Happy Wednesday Everyone,

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.

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.

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.

That’s a glimpse from our neck of the woods this week, now let’s get to the news.

Kitten fascinated by her human’s baby bump and the new baby

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.

Cat and gown: Feline ‘graduates’ from UT-Austin after attending owner’s online classes

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.

Richmond women designing their own cat toothbrush and toothpaste

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.”

They are now running a crowd funding campaign for the company, RYERCAT: The Dual Sided Cat Toothbrush.

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!

MYO (Make your own cat tree)

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.

Cat Alley revival: Muralists wanted to refresh one of the city’s most beloved landmarks

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 Companies wanted 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!