I have got to spread the word of a Flickr group that I started called, cat-photo-technique. It was started to encourage better cat photography. There is a lot of cat photography, as we know, on the internet, and I would like to see some more well worked out images using good technique that are based on the work of the best cat photographer, Helmi Flick. In fact, it was the fantastic quality of Helmi's photographs that inspired me to create the cat-photo-technique Flickr group. And maybe this was foretold or meant to be. Flickr is similar to Flick is it not! Anyone can submit photos to the group, amateurs or pros. They are all feed into the stream as seen above. And the best get to go on the home page of PoC the main site where they will get seen by thousands each day. Featured photos are also presented on the cat-photo-technique page of the PoC website - here are some links to have a see for yourselves: cat-photo-technique at Pictures of Cats (PoC) website cat-phot

I would strongly advise using Google My Maps to Improve your blog. I use this fantastic software to create maps to illustrate the geographic ranges of the wild cats. OK, that is pretty specific stuff. But the potential is awesome. You can also use third party software to embed your maps into you blog. I am guessing but I am pretty sure that Google will be doing this themselves soon. At the moment you would normally produce your map using My Maps and then link to it. But having produced some maps of my own I found a means to embed them. Here is an example: In the above map, the range of the African golden cat is illustrated in blue. Little is known about this wild cat so my idea is that if the map is public and anyone can upgrade it, this should in time result in a greater knowledge of this cat, which in turn should assist conservation efforts. The original map that feeds this embed is here: African golden cat range . This is serious but stuff but it can be fun too. You can see the page

USA Cities Must Ban Declawing -- In the following linked article I urged people to oppose California Bill SB 762 . Well, as I thought it, has been passed by the Californian government and signed off by the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. It passed the Assembly recently on a 59-6 vote. Earlier it passed the Senate, 31-6. This is a pretty conclusive vote for the bill. The problem is that the politicians are rather short sighted. On the face of it Bill SB 762 looked OK. The idea was to ensure uniformity of legislation and regulations concerning the professions throughout California and to stop local legislators such as the wise men and women of West Hollywood enacting laws that regulated a profession at a local level, in this case veterinarians who wantonly declaw in breach of ethics and against the interests of the patient. But the successful ban in West Hollywood meant that there were different rules across the state. The important point that the politicians who passed Bill SB 762 didn&

The short legs of dwarf cats are thought to be due to pseudoachondroplasia a type of short-limb dwarfism. It affect people as well. The prefix “pseudo” is used as the affects of this genetic mutation is not the same as achondroplasia dwarfism. The difference (as I mention on the dwarf cat health issues page ) is that while pseudoachondroplasia is characterised by short limbs and a normal head, achondroplastic dwarfism is characterised by short legs and an enlarged head. I don’t know how settled the assessment of the genetic mutation is dwarf cats is. But I do know that recent research has uncovered the cause of the canine equivalent of the dwarf cat, the dachshund. Research indicates that the short legs of the dachshund (a dog with a normal body and head like dwarf cats and short legs) are due to the mutation, thousands of years ago, of a single gene. The American National Human Genome Research Institute discovered that all short-legged purebred dogs carried an extra copy of a ge

Before I start and ask people to oppose California Bill SB 762 , let me say that I am an outsider. I am not American. That has benefits and detriments. On the upside it means I am more likely to see the bigger picture, to stand back, to not be indoctrinated by tens of years of culture that considers that the declawing of cats is acceptable. And there are many millions of people in America who profess to love their cats and who believe that they do love their cats and yet assault them viciously in requesting that a veterinarian declaw them for non-therapeutic reasons. On the downside it means I have to charter my way through a minefield of legislation that looks a bit odd. Why oppose California Bill SB 762? The objective (or at least one of the objectives) of SB 762 seems to be to ensure uniform statewide governance of licensed professions. That is to prohibit cities or counties from restricting procedures that are licensed by the State Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). In relat

On reading letters from veterinarians to the council of the City of Berkeley, California, in support of not banning declawing in late 2003, I note that Veterinarian's arguments for declawing include the following: Decisions on declawing should be made between the veterinarian and the client and without interference from legislators. If cats were not declawed there would be more abandonment and euthanasia of cats because, for example, immuno-suppressed people "can have an increased risk of infection from a simple cat scratch" or "scratches can be harmful to the frail and elderly" People accept cat neutering and spaying which is more invasive (so one vet said) so why can't we accept declawing. The Cat Fanciers Assocation says that the "majority of American veterinarians perform declawing surgery, either routinely suggesting it to clients or as a last resort for cats that would otherwise be euthanized.." Please Note: I like America and Ameri

I have just found a bona fide American cat hater and shooter. Here he is in a video made by a friend by the look of it. There are cat haters the world over. But the lax American gun laws means that there is probably a greater likelihood of an American shooting a cat than in Europe. Australia is similar to America it seems on shooting cats as it is legal and encouraged in some states ( Ground Shooting of Feral Cats ). In the UK it is rarely done and illegal although there are airgun attacks and too many of them. Please note: This posting is not an attack on America or the American people. That might be obvious. But a criticism of an individual who is a danger to cats. It is also a criticism of irresponsible cat ownership. I like America but everything that goes on there is not good. The same applies to all countries. This site always supports the cat and looks at the world from that standpoint. This person has an air rifle or spring rifle. He proudly shows off to the camera how skilled

This is a verbatim copy of an email from the Stray Cat Alliance on the matter of an ordinance (legislation) t0 stop decent people from feeding and treating humanely feral cats in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. The Stray Cat Alliance asked that this: PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG - AUGUST 4, 2009 7:00 p.m. - NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO DETERMINE WHICH ORDINANCE WILL PASS VERY IMPORTANT WE SHOW UP AGAIN AND STOP CITY FROM ENACTING A BAN ON FEEDING AND/OR CRIMINALIZING FEEDING Trap Neuter Return is a community problem and needs to be dealt with at a community wide level. Before reading the following page, if you have no knowledge of this story: HELP FIGHT BEVERLY HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE (opens in new window). Here is the email. Please copy and republish if you can or wish. By implication it is licensed to be republished under a creative commons license - Attribution 2.0 Generic - simply give a credit to the authors, "Stray Cat Alliance": ............."Christi Metropole, SCA volunteers

Performing a tenectomy or tendonectomy on cats is a cynical way for American veterinarians to wriggle around the impossible moral difficulties that they face when carrying out the brutal and unnecessary declawing procedure. Declawing is big in America. It is simply big business (about $20 billion on my estimate) and it is that which drives vets to do it. But despite all the feeble attempts to justify what is cosmetic surgery for the benefit of the cat owner (and to dress it up otherwise is nonsense) declawing is a problem for vets. Some even refuse to do it! I am shocked! On the basis that declawing does present moral questions for a small percentage of American veterinarians they had to devise an alternative that seemed more acceptable to the public. A procedure that repackaged the process but which still brought in those precious dollars. And they came up with the procedure of tenectomy or tendonectomy on cats (it can be performed on other animals). This procedure is defined as "

The AVMA Policy on Declawing Cats is shameful and deplorable. It is criminality transformed into normality through deep seated denial and deceit. It is made all the worse by the fact that this association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, professes to uphold the highest standards of professional behavior. The criminality is perpetrated by the pillars of American society, the ever reliable, homely and charming veterinary surgeon. To quote the AVMA, "Veterinarians are members of a scholarly profession who have earned academic degrees from comprehensive universities or similar educational institutions." On their AVMATV webpage they have a logo that reads: Please note: this is a duplicate of another identical post. This post was made by some computer glitch! I have no idea what happened. Sorry if any confusion has or will be caused. I can't delete it as Google finds them both depending on the search terms. Yes, I agree. It is a lot more than we think. In respe

The AVMA Policy on Declawing Cats is shameful and deplorable. It is criminality transformed into normality through deep seated denial and deceit. It is made all the worse by the fact that this association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, profess to uphold the highest standards of professional behavior. The criminality is perpetrated by the pillars of American society, the ever reliable, homely and charming veterinary surgeon. To quote the AVMA, "Veterinarians are members of a scholarly profession who have earned academic degrees from comprehensive universities or similar educational institutions." On their AVMATV webpage they have a logo that reads: Yes, I agree. It is a lot more than we think. In respect of declawing of cats it is criminal behavior dressed up as a professional health service. It is also a lot more than you (the vets) think because a lot of them, as mentioned, seem to be in denial at what they are doing. This denial is a creation of years and yea

As at the date of this posting, the continuing economic depression has hurt the domestic cat (and, incidentally, the wildcat). This can be gauged by the reactions of the cat rescue groups. This is an updating post on what is happening on the ground during the recession which is bottoming out at the time of the post. Texas Maine Coon Cat Rescue I am a friend of one of the organisers of Texas Maine Coon Cat rescue , Christie Montgomery. Pictures of Cats org has donated to the charity, a genuine no-kill cat rescue. This is what Christie says about the recession (this rescue organisation rescues all breeds and moggies by the way): Unfortunately Michael, the economy has wreaked havoc on all rescues. It is a huge factor. Our rescue group normally does not rescue kittens because they always find homes. We have had to take in 19 kittens & their Moms in the last couple weeks to relieve our overwhelmed shelter. They needed cage space so they would not have to euthanize. We

The Beverly Hills Council can lead on the feral cat problem by showing an enlightened and humane approach in dealing with its feral cats. This ray of light and opportunity has come out of a misguided criminal prosecution by them against a decent and caring lady who was, in effect, doing Council’s work for them for free and against the ill conceived objections of some unenlightened local people. She was being criminalised for allegedly feeding feral cats. The matter concerns the now well know Katherine Varjian, 65, who has been feeding, trapping and neutering feral cats behind the 100-200 blocks of Palm, Maple and Oakhurst Drives in Beverly Hills. She was prosecuted for feeding feral cats under an ordinance (5-2-104, subdivision B and C) that the Council inadvertently deleted mid-prosecution, it seems, after the City adopted Los Angeles’ ordinance. That mistake (was it a mistake) presented the opportunity to air the whole thing. It presented the opportunity for the majority of

You know, I don’t think that cat owners can rely on their veterinarian all the time and on every cat health problem. And we should be able to. And I am talking about American veterinarians primarily but similar principles apply to other countries. I think that the problem of not being able to totally rely on on our vet in America is because money, the making of it, is more of a concern for vets in America than in other countries. That is based on the fact that America is the richest nation, has a vast amount of debt and is heavily consumer orientated. And the making of money is the biggest compromiser of all. It creates a massive conflict of interest that invariably colours sound judgment that should be wholly focused on one thing: what is best for the cat. Not what is best for the cat and does that make enough money for me. If all veterinarians were paid by the state on a flat fee basis (a utopian situation possibly) treatment would be better – or would it?. The making of mon

I am convinced that a large number (not all, please note) of American vets are unethical towards the cat and as a consequence they are in breach of the Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics of the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) and their oath, if they are members of that association. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), established in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 78,000 veterinarians…. The veterinarian’s oath under the AVMA is: Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering , the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge. I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics. I accept as a lifelong obligation the conti

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has a website that is entitled Project Tiger (new page). The reason why I visited it was because I noticed a press release (not from the NTCA website) that said a drastic change in method was to be employed by the NTCA in its management of 11 tiger reserves of India. All the reserves combined cover an area of 37,761 Km². The embarrassment of losing all the tigers of the most prestigious reserve at Sariska-Panna to poaching (this is now more or less accepted as being the cause of the loss) and the further embarrassment of introducing breeding tigers that are related (this is yet to be confirmed for one of the tigers, a male, but it looks likely) and which are unfit for breeding has caused what is being described as a knee jerk reaction in deciding to coral the remaining tigers in 11 reserves to protect them and force them to breed. As few as 5-15 tigers are in each of these reserves. This seems an impossibly low figure. How do they p

This is a story of small dogs frightening off a cougar in Los Angeles. The video is below. The shame of the Chihuahuas vs Cougar story, though. People are pathetic! This story has thrown up a ton of idiotic comment. First, however, I do not see anyone other than one website mention the fact that this cougar was shot after this event, which has caused laughter and hilarity! First, they shot three tranquillisers into the cat then they shot it. “Authorities confirm officers with the Department of Fish and Game were forced to shoot and kill the animal. They had hoped to return it to the wild.” (src: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-garage-cougar,0,224308.story ) new page – link provided in thanks for verbatim quote. Shot, after this poor cat was frightened off by three tiny dogs! What the hell are Americans doing? Why are people we so frightened of this cat! Americans are far too trigger happy. Is it because they thought the cat was rabid (had caught rabies)? There is no ev