Talking To My Cat

This made me laugh!

Cat Cafe Closes

Baby, one of the re-homed cats.

IT may seem like bad news that a cat cafe is closing - but in the case of Catfe in Vancouver, Canada, it's very good news!

The Catfe cafe was open for only a month and proved so popular with cat lovers that every kitty it had has been re-homed. The cafe's website posted the notice: "Due to the overwhelming success of adoptions in our first few weeks, we have run out of cats!"

It's opening again soon as a nearby shelter sends the cafe its most sociable kitty cats to interact with cafe visitors.

When it opened the cafe said: “Our aim is to have anywhere between eight and 12 cats at the cafe, which will fluctuate as cats get adopted out and more cats arrive."

All cats are from the BCSPCA (the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

I'm so happy that the cafe's first intake of cats have found purrfect homes.

• The cafe (when it has cats!) is open daily 11am to 9pm, every day except Thursday.
• Visit the cafe's website here: http://www.catfe.ca/

Cat Pub

Luke Daniels and three of his pub cats.

Cat cafes are springing up all over the world but in the centre of Bristol in England is the world's first (as far as I know) cat PUB!

If you love cats, The Bag O' Nails is the purrfect place to pop in for a quick beer. Landlord Luke Daniels has 15 cats and they have the run of the tavern. He said that he had received a great response to the cat-friendly premises.

All the cats were born in the pub, one mum giving birth in a chips box during a quiz night.

The pop is close to Bristol University and is popular with students who come in to see the cats, no doubt reminding them of pets they have left at home.

The pub is also known for its wide selection of fine beers and many of these are sampled while a cat sits on the customer's lap.


Cheers!

Dear Kitten - Friskies Ad

Here's another advert that I love - especially the bit about the "monster" Vac-oom!

• I should say that for none of the adverts I have shared have I been paid or given vouchers/goods. I just love them because they feature cats and are amusing!

Whiskas Kitten Kollege

I love this Whiskas advertisement!

Business Cat

Just imagine if your cat were a business executive. What would he or she be like? Do you reckon they'd be a good boss or a bad one? Would they have some way-out-there ideas or be conventional? Would they take to the role like a duck to water (or a cat to a cardboard box) or be out of their depth?

Take a look at Business Cat to see how this moggy is coping with life as a high-flying exec. Or not coping, as the case may be!

I think we all recognise that scenario! Or there's this...

Oh yes. Or...

or...

If you want to see more of Business Cat's adventures visit his website at www.businesscat.happyjar.com/

My Cat Loves Me

by Pat Keenor

A BRITISH university made a study and declared "cats don't need their owners". This, in turn, spawned a raft of headlines in the media of the "cats don't care about you" variety.
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Don't care about us? What madness is this!

It's true, of course, that cats are more independent than dogs and might take a little while to warm to you before they feel safe enough to give of their love and affection. But this is just like the difference between introverted and extroverted people. Some are slow-burners who get used to you slowly and then start to open up, while other people are immediately open and friendly with whomever they meet.

I know my cat loves me, for these reasons (I'm sure you have plenty more):

1. She head-butts me for strokes. True, usually when I'm fast asleep in bed so I wake suddenly with my heart thumping - but affection is affection.

2. She licks me - with a tongue that feels like sandpaper, removing the top layer of skin. But who needs to exfoliate in the shower when you have a cat?

3. She curls up on my lap and purrs loud enough to wake the dead.

4. She follows me around the house to see what I'm up to. I sometimes feel like I'm a celebrity with a stalker but she's just interested in what I'm doing. I hope.

5. She sits on my chest and stares into my eyes. It can feel a bit like a sinister staring competition with dire consequences for the one who blinks first. But I am reliably informed that cats only look directly at someone they trust.

6. She does that long, slow blink which in cat world is a kiss. I'm glad she's not a kisser in the human sense. That tuna breath could be a step too far.

7. She talks to me. She miaows. I answer. She miaows back. We talk about everything from world politics to the price of fish.

8. She scratches at closed windows and doors to be with me.... usually at 4am.

How dare you shut me out. Let me in. AT ONCE!

9. She brings me presents. True, I don't particularly want a half-chewed mouse but it's the thought that counts.

10. She not only needs me, she kneads me. Which is a sign of affection. Isn't it? Please tell me it is...

• The University of Lincoln Animal Behaviour Clinic based its conclusion on something called The Strange Situation Test. This was formulated in the 1970s as a  test to see how attached children were to their caregivers. Basically, they put a cat in an unfamiliar room with its owner and found it didn't look for reassurance from the "care-giver". They also showed that cats do not suffer from separation anxiety if the owner goes away.

In my humble, non-scientific, opinion this seems to prove that cats may not NEED us but that they LOVE us.  They fall back on their own resources and can survive without us - but they choose to stay with us. They don't look on us as the "care-giver" but as an equal.

They may hide away if they are frightened rather than run to us for reassurance. They don't need to depend on us for food - plenty of feral cats survive perfectly well on their own. They stay with us because they want to. Cats won't stick around if they don't like their surroundings. Why should they when they can manage perfectly well on their own?
Cats are not pack animals so they have to be independent. They do not see you as the leader of their pack but as someone they want to live with.

Alice Potter, cat behaviour and well-being expert at animal welfare organisation the RSPCA, said the study could help owners meet the needs of their pets.

"It suggests that if a cat is scared or has been involved in an incident it's not going to want a cuddle, it's going to want to go and hide, so owners need to provide a place for that to happen," she said,

"Likewise an owner shoudn't worry if their cat doesn't want to be comforted. It's just doing what comes naturally."

The Importance of Micro-Chipping

Here's a YouTube video by my friend and former work colleague Nicole, which shows the importance of micro-chipping your cat. Her two cats are gorgeous (and she's a lovely person too!).

Catmosphere Cat Cafe

I've just found out about this fun space-themed cat cafe which opened in Sydney, Australia this weekend.

It's called the Catmosphere Cat Cafe and is described as a "global space cat cafe". Its mission: to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no cat has gone before. The cats, I'm told, are "galaxy-roaming catstronauts".

Sounds mad, doesn't it!

The "space" theme is visible in the decor and the names of the castronauts - here you can meet Tabba The Hutt, Mewbacca, Queen Barbarella and The Purrminator, and 11 other purrfect pets with space-themed names. These cats have apparently (and I have no reason to disbelieve it!) dedicated their PAST LIVES to space exploration.

There is a giant, colourful mural painted across one wall in the outside dining area, documenting the cats' varying journeys through the universe.

These interstellar moggies are now "basking in the Earth’s glorious oxygenated biosphere"  where homo sapiens who wish to enjoy their company can visit.

All the cats are rescue cats. Visitors won't be able to adopt them as they are settled at the cafe and they are used to living in large groups.

You can book an hour with the cats but if you are in rush you can go for the cheaper, "warp speed" option of 15 minutes.


If only I didn't live on the other side of the world!

Firefighters Rescue Man From Tree

HERE'S a twist to an old tale.

A man from Manchester in the UK had to be rescued from a tree which he climbed to rescue his cat. He scrambled up there OK but then couldn't get down again. He was stuck there as the cat stared at him in disgust.

The fire service was called to rescue the man. The cat, however, refused to budge and later came down of his own accord.

Unfortunately no pictures exist of this escapade but I have found the one above especially for my female readers. Handsome fireman and kittens - what's not to like?

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