Walk Through The Web Wednesday – 6/21

Hello Furiends,
We’ve been having a cool summer (temperature, not type). The Human is frankly thankful because she chose to live in our neck of the woods precisely because it’s not known for extreme temperatures, although there have been summers with days in the high 90s. For instance, Weather Kitty’s report for today is what The Human considers a purrfect summer day.

As far as other happenings this past week, things have been mostly routine although Oliver has been quite unsettled because of his D-I-E-T. He finds it outrageous that The Human chooses menu options that contain NOTHING he is interested in eating and has decided begging isn’t even worth the effort.

This is an outrage, sprouted grain bread, spinach and an egg!
It wasn’t even worth jumping up here.

In a futile attempt to turn his attention from food to something else, Oliver decided he would “help” The Human put together some table decorations.

Those woody things look nice and crunchy.

When the reduced rations get to him, Oliver chooses a nap to forget about the terrible state of his life.

Lily, the little feline who has never had a weight problem, often encourages Ollie to relax and take some time to smell the roses.

We hope things have been doing well in your neck of the woods and Oliver hopes you get all the snacks, kibble and treats you deserve.

Florida woman leaves inheritance, Tampa estate to 7 Persian cats: Reports

I think a mansion would suit me quite well.

Now this is how you take care of your felines! A Florida woman who died in November decided to leave her estate to her seven Persian cats, along with an inheritance for each one. Nancy Sauer of Tampa, Florida left a stipulation in her will that her seven cats are to remain in her estate with each receiving an inheritance.

This isn’t that unusual, I reported on the inheritance Karl Lagerfeld left to his cat Choupette.  The will left by Sauer indicates that the estate not be sold until the last cat passes away. Despite this stipulation in the will, a a Hillsborough County probate judge recently decided that the cats should be placed in new homes.

A friend of the deceased said that she was worried that the cats would not do well if they were separated.

Sherry Silk, the executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay has stated that the cats should not be alone in a house as large as the one they lived in.  The cats have now been at the Human Society for the last month and Silk said, “I am going to personally make sure that we can keep as many together as we can and that they go to the perfect house.”

 San Antonio Cat Extravaganza

Oh meowza, every city should have an event like this! The event, last weekend, celebrated local feline charities and rescues, there was an International Cat Competition, lots of seminars to learn more about fantastic felines, enjoy the antics of the Rock Cat Rescue’s Acro-Cats and buy a present for your cats at the shopping village.

Feline Water Fascination

Some of you less informed humans may think that cats hate water. This is not the case for all of us! There are cats that like to swim, ride on paddle boards, take to the sea in a boat or, as in my case, stick your head under the faucet (my regular morning routine) and enjoy the wetness.

The perks of adopting a wallflower

Lily was a bit shy when The Human first met her at the shelter.

This is a reminder that just because a kitty doesn’t run up to you to greet you when you’re looking for a new feline furiend at the shelter doesn’t mean this kitty isn’t loveable. Our very own Lily was quite shy (she still is in some circumstances with people she doesn’t know) is known as “Bug” or “The Bug” because she is such a love bug and she loves to curl up against the Human and go to sleep.

It does take time and patience to win over a timid cat but it’s worth it. Amanda Kowalski, vice president of behavior programs at San Diego Humane Society says, “The first time they start to interact with you, like giving you a nose touch or rubbing against you, is so gratifying and worth the wait.”

Sometimes it’s the environment like shelters or foster homes that make a cat shy. When looking at cats in a shelter or rescue, it’s important to remember that “what you see is not necessarily what you’re gonna get,” says Nancy Puro, volunteer and behavior programs manager at Cat Adoption Team, the largest cat shelter in the Pacific Northwest. She explains that the behavior a cat is displaying at a shelter or rescue may not reflect what their personality will be like once they settle into a home.  Again, this was the case with our Lily.

There are many types of shy cats. Some weren’t fully socialized when they were kittens, some act fearful because they’re overwhelmed by their surroundings. Any of you humans who have given a shelter kitty a furever home can attest to the fact that their personalities change quite a bit once they are comfortable and safe in their new home (and that often takes a while to achieve).

This doesn’t mean that a very shy cat will eventually turn into a social, stranger loving feline. Many shy cats, even after they’re out of their shell, will continue to be reserved and often will find a place to be alone to reenergize.

Please don’t disregard bringing a shy cat into your home. The article, linked above, has links to information to help you bring a shy kitty out of their shell. Oliver and I and the Human are glad The Human decided to bring shy Lily to our house.

It’s always good to have a snuggle bug in the house.

HHOLOVE Launched the World’s First Companion Robot for Cats. A robot cat sitter…hmmm

HHOLOVE, a rising digital pet brand under HHO, has launched the world’s first cat smart companion robot—O Sitter on Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, on June 16 at 9am EST .

The system has integrated functions of AI Smart Life Recording, Interactive Companion, Reliable and Visible Feeding, O Sitter is considered a  groundbreaking differentiated product. The company says that the product is purrfect novice cat owners, frequent travel owners, and those who have to keep track of their cats when they are at work.  

The company says the O Sitter uses AI dynamic computing to automatically record the daily activities of your cats that can then viewed on an app.  

It also has a high-speed silent gimbal camera, combined with a laser and rich expression interaction design that will follow active cats.  There is a 360° horizontal + 110° vertical panoramic view which gives the cat owner a clearer “digital” view with its 4x digital zoom. O Sitter can detect the cat’s movement within 3 meters (about 118 inches), so that you can quickly target where they are.

And if all this tracking wasn’t enough, there’s a built in laser that can be manipulated by the app, either by the human directly or it can be preset.

The build-in laser can be manipulated by cat owners via APP to accompany their cats for remote play. It is also available to select a preset laser motion track.

And what good would a cat sitting robot be if there wasn’t a voice option for the human?  There is real time voice interaction as well, of course.

What else could you want? How about a customized feeding plan? Owners can add their cats’ information on the app and choose a feeding plan.  

What happens if there’s a power failure? The system will switch to battery-powered mode, and after the network is disconnected it will enter offline mode immediately, and the device will dispense food at regular intervals as scheduled.

O Sitter was made available on Kickstarter on June 16 with discounts of up to 50% off.

As wonderful as this all sounds, The Human isn’t sure she wants one more intrusive device in our home. She can’t say anything with Alexa plugged in without seeing ads for the things she’s talked about. She gets so annoyed; she doesn’t leave Alexa plugged in. And don’t get her started on Facebook that even seems to know what she’s thinking about purchasing! My guess is, this will not be part of our household. What about yours?

Walk Through The Web Wednesday 4/28

siamese cat on a leash walking through a garden

Hello There Furiends!
I hope things are nice and springy in your neck of the woods. It is lovely and spring is definitely springing in our neck of the woods but The Human is having some issues with this. She has watery eyes and a runny nose every day and calls this strange condition “allergies”. With humans being so fearful about everything these days she said she feels like wearing a sign around her neck that says “It’s only seasonal allergies” when she goes out. She says these allergy thingys are because of these notices she gets almost every day.

I must say that this feline is a bit flummoxed as to how a text alert can make a human’s eyes water and nose run!

Oliver and I are still suffering through the dreaded D-I-E-T. The Human is not only reducing our kibble to near starvation levels, she’s also trying to make us exercise. Oh the pain and humiliation! I believe The Human is secretly feeding skinny Lily but so far I’ve not been able to catch her in the act.

As for Oliver and I, we purrfer to be couch (or bed) potatoes) and now Oliver has joined me in our evening “cat TV” watching sessions.

Now that Oliver has horned in to my TV time, I find I have to burrow under the bed covers just to get some alone time.

“Yes Human, what was so important that you had to interrupt my nap?”

The Human gushed this week when she came home and saw this sight.

“No it wasn’t a cuddle. I just came over here to rest my eyes. I didn’t realize Lily was on the sofa too.”

Well, enough about us, let’s get to this week’s web news.

Feline CKD sees new treatment possibility

As many of you know, our Angel Jasmine suffered from kidney disease in her last few years of life. We have many furiends who have this disease as well and the news that there may be a promising treatment for this makes me want to jump up and yell “WHOOPEE!”

The article I found said that  a novel cell-derived molecular therapy might offer a promising approach to treating chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats.

Piedmont Animal Health and The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is currently evaluating the intrarenal injection of a recombinant human chemokine (CXCL-12) to treat feline kidney fibrosis. (Phew, that was a “sciency” mouthful!)

Preclinical studies have so far indicated that the therapy has the ability to restore normal kidney structure in cats with clinically induced fibrosis. These studies have also provided evidence as to how the treatment acts to address changes in the kidney that can be associated with CKD damage.

And, a subsequent clinical pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of administering CXCL-12 with no obvious side effects over a nine-month study period.

CKD is a progressive and debilitating condition common in older cats. There are currently no available treatments for the reversal of its effects. The Human gave Jasmine sub-Q fluids every other day and Scruffy Paws Kidney Vitalize chews as well as a kidney diet. These things helped keep her kidney numbers safe but did not cure the disease.

Imagine how happy the human was to read,  “These preclinical and clinical study findings suggest our first collaboration could make a big difference in the lives of cat owners and their beloved pets,” says Piedmont’s chief scientific officer, Doug Hepler, PhD. “Anyone who has had a cat with chronic kidney disease knows how heartbreaking it is to watch their decline and be able to do very little about it. Our goal is to change that story to a much more positive one.”

What wonderful news this is and we are purraying that this new therapy would work to treat early kidney disease for all our furiends! For those of you who are interested in the study, you can read it here.

Pedigree cats seized in raid find new home

Two of the confiscated kitties

Oh my whiskers, I’ve heard of raids on human’s homes but normally the police find contraband….not cats!

The Thai police made a drug raid on a home and in addition to drugs they found… felines. They decided to auction the six cats (five Scottish Folds and one Bengal) and thankfully the auction winner was Nutch Prasopsin, who runs a Facebook page followed by 3 million cat lovers. Those cat lovers helped her raise the 100,000 bahts ($3186.00) winning bid for the kitties.

“I was very excited. I had very much hoped that the cats would end up in my care. I’ve been following their status since the very first day,” she told reporters.

The auction was held after a 30-day window expired for the owner, who remains at large, to come forward and claim the cats and prove they were not purchased with drug money. The confiscated cats will share their new home with Nutch’s 20 other cats.

The regional narcotics control board said the cats had suffered an ordeal and it was important they be auctioned off as a group.

“They were living together so they would be familiar with each other,” she said. “If we separate them, this may cause them stress or have psychological effects.”

The money generated at the auction will be held by police as a seized asset. I sure hope they take that asset and donate it to help kitties in Thailand!

The Kitty Convict Project

The Female Human and her sister have run a local lost and found pet page in our community for a number of years and when it comes to cats, if I’ve heard them say it once, I’ve heard them say it 100 times, “Think Lost, Not Stray!”

The innovative idea of the orange collar is to identify an indoor cat who is found outside as an “escapee”.  The Kitty Convict folks say, “it brands your indoor cat as a convict… it signals to the people of the world that your cat belongs inside.”

The Kitty Convict Project says in the US more than 7 million pets go missing every year. Of those, 26 percent of missing dogs and less than 5 percent of lost cats are reported and returned home.

The good folks at Dr. Elsey’s (makers of one of the the world’s best solution for felines with “litter box issues”, Cat Attract, are promoting the Kitty Convict orange collar program. They want to see your indoor cat posing in his or her orange collar! Share it on Instagram using #orangeinside™ for a chance to win a one-year supply of Dr. Elsey’s Ultra cat litter.

Where do you get such a collar? This is the one that Kitty Convicts recommends.  We have instructed The Human to order us 3 collars post-haste and will be modeling them for you in the future. But you don’t have to be fancy. Any reflective orange collar will identify you as a “Kitty Convict Project” kitty and get you home sooner!

How to tell if the cat you’ve found is a stray or someone’s pet

While we’re on the topic of lost cats, the Berkshire Humane Society published an excellent article about how to tell strays kitties from lost kitties.

We don’t want to shame all you well meaning folks who pick up cats you see outside and shuffle them to the shelter but we do want to remind you that many of these felines have homes. Now, if they were all Convict Kitty Project purrticipants with orange collars, it would be so much easier!

If you see a cat that  you might think is a stray without an orange collar, here are some signs that the cat is just visiting and has a home to return to:

 The cat confidently roams around in the middle of the day

The cat appears clean and healthy

The cat does not search for food

If these apply, the cat likely belongs to someone. However, you should always try to confirm this. You can post flyers or take a photo and post to your local social media lost pet finder organization. Another thing to do is to make a paper collar (about ¾” wide) and close it with tape. Write a message on the collar like,  “Am I yours? Please call (your name & phone number).” This will show the owner that someone is concerned.

Many local veterinarians and animal shelters will scan cats for a microchip, free of charge. If the cat is microchipped with current registration, an owner can be contacted immediately.

If the cat is hiding, scared, looks dirty or disheveled, is hungry or appears in any way to be injured or distressed, do not wait to get help.

If your cat doesn’t come home, don’t wait. Begin looking for them immediately. Post flyers, post photos and information on social media, search on foot and call local veterinary hospitals, animal control officers and rescue groups.

San Marcos, TX couple makes board game with internet cats

CATastrophe: A Game of 9 Lives will be available for preorder via the crowdfunding website Kickstarter on May 4th, 2021.

CATastrophe is a 2-6 player family board game as unpredictable as cats themselves. It features iconic cats from around the world such as Cole and Marmalade, Molly Happiness, Hosico and many more. Backers of the Kickstarter program have a chance to get their own felines featured in the game. There is also a tribute to Lil Bub, who passed away in 2019.

The game’s goal is to be top cat and has enough strategy and luck to make it fun. Each player starts with nine lives. The last cat standing is the winner.

The CATastrophe team includes cat illustrator Jenny Parks (Star Trek Cats book, Marvel National Cat Day Covers) and board game illustrator Jacqui Davis (Ex Libris, Euphoria).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m sending The Human over to the Kickstater site to see what it will take to get us featured in the game!