What can one say about this silly TikTok video. The video maker has dreamt up a way to try and provoke a response from a very laid-back blue British Shorthair cat by placing an ice cube on them while they are minding their own business on a cat tree. And guess what? Nothing happens. Screenshot. Despite that disappointing result the video has garnered 45.3 million views!! Something has gone bananas on the internet. The video is worth about 45 hits.  Anyway, is it a good idea to place an ice cube on your cat. It is obviously very cold and that's why the person put it on their cat. They'd hoped that its coldness would upset their cat sufficiently to stimulate and exciting response. No. And it is not a good idea. It could only be uncomfortable if she/he felt it. Why deliberately make your cat uncomfortable?   Oh, I forgot: to make a silly video. British Shorthairs are pretty unflappable anyway. You'll find the breed recommended for apartment living because of their character...

A cute looking, chonky cat to use modern parlance. In cat fancy language he is 'cobby' . He looks like an overweight, young, white British Shorthair. I am probably wrong. But he does look overweight though. Puppy fat?  I am minded to think of the large number of young boys in the UK who are overweight. If a boy or girl is overweight it is likely that they'll retain their excess weight into adulthood which will cost them ill-health. Type 2 diabetes is on the cards. Chonky cats are cute in one way and seriously wrong in another. Weight issues in cats is a serious matter.  Picture circulating on the internet in the public domain. Source: Pinterest. Perhaps the fad of publishing pictures of fat cats on the internet has promoted fatness in cats. There is certainly a bit of carelessness in sizeable percentage of cat caregivers in keeping their cat's weight stable at the correct level. This is important and not difficult to achieve. The problem is that some owners have lost...

Boogie Woogie Basics This is the second installment in ' darkblack educates VG about boogie woogie'. The first installment is here. So, I had found another great kitteh YouTube, of a British Shorthair cat (kitten), with nice musical accompaniment. And, the music sounded really familiar. It took me back to an email chat that darkblack and I had once upon a time, when I was first trying to learn my way around boogie woogie, when I first found this YouTube: VG : I have another music question for you darkblack -- boogie woogie reprise! Found a sweet kitty vid I am planning on using. THEN, got to listening to the music. Rang some memory bells from a discussion we had a long time ago about boogie, and then about Emerson and OP (Oscar Peterson). I've listened multiple times to music on two YouTubes, but just can't make the call- is this the same "tune" in the kitty and Emerson/OP YouTubes? My guess is yes, but not a musician with the "ear". darkbl...

I just found another great YouTube of yet another sweet British Shorthair kitten en famille. But, had no sound, so read on (below) before you click. Some of my most favorite YouTubes are those that have a great musical accompaniament. And, the kitty YouTube called out for this. And, YES, you can open two YouTubes at the same time. So, my suggestion, click on the one below and let it run until ~ the 1:03 mark, and THEN open the kitty YouTube. Trust me ;). The "mashup" is fun. Among the classical music choices above, I'd vote for Waltz of the Flowers or The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Or maybe Hoedown.

Here's another great YT of joe joe, the British Shorthair kitty. Direct link is here Yes, I've posted this one (below) before, with a lot more information ( British Shorthair cats- a wonderful YouTube ), but I thought it would be fun to have them together. Direct link is here Is this the cutest kitty ever? More about the British Shorthair breed- This page describes the history of the British Shorthair, AND 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.

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 ab...

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 profa...

Oh, I wish I could sleep this soundly! Direct link is here Follow link here for more information about the breed, and some great pictures. A few snippets: ~~It could be said that the British Shorthair Cat is as natural a breed as is possible today in that all registered breeds are now subject to human intervention. The breed originates from the British Domestic Shorthair or British Moggie, which has an extremely long history. Through selective breeding from the late 1800s the Moggie was transformed into a recognized breed; the British Shorthair. ~~ ~~The British Shorthair today looks very similar to the English cat of 110 years ago. ~~ ~~According to this website's (POC) long standing popularity poll the British Shorthair is one of the most popular ranking around 6th out of about 70 cat breeds.~~ You can take the poll here . My vote of course is for the Maine coon, but then I'm biased. :)