Posted in books, tagged dewey, page, vicki myron on December 31, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Vicki Myron, bestselling author of Dewey, just got a new cat. And while I fully support moving on after the death of a pet, I do think it’s a bit creepy that Page, the new cat, looks so much like Dewey. Someday (a day I hope is far in the future) when something happens to Jack, I doubt I’d get another fluffy orange and white cat. It’d be too painful and too weird. It’s like breaking up with a boyfriend and then getting another boyfriend who looks exactly like him.
Posted in amazing cat tales, tagged cat lifesaver, man stuck in toilet, taipei on December 30, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Sometimes I read a cat article and I instantly know that it is perfect for World Wide Whiskers. This was one of those times.
In Taipei, a stray cat saved the life of a man who was stuck in a toilet for two days. Of course, it was really more of a hole in the ground than a toilet, and the cat went and meowed at a neighbor until the neighbor came and saw what happened, but let’s not split hairs. A cat saved the life of a man stuck in a toilet, and the world is a better place for it.
Posted in amazing cat tales, bad things happen to good cats, tagged bess, kim murphy, la times, lost cat on December 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This is Bess.
The beloved cat of an LA Times reporter and her family, Bess lived on an island in Washington. Then she went missing for two months.
Most cats can barely make it two weeks without food and water. But apparently Bess isn’t like most cats.
Posted in amazing cat tales, bad things happen to good cats, tagged australia, cat falls 34 stories, voodoo on December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This is Voodoo.
Voodoo lives in Australia, where he recently survived a 34-story fall. According to this article, Voodoo liked to live life on the edge–particularly the edge of his 34th floor balcony. Although owner Sheree Washington was thrilled that he was ultimately okay (with only a damaged paw, among other injuries), I’d like to suggest an easy way to prevent this from happening again: don’t let the cat out onto the balcony. Seems pretty simple, and yet . . .
Posted in cats with jobs, cool cat sites, tagged christmas, dewey, library cat, tober on December 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Dewey isn’t the only library cat anymore. Meet Tober.
Unlike Dewey, who was merely the subject of a book, Tober, the library cat of Thorntown, Indiana, has his own blog. He just posted his Christmas wish list for Santa, which includes cords to chew on and a hamster.
And speaking of Christmas, merry Christmas and happy Hanukah to all you www readers out there. I’ll be spending today with the animals at the zoo.
Posted in cats on film, crazy cat ladies, tagged cheetah lady, nuts, youtube on December 21, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Posted in bad things happen to good cats, other animals, tagged animal cruelty, cat eaters, china, dog eaters on December 20, 2008 | 2 Comments »
It may seem awful, but these cats are safe–for now. They’ve been rescued by China Small Animal Protection Association from a Tianjin market that trade cats for meat and fur. There have been protests in China this week over the cruel treatment of cats (and dogs). China has NO animal protection laws, and so traders–who may be connected to the mafia–can do pretty much whatever they want to these poor animals.
While this is all pretty chilling, it was this part that made me tear up:
“Hanging on a hook from its head — with its snout cut cleanly off — was a skinned dog with a long curly tail, paws with small clumps of fur still on them and black claws. The dog’s jaw bone was displayed in a metal tray beneath the carcass.”
Posted in fuzzkill, tagged cat thief, frankie, fuzzkill on December 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
You’ll notice that the title of this post is “Cat Robber,” instead of the more obvious “Cat Burglar.” You know why? Because I’m not going to play that game.
This week’s post is about “Frankie”, a cat who has been terrorizing his quiet UK town of Swindon. He is quite an accomplished thief, stealing anything he can get his greedy little paws on: plush toys, rubber “beefburgers” (Oh! British people!), green witch’s heads (?), old socks, “nappy sacks” (??), etc. etc.
Frankie will fu*%ing kill you
Predictably, the mainstream media coverage of this story focuses on how quirky the whole thing is. There no tough questions asked of this cat or its owner. More importantly, the strangest part of the story is completely passed over: this cat has stolen 15 identical toy leopards. Am I the only one who wants to know why everybody in this town owns an identical toy leopard? Sounds like a cat cult to me . . .
Awwwww!
More importantly than this lack of journalistic integrity is the underlying cat/human double-standard that so many of you people are blind to. I can’t just go around stealing things and expect to get away with it, then get written up in the local paper for how cute and quirky I am.
that's adorable!
I call it “the boyfriend rule.” When a cat kills something small and defenseless, then brings it home and puts it in your bed, that’s okay. When your boyfriend does the same thing, all of the sudden it’s “creepy.” When your cat finally learns to use the toilet, you congratulate him, and you don’t even make him flush. Yet when your boyfriend just forgets to flush (maybe he just didn’t want the water in the shower to be all wonky, and then it just slipped his mind) it’s like it’s the end of the world or something. You see what I’m getting at here?
Posted in amazing cat tales, jack, tagged jack, talking cats on December 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
According to the Associated Press, 67% of pet owners say they understand their animals’ barks, purrs, and other sounds.
A Stephen King who is not the famous Stephen King says of his dog Dagny: “I speak to her on limited subjects and she does the same with me.” But William Miller, a professor of veterinary medicine and medical director of Cornell University’s Companion Animal Hospital, says: “It’s not like you’ll sit down and have a U.N. conversation with them.”
I can verify that this is true. Jack has very distinct meows for “pet me” and “feed me” and “I am playing with my toys now” and also for just regular chatting, but we have never discussed world affairs.
Posted in careers, missing cats, tagged dognapping, melody pugh, pet detectives on December 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I was reading this article about Hope, a missing three-legged cat who finally found her way home, when I was surprised by the fact that her owner had hired a pet detective. What could a pet detective do that you couldn’t do yourself (i.e. putting up flyers)? Can you hire a pet detective to do things besides find your missing pet, like perhaps find out if he or she is having an affair?
Her web site doesn’t answer all my questions, but Melody Pugh has helped more than 900 owners and their pets reunite. And it’s not just about putting up signs. One article on her site talks about how she used photos of a suspected dognapper in a compromising position to ensure the return of a beloved terrier.
I wonder if Ms. Pugh gets really, really angry when she watches Ace Ventura make a mockery of her profession.
