Happy Wednesday Furiends!
We’re having a beautiful fall and tomorrow the human who takes care of the thing in the living room that has flames and gives heat will be here to make sure everything is ready for our colder weather. We love that thing in the winter!

Otherwise there’s nothing much new. You may remember this video about how I expect water from the bathroom sink in the morning.

Well, The Human decided to capture the errr….rather unusual hairdo that my “dip” under the faucet creates.

• 

• 

I think I look kinda’ edgy and fierce which is why I’m a little miffed that The Human keeps laughing at me.

Oliver chooses the more traditional method of cleaning.

• 

• 

Lily is happy to just hang out with The Human and likes to on her shoulder and wrap herself around The Human like a furry boa.

Well, that’s about it for today except that we have news about our #RememberMeThursday contest, we have winners!!! We will announce them in the next couple of days so stay tuned!

Feline workforce helps tackle Chicago rat problem

Chicago’s Tree House Humane Society is working hard to solve two problems at once: finding feral cats that don’t thrive in a home or shelter and finding them furever home with local residents and businesses looking for a natural solution to rat infestations, launching a program called “Cats at Work”.

The feline’s new “bosses” feed and care for them. Evidently these cats don’t have to work too hard as their pheromones alone work to deter the rats.  Pheromones are a chemical communication that all cats use to interact with each other and the world around them. The rats will flee when they detect cat pheromones.

This program has found jobs and homes for more than 1,000 cats who otherwise might have been euthanized since 2012.

The cats don’t just protect workplaces, they also conduct reconnaissance and patrol work in Chicago’s dark alleyways. And people are seeing a reduction in rat activity.

William Hurley from the Empirical Brewery believes the predatory nature of the relationship between cats and rodents has tackled his business’ rat problem more effectively. He says that grain is like a magnet for rats, and since grain is an important ingredient for a brewery rat problems will happen.

The program is working well for felines and humans and the shelter keeps tabs on how the relationships are working out to ensure that the furry employees have furever homes and jobs.

Fedya the Cat’s Permanently Startled Expression Has Flooded The Internet

Feyda is a Russian cat who has captured the attention of the internet with his perpetually alarmed expression.

Natalie Zhdanova found the sickly feline in her backyard.  She noticed the eyes were out of alignment and he had trouble moving his back legs. She took him in and with the help of her other cat, Handsome, nursed him back to health. 

Fedya is a year old now and best buddies with his feline brother Handsome. He is healthy and playful and happy.  His facial expression is still a mystery.

That expression has inspired many memes and posts on his Instagram and TikTok accounts.

We’re happy Fedya has a wonderful furever home and brings so much amusement to others.

Why can’t house cats roar?

I don’t know about you but this feline has wondered this. Humans are always meowing about the fact that we house cats are so close to our wild cousins. If this is true, then why can’t we roar? Well, now I have my answers.

I will try to make this not too “sciency” so my furiends can understand it. The reason has  to do with our voice box and throat, which create feline vocalizations. Because of the way purrs and roars are made, these sounds are mutually exclusive in cats — any given cat species can either roar or purr, but not both, says  John Wible, curator of mammals at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. 

Purring is a unique sound because it’s created both when felines breathe in and out. Felines that purr include house cats, bobcats, ocelots, lynx, cougars and cheetahs.

Wible says that roaring is much rarer in cats and evolved in the large cat breeds. “Roaring is much rarer among cats and evolved in a particular lineage of large cats,”  Roaring felines include lions, tigers, jaguars and leopards.  But get this, there is one exception, the snow leopard. And  even the scientists don’t know why. Hmmph, humans aren’t as smart as they think they are.

As in you humans, the sounds cats make come from our voice box, called the larynx. The difference between purring cats and roaring cats starts here, though exactly how cats make these sounds are unclear, Wible said. (Again, we see that humans don’t know everything.)

The simple answer about “roarers” is that it comes from bendy bones in the throat. Instead of a bended bone, they have flexible cartilage that allows the cat to lower its voice for a deeper pitched sound. We “purrers” have a different variation in our voice box and our purring is caused by the very fast twitching of the vocalis muscle found in the folds of the voice box.

Roarers have longer, more stretchy, fleshyt, fatty layers of tissue that make up their vocal cords. This allows them to create the rumbling sound of a roar.

Despite all the scientific research, these experts can’t tell us much more. They speculate that purring is a healing or calming mechanism or that it might help hide mewing kittens from predators.

This feline says that any of you humans who live with us know how calming and healing purr therapy is.

Rocky the beer cat

Here’s a tale about another working cat who really has a cushy set up. His name is Rocky and he’s employed by the Champion Beverages beer store.  

Rocky was born and raised at his place of employment and has become a local celebrity over the duration of his 13-year existence. The runt of the 15-kitten litter, Rocky was bottle fed and when his brothers and sisters were adopted; his human nanny couldn’t bear to part with him.

Rocky’s fame has resulted in attempted kidnappings (three times) and now he wears a collar that reads, “Put Me Down” to thwart future cat nappers.  Even though Rocky likes to roam (he’s been known to stroll four miles away) but he always comes back home. He’s also been known to visit other houses in the neighborhood.

He is well known in the business district where he lives and works and has lots of fans who are always happy to offer him daily treats.

Rocky has made his home at the brewery and surrounding businesses for 13 years and all the humans there consider him family.

This Friendly Neighborhood “Cat Whisperer” Steals The Heart Of Every Feline He Meets.

We felines know a good human when we meet one and the cats in Chris Watson’s neighborhood know he’s a good human which has earned him the title of “Cat Whisperer”. 

Christ takes a 2-mile walk around his neighborhood regularly and he takes notes of the felines in his neighborhood and has nicknames for each one. Sometimes he even gets to know their humans.

When Chris began taking videos of his daily feline encounters and posting them to TikTok (@catluminati) they went viral. One of his videos got 100,000 views but when you watch his videos you can understand why.  Whether it’s stray cats or pampered house cats, the majority of them seem to love him.

Chris began doing research on cats, learning that when his new feline friends turned over on their backs and offered their bellies to pet, it meant complete trust.

People who watch Chris’ videos say that his kindness and love make their lives a little happier. . For Chris, his walks and the video captures of them help him connect with his community, both animal and human, while also fulfills his larger personal mission to bond with his neighbors.

“Sometimes we just have to love each other unconditionally and not be so afraid of each other and actually communicate with each other,” Chris said.

We give Chris a big paws up as one fabulous neighbor!