Political cats, fashion cats, ghost cats, big cats, video cats, a Moscow Cat Show featuring domesticated felines, the birth of four rare Sand Cats, and much, much more dominated cat news this past week.
Cats have once against returned to the political scene in time for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte with a 28-second video, with Fernando, an orange tabby, appearing in front of several cat related and DNC-affiliated places. (This might warrant a follow up blog post all to itself).
While there’s much attention on the Minneapolis film festival on cat videos this week, and the two-faced cat Venus, there’s a lot more cat news out there this week.
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s fluffy white kitty, Choupette, starred in her own film for the luxury fashion website Net-a-Porter featuring a new line, Karloflauge. Choupette sports a red leather motorcycle jacket, a slinky silver sequined dress, a red and purple print stretch jersey dress, and an array of black and white pieces to match her elegant coat.
Whether it’s 100 percent believable or not, OMG features a Moscow Cat Show, The Moscow Cat Theater is a traveling circus that showcases cats. Creative director Vladimir and his daughter, Maria, train the cats to walk on tightropes, balance on balls and walk upside down.
Big cats took center stage in the United Kingdom, as many wonder if sighting of big cats are real or a figment of the imagination. In California, the puma Atlas living in the Santa Cruz Mountains roams the mountains on both sides of Highway 17, crossing the busy road regularly to reinforce his domain. Other big cats, nine Bengal tigers and seven African lions, got stuck at the Paraguay border for over two months after their owner took his Argentine circus to the Paraguayan capital where it performs each August. Once he found out about a new law in Paraguay bans live animal acts at circuses, he tried to ship them back to Argentina, but they got stuck at the border.
A rabid cat is found in New Hampshire, a rescue group has been formed to deal with the mushrooming feral cat population created by the large number of foreclosures in Mountain House, Calif. Shelters ship pets out of shelters along the Gulf Course in preparation for Hurricane Isaac, and on a happier note, four rare Sand cats are born at the Zoological Center in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Links to these and other bizarre, tragic and good cat news from the past week are listed here. Check them out because there’s a lot to learn. It’s amazing how much news there is about our feline friends, big and small.
Two-Faced Cat Goes Viral (Video)
Gather.com
Venus might be a chimera cat, meaning that “she is composed of two populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes.” Venus is a lot luckier than Janus cats—these felines are actually born with extra faces complete with …
Cat videos get their moment at Minn. film festival
Boston.com
The Walker Art Center, a well-regarded museum of modern art in Minneapolis, on Thursday is presenting its first ”Internet Cat Video Film Festival” to showcase the best in filmed feline hijinks. With about 70 videos over 60 minutes, the Walker is …
DNC video: The cat’s meow?
WBTV
Fernando starts with the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), Charlotte’s bus system that visitors and residents can use to access Uptown Charlotte, and LYNX Blue Line, the Queen City’s light rail system. The kitty is then seen at the Smelly Cat …
Karl Lagerfeld’s Cat Choupette Stars in Net-a-Porter Fashion Promo
Hollywood Reporter
Typical supermodel behavior. Not even a year old and already a diva. Herr Karl has said many times that he does not believe in dressing animals in clothes. He considers it too “circus-like” And frankly we agree when it comes to cats, who never suffer …
A Lion on the loose in Essex, Teddy the tubby cat, and the interesting science …
Daily Mail
It’s always a tabby cat. That’s the rule. Or, sometimes, a spaniel. Sometimes there is no animal at all, just the fevered imaginations of mass hysteria. The science of phantom cats is a very strange one indeed and while it says nothing about cats it …
Two-faced cat is drawing double takes across Web
Today.com (blog)
Venus, a striking-looking cat with two different color eyes and fur that is divided right down the middle between black and ginger, has warmed hearts as her pictures go viral on Reddit, Facebook and in a YouTube video with more than 600,000 views …
Laurel workshop trains volunteers to reduce feral cat population
Baltimore Sun
Ally Cat Allies, the city of Laurel and local volunteers working to reduce the local stray feral cat population are sponsoring a trap-neuter-return workshop Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Police Department’s Partnership Activity Center, 811 Fifth St …
Essex lion: Charting the big cats of Britain
BBC News
But sightings and evidence of big cats are not always a hoax. In Wales there have been a number of reports of big cats sighted in rural areas close to the scene of animal attacks on sheep. Dogs or foxes may be behind the attacks but some remain …
Dog, 40 cats die in Forest Hill house fire
Baltimore Sun
At least 40 cats and one dog died in a house fire on Rocks Road in Forest Hill late Monday night, fire officials said. The number of animals in the house prompted firefighters to call Hartford County Animal Control to investigate the home, Bel Air …
Dog, cats from Gulf Coast shelters arrive in North Texas
Fort Worth Star Telegram
Before Hurricane Isaac started impacting the Louisiana and Mississippi coast, dogs and cats from two animal shelters were shipped to North Texas for adoption. The 181 dogs and cats that arrived Tuesday at shelters in Dallas and McKinney were being .
SC cat woman, 71, fears jail time for feeding ferals
The Herald | HeraldOnline.com
Dempsey said she was told by Conway’s animal control officer the judge was tired of seeing her in court for creating a nuisance by feeding feral cats and would throw her in a cell. Dempsey was not happy about the prospect late last week, but she said …
7 Foods You Should Never Feed Your Cat
Huffington Post
“The main drivers of palatability for cats are protein and fat content, with moisture and texture being important too,” says Dr. Sally Perea, DVM, DACVN, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist at P&G Pet Care in Ohio. More from Vetstreet: 10 Human …
Study: Cats That Beg For Food Suffer From Mental Illness « CBS DC
By Patrick Antonetti
A new study put out by a group of veterinarians says that if your cat begs for food then it is a result of an eating obsession from a mental illness.
The Special Language of Cats
Care2.com
Interestingly, domestic cats seem to reserve most of their vocalizations for us. Cats communicate with each other primarily through body language and scent. Cat lovers around the world are familiar with flattened ears, an arched back, tail between the .
Rare Sand Cat Kittens Born In Israel
Global Animal
(EXTINCT SPECIES) ISRAEL — Four rare sand kittens were born yesterday at the Zoological Center of Tel Aviv in Israel. This makes them the first sand kittens born in the country since 1990 when they became extinct. After they are old enough to leave …
A kind way to deal with the feral cat overpopulation
TheReporter.com
Cats need exercise just like dogs, but it is difficult to impossible to walk a cat using a leash. Because of these reasons, neither the city of Vacaville nor the state of California has leash laws for cats. More regulation of domestic cats serves no …
The ghost cat: Mountain lion slips across Highway 17 regularly
San Jose Mercury News
Atlas lives up to mountain lions’ nickname of “ghost cats,” though they are known by shifting monikers: officially called cougars, but also mountain lions, pumas, catamounts and, in North America, panthers. They are the forgotten mammals of Santa Cruz …
There’s a theater in Russia where all the actors are cats! – Animals …
OMG Facts Animals – There’s a theater in Russia where all the actors are cats! The Moscow Cat Theater is ** a traveling circus that showcases cats. Creative director Vladimir and his daughter, Maria, train the cats from birth. They have one cat …
Caged big cats stuck on Paraguay border 2 months
NBCNews.com
After inquiries from The Associated Press on Friday about the cats‘ plight, Gomez said her ministry decided to move the big cats two by two to the Asuncion zoo, “so that they can live in some comfort and not in a strange area.” Furthermore, she said ..
Venus The Chimera Cat Attains Viral Fame (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
“This little split face cat looked like a combo of the 2 cats I currently had (and still have),” says Venus’s owner on the cat’s Facebook page. “As tiny as she is she likes to pick the giant pieces of food from the dog food bowl rather than eat her cat …
One only cat captured in Farmington roundup so far: Traps set after rabid …
Foster’s Daily Democrat
FARMINGTON— After announcing they would spend the rest of the week collecting outdoor cats near Acorn Court due to a local woman being bitten by a rabid cat, police reported on Friday they had collected one cat so far. The gray and slightly fluffy cat …
Feral cats flourish in foreclosure-ridden Mountain House
San Jose Mercury News
The group has begun trapping, spaying and neutering, and either releasing or adopting out neutered cats to try to curb the growing numbers — which they estimate at about 1,500 to 2,000. It is not uncommon throughout the San Joaquin Valley and the Bay …
Judge pares down Clorox cat litter lawsuit
Reuters
Aug 24 (Reuters) – The Clorox Co clawed away parts of a class action lawsuit claiming its cat litter advertising was false and misleading on Friday, but a judge refused to scoop away the entire mess. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti in San Francisco …
Something is killing cats in Denver neighborhood | KDVR.com …
By Jon Bowman
DENVER — Over the past few weeks, neighbors in North Park Hill have been wondering why so many – police indicate about 20 – dead and mutilated cats have been turning up in the area just west of the Stapleton neighborhood. In talking with …