Flat-faced Persians bought for social media 'likes' are being abandoned

The title comes from The Telegraph which I can't read because you have to subscribe nowadays to this online newspaper. This, by the way, is a growing trend. The online newspapers simply aren't making enough money through advertising but I don't think people will subscribe to them in sufficient numbers.

Anyway, I digress because I know what The Telegraph is talking about even though I cannot read their article. It's a well-known phenomenon actually.

RSPCA campaign against the flat-faced Persian in which they tell the truth about the breed. Image: RSPCA.

The RSPCA can provide some information. They say that there has been a rise in Persian cats being abandoned to them between 2018 and 2022. 

On Facebook, the RSPCA state that: "Worryingly, there's been a 92% increase in Persian cats coming into our care in the last four years as the popularity of this flat-faced breed continues to rise. These cats are often seen as being cute because of their features, but in reality, they can suffer from: breathing difficulties, eye problems, difficulty sleeping."

They actually suffer from more problems than that such as PKD - polycystic kidney disease (35% of the Persian cats apparently suffer from this disease). And they have tear duct overflow which means the tear ducts are distorted and so tears do not drain away from the eyes but the liquid spills over down the front of the face where they face become stained.

It's a well-known problem that you have to clean the face of a Persian cat regularly. A number of celebrities in the UK have adopted Persian cats. Also, in India you will find that high-profile female celebrities like the Persian cat. In fact, in India, the Persian cat is perhaps the most popular cat breed together with the Siamese. These are very long-standing cat breeds and India has a young, emerging cat fancy and therefore they prefer the old breeds.

Punch-face Persian.

Indians living in India call the flat-based Persian a "punch-face Persian" in recognition of the fact that it looks as though somebody has punched in the face. It is an objectionable label sadly.

For example, in the UK, Kate Beckinsale, is obsessed with her Persian cats, Clive and Willow. They accompany her on her Instagram pages. Taylor Swift has not adopted a Persian cat.

In September 2012, Kim Kardashian adopted a Persian kitten. Although Taylor Swift has not adopted a Persian cat, preferring to select the Ragdoll and Scottish fold, she has promoted the concept of buying exotic domestic cat breeds which I think has encouraged others to do likewise to help create successful social media accounts such as on TikTok and Instagram.

Taylor Swift has, I believe, the highest number of followers on social media of anybody on the planet.

RELATED: Flat-faced Persian cat can’t eat conventionally because the food goes all over their face.

But when a person adopts a flat faced Persian in order to post pictures of them on social media, they will find out about the responsibility that they've taken on in looking after Persian cat which is at a slightly added level to normal. 

They will also find out that it is very hard to acquire lots of followers on social media and have a successful social media webpage. Nearly all of them fail.

So, when they have failed in their attempt to become social media stars, the Persian that they acquired no longer serves their purpose so they abandon the cat to the RSPCA. That, I believe, is the story. It is a great shame because the Persian cat is being used as a means to try and generate social media fame which a lot of people crave. It doesn't work actually unless you are Taylor Swift but then people follow her because of her love because of cats.

Separately, you will find that other well-known cat breeds are also used to try and generate fame for their owner, vicariously. The Maine Coon is a typical example. This is currently a very popular cat breed and because of their size they look very impressive in photographs. 

You will see many TikTok and Instagram accounts in which the account holder shows off her Maine Coon cat and how they develop from kittens to giants. The same objective is being followed for the owner of these cats: to achieve social media fame through their cat.

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Please forgive any typos. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I can't spend long on them as they are not seen by a lot of people nowadays! Sad but true.

How did Doja Cat make up her stage name?

Doja Cat complains about the behavior of her fans. Screenshot.

The creation of her stage name is a short story! But we have it from the woman herself. According to Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, her real name, she made up her stage name, Doja Cat, because she loves cats and cannabis! In her own words:

"I was heavily addicted to weed and weed culture, so when I began rapping, I thought of the word ‘doja’ and how it sounds like a girl’s name."

At the time she admits that she was "an alcoholic teen". I wonder if she has changed her thoughts about her name bearing in mind what I say below.

LinkedIn says:

In an interview with Genius, she revealed that "doja" is a slang term that means marijuana. She explained that the name was given to her as a tribute to the weed culture, which is prevalent in Los Angeles, where she grew up. As a teenager, Doja Cat was exposed to the weed culture and became fascinated by it.

That's the origin have her name and I have a follow-up story to it. 

Separately, Doja Cat has hit out at some of her fans. She's not happy with the way they are supporting her.

She took aim at her fans on the social media app Threads, which is a new Facebook Twitter-like social media platform.

Some of her fans use the nickname "Kittenz". It describes a fan community but, as mentioned, she doesn't like it. She said:

“My fans don’t get to name themselves s***. If you call yourself a ‘Kitten’ or f***ing ‘Kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”

Very strong words as you can see. She is obviously confident that she can retain fan support even if she criticises them heavily.

There is a Twitter tweet on the topic about her supporters calling themselves "Kittenz".

Doja Cat’s top fan pages are deactivating their accounts after she criticized supporters for calling themselves 'Kittenz'. pic.twitter.com/Zy54M3y2ZS

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 23, 2023

For those people who have not heard of Doja Cat, here is a very brief resume. She was born on October 21, 1995. She is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud. She earned viral success as an Internet meme with her 2018 single-a novelty song-called "Mooo!".

Paddy Gower doesn't understand why it's wrong to cull feral cat in New Zealand

My take: feral cats are killing native birds, bats and even dolphins - so why are Kiwis so mad when we cull them? https://t.co/ZXbwp7b4GI

— Patrick Gower (@patrickgowernz) July 5, 2023

Patrick Gower is a New Zealand politician journalist and National Correspondent for Newshub. Incidentally, I cannot access the Newshub website on which there is a discussion about killing all feral cats in New Zealand because I am in Europe (crazy I say). 

Paddy Gower. Image: Stuff.co.nz.

But as you can see from the tweet by Paddy Gower, he doesn't understand why Kiwis (New Zealand citizens) are so mad when the authorities want to cull feral cats because they are killing native birds, bats and even dolphins he says.

The reference to dolphins by the way is this: Toxoplasma gondii oocysts are shed in cat faeces (once and for about 10 days) and they sometimes make their way to the oceans where they can infect marine wildlife. Although it is very, very rare and they have been very few reports of this happening.

It's a reflection of his bias against feral cats. Although I can understand what appears to be his hatred of feral cats. He is passionate about conserving New Zealand's native species as Australians are with their species.

I am going to try and explain to him why Kiwis are so mad at culling feral cats. Clearly these Kiwis are people who are sensitive to the sentience of feral cats. He isn't. He practices speciesism which means he favours one species over another.

He doesn't mind shooting feral cats which causes a lot of pain and distress. Therefore, he doesn't mind being cruel to feral cats. So one reason why it's wrong to shoot feral cats or poison them is because it is cruel.

Perhaps a more important reason is the fact that human beings through their carelessness put feral cats on the planet in the first place. If somebody is careless and creates a problem, they then owe a duty to others to solve the problem in a decent and humane way if that problem concerns animals.

That's logical. That is common sense. Simply shooting and poisoning feral cats is not dealing with a human problem humanely. That's another reason why it's wrong.

And thirdly, when you go out of your way to kill feral cats in large numbers you cannot do it in a way which is precise enough to ensure that you are not killing someone's pet domestic cat. At a distance you can't tell the difference between feral cats and domestic cats. 

And if you have devices which chuck poison gel onto passing animals you are going to kill feral cats certainly but you are also going to kill other animals including, possibly, someone else's pet cat.

And it seems to me you might also kill one of New Zealand's native species. Those are three good reasons why Kiwis are mad or should be mad about culling feral cats.

But I'm afraid Patrick Gower doesn't get it. This indicates to me that he is stupid or he is too biased to have an open mind to what's wrong with the proposal to kill all feral cats in New Zealand in any way possible and as expediently as possible.

If you want to kill feral cats kill them humanely and do the decent thing which can only mean euthanising them by veterinarian. That of course is nowhere near fast enough and it will be far too expensive and irritating to people like Patrick Gower to contemplate.

Gustav Klimt's masterpiece is the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe and his studio cats destroyed his drawings!

Gustav Klimt had about eight cats in his studio destroying his drawings. He was a cat lover. No question about it. The picture below is of Klimt and his cat 'Katz' - a German surname from the German word "Katze." meaning cat.

Klimt and Katz. Credits: Far Out / WikiArt / Picryl)

He did not like to paint himself and preferred to paint women. His studio was a complete mess according to art critic Arthur Roessler, who visited the artist's studio. He was surprised perhaps shocked at the conditions under which Klimt worked.

The description is of a pile of drawings and papers together with up to 10 meowing and purring cats, play-fighting with each other. Roessler was surprised to see the cats which spoiled "hundreds of the most beautiful drawings".

Gustav Klimt appeared to be unconcerned. When the art critic queried what he was doing in allowing the cats to damage his artwork, he said that it doesn't matter even if they crumple and tear the papers because urine "makes the best fixing agent!"

But the fact is that apparently urine had damaged the drawings. Perhaps Gustav Klimt had got used to the smell of it. Domestic cat urine does not make a fixing agent by the way.

Gustav Klimt is in the news not because of his love of cats and allowing his cats to rummage around his studio which appears to have been in a complete mess, but because his works are being fully appreciated by the buying public as a painting of his, Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) is the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe at $108 million. That price includes the commission to the auctioneer which is known as the buyer's premium.

The actual hammer price was £74 million (US$94.35 million). It exceeded the presale estimate of £65 million by a big margin. The previous European auction record was US$104.3 million (£65 million)

Suicidal social media influencer quits after death threats because she killed two cats as a child

You may remember this story. It is rather disturbing in several ways. The woman concerned is Emma Claiir. Her name is spelled correctly. The headline is: "Social media influencer quits and says that she was left suicidal after receiving death threats because of her admission that she killed two cats as a child."

She is an Australian. In April, she admitted to her 105,000 followers that she killed two cats when she was a child. Her admission occurred on an episode of her pod cast, Simply Chaotic. 

Emma Claiir. Image: Instagram.

It was a bizarre confession. Her co-host, Christy Jean, on the pod cast was stunned by it. She said that she didn't mean to kill the cats but that she was a child.

She said: "I was swinging my cat around. Like, I was thinking it was a stuffed toy. And I accidental let go of it."

She believes that the cat died from fright rather than because of injuries suffered as it was hurled across the room. During her confession, she giggled and explained that "this happened years and years and years [ago]". And she went on to explain that she also killed her best friend's cat by accident.

Her honest confession shattered her life. She received widespread criticism and she was dropped by makeup company MCoBeauty not long afterwards. Three more brands then cut ties with her. One of them is a vegan make up company that promotes how it does not test its products on animals. You can understand why they cut ties.

Social media influencers depend upon these sorts of arrangements to generate an income stream. So, she lost a lot of income. We don't know the precise amounts but it may be that she decided that it was no longer worth it being a social media influencer.

But it goes deeper and wider than that. She says that the story got taken out of proportion and that people started to witch-hunt her. She felt that they wanted to destroy her.

She said:

"I lost my job; my mental health was impacted massively and people were just having a laugh about it. I realised it was taking me away from my son and making me not present with him so I took a small break."

She added:

"Since my return after that people decided it was okay to spread cheating rumours, make up lies and try to continue to ruin the life of a new mother who was already pretty open about her mental health struggles in life. Not only did I have haters trying to ruin my life and spread hate and rumours but I also had close friends doing the same. Friends who I thought were there for me, friends who I trusted and friends who I thought would never stab me in the back."

She reached breaking point. She felt unsafe in her own bubble. She started to feel unsafe in her home. Her anxiety increased when she went out into public places. She felt violated. There were death threats. The lies and rumours mounted and became louder and oppressive.

She considered ending her life. Eventually her mental health "finally crumbled. I entered a very dark space that was extremely scary and unfamiliar".

She told herself that the only way to make the nightmare go away was to take her own life. She said:

"The only way to make the haters happy was if I disappeared for good and officially left this world. Maybe my son and my husband really would be better off without me and I should just let them go, maybe my friends and family will also be better off without me, so I should just let them go. These are thoughts no new mother should be having."

She left a very long post on social media in which she signed off from the role of social media influencer. It concludes like this:

"Now to end. I have and always will be a mental health advocate. It is something that is so close to my heart and something I witness every day in myself and my family. Working online I always wanted to be open about my struggles and help those who needed it, help those who needed to feel less alone or those who needed that little push to get the help they needed. I never would have gotten through what I went through if it wasn't for seeking help from professionals and those around me. Check in with your family, your friends and most importantly yourself. Take a step back and ask yourself if your actions could be damaging and dangerous to someone's mental health. And lastly always remember that the online space can be horrible, fake and harmful whether you have a following or not, so it's okay, strong and powerful to walk away when needed. With love, Emma Claiir."

Comment: I really, really think that she's much better off quitting being a social media influencer. That kind of role is indeed potentially and often actually very toxic. She made a mistake and she's paid the price. But I think there is a silver lining for her; to live a more normal life not a fake life on social media pretending to be somebody she probably isn't.

Holly Willoughby's self-indulgent "women-will-survive-in-a-man's-world" speech is a rip-off of Jennifer Aniston's

The whole Philip Schofield saga is a mountain out of a molehill story of gargantuan proportions. It is ridiculous as many commenters have said. What did he do? He lied. Everyone lies. He had a consensual affair with a person of the same sex. That happens a lot too. He did nothing illegal as far as we know. So, what is going on?

And Holly Willoughby's speech, for me, is sickening. It is so self-indulgent. The tone is screaming to me that women are suffering and bravely surviving in a rotten male-made world. "We will survive" is stamped all over that image of another presenter, Josie Gibson, holding her hand in support. She is playing the victim looking for sympathy. 

Willoughby would not have made this bizarre, crisis speech if her co-presenter had been a woman who'd had a same-sex affair and lied about it.

Image: MikeB

The 'girls' against the men.  They always like to refer to themselves as 'girls' when they are women. It makes them more vulnerable in this horrible male world. Men are monsters and the girls have to be brave to survive it.

She enhanced her message by dressing in pure white. The angel with an anti-man message.

That's the message I get and it is sickening. And as they are now saying Willoughby appears to have ripped off Aniston's speech when playing Alex Levy in the drama The Morning Show.

She starts: “And to you at home, I understand how you must be feeling because I and the whole team here at The Morning Show are feeling the same way.”

Willoughby starts with a modified version: "Firstly, are you okay?...I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have – shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.

No, I am not shaken. I am fine, thank you. It's all fluff and stupid.

It is all so artificial and a load of puffed up, fluffed up nonsense.

It's not just me who's sickened by this performance. Carol Midgly writing in The Times todays described Willoughby's speech as "cynical pass-the-sickbag stuff". 

She says it was a "schmaltzy let's hug it out-athlon". Schofield was thrown into the dustbin which supports my view that this was an anti-male speech. It portrays men as the bad guys.

Ironic as Schofield seems to me to be a gentle soul. He comes across as nice. I think this is why the news media and some ITV colleagues have been so unnecessarily critical of him. He presented as the nice man. That was his public persona. But he is normal. He can lie and not be Mr Perfect. For that reason, he has been hammered.

Note: Sorry but this has nothing to do with cats. She even prefers dogs to cats and has a pet dog.

Two Ragdoll cats go missing INSIDE their home!

Yep, this is an example of how domestic cats can genuinely go missing even when they are full-time indoor cats and they have not escaped to the outside. It happened to me once. You're convinced that your cat has escaped the home and that you'll never see them again. You search frantically for what seems like ages and scratch your head to try and figure out where your cat or cats are.

You then finally find your cat or cats tucked away in a place that you never imagined they'd be. That happened to me when I fostered a little tabby kitten who grew up to became my best friend. He'd placed himself inside the double-bed storage area under the mattress.

Zara with her Ragdolls. Image: Instagram

In the case of Love Island's Zara McDermott, her cats were hidden inside an electrical cupboard in the basement with the door jammed shut!

Zara said: "I just had a near mental breakdown because I home and I couldn't find the cats anywhere, I spent 20 mins searching every room and cupboard for them and I couldn't see them.

"Anyway, long story short my brother calmed me down on the phone and I started searching every part of the house top to bottom, I found them inside an electrical cupboard in the basement...

Ragdolls cats go missing inside their home. Image: Instagram

My guess? The cats found a nice cosy cubby-hole to snooze away some hours while Zara was away and the door shut because the cats knocked the broom that was in there.

Zara was beside herself with anxiety believing that she had lost her beloved Ragdolls. I understand her feelings. It happened to me as mentioned but my cat - who's on my legs as I type this - is a humble moggie. Just as good though.

Doja Cat dressed head to toe in glittering cat garb with facial prosthetics at Met Ball 2023

Doja Cat does it big at the Met Gala 2023 with a glittering Oscar de la Renta cat gown featuring cat ears and facial prosthetics to mould her face to resemble feline features. She's gone the whole hog and it works well. 

FYI - The Met Gala or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City.

In other words, it is a chance for some high-profile ladies to show off their wares. To throw some money at it and dress up to the max.

Does she have a cat?? 

A while ago I wrote on this topic and I start the article: 

"Yes, Doja Cat has a cat. In fact, it is believed that she has more than one cat. We know this because the inspiration for her stage name was weed and 'one of her cats'. In case you are unsure, her real name is Amalaratna Zandile Dlamini and she is an American rapper."

She said:

I was heavily addicted to weed and weed culture, so when I began rapping, I thought of the word 'Doja' and how it sounds like a girl's name

Link to the article.

2023 Carole Baskin and Nathan Winograd are America's two top animal advocates

I am going to have the temerity to name America's two greatest animal welfare advocates as at 2023. They are Carole Baskin and Nathan Winograd. And neatly, we can divide their efforts into two camps. 

Carole Baskin is an animal advocate for cats, specifically the big cats, wild cats in general and even wildcat hybrids (she hates the idea of creating wildcat hybrids). 

And on the domestic cat side, Nathan Winograd, has been and continues to be a tireless campaigner for the rights of rescue animals in America's shelters and pounds.

Baskin and Winograd. Image: MikeB based in images in the public domain.

Carole Baskin

You might know that she campaigned relentlessly for an improvement in welfare of big cats. There were far too many at private zoos all across America. America was and still is - until the Big Public Safety Act fully takes effect - the nation where there were the greatest number of big cat 'pets' in private zoos.

Join us in celebrating the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act which banned contact with big cats and their cubs, and phases out private ownership of big cats! We have campaigned for this change since the 90s and on Dec. 20, 2022 it was signed into law!  This is the first step to saving wild cats, in the wild, where they belong. - Carole Baskin on BCR at May 2023.

There are an estimated 20,000 big cats kept in private ownership in the US. Carole Baskin's rescue center in Florida, Big Cat Rescue (BCR), picked up some of the pieces of bad big cat ownership. 

With her job effectively done she is now selling BCR and finding alternative outlets for her passion to improve animal welfare. The substantial money that she will raise will be used in projects I understand.

Carole Baskin, almost single-handedly, instigated and forced through the enactment of the Big Cat Safety Act in the UK. It is she who has saved the abuse of so many cubs from roadside tiger and lion cub petting sessions. 

And the abuse that followed with the adults becoming commercially useless beyond a certain age so what happened to them? They were probably euthanised.

The horrible exploitation of big cubs has ended. Although Carole Baskin is the prime mover and shaker in ending the private ownership of big cats in America, we have to thank indirectly a man who is currently in jail for conspiracy to murder Carole Baskin. His name is Joe Exotic. He was the biggest private zoo owner in America at one time.

He hates Carole Baskin because she was so strongly against his kind of operation. His presence motivated her. He hated her so much that he conspired to kill her. And he was found out and was successfully prosecuted for that conspiracy and animal abuse offences.

Carole Baskin triumphed over the private zoo brigade. What a woman.

Big Cat Safety Act

Registration: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of America announced on 18 April 2023 that individuals who own big cats which includes cougars and hybrids of the species must register them with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service by the end of the day on June 18, 2023. That is in order to comply with the requirements of that act.

Current owners can keep their animals provided they are registered as per the act and provided that they abide by state and federal regulations. But once the animal's life has ended, that person will no longer be able to own and/or possess a big cat.

The act allows existing owners to continue with ownership until their zoo inventory no longer exists because of the end of the lifespans of these animals.  Of course, it does not apply to bona fide zoos and other authorized establishments.  It applies to John Doe, the individual who fancies possessing a big cat.

Nathan Winograd

He is a great man who has fought tirelessly for a no-kill policy in all of America's animal shelters and pounds. He believes that it is possible for an animal shelter to greatly improve their rehoming of animals in their charge. 

He believes that it is possible to not euthanise any or hardly any animals at shelters (90% save rate is the target) provided the administrators use all means possible to both prevent taking in rescue animals and facilitate the adoption of those animals.

By preventing intake, I don't mean physically preventing it. I mean that they should do all they can to improve cat and dog ownership in the area where they operate. There are two sides to the cat and dog rescue situation. 

There are those that abandon their cats and dogs when they don't need to or they shouldn't and there are those that don't adopt those cats and dogs because they're rather buy a purebred cat or not adopt.

It's down to the people involved in organising animal shelters to tackle both those challenges in my view. In the UK, for instance, there has been a surge in adoptions i.e. purchases of purebred cats over rescue cats during 2022. According to Cats Protection, 38% of people adopted cats during 2022 adopted a purebred cat.

The point is this though that Nathan Winograd continues through his newsletters, speeches and website to improve the running of animal shelters in America to save lives.

PETA

There is one aspect of Mr Winograd's argument that I disagree with, however. He hates PETA and believes that it is an organisation which kills cats unnecessarily. Winograd and PETA have entirely different point of view on some important aspects of animal rescue. I think they should work together by finding common ground.

However, both PETA and Winograd have very strong views which means that it is unlikely they will be able to find common ground.

Charles Barkley just said a cat is not a real pet because it’s not a dog

Charles Barkley. Image: Getty.

Charles Barkley has a presence and a voice on American television (see about him below). He is a sports pundit and recently made a rather strange statement: "A cat is not a real pet because it’s not a dog".

"Man, Chuck can never cease to surprise us with his opinions and takes. NBA Twitter heard the same and they couldn’t help but troll."

What does it mean?!

No one knows!! Seriously, I'll take a pot shot at interpreting this bizarre statement made on television.

As is probably typical of many male American basketball players, he is almost certainly a dog lover to the point where he regards dogs as the only true companion animal. This excludes cats.

He may believe that cats are too independent and not domesticated enough compared to the fawning, obedient and human-worshipping dog to be classified as pets.

He may be scared of cats! A lot of people are. They think they are aloof and sinister. They don't understand cats and don't take the time to try and understand them. Cats make great companions to hundreds of millions of humans across the planet.

Joking

I am sure that he was at least half-joking. Having a bit of fun. Male banter. That kind of stuff. With a little hint of truth from his perspective. 

Reflective of his true feelings?

The statement probably does reflect a dislike or even a hatred of cats. A spontaneous utterance revealing the truth in the deepest recesses of his conscience!

About Charles

Charles Barkley is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 16 seasons. He was born on February 20, 1963, in Leeds, Alabama, USA. Barkley is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history, known for his fierce competitiveness, physical play, and exceptional rebounding ability.

Barkley played college basketball at Auburn University and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984. He played for the 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Houston Rockets during his NBA career, and was named an NBA All-Star 11 times. 

Barkley also won two Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States men's basketball team in 1992 and 1996.After retiring from basketball, Barkley has worked as a television analyst for TNT's "Inside the NBA" and has been known for his candid and often controversial opinions on various topics related to sports and society.

Katie Price should be banned from owning pets. Discuss.

NEWS AND COMMENT: Recent news media reports indicate two stark facts about Katie Price's ownership of companion animals (1) she has lost six pets through accidental death during her time as a caregiver and (2) she's recently lost her sixth, a pet pooch, who ran into the road and was run over by a car outside her home.

Price with puppy Captain. Image: her Instagram channel.

Her disastrous attempts at companion animal ownership have resulted in observers of this British celebrity calling for her to be banned from owning any more companion animals. She is a slow-motion car crash when it comes to companion animal ownership. Note: to be banned she'd have to be prosecuted in the criminal courts for animal cruelty and that is highly unlikely.

Katie Price is reportedly in "bits" over the loss of her pet pooch. The dog's death on the road was reported as "rotten luck" by The Sun newspaper. Apparently, the dog ran out into the road after a gate to her property was opened. Looks more like carelessness to me.

"A puppy has died in the last 24 hours in Katie Price's 'care' she bought this puppy for her 13-year-old child 3 weeks ago. Which was killed in an accident no one witnessed." - the petition on change.org.

I'm going to speculate about the pooch's death because this is an opinion piece. Katie Price wants to go out perhaps to her car with her dog. She opens the gate without her dog being on a lead. Outside her home is a road. The dog in their excitement runs into the road. A car comes by. The car hits and kills her dog. Would it not have been better if she'd had her dog on a leash at that time bearing in mind that there is road traffic outside her home? This points to careless dog ownership.

We are told by the Mirror newspaper that more than 24,000 people have signed a petition which claims that Katie's pets are dying due to a lack of proper care. They say that no more animals need to die and a ban should be in place against her.

The catalogue of animal deaths in her care is rather startling. Back in 2017 one of Katie's horses was killed after it was struck by a vehicle. 12 months later, a driver ran over her Alsatian, Queenie.

And then her pet chameleon died of a 'broken heart' in the same year when her children went to stay with their dad Peter Andre.

And then, Price's Alsatian Sparkle was struck by another car in 2020. And then months later her French Bulldog Rolo was apparently suffocated when her nanny sat on the dog!

Apparently, she was forced to give up another Alsatian dog called Bear because the animal was attacking other animals. More careless companion animal ownership.

We are told that Ms Price is devastated about the petition demanding that she be banned from owning animals. She currently owns chihuahuas Captain, Buddy and Batman. She also currently owns a guard dog called Blade. How long will they last?

"Katie is aware of this petition. It comes as a devastating blow as it is wholly biased, based on hearsay and not actual fact. Katie loves her animals, to say otherwise is incorrect, unjust and unkind, it couldn’t be further from the truth." - a spokesperson for Katie. Comment: yes, she likes animals and cares but is far too damned careless and chaotic to be a fit and proper caregiver.

The petition apparently claims that Katie Price had puppies which allegedly drowned in a neglected swimming pool. And also, one of her cats was ripped apart by her dogs (by Bear perhaps?).

Katie Price lives in a "Mucky Mansion". That is a reference to a disorganised and untidy and perhaps dirty large house which appears to be outside a busy road judging by the number of animals of hers killed on the road. She gave her mansion a facelift recently. A temporary respite to the muckiness.

You would have thought that she would have learnt her lesson by now to keep dogs on a lead when she leaves her home.

Katie Price has been involved in several road accidents and criminal behaviour (drunk driving and driving without insurance for example) regarding driving as I recall. She has avoided jail by some miracle. She appears to live a chaotic life with scant regard for animal welfare.

P.S. She pops over to Turkey regularly for some cheap plastic surgery top ups. Her boobs perhaps or her face. It is never ending. Troubled person? Looks like it.

Will Powers is a celebrity seeker living vicariously through his Guinness World Record Savannah cat

OPINION ON THE NEWS: Dr. William John Powers of Farmington Hills, USA is all over the news and has been for about a month. There are endless numbers of pictures of him with his Guinness World Records titleholder as the world's tallest living domestic cat.

Fenrir and Powers. The Guinness World Records tallest domestic cand his owner. Image: Guinness World Records.

The accolade goes to Fenrir, a second filial Savannah cat measuring 18.83 inches to the shoulder on January 29, 2021.

I have a strong sense that this man, a Michigan physician and HIV specialist, is desperate for celebrity and he gets it vicariously through his cats.

I say 'cats' because four of Powers' cats have officially won the following Guinness World Records:

1. Altair Cygnus Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. His tail measures 16.07 inches.
2. Arcturus Aldebaran Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the tallest cat ever, and previously held the title for the tallest living domestic cat. He died in a fire in 2017.
3. Cygnus Regulus Powers – A silver Maine Coon who held the record for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. Cygnus also died in the 2017 fire. 

He always names his cats after him. More publicity seeking in my opinion.

Mr Powers story is rather remarkable because two of his previous record holders as you can note above died in a fire.

But what is apparent is that he is constantly chasing records. I think he does this because he knows he will achieve celebrity. And I don't like it. There is something wrong with the man.

There is an absurd obsession by humankind in chasing cat records. What is the point of this record? It is the tallest domestic cat from the ground to the shoulder. Does that really mean anything?

It just means that the cat has long legs! Unsurprising as the wild cat ancestor of the Savannah cat is the serval which has the longest legs to body size of all cats. 

It doesn't mean that Fenrir is the biggest domestic cat. There are some extraordinary Maine Coon cats which are bigger than this Savannah cat.

This particular Guinness World Record is, as I have suggested almost meaningless, but Mr Powers has latched onto it, perhaps realising that it is a rather artificial award but nonetheless gone for it and achieved the result he wanted.

In an earlier post I suggested, tentatively, that Fenrir was a little bit overweight. He seems to have fixed that problem but in a recent interview he states that Fenrir is "ravenously" hungry. This has put pressure on Mr Powers to limit his cat's diet because he was getting too big.

It seems, therefore, that I was correct in my assessment. However, in more recent photographs it appears that he has lost some weight.

It is nearly always Savannah cats which achieve this particular award. The most famous Savannah cat to achieve it was Magic. I made a video about this cat. Actually, I made more than one video. She was a female. I don't know whether she still alive.

She was an F1 Savannah cat. Fenrir is an F2 Savannah cat which means second generation from the wild. Normally F1s are larger than F2s but clearly that is not always the case.

As I recall, Guinness World Records did away with the world's fattest cat because it encouraged people to overfeed their cats and make them unhealthily fat.

I personally don't think Guinness should be involved with world records for domestic cats. I'm being a grumpy old man, but it tends to encourage human behaviour which is not really desirable.

Cat-loving Taylor Swift tops a table of celebrity private aircraft polluters

Although Taylor Swift has defended herself by saying that she loans out her aircraft to others, she has been found to be top of a table of celebrity private aircraft polluters with 170 flights on her jet in 2022 to July 29 according to a digital sustainability company, Yard, and as reported in The Times newspaper today.

Image: Pinterest.

Taylor Swift's Falcon 7X clocked up nearly 16 days in the air to July 29. The average flight time was 80 minutes covering a distance of 139.36 miles. The calculated emissions were almost 8,300 tons of carbon dioxide. This is 1184.8 times the average person's.

You will find pictures on the Internet of Taylor Swift in her Falcon 7X jet with one of her cats on her lap. She does like to travel with her cats as I understand it. But she does tend to relate to her cats as babies in my view which I don't think it's helpful because it is better to relate to your cat companion as a cat as it is more respectful and it leads to better caregiving. But it not a big deal. The important thing is that she loves cats and is good caregiver.

Taylor Swift's Falcon 7X. Image: Christopher Peterson/Splash News.

Taylor Swift tops the league of polluters through the use of private jets but, as mentioned, she does defend herself and I am an admirer of hers by the way. The information apparently comes from Yard who use the Twitter account of @CelebJets, which tracks the movements of the jet-owning celebrities of the world using GPS and detailed maps. I don't know whether this is an unacceptable invasion of privacy but they are able to do it in great detail and therefore calculate the carbon dioxide pollution. I guess the information on their travel arrangements is in the public domain in the first place.

Floyd Mayweather the retired boxer is a close second behind Swift. Allegedly his jet emitted more than 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide in the same period. Jay-Z is third on the list but a spokesperson for the rapper said that he no longer owns the plane.

Fourth on the list is Alex Rodriguez, a retired baseball player. This comes Blake Shelton and sixth is Stephen Spielberg with Kim Kardashian coming seventh. Mark Wahlberg comes eight and Oprah Winfrey comes ninth. 10th on the list is Travis Scott.

Polluting the environment with carbon dioxide has become a serious issue as it affects the planet and therefore us all going forward, including our cats.  We all have a responsibility to do our bit. Although I fully appreciate how hard that can be when governments are doing nowhere near enough.

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.

Jay Leno - "Every quality that women hate in a man they love in a cat"

You have to admit that Jay Leno is smart and talented. He also loves automobiles. You may have seen his fantastic collection in his own super-clean facility in California. He says that California is a great place to collect cars because the weather is so good. It doesn't get wet and damp which eventually damages a car's appearance. He also loves cats. Which means that I love him because anybody who loves cats and who is smart and talented has got to be admired.

He took the trouble of making a video, a funny cat video, for his appearance on The Ellen Show.

This is partly a testament to his wealth I would say. He has the money to ask one of his colleagues to knock together a funny cat video. He is quite involved with the making of videos because he has a very successful YouTube channel in which he presents his vehicles. But it's just nice to see him do this in a smart/funny way.

RELATED: ‘Cat love bites’ – what do they mean and why do they happen?

An Internet search quickly provides me with some information about Jay Leno and his love of cats. It's not just him but his wife also. I wonder if his wife introduced him to his feline friends?

There is a quote online by him which goes like this:

"I've never understood why women love cats. Cats are independent, they don't listen, they don't come in when you call, they like to stay out all night, and when they're home they like to be left alone and sleep. In other words, every quality that women hate in a man they love in a cat".

Do you want to try and unravel that? Perhaps it's impossible. Too complicated. Clearly women allow much more leeway with their feline friend than they do with their male friends and spouses.

Perhaps this is all about the kind of relationship that people have with cats. It's a much more balanced relationship. While writing this, I think I have found a reason to explain the above quote. Humans tend to play games. People can become suspicious and distrustful. They lie and hide behaviour which they think might undermine their public profile.

Jay Leno and his cat. Screenshot.

The human world is a tricky world. What you see is not what you get, very often. This is the exact opposite to what you get with a cat. Everything is laid out in front of you. You know exactly what they're doing and thinking (if you have a decent understanding of feline behaviour). 

But the point is they don't play games and they don't lie and muck you about. It is a very simple, direct, and in the best homes, loving relationship. Their reliability is enormous in comparison to many people. It's unconditional. This builds trust whereas distrust can lead to developing the kind of attitude that some women have for some men and as hinted at in Jay Leno's quote above.

Taylor Swift celebrates Benjamin Button's birthday by lip-syncing her song "22"

On her Instagram page, Taylor Swift, lip-syncs to her upbeat song "22" in celebration of her Ragdoll cat, Benjamin Button's 22nd birthday in cat years. As a rough estimate you divide by seven so I'm guessing that Benjamin is about three years old.

Taylor Swift celebrates Benjamin Button's birthday by lip syncing her song "22". Montage: MikeB based on screenshots.

The pop superstar celebrated her 32nd birthday on December 13. She took to her Instagram account on Monday, December 27, to share her video while sitting alongside her adorable purebred cat. Ragdoll cats are particularly attractive, perhaps the most attractive of all purebred cats.

RELATED: Taylor Swift falls in love with Benjamin Button (a Ragdoll kitten ‘purrbox’).

The recording used a New Year's themed filter and the brief clip features swirling confetti and Swift wearing a headband that reads “I’m Feeling 2022".

You can watch the video on Instagram by clicking on this link. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CX_inZjhMPY/

It has received 2,539,963 likes ❤. That is because Taylor Swift has 194 million followers on her Instagram pages. It might surprise you to know that that places her 14th in the current list of most followed Instagram celebrities. The top spot is Instagram itself at 453 million followers. The top genuine spot by an individual person is Christian Ronaldo at 381 million followers.

Biden family are adopting a cat

NEWS AND COMMENT-WHITE HOUSE: It is all over the news and it is pleasing news for people who like and live with domestic cats. We know that the Bidens like animals and so you could say it's about time they adopted a White House cat. There's a cat waiting in the wings, apparently, currently with a foster carer, which they are going to bring to the White House in January 2022. That is the sum total of the news about the Bidens and a new cat.

Jill Biden and Major in the foreground. Photo: Jill Biden.

They've also adopted a new dog whose name is Commander. It appears that their two-year-old dog, Major, couldn't settle in the White House and they have wisely, I would say, decided to rehome him. There were reports of him nipping people or a person. I don't think these were really difficult situations but he was clearly unhappy. Perhaps these were defensive bites because of stress. He's gone to a quieter home with family friends. It's best for him.

Major has not been at the White House since the beginning of the year. He was undergoing 'additional training'. Commander is the sole companion animal at the moment at the White House.

I suppose, on a realistic note, the Mr and Mrs Biden will have to ensure that their new cat fits in. It depends upon the individual's character. But bringing in a new cat into the White House is not the same as bringing a new cat into a three bedroomed, semi-detached house in Washington DC.

There's lots of activity I guess at the White House, a lot of people, noise and disturbances from time to time. The new cat is going to have to be well selected which I think he is. We don't know the cat's gender but for the sake of convenience I have described him as male.

When they placed a mouser at Downing Street in the UK, the residence and office of the Prime Minister, they went to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home to select an individual that they believed could cope well under tricky conditions for a domestic cat. He had problems with the new dog, Dilyn apparently.

Larry the cat at number 10 Downing Street is spraying urine to mark territory on the arrival of Dilyn the dog

The Bidens' new cat is going to have to get on with Commander and settle in quickly and feel confident and relaxed in their high profile role. There will be lots of news about him or her. I'm sure the Bidens want it to go very well. They don't want to be seen as failing. It would not look good if they had to rehome their new cat having already rehomed Major.

It's good news though. It's good for domestic cats to have a high profile feline in the White House to generate some pleasant, light-hearted cat news for the future.

Bear Grylls regrets the killing of animals on his survival television shows

Bear Grylls has admitted that too many animals were killed during his early television shows in the name of survival. He believes that it is far better to forage for dead animals when surviving under incredibly harsh conditions. During his survival show The Island contestants were featured killing snakes and an iguana. He has also killed rabbits and frogs as part of his expeditions.

Bear Grylls. Photo: Wikipedia.

He regrets the practice now and believes that survivors should live off animals that are already dead. He was speaking on BBC Radio 4. He said:

"I think in terms of survival and food; definitely in the early days we were killing way too many snakes and stuff like that in the name of survival. I've moved so far away from that nowadays. It's always about finding carcasses, bugs and grubs. If you look at great survivors historically they are always the foragers."

He also believes that if you go after big game you take too big a risk and you are using your energy inefficiently. Also, the increased popularity of veganism and vegetarianism has changed his mind. He's taken many stars who are vegan and vegetarian into the wild and he respects them and their views.

And, his position on climate change has changed as well. This is because he has seen far too many consequences of climate change during his travels over every corner of the planet. He said:

"I've seen it [global warming] in every corner of our great planet-extreme one-off weather, freak conditions, totally unseasonal flooding, unprecedented wildfires, polluted broken oceans that are often, I've seen, starting to turn to swamps. Thousands of remote Pacific islands covered, so you can't even see the ground, in plastic and rubbish. Habitat and wilderness starving."

Bear Grylls is influential. He is a big voice on television and I hope that these views are heard. There are still too many people on the planet who see nothing wrong in killing animals for pleasure never mind for survival. And there are still far too many climate change sceptics. There is almost nothing you can do to change their minds. They remind me of the anti-vaxxers who don't believe in vaccinations but they do believe in conspiracy theories. You can't change their mind either. They have rigid ways of thinking and are completely convinced that they are correct when it is clear that they are incorrect.

Oscar Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay's son) carries the family's Exotic Shorthair incorrectly

Of course, Gordon Ramsay has a very high hitting Instagram account with over 13 million subscribers. And he has a son called Oscar. And the family also has what appears to me to be a pointed Exotic Shorthair cat. A very good looking cat although bred to extreme. The Daily Mail has picked up on the photograph and said how adorable it is as Oscar who is two years of age goes for a 'walk' with the cat. Well, they are joking of course because Oscar is carrying the cat and here is the point of this article.

Oscar Ramsay carries the family cat in the wrong way. Photo: Gordon Ramsay.

Oscar is carrying this purebred cat in a very bad way. It's the kind of way that children do carry cats. Every time they do it it is incorrect. It's common sense that it is incorrect. You don't need a sophisticated argument from a cat behaviourist to tell you. 😉.

When you carry a cat you have to support them properly and not have them hanging from their shoulders putting strain on their spine. I've got a nice graphic prepared by Ruth which shows you how to pick up a domestic cat.

If you want to pick up and hold your cat, the only way to do it is to place your hand under the cat's chest while they are standing on the ground, and you lift her up while at the same time you place your other hand under her bottom so that she is fully supported. 

Then as you lift up your cat to the vertical position you continue to support her bottom with your other hand and arm while also supporting the upper part of her body (under the shoulders) with the other hand.

Essentially there needs to be two support points on a cat: the upper part of the body and more importantly the entire weight should be supported under the cat, under the bottom. 

Sometimes you simply want to lift up a cat in the horizontal position with both hands and place the cat on a table or whatever. That's different. In the first description I'm describing how to pick up a cat and carry a cat in an intimate way as opposed to a functional way.

Oscar Ramsay carries the family cat in the wrong way. Photo: Gordon Ramsay's Instagram page.

You don't carry a domestic cat as if you are carrying a baby which is belly-up and cradled. And you certainly don't do what Oscar is doing.

He just needs to be taught because he doesn't know better. There is certainly a responsibility on cat owning parents to both teach their children how to interact with the domestic cat and secondly to supervise until they are confident their child can interact properly. This should be a proper parent-to-child training session with practice.

It's important both for the cat's health and welfare and also from the standpoint of the child because if a cat is mishandled they can strike out. A child might become scratched. The parents then don't like the cat. They relinquish their cat to a local shelter. That's how it can play out.

I don't want to be a wet blanket but I don't see it as that amusing to be honest. I just see a need for Gordon Ramsay or his partner to do a bit of research, such as read this article, and teach their son (who looks like Gordon) how to lift and carry a domestic cat.

My advice would be: don't try it until you are a bit older. To be honest Oscar is probably too young to be carrying a cat of this size. The cat is about half his size. This is quite a well fed, plump Exotic Shorthair. Although, I don't think that he or she is obese. Just well looked after except for the technique in carrying her 😊.

Katie Price gives away her kids' remaining Sphynx cat

People ask whether Katie Price has a Sphynx cat. Well, there was a time when she had 2 Sphynx cats but no longer. It is hard to keep pace with the acquisition and abandonment of animals that live with Katie Price and to be perfectly honest I can't say I care about her but I do care about the animals. 

She impulsively adopted two Sphynx cats some time ago. The black Sphynx cat was named Hagrid while the standard coloured Sphynx cat was named Dobby according to The Sun newspaper. They have an Instagram account (don't they always :-? ). The photograph on this page is from that account.

Hagrid and Dobby - Price's former 2 Sphynx cats. Photo: Instagram

She gave away Dobby about years ago and The Sun now reports that she has just given away another of her children's pets in giving Hagrid to a friend from the local stables where her £10,000 horse is kept. The reason? It's because her so-called 'Mucky Mansion' is being refurbished as part of a reality TV programme, as I understand it. Therefore she is living out of a suitcase with her current partner.

RELATED: The wrinkly skin of hairless cats.

Katie's former boyfriend Kieran Hayler said that both the hairless cats were peeing everywhere around the home ('mucky mansion' seems correct) when he lived there. Dobby was relinquished because he couldn't get on with Katie's protection dog Blade. That would have caused peeing inappropriately.

And because there was cat urine everywhere the place stank of cat urine as it would (ammonia smell). And because of that she lit a candle to try and mask the smell. That caused a house fire apparently.

So that's the story of Katie Price's Sphynx cats. A disaster. What is ironic is that when she lived with her former husband Peter Andre, he insisted that she had to keep the cats because they belonged to their two children Princess and Junior. Times have changed and now anything goes.

Katie Price has a history of self-indulgent adoptions of animals without proper preparation and budgeting to only find later that she hasn't got the skills or the finances to properly care for the animals in her charge.

If it is true that the hairless cats were peeing everywhere it would have been due to stress because they were marking territory to reassure themselves. And this points to a chaotic environment which was not calm enough. 

Also, Sphynx cats are quite hard to care for because they need to be full-time indoor cats and washed regularly as their skin becomes grimy due to the oils from sebaceous glands deposited on the skin. 

They look interesting which would have appealed to Katie Price but it's not all plain sailing. You have to know what you're doing and be committed. This appears to be beyond Ms Price.

The aptly named "Mucky Mansion" is certainly large. It's located in Sussex and she bought it for £1.3 million in 2014. It has nine bedrooms and three stories. There is a two-bedroom annexe, stables, tennis court a swimming pool and 12 acres of land. There are many reports about its rundown state. This probably is due to the fact that Katie Price did not have the budget to maintain the property. It appears that her earning potential has faded considerably as she becomes older and the public becomes weary of her antics.