Walk Through The Web Wednesday 2/24

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Happy Wednesday Furiends!
I hope you have all had a good week. Our week was okay although I heard The Human speaking to someone at the stabby place on the phone. This did not bode well.

“Human, this is what I think of visiting the stabby place for a wellness exam!”

Oliver was also less than enthused about these developments.

“I refuse to have a conversation about the stabby place. Talk to the paw Human!”

Lily took the more direct approach.

“Do I need to remind you why my nickname is ‘Princess Stabby Toes’?”

Unfortunately, the visit to the stabby place will happen next month, sigh.

Let’s hope my news items this week will be more enjoyable than our conversation with our Human.

Friskies® Brings More Feline Fun with the Reboot of Cat Fishing 2, a Game Designed Especially for Cats

When I was a little whippersnapper, I had a mini iPad with a fishy game and I quite enjoyed it but it lost it’s attraction for me. Now the Friskies people have updated the game, called Cat Fishing 2. It has special sounds and schools of fish. The more fish you catch, the more points you get . I am a rather competitive feline so I like this “points” thing.

Friskies tested the update with real felines and they all gave it a paws up. We felines need enrichment and mental stimulation and this game provides it. Go the Friskies game page and download your game!

An Ohio bomb squad was called to disarm an adorable bag of kittens

When a suspicious bag was found outside of a church, the bomb squad was called. When they opened the suspicious package they discovered a cat and her six kittens.

The officers said when they approached the bag, instead of ticking, they heard purring.

There was a note inside the bag saying that the cat, Sprinkles had given birth the day before. The sheriff’s office took the felines to the Animal Friends Humane Society where they are now warm and fed.

Sprinkles has had all her tests and blood work and is pronounced healthy as are her kittens. She and her babies will be placed in foster care. The shelter will provide regular updates on Sprinkles and her family on their Facebook page.

While I am thankful this momma and her babies are safe I really  don’t understand some humans who would abandon this little family in a suitcase instead of taking them to the shelter where they know they would be safe!

Marion Girl Scout receives highest award for helping shelter cats

Paws up for this creative young human! JoLee Becker from Marion, Iowa received a Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, for her cat stools.

The stools improve the health of shelter felines and encourages them to exercise. She created her first stool for her adopted cat who weighed more than 20 pounds and was a bit aggressive. She worked with her cat, giving the feline a routine of play and exercise and the cat lost 9 pounds. The cat’s behavior changed as well as JoLee played with her each day.

JoLee decided she wanted to design more stools for the cats in her local shelter. Keeping the cats fit and happy will give them a better chance of finding forever homes. The ten stools she modified for the cats were given to PAWS & More Shelter in Washington, Iowa

 “As soon as we put the cat stools into the cages, the cats went nuts,” said Becker. “The kittens were scratching and playing with the toys. The older cats were lying in the blanket baskets under the stool tops. The rest of the cats were playing with each other and running around the stools.”

Now, PAWS & More is collaborating with Cedar Valley Humane Society, Last Hope Animal Shelter, Iowa City Animal Shelter, SAINT Cat Rescue, and Coralville Cat Shelter to create more stools, in hope of getting more shelters to utilize them.

Paws up little human Girl Scout!

The smartest cat in the world? Kitty performs 26 tricks in one minute

Talk about an over-achiever! 8-year old Alexis and her human Anika Moritz from Austria just broke the record for the most tricks performed by a cat in one minute, 26 in total.

Alexis has lived with Anika since she was a kitten and her training began when she was 12 weeks old. Alexis is a fast learner and Anika said that she wanted to show the world how amazing cats are. She began planning in 2017 for Alexis to break the Guinness World Record of most tricks performed in a minute.

The article provides lots of advice for any of you felines who are hankering to go after Alexis’ record (or would just like to learn a trick or two)

Here’s a list of all the tricks Alexis did in 60 seconds. Meowza! I’m tired just reading the list! How many tricks on this list can you do my furiends?

  1. Herum (go around the legs)
  2. Durch (weave through legs)
  3. Voran (go onto red carpet)
  4. Turn (180 degree turn to the left)
  5. Sitzen (sit)
  6. Teppich ausrollen (roll out red carpet)
  7. High five right
  8. Winken (wave with right paw)
  9. Shake (shake head)
  10. High five left
  11. Andere (left paw)
  12. Winken links (wave left paw
  13. Muede (touch nose with left paw)
  14. Schau links (look left)
  15. Schau rechts (look right)
  16. Hands up
  17. Wave with hands up
  18. High ten
  19. Cross (cross left paw while sitting)
  20. Glocke (ring/touch bell with paw)
  21. Target touch (touch target with nose)
  22. Nimm (pull on string to open box)
  23. Zurueck (go back)
  24. Stop
  25. Komm (come)
  26. Pfoten hoch (both paws up on arm)

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 5/1

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends,
That saying you humans like to meow about that “April showers bring May flowers” is proving to be true. There are tulips beginning to pop up in the garden and there should be some nice color if the deer don’t eat them first.

final-20Oliver tried to convince me that he sat in our felted bed this way because it was getting too warm to sleep inside it. I told Oliver I thought his expanding girth was proving to be too much to fit into the bed. Oliver was not amused.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy my web wanderings this week.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Alberto
Siamese cat with blue eyes

Swedish Digital Vet Is Going After the UK’s Cats (and Dogs)

final-21

Oliver and one of our favorite vets, Dr. Christina Ponsness at Pend Oreille Veterinary Service

A Swedish digtal vet clinic, First Vet is launching in the UK. The company offers video appointments  between 20-30UK ($26.00-$39.00) where the average vet visit is about 60UK ($78.00)

So, not only do the humans get to save some money but the felines are relieved of the stress of being shoved in a carrier and taken in the moving metal machine to the place of the stabby people.

First Vet’s study of their business in Sweden has found that roughly half of all cases that result in a visit to the vet could be taken care of by a remote consultation.

This sounds pretty good to me, what do my feline and human furiends think about this?

CatCon Partners With Cats Of Instagram To Celebrate The Internet’s Greatest Cat Videos

img_2249

Have you watched Oliver’s film,, “Bring Me My Catpuccino!”

CatCon, “the ComicCon for cat people” has joined with Instagram’s to showcase most-followed cat accounts to celebrate the internet’s greatest cat videos.

If you and your humans are lucky enough to get to Cat Con at  the  Pasadena Convention Center in California, you can mingle with 62,000 other international feline fans.

The Cats Of Instagram account — which has 10.3 million followers and features a running tab of adorable cat pics and videos — will be hosting the inaugural CatCon Video Festival. And all my furiends can submit their own videos (we submitted two of ours, “Bring Me My Catpuccino” and “You Never Walk Alone”.   A grand prize winner will receive a $500 gift card.

“Cats of Instagram has been part of CatCon since the beginning in 2015, and it made purr-fect sense to up the ante this year and partner with them on CatCon Video Fest,” CatCon creator Susan Michals said in a statement. “Together we plan to bring the audience at CatCon 2019 the best vids from across the country, IRL on the big screen.” Meow, sure wish we could go there!

Teen cat whisperer recognized for clocking nearly 1,900 hours of dedication to feline friends

CatWhisperer

The next time you humans start meowing about how bad kids are today, you need to remember 15-year old Blake Austin. Blake has clocked nearly 1,900 hours of playtime with the felines at the Brunswick Midcoast Humane society. She also fosters kittens. Her dad has a severe cat allergy so she never got to have a cat when she was growing up until her father realized how much cats meant to her and made her a “cats only” room. Blake’s love of cats and her tireless devotion to the felines at her shelter has garnered her much notice and she even received a $10,000.00 gift. Meowza, being nice to kitties pays off-literally!

Cat adopts four orphaned squirrels

CatSquirrel

This one’s for all you may-saying humans who think we felines don’t have a heart.. Pusha, the cat who lives in a park in Bakhchisaray, Crimea. She came across four young squirrels who’d lost their parents, and rather ignoring them or attacking them, she took care of them and even let the squirrels drink her milk as if they were her own kittens.

The squirrels seem quite happy with this family arrangement. Pusha treats them like her own, cleaning them and giving them a gentle nudge when they’re misbehaving.

Brace yourselves, cat lovers. Meow DC is a new festival for feline fanatics.

img_2099

Coco the Couture Cat letting her love child side out at Blogpaws 2016.

Emily Miller, director of special events for the Humane Rescue Alliance, decided to create Meow DC, an annual festival for feline fanatics —where ticket proceeds will go toward the alliance’s mission of helping homeless pets.

“Meow DC is a place for cat people to get together and celebrate all things cat.”

More than 100 adoptable cats were brought to the Dock 5 parking lot because the venue doesn’t allow cats indoors. The specialized RVs had big windows that allow people to see the cats from outside.

Booths just outside the venue’s entrance will house Meow DC’s two celebrity cats — Sunglass Cat and Coco the Couture Cat. An Instagram star with over half a million followers, Sunglass Cat will be taking pictures with fans for $15, which will go to the alliance. Coco, a Cornish Rex who gets around in a pink “Catillac,” will be paw-tographing copies of the book “The Adventures of Coco le Chat: The World’s Most Fashionable Feline.” (Note, The Female Human has met Coco the Couture Cat many times and will see her and her human again at the Cat Writer’s Association conference.)

There were events for kiddos who love cats and lots of vendors who offered purrfect feline products.