Cartoon Cats

There is a neat cartoon I like to read every day. 'Savage Chickens'. Just Google it. It's mostly about chickens but Doug Savage has also put some pretty funny sketches of cats on his website. He draws his cartoons on sticky notes and then puts them on the Savage Chickens site. If you click on his cats tag it will take you to all of his cat cartoons. In fact today he had a cartoon of cats on a Christmas tree. It seems he presently has two cats: Watson and Crumble. I don't know Doug Savage and I've never contacted him so to one of my favorite creators of laughs here's a little free advertizing.

Review of HERO CATS

I had a  thought that once in a while I would write a review of a book about cats. Just so happens that I've been reading a book about cats: 'Hero Cats (True Stories of Daring Feline Deeds)'. by Eric Swanson. It contains within its pages heroic deeds performed by cats very much like our very own feline friends. You wouldn't guess that kitties could be heroes, but it's true according Eric Swanson. This book looks at cats in a different light. Sure most of the time, they are the lazy, self centered, heat seeking felines we've come to love and adore, but just read this book and you'll look at your purring machine in a different light.

There is Pod who protects Aegis from an intruder dog; Scarlett who saves her kittens one by one from a burning building risking her life and almost losing it. There is Tramp who saves her canine friend, Lady from a fox trap; and Mr. Meow who saves a new born baby girl from strangulation. The list goes on. This book though not mushy is tender and funny, a good read for the whole family.

Golden Eyed Feline Dreaming

The following is a song I started and someone on the chat room 'I Love Cats' finished.
Used by permission.

If all my cats were gone and the sky was grey,
I would be so lonely on a winter's day
My wife works all day. We're not in LA,
I went for a walk and began to pray.

Golden eyed feline dreaming on such a lonely day.

• Came across a cat ... (that) I had passed along the way
  He started to walk and talk with me
  On a sunny day ...
  People stared along the street
  As we walked on by
  That cat knew where he was going
  No need to ask him why
  I wondered where he was headed
  Where he would take me
  He showed me some directions
  To help to set me free
  The cats know all the answers
  The cats know what to do
  They know where you need to go
  And what you need too
  Listen to the cats ...
  They will guide you along
  They understand the humans
  And help to keep us strong ...

Golden eyed feline dreaming on such a lonely day

Comfortable Kitty

Cats are very laid back creatures. They don't try to shape their own world. They just lay back and wait for the world to shape itself to suit them. They communicate very plainly without words. They know exactly what they want and it will come to them by their will. Cats know how to be comfortable and to get us humans to serve them. The cat is a manipulating genius. They are very tranquil and we could learn something from that. A piece of string becomes a wonderful toy dangled from the kitten's servant's skillful hand. Catnip is legal for our feline friends. We have several lost catnip toys under our furniture at any given time. A crumpled up grocery receipt gives a cat endless joy as it plays hockey around the kitchen floor finally making the goal under the electric range. Joys are simple and they give us pleasure quite unwillingly by their very nature.

The Purrrfect Companion

When you have a cat, it takes time, patience and understanding of their individual personalities, but their worth it. It's not about who owns who, its a relationship. You're never lonely when you have a cat. They can bring out the laughter from your heart when you thought that it was buried so deep you would never see it again. You can see the wonder in a piece of string or a crumpled up piece of paper along with your kitten. Conversations with your cat are simple body language. You know when they need some morsels, or want to go outside or when they are finished playing or when to give them some space or when they want a cosy lap or a good scratch. It's always on the cats' terms, though. You can't lead a cat, but it's the cats' personality that teaches us so much. We learn to be humble, how to serve, and virtues like patience, love, self control, goodness, forgiveness, and faithfulness are examples. God created cats to teach us many things. Let's be thankful for them and treat them with the love that human race is so capable of giving other species.

Pictures

Ever try to get a picture of your cat when it looks so cute sleeping in a funny position, or doing something hallarious. It seems that by the time the camera is retreived, the cat has moved or the action is cut. It seems like we should come with built-in cameras so we don't miss those special moments. I don't know how people get such good photos of their cats that are posted on Facebook, email, and internet sites, but they bring much joy to cat lovers of all ages. Happy picture taking.

Cats in Literature

Many cats have appeared in children's stories, romances, science fiction and just about every genre you can think of. All of my books on Kindle at least have cats mentioned in them. "Two Feral Waifs' is stricklty about the rescue of some cats. In 'Fire Escape', two cats make an appearance: Muffin lost in a lightening storm and  another cat stuck on a roof. Muffin is actually the name of the first cat we ever owned and she lived a good 18 years. Both of these cats are rescued by the hero of the story, Jerome. In 'Theory of Sevens', one of the heroines owns several cats where she lives with her mother. I hope to write cats into all of my stories in one way or the other. They are the perfect pet in my opinion with unlimited ways to get them into literature.

Two Feral Waifs

Lost cats seem to be wondering our green belt, forlorn and in need of attention. Some of them are hungry, dirty, matted, cold, wet, and lonely. There always seems to be a golden eyed feline ready for a rescue. That's what happened one autumn around the turn of the 21st century. My wife named them Sunny and Starr. Sunny was a short haired grey tabby and Starr was a short haired black cat with a patch of white on its breast and a tip of white on one toe, hence the name Starr. They were certainly feral cats and they had a hard time warming up to us. When we rescued these two ferals, we also got a long haired black stray cat to boot. We named him Shadow. We tried to find their homes but to no avail. I wrote a short story, about 4000 words, that I published on Kindle that I titled 'Two Feral Waifs' about how we rescued these three cats. I hope you get to enjoy it.

Simon has Feline Herpes

          Simon was found in the green belt behind our house in a box with other abandonded kittens. He was the only one to survive his ordeal. When he was found, he was small enough to fit in my hand and was fed with an eye dropper until he was well. When he was old enough he was given to us. The finders couldn't keep him because of a jealous dog. He developed swollen. red, pussy eyes before long. After numerous trips to the vets and much money thrown in to treat the eye problem, it was discovered that he had feline herpes. The herpes causes his eyes to flare up so when is eyes are red and swollen we call it a flare up.
          Our First question was: Is this contageous to people? And the second question was: Can our other cats catch it? We were relieved to find out that it is not contageous to people but other cats can be infected, and in fact, our other cats probably have the virus but it is not manifesting.
          The main treatment that seems to offer Simon relief from his infected eyes is a nice tasting paste that comes in a pump-action bottle called Enisyl-F. I put a shot of the squirty stuff on my finger and he gingerly licks it off like it's candy.
          We've also tried antibiotics and interferon, but to no avail. I would like to hear from anyone who has a remedy for this situation or is going through the same thing to leave a comment. Thank you.

Crazy Cat Laws

From what I can glean from some research on cat bylaws, there has been a few very whacky ones around. Here are some of them, I'm sure there are more:
Cats may not yowl after 9 p.m. in Columbus Georgia.
You may not keep a pet cat and a pet bird on the same premises in Reed City, Michigan.
Cats living in Cresskill, New Jersey, must wear three bells to warn birds of their whereabouts.
I Lorinc, Hungary, cats can only be taken to the streets on leashes.
Cats in International Falls, Minnesota, are not allowed to chase dogs up telephone poles.
It is illegal for a cat to fight a dog in Barber, North Carolina.
In the 9th century, King Henry I of Saxony decreed that the fine for killing a cat was 60 bushels of corn.
At the time of my writing my memoir, Two Feral Waifs, Halifax city council was debating a cat bylaw. The debate seemed to go on and on to the point where more important matters of concern where being left aside. Some of the proposals seemed just as silly as the laws stated above.  Two Feral Waifs, my second Kindle publication is a short story about how my wife and I rescued two feral cats and a stray cat from the harsh Canadian winter. Of 16 cats that we have owned, we rescued 14 of them from cold, sickness, and starvation. These were the lucky ones. Unfortunatley, I can't take in every stray cat in Halifax, but if each cat lover does their part, there will be much joy.

The Sphynx

Ever hear of the Sphynx. I'm not talking about the monument in Egypt that sits among the pyramids. The sphynx is a domestic house cat that is all but hairless. The gene that gives rise to the lack of hair is recessive and may be passed down to many generations of cats before it comes to light.
Sphynxes are affectionate and intelligent animals that soon establish a close bond with their people. The character of the sphynx has been described as part cat, part dog, part monkey and part child, and this is certainly not far from the truth. Sphynxes are sociable and love human company and also get along well with cats and other pets.
You should never condemn the sphynx to a solitary existence because they need lots of contact and attention to keep them happy. If they don't get it, they will mope and in some cases quite literally die of loneliness.
Care consists of bathing, cleaning the ears a little and clipping the claws a bit. This cat must be bathed or it will begin to stink. This is because sphynxes perspire just like people, and they produce a lot of sebum. (Sebum is an oily substance secreted by the sebaceous glands in mammalian skin. Its main purpose is to make the skin and hair waterproof and to protect them from drying out. An excess of sebum, however, can make the skin or hair oily, and it can begin to smell when broken down by bacteria outside the body. The sebaceous glands are usually attached to hair follicles, but they also exist in some hairless areas of the human body, such as the eyelids, where they add sebum to tears to keep the eye moist.) Sphynx owners should wash their cats twice a month with a neutral pH shampoo.

Winter 2012

In February, there was a little grey and white female cat hanging around a nursing home and a hospital near an industrial park where my wife works. She brought her home in a box covered by another box. The cat was surviving on handouts from people who were good enough to share tuna fish sandwitches and the like. When my wife opened the bo,x the little cat hid in a corner in the basement for several days only coming out to eat, drink and use the cat box. At the time, we had three other cats and the orange one in particular thought it would be good to put this cat in its place. We looked through a book of 5001 names and came up with the name Nya, meaning precious one. The next step was to get Nya to the vets for de-worming and needles. It was a job to get her into the cat carrier because she didn't like being picked up. She would squirm and wiggle with claws cutting into flesh, but we managed it. Fast forward to August and she's getting along with the three other cats and eating more than they are all put together. She goes out but stays close to home and comes in when she's called. She's a beautiful cat who came to us on the heels of Shadow who was put down for cancer a few days before she arrived. She doesn't replace shadow, but she reminds me of him because of the timing.

Pussy Foot

Ever wonder why the cat's paw is so sensitive to your touch?

It has been discovered that the cat's paw contains very sensitive nerve endings that scientists think can sense very tiny vibrations, probably a very good device to have for catching mice and other little critters.

Sometimes, when I'm playing with one of our cats, I'll try to tickle the toes into submission. A very difficult thing to do sometimes as the cat will withdraw its paw or even take a swipe at my hand with claws extended. But when you can convince your feline overlord to submit to a deep penetrating tickle with your finger in between its extended toes, it's pure bliss for the cat and its a moment of enjoyment for us human servants too as we share in this rare feline submission.

Therefore, the sensitive nerves in the cats paws can become a bone of contention between you and your pet if you persist in tickling its toes, but when you gain the trust of your little one enough to give it a good tickle with extended toes you are into good territory.

Some cats will just never allow you to make a big deal of their paws that way and other cats seem to enjoy it to no end, so test the waters and move slowly. See what your cat likes and dislikes and both of you will be very happy.

White Cats

Ever wonder about the colour of cats. There are so many different colours in our feline friends and its all because of their genes.

The white coat is almost always caused by a dominant gene. You should think of this as sort of a blanket masking the cats actual colour. There are no pigment cells in the hair shaft. This dominant gene prevents pigment from being produced. Extreme care is needed when breeding white cats, because a small proportion of white cats are deaf. The inner ear of the cat contains hairs that vibrate when sound waves enter the ear. If the pigment is missing from these hairs, they are not stiff enough to be set in motion.The results in the signal not getting to the auditory nerve.

Fortunately, most white cats still have pigment in the hairs of the inner ear. It is not advisable to breed from two white cats because the risk of deaf offspring is considerable and therefore no one should breed a deaf white cat for this reason.

Some Strange Facts

Mark Twain kept 11 cats at his farm in Connecticut. He wrote, "I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl I love, of course."

A cat named Hamlet escaped from his carrier while on flight from Toronto. He was discovered 7 weeks later behind a panel. It is estimated that he travelled 600,000 km.

The gene that results in the orange tortoise-shell coat pattern of a calico cat is linked to the gene that determines the cat's gender.  A cat with this coat pattern is usually female, but on the rare occasion it is a male; he's usually sterile.

Cats can compress or elongate their spine, enabling them to sleep in tight places or leap across large spaces.

excerps taken from: Strange But True Cats, Copyright 2006, Sweetwater Press

I Goggled cat theory the other day to see if this blog would come up in my search. I found out that the 'Urban Dictionary' actually has a definition of cat theory.

A cat chases, catches, plays with, tortures, then kills, and finally eats a rat. That is how cats act/behave.

The celebrity and sometimes mainstream media, the rag mags, and their online sites....chase and catch a story or person that is bad/toxic......play with that story/person......torture (suck the money out of featuring) that story/person......AND when that story/person can't make the media any more money......they finally kill and eat (destroy) that toxic story/person!

The Octomom is living proof of the cat theory; she is being used by the media and will be destroyed WHEN the time comes that she can't make much money for them. Actually, the destruction has already begun.

The balloon boy parents are another example of the cat theory in action.

Avocado numnums

When I peel an avocado to make a lunch time snack, Simon the cat is right there waiting for his piece. I don't know why he likes avocados so much. I found it very strange so I looked up the nutritional information. It just so happens that God made avocados with lots of fat and protien. 3 oz of avocado has 15.4 grams of fat and about 2 grams of protein. There is also about 10 mg of sodium. Never seen a cat yet that didn't like salt. This is not a fruit for someone trying to lose weight. I don't eat much of them because I'm a little overweight. Simon is a tad overweight too. Maybe more than a tad. Maybe he should try the program I'm on: www.myfitnesspal.com Oh, that wouldn't work for a cat, would it? But I lost 12 pounds on it since February and its now June.

CAT THEORY: CATS OF HABIT:

When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is let the cats out. They anticipate that moment all morning, unless the weather is nasty. They prefer to be outside. The first thing they do is sit on the patio and sniff the fresh air. Then they look around to make sure the coast is clear before wandering into our garden and into the wooded green belt out back. The strangest thing happens though between 1:30 PM and 2 PM. They all come indoors, have a snack, and have an afternoon siesta for a couple of hours. I find this very amusing and wonder if they have built in clocks because they do this no matter if its overcast or blue skies.

My wife, Trish and I have four cats. We've had many more. For now we have two domestic black and white long hair male neutered cats, an orange short haired male neutered cat, and a gray and white medium length female spayed cat. I hope to share some cat wisdom and some things about all the cats we had to all you cat lovers.

I sat down next to my cat Simon today. He purred as I stroked his head and chin. Nya junped up and started licking him on the back. I right some good bath she was giving him and to all appearances, he was enjoying it. Then much to my astonishment, he hung on to her neck with his sherp teech in a show of hostility. I pulled him off of her and she sauntered away to a chair across the room and curled up in it. Simon stayed beside me; I can't figure out cats. Was he jealous? Was he teritorial? I remember when the shoe was on the other foot. He would be overly friendly with Shadow and then Shadow would light into him with his teeth and walk away. Shadow is gone now but he was one of my favourite cates, so layed back, so gentle, and such a gentleman. Never even scratched me - ever.