I Believe in trap/neuter/return / Wildrun Blog

Can people (you) owe it to themselves to visit the wildrun blog (it's about wild cats, you know):

Feral Cat (Wildcats of North America) (Wildcats of North America)
by Jalma Barrett

wildrun: I believe...: I believe in trap/neuter/return. However, I come from a traditional animal control background, as well as wildlife control, and there is a stubborn part of me that is a skeptic. I believe that TNR works if it is managed aggressively...but really, how many people do it right?If you don't get every cat, and for some reason the caretaker walks away, all it takes is one unfixed cat, and it's all going to go right down the tube, drowned in new kittens.But consistently, colonies come along that prove the skeptic in me wrong.

A lovely thing. And full of cat photos. And lovingly handled cats.

℅ Wildrun

Technorati Tags: blog, cat, cats, feral, kitten, photos, wild, wildrun

.theatrics/ More Kircherian Cat Torture

I'm hoping one of these was never actually produced or tested:

Athanasius Kircher; The Last Man Who Knew Everything
by Paula Findlen

Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society » Blog Archive » More Kircherian Cat Torture: ...we wanted to call to your attention Kircher’s catoptric theatre, a sort of hall of mirrors into which a cat would be deposited and mayhem would ensue.

Why not just buy some catnip and put it in a little baggy? That will result in just as much mayhem, methinks.

I'm listening to “More Than This (feat. Norah Jones)” by Charlie Hunter from the album Pure Jazz Chillout (disc 2) on .

Technorati Tags: cat, catoprictheatre, catoptric, cattorture, Kircher, mayhem, kirchersociety

.koi/ Cat on a Cold Icy Koi Pond

Would somebody please tell us how to get to these fish?

Technorati Tags: cat, frozen, ice, koi, pond, kitty, slip

.piano/ Kircher’s Cat Piano

When you get to the section of my book (We Are the Cat : Life Through the Eyes of the Royal Feline) on the “Cat Piano,” I would like it to be known very well right now that I do not have anything resembling Mr. Kircher's Cat Piano (pictured).

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My guess is you will know that from the text itself. Just to be sure, I'll post a sample of the text itself. Let me know if you cannot tell.

The piano is a high piece of furniture that sits in the living room. It is a good piece of furniture on which to escape from a Stampede of Dogs or Herd of Lap Children. We do so daily, hopping first onto the piano bench, then onto the brilliant white teeth of the piano.

The piano is one of the few pieces of furniture in the house that is apparently alive. When we jump onto its teeth, the piano complains with bright, remarkable noise. We do not mind the bright, remarkable noise, but we are often surprised by it, and have to jump quickly to the top of the piano to look back at the teeth in wonder, asking ourselves, “has it always done that?”

Perhaps it has. We’re not quite sure.

We Are the Cat : Life Through the Eyes of the Royal Feline
by Terry Bain

We quickly decide it doesn’t matter, of course, and regain our composure almost immediately so that we can sit at the edge of the piano, as nonchalant as the situation will allow, utterly ignoring the Stampede of Dogs or Herd of Lap Children.

Furthermore, we rather enjoy, at times, the complaints of the piano, except for the fact that when we step on the teeth it seems to alert both children and dogs (whichever is not currently stampeding or herding) of our presence, and they likely will come to explore what it is that has disturbed the piano. Still, we are out of reach of the dogs, and we are no longer under the feet of the Lap Children, so it doesn’t matter much.

Sometimes another member of the household will also be alerted, and they may chime in with, “That’s lovely, kitty. Can you play The Minute Waltz?”

This seems to amuse them. So far, their amusement has caused us no harm.

In any case, they know very well how difficult it is to play Chopin without any fingers.

℅ Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society » Blog Archive » Kircher’s Cat Piano.

Technorati Tags: cat, catpiano, chopin, kircher, piano, WeAretheCat

.paw/ beware the artificial cat paw/ claw

Why?

Akihabara News - The attack of the cat paws by Bandai: Why on earth would you use these? To scratch your back, to scare a colleague or just as an extension of your arm...

Why oh why?

Because you can't help yourself, that's why.

So far as I can tell, there is no other reason to do anything. Ever.

Technorati Tags: bandai, cat, catpaw, claw, fake, paw

Muybridge Cat/ "Cat trotting, changing to a gallop."

Early cat motion. Very early cat motion. 1878ish motion.

Muybridge used 12 cameras to capture his images. They are oddly beautiful and graceful and full of something that makes you want to see them again and again.

℅ Pia

Technorati Tags: cat, gallop, muybridge, photography, motionpicture, trotting

.tech/ iCatBed

In a move heretofore unexpected in the feline world, the cat has finally moved inside both the CPU and the monitor.

℅ eBuzz

Technorati Tags: bed, cat, catbed, iKitty, kitty, photo, tech

Cy the Cyclops (Cyclopes?) Kitten

So, a kitten born with one eye, and the photo looks so very photoshopped, but here it is in Yahoo! news:

Yahoo! News Photo: Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005.

I'm wondering if we're being tricked, but for now I'm going to assume that there was such a kitty, and hope that its short (one day) existence in this world was not painful.

And if it's faked, then I hope the faker does not pass go nor collect two hundred dollars.

And I'm sorry I even have to question the legitimacy of a photograph. It makes me darned angry.

Technorati Tags: cy, cyclopes, cyclops, kitten, photo, cat

A Real Barn Cat Adores its Horse

Herald Sun: Kitten chases a stable life [09jan06]: Garfield the 12-week-old cat has bonded with placid three-year-old Gemma, who lets her mate bat her around the ears.

Technorati Tags: cat, horse, love, bond

Cat Calls 911... Of Course

50 Ways to Train Your Cat
by Sally Franklin

We are wondering why everyone is so surprised by this?

Cat Calls 911 to Help Owner, Police Say - Yahoo! News: Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.

Honestly, if he asked us to (or if we thought he would order the anchovies) we might have called for pizza delivery while we were at it.

—Swiper the Cat

Technorati Tags: 911, call, cat, catcall, phone, telephone, training

Dewbs and Shoe

· Dewbs and Shoe · Photo by NoOtherOne · I really don't know what was in there, but he was going crazy for that shoe!

So wonderful, I had to share it here.

"The Great Indoors" Can Only Be Uttered by Non-Cats

This:

KRT Wire | 10/19/2005 | The great indoors: how to create a more cat-perfect house: According to a study by Dr. Lawrence Glickman of Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine, a cat kept outside rather than as a house pet was nearly three times more likely to end up in a shelter.

What does this mean?

Apparently Dr. Glickman has never been an indoor housecat. Nor has Dr. Glickman been any sort of cat at all. Nor does Dr. Glickman speak proper catlanguage.

Alas. Poor Dr. Glickman.

We've forgotten what the rest of Mr. Becker's article was about. You'll read it and tell us, won't you? Now it's time for bed.

—Swiper the "wherever" Cat

♻ The great indoors
♻ The Indoor Cat Initiative

Technorati Tags: cat, cats, commentary, housecat, indoor, indoorcat, catcommentary, swiper, wearethecat

Cats In Sinks

We do not understand or appreciate your fascination with our adoration of the sink portion of the household. The reasons for our adoration are obvious, are they not? The sink is cooler than most places in the house. The coolness from the sink surrounds us as no other coolness can surround us. If there was a sink in nature, that would be one less reason for us to come home at night. But there isn't. So here we are. In the sink. And there you go. Taking our picture again. For publication, we hope. Or perhaps this year's Christmas card?

—Swiper the Cat

♻ Cats In Sinks

Technorati Tags: cat, cats, kitten, kittens, sink, sinks, wearethecat

Cats In Sinks

We do not understand or appreciate your fascination with our adoration of the sink portion of the household. The reasons for our adoration are obvious, are they not? The sink is cooler than most places in the house. The coolness from the sink surrounds us as no other coolness can surround us. If there was a sink in nature, that would be one less reason for us to come home at night. But there isn't. So here we are. In the sink. And there you go. Taking our picture again. For publication, we hope. Or perhaps this year's Christmas card?

—Swiper the Cat

♻ Cats In Sinks

Technorati Tags: cat, cats, kitten, kittens, wearethecat, sink, sinks

Catnip as a Cash Crop

We definitely approve of growing great quantities of Catnip (though we are not quite certain why), but we would just as soon you not consume or brew or otherwise waste it:

Catnip as a Cash Crop:Most people are well aware of the fact that cats are fascinated by catnip. It seems the little animals can't resist the lure of Nepeta cataria's essential oils, which are said to be similar in scent to the chemicals a female feline gives off during her mating period.

Lesser known, however, is the fact that the plant's dried leaves and flowers make a tasty herb tea, and-when brewed a bit stronger-the beverage becomes a potent medicinal concoction for the treatment of common colds, menstrual pains, baby colic, flatulence, flu, tension headaches, nervousness, and insomnia.

On our Florida farm, we grow the attractive herb for all those reasons, but-primarily-our catnip patch is a 20-acre cash crop . . . that adds thousands of dollars to our income!

Helps with flatulence, you say? Okay. Drink up, everyone.

—Swiper the Cat

Technorati Tags: cashcrop, cat, catnip, farm, farming, flatulence, news, catnews, tea

Elvis the Robo-Cat

Though we are not willing to lose our ability to walk to do so, we envy Elvis the robocat's set of wheels anyway (quicktime video in the link). There are times, you know, when it is simply not convenient for us to get up from where we are, to move about the house, to move about the garage (it appears Elvis's movements may be confined to the garage... but we do not see why we could not use the robo-devide in our home so long as we don't get snagged on the carpet).

One further advantage of the set of wheels would surely be that both dogs would live in fear of such a device, and would bound upstairs to hide under the bed at the site of it.

Still not worth losing the use of our legs, but maybe if His Nibs is able to sell enough books he will be able to afford one for us regardless of our abilities.

—Swiper the Tabbycat

Update: We have just discovered that this was not a real news item and was an item from television... a hoax... from Comedy Central... we are not amused.

Engadget ♻

Technorati Tags: cat, CatGadget, gadget, mobility, puppy, robot, robots

Some of Us Prefer Silence

Questions / Answers:

The Brandon Sun: Online Edition: Q: I’ve owned cats all my life, but Ralph is the only one I’ve had that doesn’t purr. Believe me, Ralph is spoiled and has plenty to purr about. I’ve been trying to teach him to purr, but he just looks at me like I’m stupid. Why won’t he purr?

If you don't hear anything, it may be you are not listening.

Technorati Tags: cat, purring, cats, sound, purr

Darn It

My wordpress blog ate itself. So I'm squaring back to scratch one with the old-fashioned blogger blog. Hopefully it will stay out of the trash.

Meow.