Hello Furiends,
I hope things are going well in your neck of the woods. The temperatures are finally getting warmer here, so warm in fact that Weather Kitty expressed the exuberance we feel about this warmth! Why The Human even had to wear sunglasses to drive!

As to what The Tribe has been up to……not much. I have been enjoying sleeping on the new leopard blanket as I think it suits my coloring quite well. What do you think?

As for Lily, she’s a bit annoyed that The Human seems to have noticed, after all this time, what a long tail she has. The Human even woke Lily from a snooze to tell her she had a long tail. Lily says humans are very weird.

And then there’s Oliver who has some strange thoughts. This week he wants to educate you folks that spotted cats are spotted all over- even inside!

Well that’s it for the week in our neck of the woods. Meow at us and let us know how things are going in yours.

‘New Grumpy Cat’ has permanently sad face due to rare medical condition

I would say this cat’s face is more sad than grumpy. But lest you think Sushi really is sad, he’s not. He’s living his best life after being rescued as a kitten, wandering the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Sushi has stretchy skin because he has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which is a rate medical condition. His human, Larissa Yamaguchi, found out last year  about Sushi’s condition when she saw a photo of a cat with a similar look.

It was a long road to Shushi’s diagnosis and treatment. Larissa said, “It took four years for us to know Sushi had EDS. I spent $1,082 and he used a lot of different medications but nothing helped.”

Once they found a feline dermatologist Sushi got the help he needs. His condition causes him to have extremely dry and itchy skin and he needs regular moisturizing, a different diet, clothes and soft collars.

EDS affects each animal in a unique way. Sushi’s face skin is very flexible, especially his cheeks, and his arms. There are no internal problems and the major issue he has is his compulsive scratching.

I don’t know if I’d call Sushi the new grumpy cat but he sure does have a sweet, sad face.

The cat’s out of the bag: Green Bay’s Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary says stolen cat returned

This one should be titled, “What is wrong with you humans??” According to Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, a shelter that hosts a cat café located in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin, someone took a black and white cat named Bleu. Safe Haven says Bleu was stolen Wednesday afternoon by a customer who snuck out the side door.

According to Facebook posts on Safe Haven’s page, the animal shelter identified the cat napper. Evidently Bleu was held hostage in the persons apartment overnight and when the police arrived, refused to open the door.

The next day Save Haven posted a video on their Facebook page stating that Bleu had been returned. Safe Haven was contacted and told that a person was walking in the downtown area with a duffle bag. Someone associated with Safe Haven confronted the person requesting the cat be returned to them and the cat napper handed the cat (in the duffel bag) over.

What the heck was this person thinking? How about doing the right thing and adopting Bleu instead of stealing him? But, on second thought, this feline says anyone who stuffs a cat into a duffel bag and strolls around town doesn’t deserve to care for a cat!

Alley Cat Rescue 2021 Global Feral Fix Challenge Leads to Spay/Neuter of Over 45,000 Community Cats

As my regular readers know, we at Feline Opines are BIG TNR fans and salute the hard work of those who volunteer their time to do it. The 2021 Global Feral Fix Challenge had participation from veterinarians and clinics across 24 U.S. states as well as Greece, South Africa, the U.K., and the United Arab Emirates, who together sterilized over 45,000 community cats.

This was the 11^th challenge and it finished on December 31, 2021. The event elicits veterinarian participation in trap-neuter-return programs by offering low cost or free spay/neuter clinics. The goal of the Challenge is to save feral cats from shelter euthanasia, starvation, and disease by humane population management.

Alley Cat Rescue founder and president, Louise Holton, explains the significance of this campaign: “The participation of veterinarians around the globe is very important to achieving our ultimate goal, which is the sterilization of all community cats. This process is the only way to reduce the population of outdoor cats; killing them, bedsides being inhumane, simply does not work as studies show new cats will enter vacated areas and breed until the number of cats there is back to the same level as before or even higher.”

The 2022 round of the Feral Fix Challenge is already underway. Veterinarians everywhere are encouraged to join by pledging to provide free or low-cost spay/neuter services to as many free-roaming cats as is feasible for their individual practices via this link. Will your veterinarian be participating? You can send an email to Debbie@saveacat.org to request an invitation be sent to your vet or you can get an invitation to give to your vet purrsonally.

Paws up to all the veterinarians who help in this worthy cause!

Adopt Charleston launches ‘smear’ campaign to have your ex’s name pooped on by cats

As I am a refined feline, I apologize for the verbiage here but, if your human is not looking forward to Valentine’s Day because they have a less than wonderful ex, tell them to take heart.

Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association (Adopt Charleston on Instagram and Facebook), have announced a February “smear campaign” which allows you to make a donation to have your ex’s name on a cat litter box so that cats can actually poop on them. The campaign is called, “Your Ex is Crappy”

So, if your human’s flame fizzled, if they were catfished or dumped the adoptable kitties at The Charleston Humane Association have your human’s back and will “litteraly” drag your ex’s name through the filth.

If your human is interested they can purrticipate by clicking here. They will receive a photo of the “fun” once your ex’s litterbox has been set up. They do request first names only, as they don’t want people to be too catty. MOL!

Woman transforms a cardboard box into a ‘Pussy Kat Club’ nightclub for her CATS – complete with flashing lights, a ‘temptation station’ with food, and ‘catnip-infused vodka shots’

Allow me to make clear that I do not endorse wild nights, or kitties out of control and partying the night away. Still, this “Pussy Kat Club” created by Brooke Holloway is pretty cool.

The club was constructed by several Amazon boxes and has a stuffed Snoopy outside the entry door who acts as a bouncer.  Felines lucky enough to get an invite to the club will find a “Temptation Station” with martini shaped shot glasses filled with cat food and a bed in the corner (the Kitty Kat Lounge). The club features a full bar that is advertising catnip-infused vodka shots (not real vodka).

The video of the Pussy Kat Club on TikTok (posted by Brooke’s sister,@kaitlynhollo featuring felines partying the night away has become very popular and has received comments like, ‘My kitty asked for reservations to the VIP section,’ one person joked, while another added: ‘My cats ask for a pass.’ And  ‘When your cats are cooler than you,’

If you are worried about the flashing LED lights coming out of the club’s speakers, don’t be as they are generally safe for felines.