Hello Furiends, I wanted to take my turn to chat this week about a group of incredible humans from a Facebook group called This Cat is CHONKY. They are the kindest, most wonderful group of humans you will ever meet. One note though, you have to apply to join the group as it is private.
If any of my feline furiends have something they’d like to meow about on Cat Chat just send us a couple of photos and let us know what you want to say. And don’t worry, if writing’s not your thing, I will have our Purrsonal Assistant do the writing for you and email it over before we record the chat. You can reach us at FelineOpines@gmail.com.
Hello there furiends, Yes, I admit it, I took some time off and I quite enjoyed the rest (you know we felines need our rest!) But the proverbial party is over and it’s time to get back to work. I have a lot to cover since I’ve been slacking (and gave our Purrsonal assistant some time off). The Female Human is not a fan of early mornings and she and Oliver enjoyed hanging out and having a conversation over coffee (Oliver doesn’t drink coffee, he just likes the warmth of the cup).
I on the other hand, have been chomping at the bit to get back to work. The Female Human has an office that is for working and for doing crafts. I must say I love all the craft goodies on the shelf. I have no idea why she gets her whiskers in such a twist when I help myself to some craft supplies, sheesh, how selfish can you get?
“Hmm, let’s see what I can get into here. She really needs to tidy up these shelves.” Alberto
The good thing about The Female Human having this craft/work situation is that she has a table rather than a desk and this table has an “Alberto extension”. This makes it much easier for me to snoopervise her while she works.
Well, it’s time for me to get to the feline news.
CHONK Statistics Revealed
For those of you who follow my Wednesday web wanderings, you know that our all time favorite Facebook group is This Cat is CHONKY. The humans and felines in this group are some of the greatest we’ve ever met (we’ll be writing more about why this is) but for now, here is only one example. A very mathematically motivated human in the group has created a Universal CHONK index so that the debate about whether your home is filled with CHONKS, SLONKS or FLOOFS can finally be steeled.
Ellis Mumford-Russell has taken on this herculean task and it has settled many debates in the CHONK community. We now have numerical and provable CHONK standards. If this is all a bit confusing to you I suggest you join the This Cat is CHONKY group and get to know the CHONKS AND the wonderful humans they live with and for heaven’s sake before you identify your felines as HEFTY CHONK, MEGA CHONK, etc. please refer to this index.
Universal Chonk Index Update
It is with great pleasure that I unveil the findings of our UCI survey. I charted the 54 data points, which you can see here.
A few things: 1. You’ll see cat names listed on the bottom. If people didn’t list cat names, I put the human’s name with an asterisk after 2. Remember, the smaller the number, the more chonky the cat
Most Chonky Cat = Matita w/UCI 1.17 Most Slonky Cat = Noel w/UCI 4.75 Average = 1.8657 Median = 1.7222 Mode = 1.7000
UPDATE: photos now included below for Matita and Noel so that we can see the scale of C H O N K –> S L O N K ??
Proposed Chonk Standards
Given that I presume that the sample group skews chonky, I propose the following standards: this cat is C H O N K Y ≤ 1.7 this cat is A V E R A G E = 1.71-1.9 this cat is S L O N K Y ≥ 2
Diving further into the data, here are my suggested parameters for the following categories of cat: some sort of snake cat ≥ 4 l o n g b o i ≥ 3 A fine boi = 1.71-2.9 He Chomnk = 1.6-1.7 A Heckin’ Chonker = 1.5-1.59 H E F T Y C H O N K = 1.4-1.49 M E G A C H O N K E R = 1.3-1.39 AW LAWD HE COMIN’ ≤ 1.29
LuluPet’s AI Litterbox will analyze your feline’s “deposits” and check for health issues
LuluPet’s intelligent litter box not only detects littering frequency and litter weight but also the condition of the litter (normal, constipation, diarrhea, etc.). After judging litter conditions through the use of AI image restoration, it uses this data to notify the owner of the cat’s health.
If our Female Human had a dollar for every time she’s had to describe to the vet the appearance and texture of the poop of The Tribe of Five, she’d be a rich woman, And gathering this information accurately when you have a multi cat household and numerous cat boxes is like searching for the holy grail.
But take heart humans, LuLuPet has a litter box with “built-in stool and urine image recognition” to analyze our… deposits. And why have an AI litter box that does this? It’s for the health of your felines, of course. The Female Human paid purrrticular attention when she read that the LuLuPet device can be set to determine which poop is from which cat.
When the cat walks into the litter box, the information is sent to an app on the human’s phone. The company says that the litter box is Alexa- and Google Home-enabled. This offers more questions than answers. Whose voice does it respond to? If it’s the felines, do we have to learn special meows? If it’s the human, what is the voice command? The next feature has Oliver’s whiskers in a twist because the litter box can weigh your feline and determine whether the cat is too fat. That brings me to another question; will they be employing the CHONK data information noted in the article above?
Evidently this wonder litter box can also determine if the cat needs more food or water.
LuluPets joins many other smart litter boxes but most of those boxes focus on cleaning the box and not analyzing the cat’s health. And there’s even a built in camera although this causes me to wonder, can’t a cat get some privacy?! The thought of my human watching me “do my business” over her phone app is a bit off-putting and frankly, an invasion of my privacy. LuluPet says that these photos are uploaded to the LuluPet library and are used to compare the different “deposits” of the other felines.
Now don’t get me wrong, this thing could really be a help with cat health, but I’m having a bit of difficulty believing that it will be as effective as the company says it will be. But, time will tell. This smart litter box is slated to be sold on Amazon in March for $149.00.
Canyon Ranch Inspired Resort for Felines…Human send me right meow!
Cat’s Meow resort was founded by Kim Thomas who took her business acumen and love of cats and created her feline resort, Cat’s Meow. She refers to it as the Canyon Ranch for felines. She began her feline career with a pet sitter service and said that she noticed many of the cats she cared for were in need of grooming. She did her research, connected with the National Cat Groomer’s institute and became a master cat groomer.
She loved grooming felines, bet felt something was missing in the marketplace. She wanted to create a place where cats could enjoy luxurious, stress-free, happy cat boarding without the distraction and fear of dogs —- along with the latest in cat grooming. and Cat’s Meow Resort was born.
The spaces at Cat’s Meow are pawsome and very elegant and the grooming options are amazing. If you want to up your feline’s star quality, this is the place to stay. I would be tempted but traveling. If I didn’t find the idea of being stuffed in a carrier and traveling the 2682 miles from my home to the resort holds no interest for me! If any of my east coast feline furiends have a stay or a grooming session there, let me know.
. Gus also enjoys paddle-boarding, cycling and hiking. Photograph: Alec Smart
The Scotland Island dog swimming race has been held for 44 years in the Sydney area. This year an entrant nabbed Gus shook things up a bit as he is an 11-month old Tonkinese cat. Gus’ human, Glenn Druery had been training the feline in Middle Harbor. Gus enjoys other water sports like kayaking and paddle boarding.
The Tonkinese breed is a cross between Siamese and Burmese and is known for not being fearful of water. Still, Gus is nowhere near the size and strength of the dogs that compete in the 500 meter swim. Druery checked the rules and noted that a human can swim alongside the four legged contestants.
Needless to say, ther4 was controversy about Gus’ entering the race with many saying that it should be kept as a dog race, stating reasons such as, “it’s cruel to the cat, it’s dangerous to the cat and it will upset the dogs.”
Druery assured the sceptics that he’d be swimming alongside Gus and, if Gus ran into any trouble, he’d climb on Druery’s shoulders.
Druery’s black Border collie, Bob, swam in the race twice and finished third and was declared the overall winner in the 2015 race. Sadly, Bob passed away from cancer.
Gus came in first in his category and is now a feline Australian sensation.
Each room has an observation window looking into the cat’s play area
There are hotels for cats and now there are hotels for cat lovers. Neko Hatago is a hotel where guests can watch 16 resident rescue cats chilling in the adjacent cat café Neko Yokujo through an observation window in each hotel room. The hotel opened in mid-December. It has a traditional Japanese aesthetic, with traditional wooden fixtures, tatami mats and a rainbow Mt Fuji mural presiding over the cat café. The hotel is more hostel than a luxury property. The rooms have individual bunks for one or two people with a separate shared bath facility. There is an observation window in each room that looks into the cats play area. The windows are designed so you can observe the cats but neither you nor the other human guests can see each other. There are radio controlled toys that you can use to play with the cats.
Rates run between 8500 Yen ($79.00 USD) to 11,500 Yen ($105.00 USD) and include a two-hour session in the cat café outside of regular hours. And, if you and one of the kitties connect you can adopt a new friend as all the cats are available for adoption.
Hello there furiends, How is your week going? The Tribe of Five is getting in the holiday spirit and the weather humans are saying we’re going to have two days of holiday snow. I realize that today’s picture on Weather Kitty is a bit deceptive, what with the sunshine and green grass and all but you can see we have a winter storm warning.
Weather Kitty offers “meow prime” but evidently the staff is too cheap to get the paid version with our purrsonalized pictures!
On another note, we seem to have a disaster in the making at our house. This weekend The Female Human was boiling some eggs on the stovetop. She went to wash something in the sink and when she turned around, this is what she saw.
Evidently, the desperate yelling of the Female Human, “Oliver get down!” had no effect on the little heat seeking guy. Nope instead of obeying, he moved in closer.
Notice the bubbles in the water? That’s because there is a fire under that pan heating up the water. Still, Oliver doesn’t seem to be worried about setting his fur on fire.Human still screaming (and filming) and Oliver is blase about the situation.
The yelling and removal of Oliver from the stovetop continued until The Female Human’s eggs were boiled. Oliver won the stand off and The Female Human hovered over the burner until she shut it off. All I can say is, it’s a good thing she rarely cooks!
“I have no idea why you are screaming at me. Can’t a cat get a little extra heat without making a big deal of it?”
Please do not give The Female Human a bad time. She always knew Oliver was a heat seeking feline but this stunt was a new one. He has been (gently) advised that waltzing across the counter to the stove top is not allowed and a very, very, very bad idea. Sigh, it’s a good thing I’m such a good cat and don’t give her any trouble..
This is me, “helping” Alberto
As you can see it’s been a bit of a harrowing week in our neck of the woods but we are all safe and sound and The Female Human is quite the watchdog when the stovetop burners are on.
So let’s get started on this week’s wonderful feline web stories.
The Metro East Sanitary District in Granite City, IL hired dozens of new employees this year, all eager and hungry to take care of rodent problems. These working felines are keeping the rodent population down and saving the levee system.
The felines were “hired” six months ago from Metro East Humane Society’s Working Cat Program and their job description isn’t limited to rats, they patrol for moles, voles and other burrowing animals along the levee system. An MESD spokesperson says the cats are doing a fantastic job. The cats receive room and board and are saving MESD from high maintenance costs.
Prior to coming to MESD, the cats were spayed/neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and ear-tipped. In the past most feral cats were euthanized and now these felines not only get to live, they live their best life. Paws up to the good folks at The Metro East Sanitary District!
Business owners in Addison County, Vt are adding felines to the workplace through the Paws on the Job program of Homeward Bound, Addison County’s Humane Society. Shelter feline coordinator Michelle Shubert spends time with the new feral cats at the shelter so that she can transition them into the working cats program.
The working cats in the program live and hunt outside and the business owners feed and care for them. A new category for office cats has also been created. Sadie, a calico works at the Gaines Insurance agency, Chedder works at the Middlebury Animal Hospital, and a local hardware store employs Grayson
Businesses wishing to hire a working cat are required to assign a “boss” or point person who is responsible for the feline employee. They must provide shelter, food, water and affection and attention. For a $35.00 hiring fee, the business receives a start-up package that includes a crate ,litter box, start up food and toys.
pays for a start-up care package that includes supplies such as a crate for the acclimation period of an outdoor cat, litter box for an indoor cat, startup food and toys. Let’s give a big round of applause for “Paws on the Job”.
The holidays are near and my feline furiends (even the working ones) and their humans will have some extra time to relax and watch some flicks. When you’re planning your holiday movies, here are 12 of the greatest feline features ever made for you to watch. The list goes back all the way to 1958.
Before you say it, yes of course I know this is a FELINE blog and dogs are normally verboten but this is a special case. This dog, Mollie, works with her human Colin Butcher, a former police detective in their agency that finds lost pets, with a specialty in finding felines. Mollied’s human learned quite a bit about finding lost pets when he was on the police force so this post-retirement job was purrfect for him.
Their agency, UK Pet Detectives took off when Molly started working with him. Molly is a rescue herself and has been trained to do feline scent recognition work. While Molly did her training her human brushed up on cat behavior and now they are an unstoppable team. They’ve recently released a book titled, Molly: The True Story of The Amazing Dog Who Rescues Cats
A human named Ruby shared a tweet on December 11th about her dad who was adamant about the fact that he didn’t want the responsibility of taking a cat as he’d already raised his kids. The tweet showed her dad showing his feline Lucas everything he bought the cat at the store. And Ruby’s dad now has two cats. In addition to obtaining feline approval of his purchases, Ruby’s dad also built a sandpit and paddling pool for them and holds an umbrella over them when it rains. The tweets are hilarious and heart warming and we want to remind you humans that real men love cats!
This week’s web star is Kidden
My regular readers will remember that I told you about one of the BEST cat groups on the planet, This cat is CHONKY. If you haven’t checked this group out yet you’re missing a lot. Wonderful CHONKY cats and fantastic humans. Well this feline, Kidden was a member and when Kidden’s human say a photo of this guy holding a friend’s CHONKY feline she felt compelled to comment on his cuteness.
The rest is an amazing love story. Chicago human begins to correspond with English human and English human sets off over the pond to meet female human. Thank goodness Kidden approves. So all you single cat people out there….start getting creative!
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