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

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

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

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

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

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

Hero cats save italian couple

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

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

dear humans, please check your luggage!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL CAT BEAUTY CONTEST

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

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

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

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

CAT MAKE UP ARTIST IS AN ACTUAL JOB

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

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

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

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

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

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