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.

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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

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?

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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!