Happy Wednesday Furiends!
The weather is cooling and we’ve had a few days of rain and some of the fires around us are almost contained! We are so thankful for this and purray that everyone with fires around them would be safe and fires would be out.

I wanted to take a moment to “chat” with you all and say thanks as well as introduce you to someone.

And heeeeeer’s my new furry cousin!

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Well, it’s time for the feline news I’ve gathered from around the web.

10 International Idioms About Cats

You humans are probably furmiliar with our English idioms that include cats. “the cat’s out of the bag”, (see photo above), it’s the cat’s meow”, etc. Well English isn’t the only language that has feline idioms and I thought you’d enjoy these.

1. You’re like a cat walking around hot porridge. – Scandinavia

This describes evasive behavior by using the example of a cat who will avoid eating porridge that is too hot. Now I don’t know about the rest of my feline readers but this feline is here to tell you that The Tribe has never been interested in eating porridge, hot or otherwise. And that includes Oliver who is very fond of food.

2. Let’s call a cat a cat. – France
I guess the folks in France feel there’s nothing more straightforward than calling a cat a cat. Meow, what else would you call a cat anyway? And this idiom is not only found in France, the Dutch and Belgians also have the same saying.

3. You’re just being shy-shy cat. – Indonesia

If you’re in Indonesia and being coy or shy, you will be described as a shy cat. I know we felines can be shy but we are also very friendly and loving too. Rather than shy, I would purrfer to use the term “discerning”.

4. What would the cat’s son do but kill a mouse? – Ireland

I guess this one is like our “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” meaning we are all a product of our parents to some extent.

5. A cat ran between them. – Russia

This is how the Russians describe having a falling out with someone. The next time Lily and I have “words” and she gives me a whacky paw, The Human can describe the time after while we ignore each other as “a cat ran between them”.

6. My house/apartment/garden is like a cat’s forehead. – Japan

This is how the Japanese describe small spaces. If any of you humans live in tiny houses, the next time someone asks about it, describe it like a cat’s forehead and see what people say.

7. There’s a locked-up cat here. – Spain

If you get the feeling something is suspicious and not on the up and up, you can use this Spanish phrase. Just picture how we cats react when we’re locked up or shoved in our carriers!

8. One who has no dog hunts with a cat. – Portugal

I’m a bit insulted by this one. The phrase means that when we don’t have exactly what we need, we make do with what we have. I guess that has merit but evidently, the folks in Portugal forgot what great hunters we felines are!

9. Who would raise a cat’s tail, if not the cat himself? – Finland

If you’re tired of “tooting your own horn” or “singing your own praises” try this one for a change.

10. When the cat goes away, the mice reign. – Niger Congo

The Swahili speaking folks don’t say that when the cat’s away the mouse will play the say the mouse reigns. Hmm, maybe that mouse will reign for a while but trust me, as soon as the cat returns, that mouse will be dethroned!

Indian Man Opens “Cat Garden”, Raises Over 200 Cats

You humans often amaze me and this man in Gujarat’s Kutch is pawsomly amazing!! ! He has established a home for cats named ‘Cat Garden’, covering 500 square yards and equipped with modern facilities.

His name is  Upendra Goswami, a custom house agent established the ‘Cat Garden’ in 2017. The Cat Garden now has over 200.  Goswami dedicated the cat house to his late sister who was a cat lover.

He said, “We celebrate the birthday of my late sister every year. Once a cat entered our house and ate her birthday cake (this was after she had passed away). Since then, it has been staying with us. We believe that it is our sister who is staying with us in the form of the cat”.

The cats at the Cat Garden enjoy modern amenities like air conditioning and a theater.  There are four rooms with AC and 16 cottages. There are showers and the cats watch animal shows in the mini theater in the evening.  

Well, the cats raised in the cat house enjoy modern amenities and are provided with all facilities including ACs and theatre. Meals are served three times daily and only the best brands of food are used.

Upendra said that he considers the cats part of his family and regular veterinary checkups are part of that care. A charitable trust helps pay for the cats care. Visitors are welcome to visit the Cat Garden for a minimal entry fee.

Royal Canin to launch new Sensory feline wet range

I’m always interested in hearing about a new food because, as The Human will attest, once we’ve had a wet food for a while, we don’t want it anymore. Royal Canin may have fund a way to deal with feline finicky behavior with their new wet food – Sensory – with three new sensorial stimulations of Smell, Taste and Feel are developed to excite our senses.

The Sensory range used the latest research from cat experts. We cats have an instinct for new experiences and diverse aromas, textures and tastes in our diet so Sensory is not only nutritious, but also sensorially rich, filled with novelty and discovery. Frankly, I’m not sure what the novel and discovery is all about but I guess we’ll just have to make The Human buy it for us so we can find out.

Here’s how Royal Canin describes the sensory elements in the new food.

Smell
Of all the senses, our sense of smell is by far our most developed thanks to the 200 million odor-sensitive cells we have, up to 20 times better than a human. ROYAL CANIN® Sensory Smell formulas are crafted with an aromatic profile that is irresistible to cats’ highly sensitive sense of smell.

Taste
Did you know that we felines only have 470 taste buds? If you think that’s a lot, compare that with the 9,000 you human have!  This is why we are so “selective” in what we choose to eat.   ROYAL CANIN® Sensory Taste formulas are characterized by toasted, meaty and savory sensations that stimulate the’ unique sense of taste. I prefer to call it a refined sense of taste.

Feel
You probably know that our paws, fur, and whiskers are touch sensitive. But did you know that the most receptive touch receptors are in our mouths?  This plays a big role in deciding our food preference. ROYAL CANIN® explains that the Sensory Feel formulas are crafted with unique thick gravy or strong jelly textures for a firm feel that lasts longer in our mouths.

This feline says this sounds very interesting and I will tell our Purrsonal Assistant to include some of these smelly, feely, tasty foods in our next Chewy order.

DNA may hold secret for feline HCM therapies

Did you know that the heart disease HCM affects one in seven cats? And did you know that a cat’s DNA alters how we respond to the clopidogrel, the medication used to treat this disease. That means the effectiveness of the medication may vary depending on our genes.

HCM causes a cat’s heart muscle to thicken, and, as the condition worsens, blood clots can form in the heart. Dislodged clots can lead to pain, distress, and even sudden death.  Clopidogrel is among the most commonly prescribed medications to prevent blood clots in cats with HCM; however, recent data revealed nearly 20 per cent of cats receiving clopidogrel therapy showed resistance.

“We were consistently seeing cats that, despite being on clopidogrel, were still forming blood clots,” says the study’s corresponding author, Joshua Stern, DVM, PhD, professor of veterinary cardiology and geneticist at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

“This study was about figuring out why some cats weren’t responding as expected to clopidogrel therapy and leading us towards a more effective prescription.”

What the study found was that a simple genetic test can help our veterinarians make an educated decision about which drug therapy would be the best and most effective for each feline.

The next step is to have these simple genetic tests easily available for all veterinarians. We love this idea and are all for using genetic testing to keep us healthier. As my regular readers know, all three of us have had our DNA testing done by Base Paws. Lily even blogged about it. The great thing about Base Paws is that our reports are constantly being updated as the database receives more and more feline purrticipants.

Who’s getting rehomed now?

First of all, let me say that any human who allows their feline to be abused, verbally or not should take this action. So paws up to this lady!

She caught the man, as she described it, “whispering foul abuse at her cat, who he wanted to rehome. “ She shared her story on Reddit. This man hated her cat Millie so much that he said if they were going to move in together, she would have to get rid of Millie.

Bravo to the human for saying she would NEVER get rid of Millie he relented and said he’d “get over it” and move his stuff into her place. Then she caught him swearing at Millie.

She said that when she was dating her boyfriend, he would ignore Millie, say how stuck up cats were and that he is a dog person.

Well buddy, I guess you can get yourself a dog for your new place! Moral of the story, haters never win!