Happy Wednesday Furiends!
This week our feature has a theme…airports and flying. We received a pawsitively wonderful book to read and revue from Christine Henry. The book’s name is Burt the Airport Cat and is a wonderfully illustrated story about Burt, a black cat who escapes his carrier at the airport. Burt is a curious and friendly cat and decides to take advantage of his new surroundings and explore the airport. He meets new friends, Valkyrie, Scout, and the Padre, and samples local cuisine as well. Will he ever reunite with his family? Join him on his quest to learn more.
We loved the book and know you will like it too. We will be having a drawing for a signed copy of the book so just leave a comment to let us know you’d like to be entered. We will drawing on October 31st.
As I noted, this feline has a love of aviators and aviation so I decided to send my purrsonal assistant across the web to find stories of airports, airplanes and flight. Here are a few photos of me imagining myself as an aviator.
Please enjoy our aviation themed stories and don’t forget to enter the drawing for Burt’s book.
Cat lost for a month found in airport kitchen roof
Can you imagine being a feline who is lost in an airport for more than a month?! This is the story about Ted, a black and white cat who went missing from his home, 6.4 kilometers ( about 4 miles) away from the Exeter airport. I wonder if this guy made as many friends as the hero in our book review, Burt did.
I won’t make you wait to find out Ted’s fate, BBC news reports that he was found in the roof of a kitchen area at the airport. The staff heard meowing coming from the ceiling and were able to coax him toward a place in the ceiling where they could get him out.
Evidently Ted climbed under the hood of a neighbors car to get away from the rain and the car had taken off. His family was delighted and amazed that he was found safe.
Ted was hungry and thirsty and the airport workers took care of him while attempting to find his family. They found a lost cat Facebook post about Ted by Cats Protection Exeter Axhayes Adoption Centre.
When Ted returned home he was skinny but he received a clean bill of health from his vet. Ted is back to his regular weight and now sports a tracker on his collar.
Do cats glide? Exploring the possibilities of feline flight
My readers know I’m not a feline that’s fond of “sciency” news but even I have to admit this is interesting. I’ll try to recap this article without too many scientific details.
You humans know that we felines are agile and graceful and sometimes, as we leap from one spot to another, it seems as though we are flying.
Feline jumps
When we jump or leap, we use a combination of muscular power, instinct, and physics to propel ourselves into the air. First we crouch down, using our hind legs like a coiled spring. We then use our powerful leg muscles to push off the ground, launching ourselves into the air. When we’re flying through the air, we stretch our legs out and tuck our heads and tails in to reduce air resistance and increase speed. When we’re at the peak of our jump we arch our backs helping our back legs to stretch even further so we can gain more height and distance. All these moves are made possible by our skeletal structure that’s designed for flexibility and mobility.
Balancing with whiskers and tails
Believe it or not, our whiskers help us maintain balance and control while we’re in the air. Our whiskers are incredibly sensitive to changes in air currents and can help us detect changes in speed and direction, while our tails act as rudders, allowing us to steer and adjust our trajectory mid-flight. All these things help us navigate with precision and accuracy.
Landing Safely
When we land we use a combination of muscular strength and instinct to absorb the impact and land safely on our feet. As we begin to approach the ground we use back legs to prepare for impact, tucking them under our body and extending our front legs. Then we land on our feet, now using our leg muscles to absorb the shock of impact and distribute it evenly throughout our body.
We felines are amazingly designed!
The History of Cats and Flight
Clearly we felines can’t fly like birds or bats, but mythology, folklore, literature, and popular culture have linked us with flight. This association can be traced back to ancient times when we cats were revered as sacred creatures with supernatural abilities.
In many cultures, cats are associated with magic and are believed to have supernatural powers, including the ability to fly. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the goddess Bastet was depicted with the head of a cat and was believed to be a protector of women and children, as well as a master of the skies, able to soar through the air at will.
The ancient Norse goddess Freyja was also associated with cats and was said to have a chariot pulled by two large cats. In Japanese folklore, the bakeneko is a cat that can transform into a human and fly through the air. These stories and beliefs have helped to cement the connection between cats and flight in popular culture.
Famous Flying Cats in Literature and Film
In literature and film, felines have been depicted as flying or gliding creatures, adding to our mystique and allure. One famous example is the character of Salem Saberhagen from the television show Sabrina the Teenage Witch, a black cat who was able to transform into a warlock and fly through the air.
The Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is another famous example of a flying cat. This mischievous feline disappears and reappears at will, often floating through the air with its signature grin.
True Stories of Cats Falling From Great Heights
There are many cats who survived long falls because of their ability to absorb shock and land safely on their feet. In fact, cats have been known to survive falls from heights of up to 32 stories without suffering serious injuries. Meowza!
This ability is due to our flexible spine and inner ear, which help us to quickly orient ourselves in mid-air and land on our feet. Additionally, we cats have a natural instinct to spread out our bodies and create a larger surface area to slow our descent.
One famous example of a cat surviving a fall from great heights is that of a cat named “Lucky” who fell 26 stories from a high-rise building in New York City in 2013. Lucky suffered only minor injuries and was reunited with her owner after being rescued by a local animal shelter.
There is also the story of our very own Oliver who tells the tale of The Amazing Flying Kitten. This was the day he almost gave The Human a heart attack.
So there you go, we felines are amazingly graceful creatures and some humans have even been able to capture us in flight as you’ll see in the next story.
Airborne cats will fly into your heart in new photography book
Seth Casteel’s POUNCE, a coffee table book, features gorgeous photos of adorable airborne cats in a variety of settings. POUNCE is an addition to Casteel’s other books which include Underwater Babies and Underwater Puppies.
The cats in the photos are all from animal shelters and rescue groups in the U.S. and Canada. Every cat who modeled for the book was available for adoption or already rescued during the photoshoots.
“At the heart of the book is Casteel’s commitment to showcasing animals who are in need of human love, attention, and care yet who sadly have not always received it,” reads the the book’s press release.
This is a delightful, funny book, with more than 80 previously unpublished photographs that reveal adorable cats and kittens as they pounce and jump through the air, legs outstretched—all in Casteel’s signature up-close, mid-action style. We love this book and think it would be a great Christmas gift for the cat lover on your list.
Southwest Employees Help Lost Cat Who Escaped Carrier at Denver Airport Reunite with Her Owner
Oh Meowza, I have reported on too many cats who escaped the confines of their carriers to wander around airports. And here’s yet another one. Breezy, the Bengal cat escaped her carrier at the Denver International Airport.
Her human, Ginger Thompson from Washington explained what happened to FOX31. “They were getting me on the plane rushing me, and I set her down to get ready to put her under the seat, put my backpack up into the overhead bin, and was sort of jostled,” After escaping her carrier, the show cat fell between the plane door and jet bridge, landing on the tarmac below. Oh Meowza!!!
“I saw her fall, and she sort of tried to claw to stay up, but the momentum just took her down,” her human said. “And it wasn’t a jump or anything, it was more like just falling.”
Thompson shared news of Breezy’s scary situation on Facebook and included a heartfelt message in the update. “Breezy is more [than] a show kitty,” she wrote. “She and my other 2 are what keep me going.”
A friend of Thompson’s started a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of a hotel, so the distraught owner could stay near the airport while staff members searched for her missing cat.
After checking into the hotel, Thompson shared a screenshot of her text conversation with a Southwest ramp agent, who told her that “about a dozen” agents were actively searching for Breezy.
At the time, the Bengal cat had last been spotted “near some vents by [gate] C24” by the overnight crew, the agent said.
Two hours later, the worried owner shared another update. “It’s been a little over 24 hours [since] I lost Breezy. I’m going out of my mind worrying. Trying to be patient but laying here in the hotel waiting is killing me, and I’m losing any hope as each hour passes.”
“What has kept me going is all the support that is being offered and shown to get Breezy home,” she added.
A day into the search, Southwest employees found the show cat hiding in a ramp area at the airport.
“Breezy has been rescued,” Thompson wrote on Facebook. She went on to thank the entire Southwest crew for their “diligent efforts” to rescue her beloved cat “with care” — and shared that she would be offering them a reward for their hard work.
The owner also shared a photo of her text conversation with one of the crew members, who sent her a picture of the feline after she was discovered.
“Southwest ramp loves Breezy,” the employee texted Thompson, sharing a group selfie of the cat and the team that found her.
Thompson shared photos of Southwest employees’ successful search for Breezy, including a shot of the team holding flashlights.
“Southwest ramp crew are the best,” she wrote alongside the photos.
Thompson also shared snapshots from when Breezy was returned to her — including a selfie with the police officer who reunited them — and a photo of the show kitty licking her paw in the hotel room.
“Her chin is no [longer] bright white,” the owner wrote, adding that Breezy was “oily and greasy but safe.”
According to Thompson’s Facebook, she and Breezy are staying in Denver until the feline visits a veterinarian. Once the Bengal cat gets a clean bill of health, she and Thompson will return to Washington, where the owner’s other two kitties, Sammy and Beemer, await their return.
“They’re more than just show animals or pets,” Thompson told FOX31 of her furry friends. “They’re my family. They’re all I have.”
Two paws up to the good feline loving folks at Southwest!
15 Airlines That Allow Flying With Cats In Cabin
The good folks at Pets that Travel published information for 2023 of airlines that warmly welcome felines inside the cabin. This is the best way for felines to travel, not in the luggage/cargo hold. The Human worked in the travel industry and she saw first-hand that this wasn’t the best option for kitties.
First, let me make clear that no matter how warmly an airline might welcome us felines in the cabin area, we are still supposed to stay in our carriers and the last time I checked, none of the airlines serve catnip martinis.
Here are the 15 airlines noted in the article as being in-cabin feline friendly.
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Alaska Air
- American Airlines
- Delta
- French Bee
- JetBlue
- Lufthansa
- Southwest
- TUI Fly
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
- Vueling
Some airlines allow humans to take two of their felines, some international carriers require the cat be microchipped and have an EU pet passport, that the cats must be no more than 11 inches tall and 18 inches long with most weight limits are 20 pounds and cats must be “well behaved” (no scratching, excessive whining or meowing, growling, biting or lunging)
Meowza some of these restrictions leave Oliver and I out of running as cat passengers. We’d each have to shave off 1 1/2 pounds and the no meowing and whining part would be a bit difficult too!
But, if your human thinks you’re in the running to be an inside-cabin passenger, check out the article to see what you need to do.
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