This is unusual in some respects because normally we see what is described as "vacuum activity" when a full-time indoor cat is looking out the window at a bird and they are instinctively compelled to practice the bite on the nape of the neck of the bird to kill it. Because they can't get at the real thing the domestic cat instinctively chatters their jaw and Dr. Desmond Morris calls this "vacuum activity".  It's called that because it occurs in a vacuum namely there is no actual prey item in the cat's jaws. Some people call this a "tooth-rattling stutter". I prefer jaw chattering but you can name it what you like. From @jacquardvenus: " #ekekekkekkek " #catsofinstagram pic.twitter.com/nNlx54zkXh — Cats of Instagram (@catsofinstagram) March 31, 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. The cat that

This is rather strange but some authors online are connecting this year's Respect Your Cat Day with Richard II and an edict that he made in 1384 in which he condemned eating cats. It was an early form of respecting the cat. You can see from the short clip from a book listed by Google that the peasants of the time harboured a lot of resentment towards King Richard and they took it out on cats. They killed and ate them by the thousands according to this extract. At the time there were food shortages. They called the King "the royal cat". I do not know if this is true. However, it is a fact of history that in 1381 there was the Peasants' Revolt which was the first crisis of Richard's reign. He rode out to meet the rebels who were led by Wat Tyler. Tyler was killed and the revolt was crushed. Afterwards Richard began to take control of the government himself, building a group of unpopular favourites. Richard II of England. Image: Wikipedia. The extract that I mention

The phrase "trigger warning" is very current. It actually applies to the Declaration of Independence. This is one of America's most famous documents and the National Archives has erected a trigger warning next to this founding 18th-century document of the United States according to the historian Andrew Roberts. He said that a framed explanatory text next to the document at the archives in London, UK now warns readers that the statements within the declaration are "outdated, biased and offensive". And this is what we can expect from things said and done in the past. They become outdated, outmoded and objectionable. Essentially people become more civilised. Humankind is on a long journey towards being civilised. We are perhaps in the middle of that journey but nowhere near the end of it. Declawing was invented in the 1950s in the US. It is now outdated and highly objectionable. There should be a trigger warning outside all American vets who perform the operation.

NEWS AND COMMENT - Jessamine County, Kentucky, USA: The video explains this sad story. It seems that some maniac has devised a new way to kill cats. Great, well-done. There's a guy on YouTube who commented on the video below. He said the cat killing was justified if the cat scratched a car! A mean: pathetic or what? RELATED:  Best and worst US states for animals . He's suggesting that it is okay to commit a crime and animal cruelty if a cat scratches a car. This is bad thinking. And in any case, it is not the cat's fault as cats behave naturally and instinctively. If a cat scratches a car and the car owner wants to blame someone, they must blame the cat's owner for letting their cat roam freely in an area where there are maniacs; not the cat. Obvious really. The police officer in the video says that the animal welfare laws of Kentucky are too soft. He believes that killing a cat with a dart should be a felony. It is nice to hear that from a police officer. He also said

Most cat breeds originate in America. Here is a list of 80 breeds of pedigree domestic cat and the countries where they originated. The top country is by far America, as expected, and the second most prolific country in this respect is Britain. America is without question the greatest country for cat aficionados. It has the biggest marketplace, if you wish to call it that, for domestic cats. The famous and doomed California Spangled. This was the world's most expensive cat at the time. RELATED:  The History of the California Spangled Cat . It should be noted, however, that the cat breeds represent quite a small percentage of the total number of domestic cats in America. I don't know the exact percentage but it'll be around 15% of all domestic cats in America will be purebred pedigree cats. The figure is around 10% in the UK. The following breeds originate in America : Maine Coon, Mexican Hairless, Himalayan, Karakul (no idea about this breed), modern Persian (flat-face), Ba

A well-known Ukrainian actress with a distinguished stage career, Oksana Shvets, was killed while she slept in her 16th-floor flat in Kyiv, Ukraine as a result of a freak accident, as it happens. Oksana Shvets. Photo in public domain (assessed). The flat is in the south-east of Kyiv miles from any frontline fighting or any previous missile strike. Regrettably, a missile that was flying above her flat was intercepted by Ukrainian rocket. The Russian missile exploded and broke into several parts. One of those parts flew through her bedroom window, while she was asleep, killing her instantly. Shvets was a known cat lover. She fed the local strays and took them in. At the moment she was struck by this piece of missile junk, it appears that her four cats were in her bedroom, perhaps on her bed at the time. Accordingly, they died with her. Perhaps we can be comforted by the fact that it must have been an instant death. Perhaps she did not even realise it for a second. It is incredibly sad th

I believe that the disease toxoplasmosis is somewhat underrated by many cat caregivers probably because the symptoms in people and cats are often all but invisible. But many are asymptomatically infected.  The 24-hour window Toxoplasmosis is one of the most prominent detriments to the overwhelming benefits of living with a domestic cat companion. A lot has been spoken about the danger of getting toxoplasmosis from your cat's faeces. This comes from the fact that domestic cats being the primary vector of the disease shed toxoplasma gondii oocysts in faeces for a short period of time after they been exposed to it. Toxoplasma gondii oocyst Although this is a one-off event covering a 2-week period it does happen, which is why domestic cats are heavily criticised by people who dislike cats. But the CDC in America tells us something very important about the shedding of oocysts in cat faeces and it is this. They say that they are only infective (i.e. capable of passing on the disease) aft

The video uploader describes this as a "brown bear". But the bear looks black to me 🤞! I'm not sure. But the question in the title is why is this enormous black bear scared of this tiny black cat? On the face of it there is no competition. Perhaps the bear is not hungry but it seems to me that he or she is inherently, at least, slightly scared or unsure of the black cat. This is pretty obvious from the video. And it must be down to the bear's character. And perhaps the circumstances play a role in this behaviour as well. My research indicates that black bears are inherently timid and with that background character this bear decided that it was just not worth the bother getting involved with this cat because there was the possibility of getting injured on the face. And my research also indicates that black bears are normally afraid of any animal that aggressively defend their territory. Unless we are talking about a female bear defending their young. Once again, the r

Steve Lucas, 65, responded to his wife's desperate pleas to be taken out of Ukraine with Lucky her cat because of Putin's invasion which is destroying the country. Steve Lucas met his wife Anastasia five years ago while working in Ukraine. They tied the knot while he was in Ukraine but the problem is he can't get a visa for her to bring her to the UK. The UK has got quite tough since Brexit on immigration and that toughness has spilled over to presenting barriers for refugees from the Ukraine war. This is immoral and the Home Office should do much more. 65-year-old British floor fitter drives to Ukraine to rescue his wife and her cat. Photo as per embedded credit. Anyway, I digress. Steve lives in the UK and Anastasia lives in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. She managed to get a train to Lviv in the relatively peaceful west of the country where the Russian troops have yet to arrive in force where she met up with Steve. A family gave her and Lucky shelter in their home whil

This is a quick note to remind ourselves that cat and dog food prices are going to go up because both Russia and Ukraine produce a lot of wheat and Putin's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted production and exportation of wheat to the rest of the world, which will force up prices of wheat and therefore the prices of products containing wheat which includes cat and dog food. Wheat is more expensive thanks to Putin's war. Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay Did you know that cat food contains a product called wheat middlings? Wheat middlings are the product of the wheat milling process that is not flour. It's a source of protein which is used in pasta and breakfast cereals as well as fodder for livestock and pets. Ukraine is known for its production of wheat. The country is being devastated by the invasion. The price of wheat has risen by almost 75% so far in 2022 and is now at its highest since 2008. Ukraine and Russia are top exporters of wheat. Ukraine is described as

Just another day in the life of a domestic cat although it looks impressive to many humans. To other humans it might look a bit annoying because you don't know what kind of damage he is doing. I do not think that he is doing damage, actually, because the structure on which he's climbing is suitable for climbing and I don't think it can be harmed by him. And he is having a hell of a lot of fun. It's the vertical movement which cats love. They have to have their daily fix. Ginger tabby Miko the Samoan cat is Spider Cat. Photo: the owner of Miko the Samoan cat. He lives in Japan. I just like the photograph. It's nice and symmetrical and this ginger tabby is looking very much like Spider-Man which is a very popular franchised film currently. That is why "spider cat" is a suitable title. We don't know what happened next. Cats are very good at going forwards and upwards but less good at going backwards and downwards. He must have shimmied down or simply t

NEWS AND COMMENT: The madman (actually he's not mad but behaves as if he is) Putin is allowing his troops to shoot up and shell animal shelters in Ukraine on a rampage of destruction with no rhyme or reason behind it. Except perhaps just to terrorise the civilians and to kill and maim wantonly. Putin is rapidly catching up with Hitler as the world's worst mass murderer. The problem is that the West is fighting with one arm behind their back because they are walking on egg shells as Putin has nukes and the big fear is that he may actually use them. Medical student in Ukraine flees with his two cats in his arms. Image: Reuters. In a better world, NATO would go in and defend Ukraine but if they do that, they may start a nuclear war. NATO is also walking on egg shells. Everything that is being done in support of Ukraine is one step removed from the real support that they need to beat Putin which is to fight and I fully understand but it is frustrating. And in the meantime, the thre

This is a nice picture of 7-year-old Violeta who made the 4-day journey from Odessa with her cat Richard.  It is good to see that she has a nice leash for Richard as the journey must have been fraught with problems and there will be more hazards to come when Richard might have the urge to run. And if your cat runs you might never see him again under these circumstances. I have seen many evacuees from Ukraine carrying cats without carriers. I have a couple of cats, one in each arm held by an Indian student who wanted to go home.  He was a foreign student in Ukraine as the fees are cheaper than in northern Europe. That would scare me as there would be a constant possibility that the cat would run out of fear if a bomb goes off and be impossible to find. 7-year-old Violeta and her large grey cat Richard evacuated from Odessa, Ukraine to Poland (picture). Photo: Twitter. One million people have been forced to flee their homes in Ukraine - among them 7 year old Violeta who made the 4 day

A research study tells us that endangered sharks are being used as "white bait" and "white fish" and "ocean fish" in cat and dog food. These are generic terms. There is no attempt to specify exactly what this food is. And the question is whether cat owners would stop buying cans of cat food if the products were properly labelled and shark meat specified in the labelling. Blue shark. Photo: Joost van Uffelen / Getty Images A lot of people nowadays are concerned about the environment. They are concerned about marine wildlife and overfishing. The argument is that the pet food manufacturers should be more transparent and honest. This is particularly so since the shark populations have declined by more than 70% over the past 50 years. They found through DNA testing that some of the shark meat in cat food comes from sharks which are endangered. The sale of their bodies and body parts are under some degree of control in terms of their trade as specified under

This is a personal view. Quite a lot of websites recommend diluted vinegar which you spray onto furniture to stop your cat companion scratching it. It's diluted so that the human caregiver doesn't smell it but the cat does because they have a superior sense of smell. I don't like the idea because although I have not tried it, I am convinced that I would smell the vinegar. Wide, double-sided tape is better than vinegar to prevent cat scratching on furniture. Photo: Amazon. The deterrent of vinegar for a domestic cat is its smell. Cats do have a superior sense of smell as mentioned but I just think the method is flawed. Both the cat and the human can smell things. The human is liable to smell the vinegar especially when they are sitting in an armchair right next to the stuff. Vinegar has a very noticeable and slightly unpleasant smell. You don't want to your home smelling like a fish and chip shop.  This seems to be likely if you have to spray three items of furniture.

Siamese cat instigates a play session with another cat in a novel way. I have always believed that domestic cats understand hard floors. You will see many videos of domestic cat sliding along hard floors. They recognise its properties which allow them to use the floor to please themselves and some cats like to slide along hard, tiled floors.  In this instance the Siamese cat has used the hard floor to propel himself along it on his back into his cat companion to ask whether they would like to play. The response cannot have been to his liking because the other cat jumped out of the way, somewhat shocked by what has just arrived. It appears that cats like the feel of the floor on their back.  I think that this is a similar pleasure that domestic cats experience when they roll around on their back on the ground, normally loose earth in a flower bed or something like that. It's a pleasant sensation for them.  My cat actually likes to roll around on hard concrete which has been quite ro