland rock photographer supports the Kitten Crazy Cat Shelter every year by auctioning off his amazing rock star concert photos and a nifty special logo t-shirt. You don’t have to live in Cleveland to bid on the amazing photos or buy one of the t-shirts. (I’m sending the Female Human over to get one!)

Black Cats Shunned For Purrfect Selfies -BBC.com

A recent BBC article states that black cats are being shunned by potential owners because they don’t “show well” in selfies. I think this is ridiculous! We celebrated National Black Cat Awareness last month and sang the praises of beautiful black felines. (Note the photo of our handsome former Tribe member Buster).

The Moggery in Bristol is offering free neutering for black cats and other shelters offer this as well to help raise adoptions for black felines.

The RSPCA says it sees more black and black and white cats come into it’s care than any other color of felines. We recently did an interview with Whisky, The Tuxedo Cat who told us about this problem as well. The RSPCA said on average it takes at least 10 days longer to rehome a black cat or black and white compared to a ginger one. Now this needs to stop humans! If you’ve never had a black or black and white cat in your home, you are definitely missing out. Just ask our Male and Female humans, and our Tribe member Oliver!

Kitten Bowl V -Sunday, Feb. 4, 2081 – Hallmark Channel

Get ready folks, it’s time for one of my favorite feline events…The Kitten Bowl! You don’t have to wait until Sunday to enjoy all the pregame festivities. Check out all the players (or catletes) and watch video from last year’s Kitten Bowl. The best part of his event is that all these kittens from various shelters find furever homes after purrticipating.

Monster Hunter Cat Game is Confusing Cats in The Real World – Nerdlist

Dear Humans, we felines love technology but when you freak us out with it, well that’s quite another story. Capcom’s recently released a game called Monster Hunter: World that features some feline-like sidekicks called Palicos, who communicate via meows. Japanese gamers are capturing some very amusing pictures and videos of their cats getting freaked out by the sounds coming from their screens. Humans, you’ve had your laugh, now stop it!

Bureaucats: The felines with official positions – BBC.com

Oh how I love stories about felines with jobs (I’ve featured many stories of professional pussy cats in my Wednesday wanderings). This article wraps many of the more famous bureocats into a nice package, Post Office Cats, Police Cats, military cats and more. Don’t miss these stories,. Did you know that by WWII almost every British ship had a cat or that In 1868 three cats were formally employed as mousers at the Money Order Office in London? And don’t forget the star cats, a beautiful white cat named Arthur was the furry face of Spillers cat food for nearly 10 years from 1966, scooping Kattomeat from the tin into his mouth. He was such a star the brand was later renamed Arthur’s in his honor.

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