Little tiny Brazilian cat steals chicken

Little tiny Brazilian cat steals chicken. This kitty had a plan. First try, no. Steps back to reconsider. Second try, 5.7 of 6 for technical merit, 5.0 of 6 for artistic impression in the Cat Olympics. Pretty darn good. But not up to the Torvill and Dean standard. But, that was ice dancing, not chicken stealing. Hard for a tiny kitty to dance with a dead chicken.

Comment from Michael: I love this cat (and chicken). But is this a purebred cat? Not sure, but it is clearly a pointed cat with fur that is not Siamese fur. The pointing is blue (grey) and solid (not tabby pointing). As the fur is longer than for a Siamese, if this is a purebred this little gutsy charmer could be a Ragdoll or Ragdoll mix. Or a plain old but gorgeous, moggie.


Direct link is here


Direct link is here

Nine judges- Technical merit- 6.0 from three, 5.9 from six. Artistic impression- 6.0 from all judges. This was record-breaking.

Have I mentioned that the week-long 2009 World Figure Skating Championships in L.A. just finished?

Oooh! Another cat loves being vacuumed/ hoovered

"Dandy" is a Maine coon in France, and he loves being vacuumed!


Direct link is here

Oh! at the very end, above, I caught a glimpse of a dandy cat toy- which I just featured in a post with Maine coon kittens! Maine coons having fun with "Catit Play Tunnel" toy


Direct link is here

And, a reprise of one of my favorite youtubes of Vinski, the Norwegian forest cat in Finland: (original post is More Vinski- getting a quick dustoff)


Direct link is here
---
Human of French Maine coon says: "Dandy et l'Aspirator, mieux que le Furminator ! ;-) - La suite, Dandy en redemande! - M'enfin, faut bien qu'il se repose l'Aspirator un peu !"

Online translation: "Dandy and the Aspirator (vacuum cleaner), better than the Furminator! ; -) - The continuation, Dandy asks again some! - at last, is necessary although it rests the Aspirator (vacuum cleaner).

Comment from Michael: I am dreaming of the day when I can hoover my girl cat. Her fur would benefit from a good hoover! Trouble is she is too nervous of the hoover. I can't get within 10 feet of her. As soon as I go to the hoover and grab it she moves away as far as possible.

Don't make your cats wear "cat costumes" for Easter...

Direct I can haz link is here. My original post is here.

Knowing that Easter is coming up, I wanted to reprise something I have said before- but in a much stronger form. Earlier, in my post Holiday Kitteh Reindeer Costume- FAIL I said "I'm just not a big fan of "kitteh costumes". Cats have an innate dignity that humans often lack."

My underlying thought, for what I said more mildly before, is that we humans don't "own" cats. We are very privileged that they have chosen to associate with us.

It is an offense to cats to do make them wear "costumes" for our amusement, and that is pretty clear from the sample of comments posted by "the cat owners" in the "information" intro to various YouTubes of cats wearing costumes. Yes, this is a "fair sample":

--Captain Charisma hates being a dino cat!
--Silver still doesn't like being a dino cat
--Jade is our russian blue, she loves her costumes and enjoys traveling.
--My cat Pwca in an astronaut costume meant for dogs - not a happy kitty
--cat tries to get giraffe costume off
--this slide show shows all of my cats and they did not like the costumes
--I tried to get Saffy-cat into her Santa costume. She revolted and took it off
--He'll forgive me as soon as he sees his food bag
--My cat shake isn't fond when we put a costume on him
--This is my cat Frank in a bee costume. He doesn't like it too much
--My cat hates costumes... a lot
--We tried to fit a red devil costume on Pepper and she wouldn't have it.
--We dressed Kitty up in her Santa costume and she tried to escape.
--Dressing up cats in costumes isn't as easy as it looks.
--Patches really does like her hat, you can hear her purring.
--This is my cat Jenny in a bee costume. (and she hates it!!)
--Aleman the cat tolerates his costume Good natured cat wears a chicken head hat
--The costume only stays on him for less than 3 mins. He just hates it
--This is Fitz. He doesn't like me. He also doesn't like costumes.
--More kitty costume torture.

Can you spot the trend?

Apparently at least one other blog agrees with me on this issue- from the site "Who Sucks? We'll tell you": here:
Japan’s Hello Kitty Costume For Cats: A Nightmare Come True?

"Who Sucks" is a great blog, btw.

-----
UPDATE 3/29- Decided to add this after reading and responding to darkblack's comment. In searching for photos, I found this on a "costume" page of an an internet pet supply site. Intro to photos of cats in costumes says:

FUN STUFF FOR PET LOVERS

Who says that because we're a "business" we can't also have FUN?

The staff at Internet Pet Supplies are great at humor, quotations and trivia which relates to our pets and other animals. Sometimes we spend a little "too much" time at these pass-times! (my bold)

These pages of Internet Pet Supplies website are devoted to the humor and fun that is daily found in living with our animal companions.

UH, I fail to see anything even remotely FUN or HUMOROUS about this "Arab Kitty" costume.

Who's The Fairest of them All? Cats in Paintings and mirrors

Who's The Fairest of them All? More "Cats in Paintings", and then, "Cats in Books".

For some reason or other I got into doing internet research into how cats have been depicted in paintings. Like, I have a gazillion links. But this painting by Frank Paton caught my eye because of my interest in how cats behave in response to seeing themselves in mirrors, and how cats perceive space.

I've posted several YouTubes of cats and mirrors click here , and my considered verdict is that they have no idea what's up with mirrors. Nonetheless, there is something essentially true about this painting:


Who's The Fairest of them All? Frank Paton ca. 1880

Quoted from wiki - Frank Paton(1855 - 1909) was an English artist of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for his paintings of animals and scenes of rural life. His most famous compositions, "Fairest of Them All" and "Puss in Boots" (1880), have adorned many a wall in the form of plates and posters.

And, linked with painting, I found the first quote, and then after heavy use of the google (more details after), the second. Both are from the book "Concerning Cats: My Own and Some Others" by Helen M. Winslow (1851-1938) published by Lothrop Publishing Company, 1900.

"A charm of cats is that they seem to live in a world of their own, just as much as if it were a real dimension of space" Helen M. Winslow, 1900

"The term "Dutch rabbit markings" refers to the white markings on the cat of two or three colors. Evidently, the cats themselves understand the value of Dutch rabbit markings, as one which has them is invariably proud of them. A cat that has white mittens, for instance, is often inordinately vain, and keeps them in the most immaculate state of cleanliness." Helen M. Winslow, 1900

Oh my! The Paton painting (1880) has a cat with white mittens admiring herself in the mirror, and a cat that has white mittens is often inordinately vain (Winslow, 1900)! One has to wonder...

The first quote Helen M. Winslow quote is "quite about" on the internet, but the second, about the vanity of cats with white mittens, is not.

I found it because I became intrigued with the Helen M. Winslow book, and then discovered it is in the public domain, at least in the US. I downloaded it from Project Gutenberg and set about reading.

Along the way, I discovered that there is a comparable effort to make books in the public domain available as audio files! I love audio books, "books on tape" or whatever they are. The site is LibriVox: Acoustical liberation of books in the public domain, and yes, they have audio files of the entire book "Concerning Cats: My Own and Some Others" by Helen M. Winslow here. The main site says: "LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books."

WOW! I've gotten into some unexpected byways during my short life as a cat blogger, and this is one of the better ones!

Maine coons having fun with "Catit Play Tunnel" toy

Catit Senses Play Circuit Ball / Tunnel - oh, this looks like fun! Thanks to YouTube, I discovered another cat toy!

Direct link is here

Catnip FAIL

More here: , The Unified Catnip Theory Revealed- it's an insect repellent!

Direct link is here

Pierre Bonnard - a great painter of cats

Pierre Bonnard was a great painter of cats. But, not in an obvious way. The cats are never the focal point, if there is one single focal point in Bonnard's paintings.

Of course not all Bonnard paintings have images of cats. But, hey, I'm a cat blogger! For some reason or another, I started looking for paintings of cats. There are so many. Also see here. But the Bonnard paintings captivated me, the more so the closer I looked.

Apart from Bonnard's portraits of Ambroise Vollard with his cat/s, the cats are less obviously presented. But, if you look with an attuned eye, the cat is THERE, just as a cat always is. Not just "there", but often the most animated and intent being in the room.


Pierre Bonnard - Ambroise Vollard with his cat (1924)


Pierre Bonnard - Ambroise Vollard c. 1904-5 flickr image from Art or Idiocy?

First, Ambroise Vollard the art dealer, and then on to Pierre Bonnard the painter, both important in their own ways.

Ambroise Vollard has been the subject of a special exhibition from the Musée d'Orsay , also shown in New York and Chicago. Quotes below are from those sites, and linked.

~~This is the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939)—the pioneer dealer, patron, and publisher who played a key role in promoting and shaping the careers of many of the leading artists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ~~ Quote here.

~~In 1887 Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939) arrived in Paris with few contacts and no credentials to pursue a career as an art dealer. He began representing artists that were undervalued, exhibiting them at a time when many galleries were not willing to take the risk. In 1895 Vollard hosted Cézanne’s first solo exhibition, and in doing so he made the artist’s reputation as well as his own.

By the early 20th century, Vollard had become the principal dealer of artists such as Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and a number of Fauve artists, and lent early support to artists who are well known today—Pierre Bonnard, Aristide Maillol, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Edouard Vuillard—as well as many who remain relatively unknown. His shrewd mind for business and artistic sense made him the leading contemporary art dealer of his generation. ~~ Quote here

Now, on to Bonnard, to support my thesis that he is a great
"painter of cats".

I discovered most of these paintings thanks to an online exhibition of National Gallery of Australia- Pierre Bonnard- Observing nature. Quotes below paintings are from that site, or from other sites I found in researching the Bonnard paintings. Links are provided.

Pierre Bonnard’s distinction as an artist is, in part, that his work cannot be easily categorised — it is not religious, or symbolic, or expressionist, or abstract, or surrealist, but remains quietly what it is. Nor does Bonnard force us to take notice with a manifesto, or a theory, or dramatic or bizarre depictions.

A keen observer of the life around him, Bonnard was alert to the changing moods of nature and of people and their surroundings. These ‘adventures of the optic nerve’, as he called his observations, were translated into carefully structured compositions filled with paint strokes of luminous colour. Rather than imposing himself on nature and reordering it in a radical manner, Bonnard opened himself to nature, observing its intricate detail.

He was particularly interested in intimate moments in which people are involved in a domestic setting — capturing them sitting in chairs, dressing, looking in the mirror, playing with children or pets, in the garden — innocently and unself-consciously immersed in their everyday world. This aspect of his work, and similar work by his friend Edouard Vuillard, was called Intimisme.

What is significantly different about Bonnard’s paintings is that they take time to view — as they took time to paint. Often lacking a focal point, the activity may take place on the periphery.

And, now, more Pierre Bonnard "paintings of cats"-


Pierre Bonnard - The Bowl of Milk (1919)
~~This scene takes place in Bonnard’s apartment in Antibes, where he often stayed during the 1910s. The Mediterranean glints through the window. Although he scribbled a drink for the cat on the bottom of the painting this image conveys far more than a woman preparing a meal for a pet.~~ More here .


Pierre Bonnard - Woman with cat (1912)
~~The figure seated behind a curved and tilted table strewn with random ambiguous forms is a motif found often in Bonnard’s work. The woman dressed in a dark dress looks down, away from the viewer. The cat with ears flattened and paw upraised interacts more directly.~~ More here .


Pierre Bonnard - Work table (1926 reworked 1937)
from a current exhibit at the Met- Bonnard- The Late Interiors here


Pierre Bonnard - The Open Window (1921)
~~This is Bonnard's Open Window, one of the most popular paintings at Washington's Phillips Collection... It has film-still-like action going on at the edge of the canvas -- in this case a woman feeding or greeting a cat. It has signs of domesticity and, in a reminder that Bonnard liked his little psychological games, a tamed animal. After all, outside, beyond the open window, nature lurks and looms over the interior scene, hinting at wildness.~~ This intriguing commentary is part of more, here. This is a great art blog, btw!


Pierre Bonnard - Table Setting under the lamp (c. 1899)
~~At the end of the 19th Century Bonnard, along with his friend Edouard Vuillard, explored domestic interiors, often containing little space and light. Emphasis was upon placement of objects and details of pattern and composition. Figures were are often obliquely placed and enigmatic in their expressions.~~ More here

-Quiz challenge: find the hidden cat/s in the Bonnard paintings.-

These are details of selected "cat paintings" above, but I am convinced that all have "hidden cats", some more easily spotted than others.







hint for above:

Pierre Bonnard - The White Cat

Okay, maybe I'm pushing the credibility boundary on the one above. It might have just been a coincidence of colors that Bonnard liked. But, as long as I'm pushing things, um, look at the larger version of "The Open Window" above. Squint your eyes, and see if you can find the "hidden cat" sitting on the woman's head. Maybe, or maybe not. Perhaps this is just part of the way that Bonnard painted. But, I am intrigued.

UPDATE 3/25: I received an email from Tyler Green in response to this post- He said "Bonnard's cats are the BEST cats. ;-) (Goya's are good too.)"

I noted above that Tyler Green's art blog is a great blog,
and linked it. Again, it is Modern Art Notes- with many kudos , including "The most influential of all visual-arts
blogs." --Wall Street Journal. And not only that, he's got cat aptitude!

More cats and horses- interspecies love

Cats and horses do have a special affinity for each other. That is what I thought, growing up with cats and horses, and it seems to be correct.

Direct link is here


And, an important note, after reading the youtube comments- this is a "rescue horse" in effect. A few commenters noted how skinny the horse looked. Human says, in comments: "Yes, he was skinny, but he was in our place to get better shape. he wasn't our horse, justa a friend as many others that pass here!"

I love this flickr image from gillicious.

Giving a cat medicine - Tootsie tales

I've learned something new about giving a cat medicine. I've read a lot about people trying to wrangle cats, or trick cats, or outwit cats, or out-maneuver cats to give them needed medication. And, something that works for one cat, won't work for another, according to my reading. So, this is FYI, fwiw!

Here's the deal:

Tootsie has been suffering from some kind of respiratory infection since I got her from the shelter. On my first visit to the vet, a week after I brought her home, the vet gave me some liquid antibiotics. But Tootsie was so unhappy with the vet visit, she became really evasive. And, she is one strong and wiry cat. So, I waited a few days, and then the symptoms seemed to go away. So, in the interest of comity and getting her to trust me, I didn't give her the medication.

But, suddenly last week the symptoms returned, and way worse than before. I discovered that the medication, which had been in the fridge, was discolored (label said do not use if discolored). I called the vet, explaining that I really would like to avoid major cat wrangling by bringing her in again (not to mention traumatizing her back to day-one state). The vet was really great about this- he gave a new prescription for the medication, without having to bring Tootsie in. However, included with this was: if she doesn't improve in 3 days, you need to bring her in for a visit.

When I picked up the liquid medication, I got incredibly good advice from the staff.

Thus- fill the syringe (no needle of course) with the dose, and don't try to make nice with her first. Just creep up on her while she is sleeping (stealth move), grab her by the scruff of her neck (scruff her, the way a mother cat picks up her kittens), pull back to open her mouth, and shoot the liquid down her throat. This is not a tactic I would have used without professional encouragement.

But, well, well! This worked like a charm. And amazingly, Tootsie hasn't been put out, except for maybe five minutes after I've done the deed. Very good indeed!

My experience thus differs radically from one I read when I did some earlier research and a post about giving cats medicine here:

Human said: I think it's very important to try and find "peaceful" alternatives to giving cats medicine rather than going for the standard "force their head back and squeeze it down their throats" method. The vet I saw did just that, but when I tried to repeat the procedure by myself, it failed miserably - my cat wiggled out of my grip, and we both got pretty spooked. What I tried next worked like a charm... (read more at link above).

And, on another topic, I haven't gotten any good new photos of Tootsie. Except for this one, which is amusingly odd. She was yawning. However... just look. The only caption I've been able to come up with so far is "majik cat doez optikal illusion" (in the idiom of I can has cheezburger).

Cat and Horse- You're My Best Friend

Oscar the Cat and Jasper the Horse- best friends- well, maybe. But, this is a fun YouTube, and I always like YTs with great music.

Direct link is here


Human says: "This is my horse Jasper and Oscar, the barn cat. They have a very interesting relationship. Oscar likes to bat Jasper in the head and Jasper keeps coming back for more! Oscar never has his claws out so I think they both enjoy sparring with each other."

Music is Queen- You're My Best Friend. Direct link is here- if you go there, the entire song lyrics are posted up right- click on "more information".

Traditional Siamese lilac point- Also a thief!

A lilac point Siamese cat is caught on video stealing kitty treats from the cabinet. And, he knows he is guilty as all get-out! Looking over his shoulder and checking repeatedly for the human, once he opens the cabinet door. Siamese are among the smartest cats apparently. I don't know if they have a moral conscience, but this cat KNOWS that what he is doing is not on the "approved list". ;)

Direct link is here


I read through the YT comments, and found that the human says: "He is a lilac point traditional (apple head) Siamese". I don't know Siamese, and I don't know about the color pointing thing- so I was at first trying to guess what type of Siamese he was, and then his color. But, the human cleared this up.

Here's a sweet flickr photo of two lilac point kittens from seemster. (CC license allows sharing.)


Michael over at "Pictures of Cats" has many many pages discussing the Siamese cat- including the "cat fights" over the breed designation, how the Traditional (apple head) Siamese got left behind by breeders in favor of the Modern Siamese, the public preference for the Traditional Siamese, and more. I can't possibly post all the links, here are two pages to get you started on this fascinating topic- here and here.

More cat tricks! Bengal cat invents a great trick

This bengal cat loves sleeping in drawers. I confess I had to watch this a second time before I "got it" as to the trick, but then I was really laughing! Souter has such an innocent look about him...

Direct link is here


Human says: "My cat Souter (4 m/o bengal kitten) loves sleeping in drawers, especially ones that are closed. I thought that my girlfriend kept leaving her drawers open, and was going to yell at her for doing so, until I saw him doing this. Forgive the sound track, I rushed to get out my camera when I caught him in the act and didn't have time to turn down the stereo."

Michael at Pictures of Cats has a great page about Bengal cats. I find these cats fascinating, even tho I don't want to be owned by one. PoC page is here

Otto the rescue cat- with a huge YouTube fan club

Otto was rescued as a kitten from a Best Buy parking lot. The humans coaxed him out from under a Semi truck by feeding him some left-over hamburger from Chili's. Otto is "cat star" at YouTube.

LOL! This is Otto, doing one of his "special tricks". I've watched it several times over the past few days, and it's a keeper in my category "watch this when you need a good laugh". Direct link is here


This is the story of Otto's rescue. Direct link is here

Cat Adoption in the UK- What's the Problem?

Hi, this is Michael, I run the Pictures of Cats.org website and work with VG. VG asked me to do a post about cat adoption in UK and whether it could be more efficient. The following gives the essence of a much longer exchange we had via email and chat:

VG: Hi Michael, from reading my blog stats, there are UK readers who are looking to adopt/ rescue a cat, and “outclick” either to your site, or to the petfinder.com link I give near the top right. You know I found Tootsie, my Maine coon, via petfinder.com US, by searching their internet data base of cats available for adoption. Do you know of any similar thing in the UK? I’ve searched around and can’t find anything like Petfinder in the UK.

Michael: Here’s a link to the largest cat rescue organization in the UK, but they don’t have much of an internet presence - http://www.cats.org.uk/

VG: Okay, I’ve checked out the site extensively. I am very surprised to find that there is no way of searching the site to find details of cats to adopt- even the basics like the sex and the age of the cat. I know that not everyone is looking to adopt, say, a Maine coon, as I was, but do you have any idea why “Cat Protection” doesn’t have at least a minimal data base online? Is it lack of “manpower” and funding to create such a data base, or lack of awareness of the power of the internet?

Michael: They have a lot of funding, though less so of late, due to some risky investments. As for the internet, they are in the stone age.

VG: Would you be willing to do a post about this, and cross-post it on my blog? I had started out with the idea of doing a post about cat adoption in the UK, but ran up against a brick wall as for information, except for what you have on your site about particular breeds. You are in the UK, and have a much better perspective on this than I do....

---

Well here is a summary of the post on an associated website ABOUT CATS AND CAT BREEDS:

The Cats Protection organization are the leading feline welfare charity in the UK. They claim to re-home 55,500 cats every year (but they also say that "more than 157,000 cats are given the chance of a better life every year" - how many don't make it?). The Cats Protection was formed in 1927, a very long established cat charity and to be commended for that. But the problem is this: are they placing rescue cats with people who want to adopt in the most efficient manner considering the usefulness of the internet (and the growing use of the internet)?

In the United States there is Petfinder.com, a very efficient organisation with a big web presence that acts as a match maker between person and cat. Rescue centers can be affiliated to Petfinder and "advertise" their cats through Petfinder. This facilitates the placing of cats. Cats Protection do it the old fashioned way and you simply search for the local facility and then go and visit. That is fine in one way as you have to visit the center but they could go much further and generate an immediate connection between cat and person as the Petfinder site does.

It is not a question of a lack of funding that holds Cats Protection back. They recently "lost" (or might lose, an update is required - see below) about £11 million invested in Icelandic banks. No, there is no shortage of funding, it is about good management. So when VG asked about cat adoption in the UK and whether there was a problem, the answer is a guarded, yes. It could be more efficient. See the full post here:

Cats Protection Organisation

Update: I just read on the Charity Finance website (http://www.charityfinance.co.uk) that there will be no government bail out for those charities which lost money invested in Icelandic banks. Not surprising considering the fortune the government has thrown down the black hole of the busted banks. Cats Protection has, with other charities, formed an action group to recover the money. It is still missing therefore. What a waste and what terrible news for cats.

Cat food, dog food, human food and melamine

This is look at pet food recalls of 2007 and 2009- a wider perspective on melamine and our food chain.



I happened upon a fascinating Book Salon discussion at Firedoglake with Marion Nestle about her book "What to Eat". Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health andProfessor of Sociology at New York University. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley.

It's well worth reading the whole discussion, but from the perspective of a pet owner, her comment here particularly struck me:

I’m writing a book about pet food, What Pets Eat, with my partner, Dr. Malden Nesheim. This will be a combination of Food Politics and What to Eat, but for cats and dogs. Like What to Eat, it’s not really about what you should feed your pet, but instead how to think about what to feed cats and dogs. Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine was a spinoff from What Pets Eat, but it came out first. It is a history and analysis of the pet food recalls of 2007 which totally predicted the melamine-in-infant formula scandal in China and also the peanut butter recalls. It’s a book about the implications of our global food supply for food safety here and elsewhere.

I went to You Tube, and found part of an interview with Marion Nestle about her book "Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine". I had trouble embedding it, but the direct link is here A longer version of this interview is here . A snippet from her words-

...it started on March 16, 2007..... then as the food recalls unfolded, one after another over a 3 month period, it became clear that pet food companies didn't have any idea where their products were coming from...

Indeed! And, given recent human "events", I'd guess the same for food companies in general.

Maine coons love water- Mex in the bathtub

Direct link is here


I said: Pretty funny when Mex meows/ scowls at you! What was going on there? Like, "stand back, I'm playing with the water?"

Human responds: Haha knowing him, I think he meant more somthing like "hey, you're close all of a sudden! Look, I'm having so much fun!!". I was kinda creeping up on him with the camera.. lol. He's a sweetheart, always meows at me like that when I come near him.

(via YouTube comments)

oh, and check out Mex's gorgeous fur coat, and those "ear tufts".

Siamese cats in movies- another installment "That Darn Cat"

This is my favorite scene from "That Darn Cat". I have to confess that it took me a bit of watching to figure out how "DC" got up there on the drive-in movie screen, trying to catch the surfers! ;)

Direct link is here


I was able to watch the whole movie, thanks to a YouTuber who posted it in 12 parts here . Note that the second part isn't labeled by "part #"- just "That Darn Cat" but the rest are. Part 1 is here on You Tube , part 2 is here on You Tube . I trust y'all can figure out the rest.

p.s. click on the label below "cats in movies" for, um... more cats in movies.

20 Bengal Cat Games

Human says: "Every Bengal cat owner knows they need constant activity and enrichment. And that a Bengals's favorite activity is anything new to solve. Here is a few of the things we came up with."

Direct link is here


This is an all round great video. Watch till the end... ;) Purrrrr....

A page over at PoC (link) has a wealth of information about Bengal cats. The title at the top is "Bengal cats for sale", but that's a bit misleading. Michael can correct me if I am wrong, but my guess is that page started out focusing on the price of Bengal cats (and the cat being stolen from owners) and then just grew and and grew.

If you click on the label "Bengal cats" below you'll find more great YouTubes of Bengals on this blog.

Maine coon kitties dancing!

Laser pointers are a favorite Human toy. There are gazillions of YouTubes of kittehs chasing laser pointers. This is one of my favorites, with music added by me:

Direct link is here, and also links to the original, without music.


p.s. I've posted this particular YouTube before, but it was in a post that showed all kinds of animals responding to laser pointers, here, but the kittehs kinda got lost. So, this is a reprise.

I have a lot of posts about Maine coons on my blog. I ended up adopting a Maine coon in part because of all the great You Tubes I watched featuring Maine coons- so I decided to create a separate label just for "Maine coons on You Tube". The label "Maine coon" shows all the Maine coon posts. Click on label/s below to see.

Cat eye colors

What is the color range of cats' eyes?

I got curious about this, after doing some research on deaf cats. From Michael's post about odd-eyed cats, here it would seem that the basic colors are blue, yellow, orange and green. I've only just started to dip into all the posts over there, but discovered that the breed standards for various purebred/ pedigreed cats are specific as to the quality of eye color, for example, "vivid green" for the Russian Blue.

I went to flickr, and searched for the best photos I could find showing different eye colors- oh, not just the eyes, but the cat too! I'm only posting the ones that show the face of the cat. Along the way, I discovered that there are a lot of different eye colors. And, that sometimes I couldn't figure out how the color fell along the spectrum. I know "blue" when I see it, but yellow/ green or yellow/ orange, well? And, where the heck is "amber" on the spectrum?

And, as an aside, humans do vary in the relative percentages of photoreceptors for different colors. So, how each of us "sees" a particular color is wired in. I was reminded of this when I was visiting my college best friend over Christmas. We both knit. She said the yarn I was using was "blue", I said it was "purple/ violet". Actually, the color is "periwinkle". From wiki: "Periwinkle is a desaturated color in the blue-violet family...Periwinkle is also called lavender blue."

Do cat show judges have labeled color charts, kinda like a collection of paint chips from the local hardware store? From .imelda


All of the photos posted are under the version of the Creative Commons license that allows "sharing with attribution".

From fourasfelinas "Blue Yellow Green- Cat eye colors for all tastes!"


From ansik


From Kevin Steele "Ol’ amber eyes is back. Sometimes the light just catches Toby’s eyes perfectly. This is really what his his eyes look like; this colour is pretty true."


From Malingering "Milo eyes- Usually his eyes are an amber color, I've never seen them look green before."


From knitbunny "Timmy- Green Eyes"


From exlibris "Peaches"


From Anniewil "Two colour eyes McDreamy Cat"

I Like Maine Coon Cats

Photo copyright Helmi Flick - please respect copyright

Hi, I'm Michael and I like Maine Coon cats. In fact I like all cats. Ah, no that is not quite correct. I like all animals but I write and think about cats as they are companion animals to me. I express myself on my website, Pictures of Cats.org. And Valley Girl (VG), the person who builds this fine website, very kindly agreed to join with me in the common purpose of helping rescue cats and cat charities generally. You will see that teh kitteh antidote/ anecdote is an associated website domain to pictures-of-cats.org. (PoC).

PoC's main purpose is, then, to make money to give to rescue cat charities (see PoC Donations). But it achieves far more than that. It keeps me sane for a start! It provides endless hours of enjoyment and some agony to me. And I know VG likes creating pages for her Blog as well. VG also very kindly trusted me enough to have access to her website, hence this post. I would like to take this opportunity to thank VG for her input and thoughts. Although I have only known her (through this site only) for a relatively short time I know that she is a lady and a scholar. I enjoy visiting her blog, which can be accessed from the navigation bar of PoC.

OK, I do the occasional video too. This is thanks to Helmi Flick, probably the leading cat photographer in the world today, who equally kindly allows me to publish her photographs on PoC. I use these photos in the videos most times. My latest accompanies this post. As I said I like Maine Coons and the short video, above, celebrates this American cat (this is the link to the YouTube page).

Incidentally, the picture at the top of this page of me is with a Maine Coon called Jack Black. Helmi took the photo at a cat show at Waxahachie, Texas. Jack Black is a champion Maine Coon cat and he was simply handed over to me to cuddle. He behaved impeccably throughout and having him so close was a treasured experienced. The second cat in the video is another Maine Coon I like and hold dear; he is Zak and he lives with the Flicks at Fort Worth, Texas. The Flick family comprises Mr & Mrs Flick and Quinn (another Maine Coon) and 2 British Shorthairs, Sky and Nox. You can see them all here: Ken and Helmi Flick's Cats.

One last point, I love Tootsie too...And if you run a cat charity and would like a bit of extra funding you might like to contact me.

Casper a polydactyl rescue cat- he's white but not deaf

Not all white cats are deaf. It depends on many things.

This is Casper, a polydactyl cat rescued from the Human's yard.
Direct link is here


Human says: "6 days 6 weeks 6 months; Well close enough, we found this little kitten abandoned in our yard, still had his eyes closed, middle segment is about Christmas (playing with the wrapping bow), and last segment shows his polydactyl 6 toes, brown/blue eyes. He is not deaf as many are. And just as cute as can be."

Casper has one blue eye and one brown/ amber eye, which is a good indicator that he's deaf in one ear, on the side with the blue eye.

A good discussion of odd-eyed cats is here. Intro: "What causes odd-eyed cats? The color of eyes of an odd eyed cat are blue plus either yellow, orange or green." An explanation about the cause of white coats and hereditary deafness is here. And, this article gives even more information about the genetics of cat coat color- and white fur and deafness in cats here.

Marion in Savannah, who frequently comments here, is someone I "talk to" about cats. In addition to having Hoover and Victoria (both rescue cats), she has three "porch cats"- strays that she has been feeding on the porch. One of them is "Al" a beat-up tomcat, white with sapphire blue eyes. Marion suspected that "Al" is deaf, and part of the reason he gets beat up on by the other "porch cats". I think she's right, based on my reading of the links above- in fact, her note was what prompted me to do some research on white cats and deafness. I believe Marion has "plans" for "Al", but that has to wait until he is more trusting. Marion sent me some photos.

This is "Al" and his sapphire blue eyes.


These are the three "porch cats". "Al" is on the left. ;)


Click on the label below, "polydactyl", for more polydactyl cats.

Frankie the polydactyl cat works the crowd

I have polydactyl Maine coon, a rescue cat, and thus have special fondness for "polys". Frankie the polydactyl cat knows how to work the crowd! What a ham!

Direct link is here


Direct link is here


Click on the label below, "polydactyl", for more polydactyl cats.

Angeles National Forest- a dumping ground for unwanted animals

The Angeles National Forest above the Los Angeles region is a dumping ground for unwanted pets.

In one of those moments of synchronicity, a reader sent me her story from last weekend of rescuing an abandoned dog in the Angeles National Forest, and almost at the same time Michael over at "Three stray cats" wrote a piece about feral cats in Los Angeles. Three stray cats, Feral cats of Los Angeles.

The map below is via an online site that includes the Angeles National Forest here.


This is, briefly, the story that my reader told me (only slightly edited for length).

~~She and a friend were volunteering at a place in/near the Angeles National Forest last weekend- (~March 2, 2009)

We came upon a Pitbull girl, who had obviously given birth to a litter of puppies pretty recently... she was roaming around in the middle of the street, in the middle of nowhere... in the middle of the Angeles Forest!!! Poor thing!!! We pulled over and got her to come out of the middle of the street, thank goodness! The roads up there are so winding, they are worse than Mulholland, and we were so afraid that she was going to get hit by a car! We were out of cellphone range and didn't know what to do, she wasn't really amenable to the idea of getting in my car.

Then, within 5 minutes a Fire Truck happened along and blocked off the road, so no one would come whipping around the corner and hit everyone. Then, two more guys (one was a dog trainer) and a woman (who was a vet tech) happened along and pulled over to help them, too!! The guys said that the poor girl had been running around the street for over a week, and that no one had been able to get her to come, she had run from everyone who tried to catch her. Everyone in the area had been convinced she was going to get hit by a car. One of the fellows had spent a solid 45 minutes the day before trying to get her.

They said that people drop off their animals in the Forest all the time, as if domesticated cats, dogs, and bunnies would survive out there!! The guys said that people think that the animal's "natural instincts" will take over once they are in the forest. Very sad. That is how we ended up with our rescue cat- my family out east have the same thing happen near their home all the time.

The dog trainer ended up taking the woofer home, though he can't keep her forever (he doesn't think). He already has too many dogs, and the city won't let him have anymore even though he has 5 acres of land. He was going to try to call some no-kill shelters. You don't happen to know anyone who wants a female friendly adorable loving golden pitbull in the Los Angeles area, do you?

I went to the google, and found an article about "animal dumping" in the Angeles National Forest. Fair use is 200 words, so I did a bit of snipping to keep within that limit:

Homeowners living at the edge of human development expect to see coyotes and bobcats trotting through their yards. Residents know to keep their animals in at night, lest their pets become prey.

(But the area) also seems to draw city dwellers with pets to spare. A cabin caretaker recently discovered a herd of eight to ten cream-colored pet rabbits apparently abandoned on Chaney Trail.

A homeowner who lives near the Angeles National Forest said: "The rabbits are just one of the more bizarre examples of a chronic problem. People are cowardly and they don't want to take responsibility for finding homes for their animals. They prefer the illusion or the disillusion, if you will, that dumping off their animals in the forest means they'll be free. I can only imagine the fear and suffering they go through before they're 'dispatched' by coyotes or wandering dogs."

Abandoning animals is illegal both in the national forest and LA County. Forest Service (spokeswoman) said reports are referred to LA County's Department of Animal Care and Control. (Their spokeswoman) said the county does not have a widespread problem of animal abandonment in the foothills areas. "It's not something that happens frequently, fortunately."

Two points. One- The above is from five six years ago. I can only imagine that the problem has gotten worse, as people suffer from the current financial melt-down. Two- I really do wonder about the statement from the county's spokesperson. I mean, not that frequently, compared to what? Whatever. However you look at it, dumping animals, in whatever fashion, is cruel and irresponsible. And, illegal.

British Shorthair cats- a wonderful YouTube

British Shorthair cats are among the 10 most popular cat breeds. I'm just beginning to learn more about them. But, after watching this fabulous YouTube, I'm sold! Human says: "baby joe joe is teasing his mommy delphi".

I really am NOT in favor of silly labels like "the funniest cat video ever", which is a popular YouTube title. But, I'd say this is one of the sweetest cat videos I've found. The "Valley Girl" in me says: "omigod, this is, like, so totally cute, fer sure". Forgive me.

Direct link is here


This page not only describes the history of the British Shorthair, but has great pictures from the incomparable Helmi Flick. This page has more. And this page I found particularly intriguing, because it weaves together the history of a nation and the history of a cat breed: (intro snippets from that page)

~~The history of the British Shorthair occupies a substantial part of the history of Great Britain, in fact from about 200 AD to the present.

It is thought that the history of the British Shorthair starts with the importation of cats from Egypt by Romans who invaded and settled in Great Britain. At that time the domestic cat's role was as a mouser. Between about AD 200 and the beginning of the cat fancy in the late 1800s the British Shorthair was a semi-feral cat or domestic cat evolving naturally within a large gene pool. New settlers to Britain might have brought their cats, which widened the gene pool.

Before the late 1800s there was neither a cat fancy nor the concept of purebred cats and cat shows. There were just domestic cats as companions to people. Today for the vast majority of people that is still the case. About 98% of cats are not purebred cats.

The British Shorthair has made the transition from a domestic shorthair cat living in Britain to the British Shorthair cat seamlessly to outsiders but as mentioned the road was not untroubled.~~~

And thence, a fascinating tale...

Can Cheetahs outrun extinction? Only $120 left in the cheetah bank account

There are estimated to be only ~12,000 cheetahs surviving in the wild. They are on the verge of extinction. And, unlike those cute furry pandas, there is little hope of saving the species through captive breeding programs, for a host of reasons.

So, let's say each cheetah is a penny, in US dollar terms. 12,000 pennies left. 12 sawbucks. 120 bucks. $120. Not much left in the cheetah bank account.

Chart showing the decline in cheetah population throughout the world. Predicted extinction of population is sometime around 2015. Text and graph are from this link .


This is a moving video, watch, listen, and please go to the direct link, because the YouTube information (click on more information) has detailed information about how you can help.

Direct link is here


Cheetahs are one of the very few big cats that purr, btw. I've posted this YouTube before, but it's worth a reprise: Cheetahs purring and grooming a game ranger Direct link


This is a link to my earlier post on cheetahs- "Cheetahs Purr- and are on the verge of extinction"- go there to see another sweet video from the same game ranger, as well as more links.

Hong Kong cat loves durian -Yummy

So... I just found this, and as far as I am concerned it takes the prize as to "weird kitteh eats". By far. I have some personal experience with durian.

Direct link is here


UPDATE: I was pretty sure, after looking at above YouTube, and others from the same YouTuber, that Mi Mi is a British Shorthair. But, the YouTube label didn't include that information. The Human was kind enough to respond to my query, and YES, Mi Mi is a British Shorthair. My recent post here has links to more about the breed, along with a totally sweet YouTube.

As for my personal experience- I was traveling in Thailand with a friend who writes cookbooks. Deal was, she had never "experienced" durian and neither had I, so late one afternoon we bought one at a local market and brought it back to our "B&B" with the intent of sampling it at breakfast the next day. We two woke up almost simultaneously in the middle of the night, uttering something similar (edited for profanity)- Crikey! What IS that godawful smell?!! And, made haste to toss it outside as far as it could be thrown.

Wiki has a comprehensive article about the pros and cons of durian, with many quotes from "foodies" and travelers here. The text below is quoted from the wiki link:

~~Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says: "its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away." Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia. Other comparisons have been made with the civet, sewage, stale vomit, skunk spray and used surgical swabs.~~

Of the five choices in the last sentence above, my reaction was door #3.

If you want to check out more weird kitteh eats click on either label below- Yummy or weird kitteh eats.

Box is interesting- Maine Coon cat in Japan

Another one from my vast library of "YouTube favorites":

Human says (via online translation): When there is a hole to become want to enter is it the instinct of a cat. Original comment is: 穴があると入りたくなるのは猫の本能でしょうか？

Direct link is here


I ended up adopting a Maine coon partly because of the great YouTubes I found featuring Maine coons- so I've created a separate label "Maine coons on You Tube". Click on label to see.

Maine coons love to groom their humans

I just found this latest YouTube from Human Booglum. We've exchanged quite a few emails about cat "asthma attack symptoms" vs. "cat throwing up hairball symptoms". More on that later. Course, we also discussed our polydactyl Maine coon rescue kitties!

This one features "Feets" the polydactyl Maine coon- Human said, in earlier YouTube here, "Feets is our brand new polydactyl Maine Coon, we think he is about a year old and nowhere near full grown. We rescued him from a snowstorm two days before Christmas. He is just a big baby love!"

This YouTube made me laugh out loud. Direct link is here


Booglum, you say "Feets decides to be naughty". But here's another perspective, which I hope you will consider- Feets wasn't being naughty- Feets was trying to style your hair, but because he's so young, and so new to the hairstyling business, he just didn't get it right the first try. Give him time.

Maybe you can show him this video- though you will have to make it clear that there are subtle differences between hairstyling for women and men.

Human says: "Theo the (Maine coon) cat is a trained hair stylist specializing in the male up-do." Direct link is here


I adopted/ rescued a Maine coon partly because of the great YouTubes I found featuring Maine coons- so I've created a separate label "Maine coons on You Tube". Click on label to see.

baby Maine coon looks at his cartoon preferred on computer

Another video from my archives/ library of fun kitteh YouTubes:

Direct link is here


Note how Stitch tries to find the birdies behind the screen. Very similar to kittehs trying to find the "other cat" behind the mirror, as seen below (Human says: Chewie the kitten can't understand where the other kitten is)

Direct link is here


As I said when I first posted the video just above, I've long wondered about the way kittehs perceive our world, the world we find so "usual". I remember a friend telling me about the kitteh that loved to watch ballet on the telly. And then, would try to find the dancers after they went off screen, looking for them at the side and the back of the telly. More at link .

Two fun Maine coon videos- cat watches washer, cat stuck in box

From my archives- two fun short YouTubes from the same Human (he has two Maine coons):

Direct link is here


Direct link is here


I adopted/ rescued a Maine coon partly because of the great YouTubes I found- so I've created a separate label "Maine coons on You Tube". Click on label to see more great Maine coons on YouTube.

Other stuff- movies- Fred Astaire- Taps

I started this blog in a moment of madness, because I had found so many great kitty YouTubes, and sent them to friends. But then I thought, well, why not start a blog... so that I can have a record of all these great YouTubes for anyone who wants to watch. But, I didn't have any idea where it would go, so I left myself an out: "and occasionally some other stuff, maybe".

I'm a cat fan, but also enjoy the art and craft of movies, albeit with a certain eclectic view. Occasionally I go off on a "movie tear" at YouTube. I was off watching Fred Astaire when I remembered an item of memorabilia I had saved. I was in NYC visiting a friend (you'll see the date) and saw this on the news stand. I had to grab a copy- or rather, it reached out and grabbed me. "Taps for Fred Astaire".



This is the clip I was watching when I remembered that piece of newspaper memorabilia I had tucked away- "Puttin' on the Ritz". Direct link is here