Mau Mew

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY-NEWS AND COMMENT: This is another one of those stories of domestic cat survival. They are always remarkable. This is no exception. You may have heard of the dramatic tornadoes that ripped through Tornado Alley and directly through Mayfield, Kentucky. It looks as if a tornado pretty well destroyed Mayfield. Madix after the rescue. Photo: Hoot Gibson. In Mayfield there was a three-storey office building in the downtown area. This three-storey block included the offices of Sonny "Hoot" Gibson and his black cat, Madix, who greeted his customers. After the tornado passed through all that was left was rubble. Gibson was standing in that rubble on Sunday afternoon when he heard a faint meow.  Gibson's cat had not been seen since the tornado destroyed everything. He had tried to locate him without success and given up after a few days. He believed that nothing could have survived the tornado and the destruction it caused. He thought that his mind was pla

Bad relationship between cat and owner. Picture in public domain. Here are some facts about domestic cats and their ownership which encourage me to believe, very speculatively, that some cat owners might introduce a new pet, either a dog or a cat, into the household in order to force the resident cat out to find a new home. This post is provocative but I believe it is fair and reasonable. It is hard to ensure that the resident cat gets on with a new, incoming cat. It can cause stress in both cats, particular the resident cat. It can be difficult to ameliorate this tension. The relationship might never be right. It's a known fact that some domestic cats migrate to a new home for whatever reason. Something is not right where they are living. So they up sticks and find somewhere else, often a neighbour's home. We also know that some cat owners relinquish their cats to shelters under unjustified circumstances. It is done entirely voluntarily. Indeed, some cat owners ta

Fearne Cotton announced on her Instagram webpages that her domestic cat companion of 20 years, Lula, has passed. She adopted Lula from the Mayhew Animal Home. She adopted her with another cat, Keloy. Lula must have been very young at the time although we don't know her age at the time of adoption. Fearne Cotton and Lula. Photo: Fearne Cotton on Instagram She took them home to her little cottage in Harrow, UK. Subsequently she moved around a lot and "they've stuck by me through thick and thin". She says that Lula saw her at her best and at her worst without judgement. She brought love into her life for which she is eternally grateful. And the passing is like an end of an era to her because she can't remember a time when she was not around. She said: "Old bird, I will never forget you and the love you gave me. I hope you know how loved you were. You will always be in my heart." Fearne Cotton describes herself as a mother, broadcaster and writer on her Inst

Research by Australia's national science agency and the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions states that invasive species to that continent are the number one threat to wildlife. They refer to plants and animals. Animals often cited are feral cats, rabbits, and foxes but there are others. Of these the feral cat is perhaps the most hated by the authorities. Myopic Aussies. Pic: Pixabay - modified. I read this news online in The Guardian newspaper online. I don't see any reference in that article to habitat loss due to human activity. In general, across the globe, habitat loss due to human population growth and therefore increased human activity, is the single biggest destroyer of wildlife. Why should this be any different in Australia? It probably isn't. RELATED: Feral cats are a non-native species in Australia but will they become native ? Arguably, if is possible to assess it accurately enough, humans are the number one threat to Australia's wildlife. And non-native

I think the phrase "complex needs" is sometimes misleading and it can be off-putting. This is because the needs might not be complex if you know what you are doing. And I'm prompted to say just that after reading the story of Mylo, a medium-longhaired tuxedo cat who was in foster care at Cats Protection for a year. His complex needs related to his diabetes. Apparently he contracted diabetes because of neglect by his previous owner. A single disease is not really complex, is it? Perhaps the better phrase is 'special needs' which relates to deaf and blind cats and cats with other disabilities. Mylo. Photo: Cats Protection or Sandra. Cats Protection brought him back to health but it seems that they were unable to cure his diabetes. And I think the outcome is very nice. Sandra was caring for a 13-year-old deaf Highland terrier with diabetes. She knew the ropes. She was not daunted by the prospect of adopting a diabetic cat requiring daily insulin injections. RELATED: 

Cats.. 🤦‍♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/JF6vcHZ8T8 — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) December 13, 2021 Watching this I have a very strong feeling that this black cat wants his human companions to bloody well wake up and join the cat world where cats are active at night. The poor guy desperately wants human interaction at time when humans are in cloud cuckoo land. I feel sad for the cat. It is an example of how in one clear aspect of cat and human life we are at polar opposites. Humans sleep at night. Cats run around looking for prey at night. And if they are full-time indoor cats it's double trouble because there is nothing to do. Full-time indoor cats rely on their human to entertain them most of the time. Unless it is a multi-cat home. This is the brilliant screenshot. This cat of the night notices the security camera which is on time lapse and investigates. His owners are oblivious to his activities. Well, they were until they watched the video. Nice idea by the way. What we see in th

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is a story from Singapore. A 74-year-old woman who cared for community cats where she lived has died. She was well known. There have been tributes online. She had a good (but physically weak) heart and she had to scrimp and save over those 25 years. She made sacrifices for the well-being of unwanted cats who should not be in their predicament. She is the kind of person I admire above all others. She got on with helping quietly and persistently, not asking for rewards from people. Chen Tai and cat. Pic: Facebook It appears that she had two names because the name is reported on the mothership.sg website namely  Liu Fang Fang is different to her name as reported on Facebook in tributes to her namely Mdm Tan (Chen Tai). I don't think that matters because she was a well-known personality. She taught others how to care for community cats and when feeding her cats she covered an area of about six bus stops. I think that gives you a nice feel for the effort she put

Below are the words of an anonymous person. I really do not know who wrote them. Also, they made this statement about five years ago so this is now history. It was a draft article which I never completed. I thought this woman's words should not be deleted and so decided to publish them on this subdomain website. They are wise words. Words that warn of the difficulty in assessing animal personality at shelters. This is about as sad a photo as you'll see of a cat at an animal shelter awaiting adoption or death. Photo taken by: Delanie Pruit. They are telling words because they remind me that not uncommonly shelter staff assess kittens and adult cats incorrectly as to their adaptability based upon their character. We don't know how often this happens but it is certain that hundreds of thousands (millions?) of shelter cats and dogs, on the planet, or perhaps just in the USA, UK and Europe are killed unnecessarily because they have been incorrectly assessed as feral or with beha

A Vietnamese website (VN Express) says that animal welfare is an emerging interest among Vietnamese citizens. It's a good title and it made me smile. However, I immediately thought about cat meat which is still very much on the menu in Vietnam. So clearly, a concern about animal welfare is only emerging and is not yet established otherwise there would be no cat meat in Vietnam. Animal welfare. Photo: Pixabay. Apparently cat meat is technically illegal in Vietnam but you can buy it all over the country. It is referred to as "baby tiger". The business is inherently cruel and I'm told that over 1 million cats are killed annually to be eaten by Vietnamese citizens. RELATED:  How to stop the cat meat trade in Vietnam Please stop eating domestic and stray cats. These are meant to be loved pets not livestock. And often they are killed in unregulated ways which is inherently cruel. The business does not square up with the headline on this page. RELATED:  Another gruesome rep