Hello There Furiends,
I hope you have been enjoying yourself this week. This week, Lily and I made some progress in our relationship. Oliver and I are trying not to chase her off the bed and all around the house. While Lily and were waiting for breakfast to be served, we discussed the state of our relationship.

The Human hasn’t caught us in another cuddle but she’s hopeful. Lily and Oliver are still mulling the situation over.

Well, here’s hoping Oliver will get on board the furiendship train. And here are our feline news items for the week.

What kind of personality does your cat have?

Professor Peter Neville has worked alongside specialists at eco-cat litter company Natusan to identify five unique personality types that can help cat caretakers tailor their approach to their pet.

Working with date from 3,700 cat parents, experts have found five common personalities in cats and labeled them Nervous Nala, Outgoing Oliver, Bossy Bella, Spontaneous Simba and Agreeable Alfie.  

They found that even in the same household, and from the same litter, we felines can be very different in our behaviors and preferences.

The professor says that, “Like humans, the more we appreciate what makes them tick, the more we can fine tune our interactions, and create environments that encourage them to thrive by accommodating their social and emotional needs.

Outgoing Olivers are usually more vocal and extroverted

Nervous Nalas have delicate dispositions and are often more highly strung than other cats. They can be shy around other cats.

Bossy Bellas are very assertive and often the top cats in multi cat households.

Spontaneous Simbas are the most impulsive and have a lot of energy (the kind of felines that love midnight zoomies).

Agreeable Alfies are the epitome of a cool cat. They are calm and sociable often as a result of proper socialization as kittens.

I don’t know what you think about all this my furiends. As for me, I’m not so sure all felines fit into one category.

Cats can drift too!

Our Human has relatives who like different forms of car racing and introduced her into the car sport of “drifting” which is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, loses traction but still maintains control of the vehicle. Imagine my surprise when I found out that cats can drift too.

Are felines sometimes treated as second class? Some cat owners say yes

Pet Product News recently noted that dog owners do seem to get all the attention, especially when it comes to marketing and production for pet food, pet products and pet services according to a new survey.

In Packaged Facts’ Survey of Pet Owners, cat owners were asked whether they perceive that cats are “sometimes treated as second class” compared to dogs by various types of players in the pet industry. Across the board to varying degrees, the answer was “yes,” including for general merchandise stores that sell pet products (with 51 percent of cat owners agreeing strongly or somewhat that cats sometimes get second-class treatment), companies that make pet food/treats (45 percent), companies that make non-food products (45 percent), pet specialty stores (44 percent) and veterinarians (41 percent).

The good news my feline furiends, is that this does seem to be changing.  Last year, many of the new products introduced at Global Pet Expo 2020 were cat-focused, including New Product Showcase winners Moody Pet’s Fling-Ama-String and Four Paws’ Kitty Kat Circus, and during 2020 Petco unleashed a slew of promotional emails with feline-focused headlines including ‘You had me at Meow,’ ‘Kitty 101’ and ‘Kitty’s first shopping list .

These marketing folks are finally getting the idea that cats rock and cat parents like to lavish us with all sorts of goodies.

8 Hypoallergenic Cats for People with Allergies

This feline was dismayed to learn that more people are allergic to cats than any other animal. About one in five people in the world have allergy symptons such as sneezing, itchy eyes, coughing, wheezing and even the hives if exposed to cats. What a bummer!

But don’t lose hope my allergic feline loving furiends! Studies have found that it is’t t he amount of fur a cat has and that some of the most “hypoallergenic “ cats have very full, long coats.

Allergic reactions to felines come from reactions to a protein called Fel d 1, which is a protein that is present in our skin, saliva, and urine. When we lick our fur, this Fel d 1 dries into tiny particles that are carried through the air and then land on the hair, clothing, furniture and other stuff belonging to humans. These particles can hang around for months!  

So, the bad news is that there are no felines that are 100% hypoallergenic but some of us produce much less of Fel d 1.

Scientists say that normally,  female cats produce less of the protein than male cats, and neutered males produce less than those who haven’t been fixed. And now, you don’t have to adopt a hairless cat to stay away from allergens (although there is nothing wrong with my hairless feline furiends). You can also look into the breeds shown below. I would love to see everyone who hasn’t given a cat a furever home because of allergies be able to be a kitty parent!

Moscow’s renegade cat activists bending the law to save felines from the frozen winter

A Russian man named Ramil is a volunteer who works to help free cats trapped in basements of Soviet-era buildings, places that are often the only shelter stray cats can find. He is the hero of many Russians and of felines as well!

Russians are cat lovers, a 2016 poll indicated that 57% of Russian households had at least one cat.

The stray cat problem is only recently being addressed in Russia. Those poor kitties need shelter badly as temperatures normally stay below zero most of the winter. Boy am I glad I’m a pampered indoor kitty!

Moscow’s parliament passed a decree this fall that all apartment buildings provide access to basement vents for “small pets”.  Ramil and his cat loving furiends are expanding their cat saving work to the suburbs (areas which are not under the same decree).

The Russians don’t take to animal cruelty. One political hopeful was photographed allegedly kicking a cat and his political career ended immediately. Businesses in Russia catering to cats and their humans are thriving, even cat cafes.

We say two paws up for the cat loving Russians who are working to help the street kitties of Moscow and other areas.