Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) attracted more attention rescuing a cat then they would in rescuing 10 men

The RNLI have said that in rescuing a white cat from a river they attracted more attention than if they had rescued 10 men 👍. Great Yarmouth and Gorleston coxswain, Paddy Lee, said:

If we'd rescued 10 men, I don't think we'd have got as much attention. It's even hit the headlines in places like Italy and France.

Oliver Bolton took the photographs. He said that the rescue had been dramatic. The cat, who they have named Icicle, fell into a river. Icicle appears to have clambered up to a space about 2 feet above the waterline in a wall but was stuck there.

Icicle on the ledge. Photo: Oliver Bolton.

RNLI rescue a white cat from a river near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Photo: Oliver Bolton.

Icicle after his rescue from a river. Photo: Oliver Bolton.

It looks as though somebody called out the RNLI and just before they arrived icicle fell into the river. The men of the RNLI quickly got to him and scooped him out of the water. They wrapped him in a warm blanket as you can see in the photograph.

He was reunited with his owner Mandy Baker who said that he has used up his nine lives.

Icicle fell into the river about two minutes before the RNLI arrived and the photographer said that he was struggling as they rescued him.

Domestic cats are good swimmers but this cat may have been very tired because he may have been in the water for a long time before he clambered up to that ledge and then fell back in. And the water must've been very cold. 

I would have thought though that he would have survived for quite a bit longer because domestic cats are very durable, resilient creatures. They are great survivors which is exactly why they have nine lives.

Agrocat - love of boxes

An amusing cat photograph which once again shows us the domestic cat's love of boxes. However, this photograph was set up as the cat is wearing a hat 😊. And therefore he/she was placed in the box. It doesn't matter because it's a nice picture and cats love boxes (for security and reassurance). I believe that these are tangerines and I also believe that the photograph was taken in Brazil.

Agrocat - love of boxes. Image: Twitter.

Picture of a Ukrainian soldier with a calico cat tucked into his jacket

This is one of quite a few pictures that I have seen of Ukrainian soldiers and their cat or dog companions. This young Ukrainian soldier (or is he a civilian volunteer in a camouflage jacket?) has a calico cat tucked inside his jacket. A calico cat is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat. They are almost invariably female as are tortoiseshell cats. The man is genuinely enamoured of his cat companion.

Picture of a Ukrainian soldier with a calico cat tucked into his jacket. Photo: Reddit.

The cats keep them company and entertain them. The dogs help them do their job. I remember one story of a Ukrainian soldier in the trenches on the front line in the north of the country at the border between Ukraine and Russia who relied upon his stray dog companion to help spot the enemy because his sense of smell and awareness was superior to his. He believed that they made a good team together.

RELATED: Stray animals boost morale on Ukraine’s front lines as Russian troops invade.

It's great to see a stray dog becoming useful and for his human caregiver benefiting from the relationship as is the dog. It becomes a symbiotic relationship in which both parties mutually benefit. This is a silver lining to this ridiculous war which should never have happened but which is the project of a madman, Putin.

Quite a lot of people think that he has lost his mind because he has been in isolation for two years or more, partly because of Covid about which he is paranoid and partly anyway because he has apparently become somewhat reclusive with a coterie of buddies from his KGB days who advise him. These men have very distorted views of the West as has Putin. He has called Ukrainians neo-Nazis or even plain Nazis when ironically, he is behaving just like Hitler.

Picture of a man evacuating Kyiv, Ukraine with rifle, aquarium, cat carrier and wearing a helmet

This is a strange picture of a man who I would consider to be heroic. He was apparently evacuating his home in Kiev, Ukraine to get away from the fighting. He has a rifle which I'm going to presume was given to him by the state to defend the city as a lot of volunteers are doing this, and he is carrying a mini-aquarium and a cat carrier with I believe a cat inside. 

He is wearing a helmet to protect his head. Although I would think that he would be too preoccupied in not splashing the water out of the mini-aquarium to be that concerned about whizzing bullets. He has a lot to carry and be concerned about and I don't foresee a great outcome especially for the aquarium.

Picture of a man evacuating in Kiev, Ukraine with rifle, aquarium, cat carrier and wearing a helmet. Photo: social media.

I don't know how he is going to make it out of there with all his worldly possessions. I'm being facetious because I have to presume that he has left a not behind. The number of refugees travelling west primarily into Poland and other bordering countries has reached about 400,000 according to the last report.

On the BBC, I saw a young woman interviewed by a BBC reporter on the border with Poland I think it was. She had a young cat on her lap. There was no cat carrier and she had apparently carried this cat all the way to the boarder from perhaps Kiev. It must have been a nightmare. 

The cat looked content but anxious because of all the noise and commotion around her. It makes you think. I don't see much chance of that cat getting to where she is going because there will be so many hazards between where she is and finding some sort of shelter when she gets into Poland. 

She needs a cat carrier and some cat food. She also needs a lead. It is a very fraught situation for companion animals. She told the reporter that the cat had already escaped once and gone into the engine compartment of a car to hide. I believe that she had struggled to rescue the cat on that occasion. You can see something similar happening in the not-too-distant future.

Where does the Cornish Rex come from?

The question in the title is asking about the origin of the cat breed called the Cornish Rex, one of the Rex cats. The first Cornish Rex cat was born in an old farmhouse on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK on 21 July 1950. Originally the cat was called the 'English Rex' until a second form of Rex cat was discovered in nearby Devon (Devon Rex). The map below shows you the location of Bodmin, Cornwall.

A red tabby male cat in a litter of five kittens born to a standard farm cat called Serena was seen to be different to the others because he had an unusual curly coat. The owner, Mrs Nina Ennismore kept the kitten and on the advice of a geneticist, I am told, mated the curly-coated male kitten back to his mother, a tortoiseshell cat.

Beautiful Cornish Rex cat with a Van-type coat. Photo: Pinterest.

This mating produced a litter containing two curly-coated kittens and one plain-coated kitten. They were back crossed a further time to produce further curly-coated kittens and the new breed called the Cornish Rex was established.

Clearly, a lot of inbreeding took place in those early days to establish this breed. This is typical of how breeders operate. They exercise a balancing act between too much inbreeding and fixing the appearance of the cat.

The first mail Cornish Rex cat and the founding cat of the breed 'Kallibunker'.

RELATED: Cornish Rex Cat.

Police trooper acts rapidly with commitment to catch escaping cat from car

I don't know why this Idaho state trooper was in this situation when a domestic cat in the back of a car escaped (update - I do now 👍: see their FB post below). And he stopped on the side of a freeway (a motorway in UK language). This would be the hard shoulder in the UK. This is a potentially dangerous place for both cat and trooper. Lucky, in a way, that the cat dived into the forest and not the other way onto the road. There is a question mark over why the cat was free inside the vehicle; not helpful and perhaps careless but maybe the cat escaped from a carrier.

Update: the FB post from the Idaho State Police tells us more. This is what the Facebook post says:

"Faster than a fleeing feline. And talk about a leap of faith! Trooper Llerenas fleet of foot kept a four-legged furball from dashing into a snowy North Idaho forest recently. A van traveling on I-90 has its side door come open and the Trooper saw several items fly onto the roadway. When the Trooper stopped the van, he found two people, two dogs, and a cat all inside. 

Turns out, both people were in possession of multiple controlled substances and eventually were booked into jail on drug charges. Local shelters took safe custody of the pets, and while Trooper Llerenas waited for the shelter folks to arrive, both dogs were as friendly as they could be. The cat, however, had other plans. 

When Mr. Kitty made a run for it, Trooper Llerenas also acted fast and caught the fleeing feline before the little critter could get lost or harmed. Trooper Llerenas said he literally took a “leap of faith” to catch the cat, and it worked! 

If you listen closely, however, after he catches Mr. Kitty and brings him safely back to the vehicle, Trooper Llerenas tells the feline that they were friends, but after the leap into the snow, maybe not so much. 😊 If this brought a smile to your face, feel free to share. And as always, thanks for your support."

Note: These are videos from other websites. They are embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it. There are two the same in case one goes kaput 👌.

It looks icy cold and there is snow everywhere. The conditions were hostile and this cat wanted to dive into the forest which would have been the end of him due to starvation and neglect. And I think that this state trooper realised that unless he acted super-quickly and grabbed the cat before it entered the forest, he would never see the cat again. 

It was a do or die moment and he did it. That's why his behaviour is, I think, very impressive at that moment. He was fully committed to catching the cat, there and then with no exceptions, with no possibility of failure. There was a lot of pressure on the guy to grab the cat successfully and only just made it.

Screenshot.

I don't know whether he caught the cat by the tail. It might have happened that way. It looks rather aggressive and dangerous for the cat but the circumstances dictated that this man went all out to grab the cat come what may.

Are orchids poisonous to cats?

 No

According to 8 sources.

It is quite nice to know that eight sources tell me that orchids are not poisonous to cats. It's pleasant to know that because there are a lot of plants which are poisonous to cats. I am almost of the opinion that a cat owner should have no plants in their home! That would be too extreme but actually it applies to me. You just have to be careful and I don't want the worry because cats like to nibble plants because they like to nibble grass which is a plant.

RELATED: Top 10 most poisonous plants to cats.

Although orchids are non-toxic to cats, if a cat chewed on one substantially it might give them a stomach upset causing them to be sick. And there may be some pesticides on orchids. I don't know if there are but the commercialisation of growing plants probably indicates that some sort of toxic pesticide is used by the producer.

However, they have been declared safe on the Internet by people who know more than me about the toxicity of plants and therefore I take that information on face value and pass it on.

Although orchids are safe, they are expensive and they are expensive because of production costs and transportation difficulties as I understand it. Market forces might also be involved which I mean demand outstrips supply which automatically forces up the price.

RELATED: House plants safe for cats.

If they are looked after well, they can last 15-20 years although they apparently become weaker producing less blossoms as they get older. I'm told that there are reports of some orchids living for over 100 years. But I guess when they are in someone's home, they might live 2-3 months.

The point that I am making is that perhaps the price is not as high as it seems if you take into account their longevity provided the conditions are satisfactory. They thrive in strong sunlight but not direct late afternoon sunlight. They also need a high humidity and air flow around the roots. And apparently, they need regular periods of drying alternating with heavy watering. They do best in temperatures above 50° but below 85°F.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth

Get this 😃. I have never seen a cat eat dry cat food pellets using their paw in such a manic manner. This cat looks starved to me. And there is no benefit to eating the pellets with his left paw. He would get them into his mouth faster if he ate in the conventional way. 

No matter. It makes for an interesting if slightly disturbing video. Eating with paws is not that unusual. It is just the crazed performance of this cat which is. 

People ask why cats sometimes use their paws to eat and drink. I think it is natural. It is easier to eat with the mouth directly but an alternative is to use a paw, usually the left incidentally which indicates that cats are generally left-handed and/or ambidextrous.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth. Screenshot.

Humans use hands to eat sometimes. And humans eat direct from the plate using the mouth sometimes (rarely 😉). Anyway, to get the food into the mouth is the objective especially when starved. The same rules apply to the cat. Cat paws are pretty dextrous. They are good at grasping objects.

@dimsimcoco

♬ Oh no, oh no, oh no, no no - Hip Hop

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Chris Packham appeals to Gary Lineker on Twitter to get involved in the Zouma cat kicking incident

 Here is the tweet by Chris Packham directed at Gary Lineker.

Hello @GaryLineker Chris here . You may have seen that an @premierleague footballer from @WestHam has been filmed kicking and slapping a cat . As a great ambassador for sports and sportsmen and women can I call upon you to help ensure this is dealt with appropriately . Please RT pic.twitter.com/oM8P4pNKJc

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) February 8, 2022

Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

It is not clear to me what he specifically wants Gary Lineker to do. My guess is that he wants Lineker to put pressure on West Ham administration to punish Zouma more and perhaps terminate his contract with West Ham if it is feasible as per the terms of Zouma's contract.

We are still waiting for the RSPCA to reach a decision on what to do: prosecute Zouma or not. They are taking far too long over this. The evidence is in the video. It is plain for all to see. I guess they need to interview Zouma and the other people in the video. But the sluggishness of their investigation indicates a lack of commitment to prosecute.

Chris Packham publicly communicating with Gary Linker on Twitter. Screenshot

They are probably scared to make a decision as the case is so high profile. It was viral news for days. The cats are still with the RSPCA as far as I am aware. They should be taken from him permanently and rehomed.

The cat he kicked was a Bengal cat I believe. We don't know what filial. If the cat is a high filial such as and F2 the incident supports the desire of Packham and others to change the licensing laws on keeping high filial wild cat hybrids so that the licensing of these exotic cats is refused by the local authorities. This would stop the ownership of high filial wild cat hybrids in the UK by the backdoor.

Packham sees wild cat hybrids as damaging the conservation of the wild cats as the breeders need servals to create F1 Savannah cats and Asiatic leopard cats to create F1 Bengal cats. It is the importation of these wild cats into the UK which damages their conservation.

Japan: restaurant owner rescued stray cats and they rescued his business

NEWS AND COMMENT-JAPAN: This is a nice story of symbiosis, to use a rarely used word, certainly in this context. It means a relationship in which both parties benefit the other. And in this instance both Naoki Teraoka, the owner of a model railway themed restaurant (Tetsudokan) benefited greatly after he rescued stray cats near his business.

He was going through a very difficult time because of Covid. A pretty typical scenario for huge swathes of businesses in entertainment and hospitality. He has a model railway in his restaurant to create a theme and added interest. And he loves model railways.

Photo: believed to be by @Caferest_bar_Fe.

It's a popular restaurant and he was going bust because of Covid. He noticed a stray kitten next to his restaurant and decided to help because the cat needed help in terms of food and medical treatment. He named him Simba. And a few days later he noticed Simba's mother. He took both of them in. After all, he had plenty of unused food as there were no customers 👍. This implies, by the way, that he fed them human food which is not a good idea but I am pretty sure he also fed them cat food.

And then Simba's mother brought him three more kittens. He became a cat rescuer and the entire concept of his restaurant changed as a result. You can see the photographs on this page. They kind of occupied the place as they do; no doubt because they were delighted to be looked after.

Rescue cats occupy model railway themed restaurant and boost business. Image in public domain (believed).

He is very tolerant of them climbing all over his model railway which looks as if it was meticulously built. I'm sure they did some damage but I guess he accepted it because the presence of the cats attracted customers and media attention. The photographs of his rescued cats on his model railway went viral. It was a happy accident which he had not foreseen.

Japan: restaurant owner rescued stray cats and they rescued his business. Photo in public domain (believed).

He said: "It was a financially difficult time for us, but we decided to help the cat family. Yes, we thought we were helping them, but they were the ones who helped us."

His restaurant business appears to be back on its feet. He has now become a cat rescuer as well. There are 14 stray cats in all. It appears to have become a cat café/model railway themed restaurant 😊. He has opened a cat shelter and cat boarding cattery on the second floor. This allows his clients to go upstairs to adopt a cat should they wish. Thus far he has adopted out 100 cats I'm told by MSN News.

There is a moral behind the story: you reap what you sow. It's an old adage which is clearly applicable.

Women predestined to be the main human partner in human-cat relationships

Claudia Mertens, a Swiss scientist, decided that women are predestined to be the main human partner in human-cat relationships. They observed human-cat interactions in home settings in Switzerland. They observed these relationships for a total of 504 hours. The participants included 162 persons and 72 cats.

Women predestined to be the main human partner in human-cat relationships. Photo: Pixabay.

When people were more often in the home the human-cat dyad increased. That is to be expected. By the way, a "dyad" is, in this instance, the partnership between one cat and one person.

However, when either the man or the woman was home more often in equal amounts, it is the woman who is more likely to interact with the family cat. In other words, the increase in interactions for men and women who were at home more often was more substantial for the women than for the men.

RELATED: Talk and touch, two reasons why cats tend to prefer women.

They also decided that the woman-cat dyads were the best based upon reciprocity of interactions; i.e. the best interactions in terms of quality occurred when women interacted with the family cat compared to either juveniles or men.

At the other end of the spectrum, they decided that the juvenile-cat interactions were the worst. I'm going to make a presumption and say that this is based upon breakdowns in the interactions in which both the juvenile human and the cat gained less from the meet up.

That, too, does not surprise me. It seems to be pointing to the fact that women are gentler and more sensitive towards cats and perhaps they enjoy the presence of cats more than men while juveniles are less delicate and caring in general. I can envisage slightly careless interactions in which the cat perhaps became disgruntled.

I don't have access to the full study and therefore I am writing this having read the summary which is why I have to speculate a little bit as to the conclusions.

The conclusion is perhaps obvious namely that women desire interactions with the family cat more than men and juveniles and when they do the quality of those interaction were higher than for both men and juveniles.

This reinforces the belief that women are more likely to prefer a cat companion while men are more likely to prefer a dog companion. Although that is a stereotype. In this instance the stereotype appears to be accurate.

Clearly, the quality of interactions and a cat's behaviour depends on other factors such as the ambience in the family home and the comings and goings in the home by which I mean now settled or unsettled it is.

The results of the study do not preclude the fact that there are many millions of male human-to-cat relationships which are superior to the general standard of the women-cat relationships. The point I am making is that the study indicates a trend towards women being predestined to the main human partner but that does not mean men cannot and do not enjoy great partnerships.

The study: Human-Cat Interactions in the Home Setting. Published online: 27 Apr 2015 on the Taylor and Francise Online website.

Kate Winslet replaced by cat 'Lizzy' in ‘Titanic’ parody video

This is a parody of Titanic (1997) starring 'OwlKitty' on YouTube. The motivation behind the video came from the creator's desire to combine their cat, Lizzy, and "our green screen in a funny, silly way". In other words, they wanted to put their cat, Lizzy, in a movie. 

Parody: "an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect". 

The video was created by the cat's owners, Tibo Charroppin, a filmmaker and an animator, and Olivia Boone, a creative writer and content editor.

As you can see, they make content with their 'prima donna' cat Lizzy. They have made other parodies including The Avengers, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction and others. 

Screenshot from video.

Tibo said that on average it takes about two weeks to make this sort of video. As an interesting snippet of information. It always interested me as to how long it took to make these videos. Two weeks is a very long time which tells us how technical it must have been. I must say they did a great job.

I'm not the only person who appreciates the level of expertise that goes into making these sorts of videos. Tammy Nevills expressed her views on social media below. 

Animal advocates must never forget Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel the "Cat Man of Aleppo"

I just want to touch base again with this story. It has been around for a while. Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel first came to prominence on the Internet during the Syrian war. That has abated and fizzled out as far as I'm aware but there is still a great need to support the stray and feral cats of Aleppo which is exactly what Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel continues to do.

Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel the "Cat Man of Aleppo". Image: screenshot from FB video.

He has a Facebook page and, on that page, we see him educating the children of that city. There is no direct commentary to a video. There is background music instead. But we see him involving the children in cat rescue and feeding the stray cats. He also hands out what appears to be dry cat food for the cats.

Feeding the stray cats of Aleppo, Syria. Screenshot from FB video.

I can't embed the video on this page because his Facebook's settings don't allow. I have asked him to have a look at that in order to help promote his work.

What is particularly nice about the video which you can see by clicking on this link, is that he is thinking of the future. He is trying to get the kids interested in the cats and in animal welfare generally. He needs their involvement. They are the future of animal welfare.

There are 2 links to earlier stories about Alaa, the Cat Man of Aleppo. Please read them for background information on this man and his work.

RELATED: Syria Cat Rescue (Aleppo).

It seems to me that all he can do is to feed them and comfort them. I don't think he has access to veterinary care. Although he might have to a limited extent. Clearly the cats need veterinary care. They also need to be processed under typical TNR program policies. I don't know whether he has access to facilities to spay and neuter the cats in his care. I would doubt that too. But I hope that I am wrong.

RELATED: Assad or the Russians bombed a famous cat sanctuary in Aleppo.

At least they have him to care for them as best he can. People in the West, the comfortable developed world, need to praise and reward people like Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel. He is a rare person. He is a hero because he is doing something which is very difficult to do in such a dire situation. His work is highly altruistic. He has to look after himself and perhaps a family as well but he gives of his time to stray cats.

In the eyes of many stray and feral cats are pest and vermin. They are the lowest of the low next to stray dogs. In many undeveloped countries they are persecuted and callously killed. He is doing the opposite. He is preserving life and trying to make their lives more acceptable and tolerable. This is the true sharp end of animal welfare.

Years ago, I learned that he is an ambulance driver. He originally operated out of an area called Masaken Hanano in Aleppo. He may still be there. When he first started working on cat rescue or conservation in Aleppo the area was being bombed and destroyed by President Assad's bombs and Russian rockets. At that time, he was taking a huge risk to simply be out there on the streets feeding the cats, it seems to me. This was in 2016. Aleppo was being destroyed. You can imagine how many cats were destroyed as well as people by those bombs and rockets.

The purpose of this post is to praise the man. To reward him with a little bit of publicity. It's not much. I just feel that I need to do my bit, to chip in, to support a man who deserves support and praise.

Soggy Britain can cause heat-related illness in domestic cats (June and July)

There is a study on the Internet, published on the Open Veterinary Journal website called: Surveillance of heat-related illness in small animals presenting to veterinary practices in the UK between 2013 and 2018. The scientists concluded that cats with heat-related illness on occasions presented to veterinary clinics in the UK (those who participated in the survey) between May and September, with 75% during June and July.

Cats hunting in hot weather may rarely suffer from heat-related illness. Image: public domain.

In all, the study found that 16 cats with heat-related illness ended up at veterinary clinics. They were suffering from hyperthermia which describes a body temperature elevated above the accepted normal. The study is a warning (primarily with respect to dogs who suffer from hypothermia mainly through over exercise), that, even in soggy Britain, it is possible for domestic cats to suffer from heat-related illness.

A particular vulnerability for domestic cats is that they seek out warmer areas within the home, perhaps in a catio, to sleep and snooze. They might also become trapped in a greenhouse or shed in warm weather. Sometimes, rarely, cats can suffer from heat-related illness (HRI) due to exercise in a hot environment. This would typically occur when hunting on a hot day in a British summer. It seems that cats don't recognise the onset of hyperthermia in the symptoms.

Cats presenting with HRI might suffer from a range of symptoms including: abnormal breathing, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhoea, hyper-salivation, ataxia and haemorrhagic diarrhoea. Of the 14 cats presented to veterinary clinics with HRI, 6 had abnormal breathing, 10 were lethargic and 3 suffered from vomiting. Each of the following symptoms affected one cat: diarrhoea, hyper-salivation, ataxia and haemorrhagic diarrhoea.

Cats over the age of 15 made up 25% of HRI cases. The scientists concluded that older cats are more at risk of suffering from HRI due to age-related changes to thermoregulation combined with an increased prevalence of underlying cardiac, respiratory and renal disorders. These could impair thermoregulation through mechanisms such as respiratory function and increased likelihood of dehydration.

As most of these cats suffered HRI when hunting outdoors, the scientists speculated that some of them may have died outdoors and become lost to their owners. HRI might be so severe as to prevent the cat recovering and making their way home.

The fact that some cats might have died in unknown places, may have affected the statistics collated by the study. In other words, more cats may suffer from HRI than counted.

The study is a warning, perhaps, to cat owners who think that there is little chance that their cat may be affected by heat. Cats go towards heat. They love it because of their wildcat inheritance. Sometimes they get it wrong and become overheated. Cat caregivers should be alert to this potential at least. Although it would have to be pretty rare.

West Ham fans chant unpleasantly about Zouma's cat-kicking and kick inflatable cat

A video made by one of the fans on a smartphone before West Ham played Leicester last weekend shows them chanting about the Kurt Zouma cat-kicking incident. It is very unpleasant if you want to respect the domestic cat. 

If you care about animal welfare, this kind of animalistic chanting is unpleasant to say the least. It portrays the fans as ignorant and disrespectful of animal welfare. The video is on social media, specifically Twitter.

RELATED: Premier League footballer videoed kicking and slapping a Bengal cat.

It depends on who you are as to whether you dislike the chanting. They think it is great fun and you'll find that a lot of people agree with them. They see nothing wrong in it. Perhaps the majority of British citizens see nothing wrong in it. It will be just cat lovers and animal advocates who find it unpleasant.

Who said that Britain is a country of animal lovers 🤔?

West Ham fans chant about Zouma's cat-kicking incident and throw around an inflatable cat. Screenshot.

🚨 West Ham fans sing about Zouma..
pic.twitter.com/aSX8DEdSaU

— sam_c345 (@C345Sam) February 13, 2022

I expect these videos to be removed eventually so don't expect them to stay on the site for the indefinite future.

Hammers fans sang: "Kurt Zouma, woah, Kurt Zouma, woah."

"He is our centre-back, he kicks his f*****g cat".

Another chant sickeningly: "Kurt Zouma is magic, he wears a magic hat."

"And if you throw a cat at him, he'll kick the f****r back."

"He kicks it to the left, he kicks it to the right, and when we win [the] Europa League we'll sing this song all night."

Ironically, in the first match that West Ham played against Watford, immediately after the incident, the fans booed Kurt Zouma when he first touched the ball on the playing field.

Now, they are celebrating him in a perverted, ignorant way. It's typical of British football fans. There's no sense of morality. They get drunk and then start messing around making up chants. The British football fan is very good at creating insulting chants.

They also throw and kick around an inflatable cat. Really bad behavior. Crude behavior which is what we expect from British football fans.

Here is another:

🎵 Kurt Zouma is magic, he wears a magic hat...

🗣West Ham fans singing about Kurt Zouma today#WHUFC #COYI #WestHam pic.twitter.com/v9pqYfmQGH

— Away Day Bible (@AwayDayBible) February 13, 2022

P.S. I have to get this off my chest. David Moyes, the West Ham manager, said that the fine handed out to Zouma would be given to an animal charity like the RSPCA. The RSPCA have said that they've not been contacted about this. Secondly, David Moyes said that the RSPCA might get involved in training Kurt Zuma about animal welfare. Once again, the RSPCA have said that they have not been contacted about this. It looks like David Moyes was simply presenting stuff to television to shut up the questioning. This is what I would expect. It's all PR, smoke and mirrors. All he wants is to get the best team on the pitch and he doesn't give a damn whether the players have good moral standards or not.

What can I do if my cat dies at home?

The way I see it, you can do one of 3 things in terms of burial or cremation. However, before you deal with that it makes sense, I think, to spend a short some time with your cat and grieve over him or her. These are the last moment that you will be with your cat companion. 

Urn for your cat's ashes. This is for sale on etsy.com . It is a very nice one.

There is a caveat here. Rabies still exists in America albeit rarely. It is possible it seems to me to get rabies from a deceased cat. Apparently, the virus remains alive inside a deceased animal for 48 hours. That possibility should be observed but this is going to be a very rare occurrence because rabies is rare and the virus is normally injected into a person via a bite. Although irrelevant to this discussion I remember a Vietnamese guy eating the brains of a monkey or dog and getting rabies. A bit mad anyway to eat the brains of a dog but I think it is a cultural thing.

Nearly all diseases affecting cats are not zoonotic which means they can't be transferred from cat to human. I'm just making a small point for the sake of completeness.

Veterinarian arranged cremation

You can take your cat to your veterinarian and ask them to make arrangements for your cat to be cremated. They will probably charge a fairly modest fee. This takes away the hassle of making these arrangements. It's convenient. The downside, as I see it, is that the ashes that you receive might not be the ashes of your cat. This is because the pet crematorium may cremate several animals at one time. Not that this should be a huge worry because all traces of DNA are removed from the animal when they are properly cremated.

Individualised cremation

A better option, if you want to go down the route of cremation, would be to telephone your local pet crematorium and make arrangements for a private cremation. You take your cat to the crematorium, meet with an individual, and they will walk you through the process. You can watch your cat been cremated and receive the ashes while you wait. It is a while-you-wait process, essentially. And it should be because you want to make sure that it is a genuine individual cremation. It needs to be supervised in my opinion.

Backyard (back garden) burial

A third option is to bury your cat in your backyard or back garden (in the UK). In the UK it is perfectly legal to bury your cat in the back garden. You do not need permission for this. Just make sure that you bury him or her deep enough to avoid foxes sniffing around and digging up the body of your cat. About 3 feet should do. You might place some stones over the top or bricks is to make sure.

In the USA it isn't quite as straightforward. There are 50 states in the USA and although the vast majority allow you to bury your cat in the backyard, there are exceptions. My research indicates that: Arkansas, Vermont, Wisconsin, urban California and most of cities of Arizona do not allow people to bury their cat in the backyard. However, I can't completely trust this information and therefore for the sake of certainty it is probably advisable to telephone the local authority just to make sure you're receiving the right advice.

If it is illegal to bury your cat in the backyard, but want to bury your cat, you could make arrangements with a pet cemetery/pet crematorium to bury your cat at their facility.

Preferred option

The preferred option, I believe, must be an individualised cremation as mentioned. You can then bring your cat's ashes home and keep them there. I find this emotionally supportive. It is about emotion and not reality because as mentioned the ashes do not contain the DNA of your cat. They could be the ashes of an armchair in terms of hard science. But that doesn't matter. You arranged an individualised cremation and these are the ashes that you received. They represent your cat. It works for me.

Are all cats afraid of hoovers?

No! take a look at this video on Twitter. We know that most if not nearly all domestic cats are afraid of hoovers but not all. It depends on the cat's personality and his training. Cats can get used to the sound and movement of a hoover and self-train to ignore or accept them. It may take a long time to get to the situation we see in the video. Some cats are confident and some are timid. I have seen a cat thoroughly enjoying himself while his owner hoovered his belly 😃. It takes all sorts.

Are all cats afraid of hoovers? Clearly not. Screenshot.

There is a role to play for the cat's caregiver however. They can help their cat be less fearful of the sound and movement of what to the cat seems like an unknown noisy object that might be a predator. That's why they scram before you are anywhere near him/her.  Once they understand that the hoover is no dangerous you have halfway there.

Pancho, old chap, did you use your downtime from Twitter to get over your #Zuigerphobia?#TheCatsWeTweet pic.twitter.com/TZoh3vzqa2

— The Cat™ (@TheCatHeSay) February 18, 2022

Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Arizona state legislature is discussing the banning of cat declawing

The legislature of the US State of Arizona is discussing a possible ban on cat declawing. This is reported by Fox News online. They say that an Arizona House committee has approved a bill that would ban cat owners from declawing unless it was for genuinely therapeutic purposes i.e. in the best interests of the cat and for the benefit of the cat's health, which is hardly ever the case.

THERE IS A VIDEO FROM FOX NEWS AT THE BASE OF THE PAGE WHICH REPORTS ON THIS DEVELOPMENT IF YOU'D PREFER TO HEAR ABOUT THIS VISUALLY BUT THERE WILL BE ADVERTS.

The bill is called HB 2224. It provides for fines if any veterinarian performs the procedure unless it is for genuinely therapeutic purposes. A supporter of the bill or perhaps the proposer of the bill, Arizona State Representative Amish Shah, rightly said that: "With all the research and science that we have accumulated on this topic, it is cruel, it is mutilation, and it needs to stop."

The usual counterargument is presented by those who are against a ban, which is this: it is up to the veterinarian in consultation with the cat's owner to decide whether declawing should take place or not. This is a very, very poor argument because veterinarians sometimes actively promote cat declawing against the interests of the cat. They do it for monetary purposes. Therefore, you cannot rely on veterinarians to provide proper advice in line with their oath. Therefore, customers are prevented from making a wise decision as they are in the hands of their vets.

Poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

As for cat owners, often they are indoctrinated with the idea that declawing is okay or that it is simply the removal of the 'nail' when it is actually a partial amputation of each toe. Veterinarians sometimes do not educate cat owners on the topic. They leave them blind and they pull the wool over their eyes. Once again, the purpose is to milk the system and make some money out of this operation which is described as barbaric by Britain's leading veterinarian and author, Dr. Bruce Fogle.

RELATED: Declawed cats pee seven times more often outside litter box than non-declawed cats.

Veterinarians have fought hammer and tong to avoid bans on declawing across the USA because it is a money stream. New York State is the only state in the USA that currently bans declawing. All praise to them. As I recall, there are nine cities, eight of which are in California, which have banned declawing. As I recall, the ninth is Denver.

Arizona State Representative Amish Shah. Pic in the public domain.

It is a slow and long fight to eliminate cat declawing from America. In North America, Canada is beating America hands down in gradually eliminating this operation from the country through piecemeal bans across various territories and provinces.

RELATED: The Paw Project Trash Colorado Veterinary Medical Association’s Defence of Declawing.

I would urge Arizona to press on with this and don't be sidetracked by the naysayers who don't understand cat welfare. Declawing is almost universally carried out at the convenience of the cat's owner for non-therapeutic reasons. It's is in direct conflict with the veterinarian's oath which they swear before they practice. It's extraordinary that it is allowed and that the AVMA does not criticise veterinarians who do it.

The oath of American veterinarians is utterly worthless and pointless. It's worse than that because it's a pretence. It gives the impression that the vets generally are concerned about animal welfare whereas they simply can't be if they declaw cats.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Five black cats vanish near Darlington, UK. Is this witchcraft?

Firstly, there are people who practice witchcraft in the UK today, 2022. You don't hear much about them if anything. You don't see them but they are self-proclaimed witches practicing witchcraft. And they perform weird and wonderful ceremonies. We don't know where they are and I don't think that people are much interested in them except for people like me news media reports that five black cats have gone missing from two places: Croft-on-Tees and Dalton-on-Tees, both near Darlington, UK.

Five black cats vanish near Darlington, UK. Is this witchcraft? Image: PoC.

There are two strange facts about the case. There are other indoor/outdoor cats allowed to roam around these towns which are not black cats. Nothing happened to them. Secondly, the five black cats have completely disappeared. There is no trace of them anywhere. It is as if they no longer exist.

RELATED: The earliest record of the belief that cats are witches in disguise.

This would point strongly to the suggestion that a person or persons have simply taken them. They've been removed from the street and taken somewhere. Bearing in mind the association between black cats and witches, and also bearing in mind, as stated above, that witches remain in the UK even today, it is reasonable to suggest that persons engaged in witchcraft have used black cats as some sort of sacrifice.

That sounds horrible and brutal and it conjures up a very unpleasant image. However, my gut feeling is that it is a reasonable and accurate assessment.

RELATED: Witches and Witches’ Familiars in the UK in the 1970s.

Specifically, three black cats on the same street in Croft-on-Tees vanished without trace in a matter of weeks leaving their caregivers bereft and searching for them.

And two black cats have also gone missing in a neighbouring village: Dalton-on-Tees. The matter is being investigated by the police. Mrs Schmidt who owned a black cat called Tom which has gone missing said:

"It is a complete mystery. The cats are chipped and none have been found on the roads. It is like they have just vanished into thin air. There are loads of cats in our village and it is just the black ones which have disappeared."

Anyone with any ideas or information which might help trace the cats can contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101, press 2 and ask to speak to PSCO Helen Sutherland.

Does Keanu Reeves have a dog (or cat)?

My research indicates that Keanu Reeves does not live with a dog or a cat. This may surprise some people because he is a decent bloke who likes animals. In fact, I think that you could argue that he is better than a decent bloke. He is an exceptional individual on my research. He eschews his riches made from his A-list Hollywood ranking and is a generous charitable donor. 

He supports PETA, the animal rights organisation. And it is reported that he has spent time talking to a tramp in New York City for hours on end. I mean, the guy doesn't see himself as a Hollywood film star but as an ordinary person who perhaps prefers to live an ordinary life and mix with ordinary people. I love that.

Keanu Reeves takes the subway in NYC like anyone else. Photo: in the public domain (presumed).

Neither is he a vegetarian nor a vegan. In fact, he has talked about his diet and he does eat meat. So, he loves animals but doesn't see the need to become vegan. I guess he has decided that he can help the planet in different ways. Apparently, he has a tradition of eating steak before a fight scene in a film. He said: "The night before a big fight sequence, I still eat a steak. It started on The Matrix. It's totally psychological".

He likes a nice New York cut steak with a little fat on it. There is a very interesting post on the qoura.com website about him. Apparently, according to this person (Manoj Krishna Shrestha), he has no luxury houses and no bodyguards. He lives in an ordinary apartment and likes to wander around New York City and ride on the subway. You might see a photograph of him on the subway with other people (as above).

RELATED: Shaza Morani – a celebrity in India who supports animal welfare.

It is said that when he was filming a movie, he overheard a conversation between two costume assistants. One of them said to the other that they might lose their home if they did not pay $20,000. On the same day, Reeves deposited $20,000 into the person's bank account. He has also donated large sums to hospitals including, astonishingly, $75 million of his earnings from "the Matrix" franchise.

And he is super generous despite some really big setbacks in his life. He was abandoned by his father at three years old. He grew up with three different stepfathers. He is dyslexic. He dreamed of being a hockey player but was injured in a serious accident and could not follow that dream. His wife died in a car accident and his best friend at the time, River Phoenix, died of an overdose. His sister has battled with leukaemia. Note: I have decided that these reports are correct but please bear in mind they come from one source.

RELATED: Moronic celebrities with primates as pets encourage animal abuse and hurt conservation.

To return to the question in the title. I think he has good reasons for not having a cat or dog. Firstly, he lives in an ordinary apartment in New York City which he probably feels precludes him from keeping a companion animal to a high standard. Secondly, I suspect that he believes that his work which takes him away from his home probably for months on end prevents him from properly caring for a companion animal to the standards that he sets himself, which I expect to be high. Therefore, I think he doesn't have a cat or dog for practical reasons.

I guess, you don't need to look after a cat or dog to prove to the world that you are an animal lover. You can do it in other ways. And you don't just have to love animals, you can love vulnerable people and anybody who needs your help. They are all in the same bracket. That is the feeling I get with Keanu Reeves's mentality.

CAT ATTACK West Ham defender Kurt Zouma’s cats ‘will remain in care after being checked by vets’

Kurt Zouma's two cats, one of which is a Bengal cat and the other is probably of the same breed, "will remain in care after being checked over by vets," the RSPCA confirmed. You may remember that the West Ham defender, 27, had his cats seized following the uploading of a video by his brother to social media in which he is seen drop-kicking and slapping one of the cats at his £2 million mansion.

Kurt Zouma. Pic in public domain.

The RSPCA has said that the investigation is continuing and while it does, they will retain the cats. However, they said that they are not up for rehoming. They have embarked on a full and thorough investigation they said. 

An RSPCA spokesman said:

"Two cats are in our care, have been seen by a vet and are being well looked after. They will remain in our care while the investigation continues and are not available for rehoming although we have lots of beautiful cats who are looking for new homes. We understand the high level of interest in this incident and can reassure you that our experienced officers are carrying out a full and thorough investigation."

An online petition has gathered 288,000 signatures so far. The petition demands that the RSPCA with the police prosecute him and take his animals to a safe place. I have just learned that the petition now stands at 324,144. The argument is that as Zouma considers cat abuse amusing he has a disdain for animal welfare. The petitioners have speculated as to what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future.

They are hinting at the fact that they believe that there have been other instances of abuse against his cats. For this reason, they believe that it is necessary to remove them from his home and his care permanently.

Also, to not rehome them would be an endorsement, in this high-profile case, that his actions are accepted by society. That would be an unacceptable state of affairs. It would, in fact, encourage further animal abuse by others. This was animal abuse for entertainment by an ignorant but rich footballer.  Note: his brother laughed throughout the abuse.

Although he is very remorseful. I think he has learned a lesson already. But he needs to learn about animal welfare and his responsibilities as a cat caregiver.

Shelter says: "The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell" -video

This is a TikTok video of an eight-year-old shelter cat named Bell. She is female which is unusual for a ginger tabby and she is the only cat at the shelter as you can see when the video camera roams down the aisle of shelter cages with not a cat in sight. By implication, Bell is the only cat left because she is middle-aged in cat years. She looks very cautious when the person making the video enters her cage. This is understandable.

Bell emerges from hiding in her shelter enclosure. Screenshot.

On the outside of her enclosure there is a sign saying "free roaming". I am not sure what that means in this instance. I don't think Bell was free-roaming but she might have been. Perhaps it means that she is able to roam freely in a larger than usual enclosure or area at the cat shelter.

@gcace_rescue The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell💔 #adoptaseniorcat #foster #rescue #animalshelter #fyp #catsoftiktok ♬ original sound - m.a.r.y s.h.a.n.t.i

Once again, it looks like a very nicely set up cat shelter with great facilities. It is a sad video and it provides an insight into how shelter cats feel.

I wonder if they could have provided a better hiding place for Bell? She hides under what appears to be a plastic stool. A customised hiding place might be better. She needs to hide because she is timid or understandably anxious. That is very clear judging by the video. She is out of her normal environment and in a very strange and rather sterile place.

This shelter cat she needs a nice home where she is loved. It is, of course, sad that she has been rejected by potential adopters. Elderly cats are not infrequently left on the shelf so to speak. This is not only unfair but inadvisable.

RELATED: Video: POV-what a senior cat at a shelter sees and hears as adopters walk by.

Elderly cats make really good companion animals. They know the ropes. They settle into a new home more easily and more quickly. They are more accepting because they have more life experience. They don't chase around the place like kittens do causing a certain amount of mayhem. All-in-all they are an excellent cat to adopt. 

RELATED: Florida veterinarian said senior cat was ‘suffering’ and euthanizes her on the day of intake at SPCA.

The only downside is that they are likely to die before the adopter. In which case you have to be prepared emotionally for that very difficult time in a caregiver's duty when you have to decide if and when you need to euthanise your cat. 

It is the toughest time for a concerned cat caregiver. The moment might be protracted because of chronic illness. Not easy to deal with. But the benefits, in my view, of adopting a senior cat far outweigh the negatives.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.