It wasn’t all pomp and circumstances for these top Brit cats when paws clashed in recent sparring contest between the cats at Number 10 and Number 11 Downing Street.

Cat News Friday finds all kinds of interesting twists this week, from these felines getting into more than a neighborly skirmish. It took a serious twist when, Larry, Prime Minister David Cameron’s cat, taking a claw to the throat from Freya, Chancellor George Osborne’s pet..

Freya didn’t take that paws down, and she managed to send Larry (perhaps with his tail between his legs) retreating to the safety of his own home.

Larry joined the Prime Minister’s household about two years ago for his mousing prowess. Only it was a rat that was the culprit, seen scurrying past the front door. Larry was adopted from the  Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in southwest London.

For more on this, visit:

**Top cats snap: Fur flies outside UK PM’s home
NBCNews.com (blog)
But the fur flew for real Tuesday when two cats from each official residence — known colloquially as Number 10 and Number 11 — traded paws in a brief bout of feline fury. Larry, Prime Minister David Cameron’s cat, was pictured taking a claw to the …

**Downing Street denies Cameron and Osborne cat feud
BBC News
Downing Street has denied rumours of a feud between cats belonging to the chancellor and prime minister after they were pictured fighting. George Osborne’s Freya was photographed slugging David Cameron’s Larry with a nasty-looking left claw, the …

Across the pond, the cats and dogs got into another skirmish, in the political race for Attorney General in Pennsylvania. While both candidates come out in favor of animal rights, Democrat Kathleen Kane made a faux pau when answering a reporter’s questions about enforcement of the state’s Puppy Lemon Law. She was proud to have the endorsement of the Humane Society of the United States. She had meant to say Humane PA,  , a political action committee that endorses candidates in statewide and local House and Senate elections and advocates for pro-animal legislation.

Her opponent is having a heyday with this, accusing her of lying about endorsements. You see, the Humane Society of the United States, the national non profit animal advocacy group, is not allowed to endorse candidates.

For more on this, visit the following link:

**It’s a cat fight! Attorney General candidates scrap over endorsement
Philadelphia Inquirer (blog)
Candidates in the attorney general’s race are fighting, well, like cats and dogs, over cats and dogs. At their one and only debate Monday night, Democrat Kathleen Kane in response to a question from this reporter about enforcement of the state’s Puppy ..

Stray free-roaming cats may get a bad rap, but this Italian cat discovered an ancient Roman Catacomb within a residential neighborhood. A man, Mirko Curti, spotted the stray near his apartment. He and a friend followed the sound of the cat that had gone into a cavern near a limestone rock cliff. They followed him into a cave complete with human bones surrounded by ancient Roman funeral urns.

Word has it, Rome is full of ancient ruins, and who knows, this cat on the prowl might be the series of a new mystery series. For more on this, visit:

**Stray cat discovers ancient Roman catacomb in a residential neighborhood
SlashGear
There so many ruins, ancient constructions, and grave sites in Rome that it’s hard to do any construction project without running into some sort of priceless archaeological artifact. In fact, there are apparently so many yet undiscovered Roman …

And as we come upon Halloween, thoughts turn to black cats. Is it their color, their personality, superstition or what that causes them to languish in shelters much longer than their colorful counterparts.

Researchers at University of California at Berkeley conducted a study to find a link between cat color and people’s perception of cat personality. They found people do judge feline personalities by color, but don’t assess black cats negatively relative to other cats.

The online survey of 49 statements paired five cat colorings (black, white, orange, bi-colored, and tri-colored) with 10 personality traits (active, aloof, bold, calm, friendly, intolerant, shy, stubborn, tolerant, and trainable.)

The study found:

• Orange and bi-colored cats rated as friendly high in friendliness,
• Tri-colored cats, rated high in  intolerance,
• White cats rated high in aloofness.
• Black cats weren’t rated significantly higher or lower in any trait than other color groups.

People perceived black cats as having neutral personalities compared to other cat

It could be that people don’t think black cats are pretty enough. The researchers suggest that if shelters had empirically reviewed tools to assess cat personality, they could better match them to potential owners and try to work around their color bias. For more on this, visit:

Furry Racism At The Pound: Why Is It Harder For Black Cats To Find Homes?
Popular Science
Are people spooked by black cats? Darker felines sure seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to adoption. Black cats stay in shelters longer and are more likely to be euthanized than their lighter-colored counterparts. Researchers at …

Cats News Friday finds feline news all over the map, including this interesting twist. We all know that us cat lovers require our beloved dates to be cat people. Check out this debate involving Bachelorette couple Emily Maynard and Jef Holm.

Did cats come between ‘Bachelorette’ couple Emily Maynard and Jef Holm?
Examiner.com
“Bachelorette” star Emily Maynard is working hard to move on from her failed engagement to Jef Holm, but more details are coming out as to why things didn’t work out, according to a new “Hollywood Life” report released on Oct. 23. Of course, Emily has …

For more Cat News Friday, check out the following links:

Herhold: After six decades, the ‘Cats Estate’ in Los Gatos is being sold
San Jose Mercury News
Just south of Los Gatos, on the western edge of Highway 17, two 8-foot-tall white concrete cats serve as sentinels of mystery, guarding a road that winds up the hill. Now, at least for a select few, that mystery is disappearing. The historic 75-acre

Santa Ana police remove 49 cats from ‘animal hoarder’
Contra Costa Times
Nancy Richling had taken in multiple strays into her home on the 1200 block of South Rosewood Avenue and had a habit of feeding wild cats from the neighborhood, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. “I think it’s a case of a woman trying to do …

Cat videos make the Web their perch
Los Angeles Times
The award, a statuette of a fat golden cat, sits on a shelf next to the filmmaker’s desk. Videos: A sampler of cats on YouTube. He has signed his first book deal. “Henrí Le Chat Noir: The Existentialist Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat” will be published …

63 cats rescued from Central Hillside home
Duluth News Tribune
Punkadoo, an undernourished male cat, looks out from his cage at the Duluth Animal Shelter on Tuesday afternoon. Punkadoo was one of 63 cats taken in a major hoarding case at a home in Duluth’s Central Hillside.

Nanaimo cats bound with duct tape
Calgary Herald
Neighbours say they are afraid to let their cats out, with one woman who moved recently from Errington stating that she would be sending her cat back to ensure its safety. Officials say they are concerned with both the mindset of an individual who …

Dogs, cats, ferrets and iguana dead in Chesapeake fire
The Virginian-Pilot
Three dogs, four cats, two birds, multiple ferrets and an iguana all died in a house fire in South Norfolk this morning. But firefighters managed to rescue and resuscitate a cat in the 2200 block of Ardmore Ave., said Capt. Scott Saunders, a fire …

The Internet Cat Video Festival to debut at UMass Boston Tuesday
Boston.com
An actual cat video, Henri 2, Paw de Deux, from the Walker Open Field site. It’s in French, but don’t worry, there are English subtitles. By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent. The University of Massachusetts Boston will be invaded by cats, or at …

Shelter takes steps to reduce euthanization rate
San Francisco Chronicle
Most of animals that come to the shelter are cats, which means some cats still must be euthanized to make room for others, but the shelter has had to euthanize only four dogs in the past year because of space issues, Fults said. Few of the …

Local family owns cats from furless breed
Pittsburg Morning Sun
They are Sphynx cats, mutants descended from about five hairless cats born in the 1970s, and they make their home with Leigh and Adam Niegsch, Pittsburg. Niegsch is a lifelong cat lover raised in a family of cat lovers and always had cats at home. His ..

**High school class builds houses for feral cats
San Francisco Chronicle
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — These cat houses are smaller than the doghouses Steve Whitaker’s construction class at Clay High School built last year. Smaller, however, doesn’t measure out to be easier, not with a slanted roof put on for drainage. “That was …

October Black Cat Giveaway Has Animal Advocates Hissing
Paw Nation
By Catster Oct 22nd 2012. The annual Pumpkin Junction fall festival in Barrington, RI, featured some unusual guests. Barrington Animal Control hosted a black cat adoption event at the site on Oct. 13, offering free adoptions to anyone who was interested.

**Busting black cat myths: Shelters say most fears unfounded
CTV News
TORONTO — Don’t judge these felines by the color of their fur. Bans on the adoption of black cats at Halloween were commonplace until a few years ago as many worried the animals would be harmed by pranksters or animal abusers. But animal welfare …

Hot dogs and hula cats: Halloween costumes let pets come as they aren’t
Dallas Morning News
Dressing up for Halloween isn’t just for kids anymore. The family pet can have a howling good time in fanciful costumes, too. Options are plentiful, from pirates to pumpkins and superheroes to superstars. There’s the traditional Halloween garb of …

Shelter for older cats hopes to pair some with senior citizens
Omaha World-Herald
She hopes to match some of the older cats who just want to sit on someone’s lap and be petted with senior citizens who might go without a pet because they are on a fixed income. The program will allow the senior who wants a cat to have one; the cost of …

**Palm Coast Neighbors: Fur Ball was cat’s meow
St. Augustine Record
Flagler Cats held their annual Fur-Ball Oct. 6 at the Pine Lakes Golf Club in Palm Coast. The event is a major fundraiser for the 501(c)3 organization that has a mission to raise awareness and provide protection and humane treatment of cats. The ball …

Cherry’s Second Chance: Cat Captures the Heart of a Good Samaritan
Huffington Post (blog)
There never seems to be a lack of news stories highlighting the sad reality of abuse, neglect and abandonment to which companion animals are subjected. Some incidents are so horrifying they could cause a reasonable person to question other’s humanity.

**1000 Street Cats in Jerusalem Get Better Lives
Care2.com
Judith Weaver was working for the U.S. Department of State and assigned to the American Consulate in Jerusalem where she became acquainted with not only the history of this fascinating city, but also of the multitude of feral cats. What started as a …

Cat Cams: New virtual playroom inside Midlands animal shelter
WIS
Inside the walls of the ‘Lake Purray’ cat condo at Pawmetto Lifeline in Columbia, you’ll find a new interactive virtual cat playroom called iPet Companion. It’s the first of its kind in the Southeast, and there are only twelve other shelters that have …

2 admit felony mischief in house overrun by cats
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
In June, Constance J. Anderson, 50, and Jeffrey G. Tourney, 45, both of the 600 block of Irene Avenue, were charged with two Class D felony counts of criminal mischief for damaging the two homes they rented by accumulating so many cats. To reach a …

Help trap, neuter feral cats
Arizona Daily Sun
Oct. 16 was National Feral Cat Day — a day for us to think about the outdoor cats in our neighborhood. We often see these cats scurrying behind a restaurant, or sunning in our backyards. Many of us leave food out for them. Who are these cats and how ..

**Comic Strip Cat Heathcliff Getting His Own Movie
Cinema Blend
First they announced they would be bringing back The Brave Little Toaster with an iPhone as a character. Then it was revealed that they were working on a new version of the television series Mister Ed that would be a CGI/live-action hybrid. And today …

**Campaigning From a Cat’s Perspective
Huffington Post
For eight months now, I’ve been running my campaign for the U.S. Senate seat in Virginia against George Allen and Tim Kaine. During that time, I have learned a great deal about how campaigns work, and more importantly, why we as a people have become …

**Cat myths explained
Pittsburg Morning Sun (blog)
Fact: According to the Humane Society of the U.S., Americans have 86 million cat pets and 78 million dog pets. Myth 2: Cats who don’t scratch more than usual don’t have fleas. Fact: Even if cats don’t itch or scratch more than normal, they may still …

Laurel advocates help neuter dozens of feral cats
Baltimore Sun
The mass trap-neuter-return, or TNR, effort was the first in the area, said Rebecca Katz, program manager for the Feral Friends Network of Alley Cat Allies, a feral cat advocacy group based in Bethesda working in partnership with Laurel Cats, another …

Apartment complexes see more than their fair share of feral cats
San Antonio Express (blog)
Working at apartment complexes in San Antonio, Texas, she has seen cats left behind when tenants move away, cats breeding on the properties, abandoned cats giving birth to kittens in attics, kittens falling from attics into the walls of apartment …

Cat-adoption spree is a smashing success
Mail Tribune
More than 100 spayed and neutered felines found new homes during free, adult-cat adoption programs over the weekend. The cat lovers responded in a big way to the three major county shelters’ adoption plea, said Kenn Altine, executive director of the …

What was your favorite story this week? Do you have some news to share? Please leave your paw-gestions in the comments form.