Purebred stray Burmese cat trapped in St Paul's Cathedral

This is a rather strange story because we are told that the Burmese cat that fell 15 feet down a shaft in the basement of St Paul's Cathedral was sold (apparently) by a breeder and she is also micro-chipped.

The RSPCA rescued the cat. They named her Paula after St Paul's Cathedral which I think is a nice idea.

Purebred stray Burmese cat trapped in St Paul's Cathedral. Name Pauls after St Paul's. Image: RSPCA.

A teenager in the Cathedral yard raised the alarm after seeing Paula vanish under a slab. The teenager was playing in the churchyard after school. She saw Paula run off. The teenager became upset but she was able to give the RSPCA a geotrack location which helped the RSPCA officer to pinpoint the cat's position. Well done to this teenager.

The officer spoke to the Cathedral's security about gaining access and discovered that it is an old storage basement that apparently no one had used a key to get down to for 25 years.

She walked down a steep and narrow staircase into complete darkness before discovering a chamber which led to several corridors and found the cat hiding, covered in fleas. Clearly Paula had been a stray for some time.

It is fortunate that she fell onto a bed of leaves which broke her fall and she was pretty well okay except for a slight graze on her chin and in desperate need of flea treatment; indicative of the fact that she had been astray for some time. Although she doesn't look as if she was starving.

The RSPCA contacted Paula's registered owner as per the microchip details and discovered that the cat had been sold four years before. It appears that the microchip relates to a cat breeder and that the purchaser of the cat did not change the microchip details.

Therefore the RSPCA don't know the current owner if one could argue that Paula still has an owner because she's been astray for a long time and it appears lost or abandoned.

The RSPCA have put posters around St Paul's Cathedral in in the hope of finding her owner. Paula was treated at RSPCA Finsbury Park Animal Hospital before being moved to the RSPCA Laybourne Animal Centre near West Malling in Kent.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Andover residents honour stray cat Jess with bronze statue

The infographic-style image made by me explains the story. For me - and I am sure many other animal and cat lovers - to see the residents of Andover, England raising £5,000 to commission a sculptor, Amy Goodman, to create a bronze statue in memory of Jess, who made the railway station her home, is a delight. 

No doubt Jess's presence at the railway station pleased countless numbers of commuters. She must have made them smile; brightened up their lives on a damp Monday morning on their commute to the office. I love to see this happen. It is good for cats. I have just written an article about a story that was bad for cats. Click this to read it.

Amy Goodman presents her mold for the bronze statue of Jess by Michael Broad

How long does it take for a domestic cat to become a feral cat?

A domestic cat can never become a feral cat but they can become a stray cat if they are ejected from their home, living with their caregiver. Or they might simply leave their caregiver's home. The reason why a domestic cat can never become a feral cat is because they have been socialised normally during the first seven weeks of their lives and that process stays with them all their lives. It means that they can be called a domestic cat.

The word 'feral' is sometimes used to mean 'stray' and vice versa. And there is a blurring of the boundaries between stray and feral cats. There is a spectrum of degrees of socialisation.

A stray cat under a car looking to to approach a pedestrian because they are looking for a home.

It is a process which is immutable and cannot be reversed. Although it can be weakened slightly. What I mean by that is if a domestic cat is homeless for a very long time they will revert to a certain extent to the wild and become somewhat feral but not a true feral cat.

The difference between a stray cat and a feral cat is that a stray cat will not be fearful of humans in a general sense whereas a feral cat will be.

Clearly, some stray cats will be more timid than others and therefore be reluctant to approach a person but this is different to a feral cat being genuinely fearful of people because they've not been socialised to people.

You must have read about socialisation. I will very briefly mention it here. It occurs during the first seven weeks of a kitten's life normally when they interact with people in a nice way by being fed by a person and/or playing with that person. This tells the kitten that there is no need for them to be fearful of humans. They learn to understand that humans are not dangerous and it overcomes the innate instinct of cats to fear humans.

The default position for a cat born within a person's home is to be fearful of humans. That's what you get without socialising them. Domestic cats wouldn't exist without socialisation.

Feral cats can be socialised as adults but it takes a lot of patience and sometimes as much as 18 months of careful interactions with the person doing the socialisation. At the end of the process the cat should be socialised and no longer fearful of people. 

However, sometimes they will retain a little bit of their wild character which may emerge from time to time despite being fully domesticated.

RELATED: 50% of stray cats have ear infections causing great discomfort. Are we happy to accept it?

There is actually a spectrum of cat types living outside of the human home from the true feral cat to the semi-feral cat to the community cat to the stray cat. The true feral cat is a wild cat essentially. The semi-feral cat is the kind of cat that is looked after by TNR volunteers. The community cat the kind of cat that is looked after in a community such as you find in countries like India where shopkeepers and other individuals feed community cats but they rarely take them to a veterinarian. And the stray cat, as mentioned, is essentially a domestic cat without a home.

All these types of cats living outside the human home are going to suffer health problems or are likely to because they don't have a direct human caregiver to check up on their health and ensure that they don't need to be taken to a veterinarian. I am sure that some community cats are looked after like this but by and large they are not. Sometimes stray cats are found in a community of feral cats being looked after by TNR volunteers.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Cat domestication is a failure in the United States

The statement in the title seems to be exaggerated and plain wrong. It seems to be too negative and unhelpful. It can't be true can it? There are millions of domestic cats in nice homes in America. They are well cared for. They are happy. They live good lives and their human caregivers are nice people. This is all positive. It indicates that cat domestication in America is successful from both the cat and the human's perspective.

But I cannot agree for this reason. And below my reason there some detail on this thanks to Bing's co-pilot who did some research for me.

If you weigh the unhappiness experienced by feral and stray cats and compared it to the happiness experienced by domestic cats in good homes, which is the greater? See below for more on this.

I'm told that the recent figures from the United States estimate that there are 82 million pet cats living happily in people's homes throughout the country. I'm also told that the population of stray and feral cats in the United States is estimated to be between 60 and 100 million. Some estimates are more conservative ranging from 30 to 80 million. Notwithstanding the difference in these estimates, you can see that there is a very similar number of feral and stray cats to the number of domestic cats.

A stray or feral cat lives a very tough and harsh life in both the urban and semi urban environment in the United States. It's hard for them. PETA, the animal advocacy charity consistently state that feral cats are miserable. They argue or have argued that it is more humane to euthanise feral cats rather than operate TNR programs for them. They want to pull them out of their measurable existences and send them to heaven.

A lot of people disagree with that including Nathan Winograd but they make a point. It is difficult to arrive at a conclusion other than that feral and stray cats are likely to be unhappy or indeed miserable, living relatively short lives compared to their domestic cat cousins. 

They are preyed upon by coyotes and other predators, they are shot at by miscreant and unpleasant cat hating people. They are poisoned by similar people. They are denigrated by others who don't want them in the neighbourhood. They are euthanised at cat shelters because they don't want feral cats. There are people who say they should be put back where they came from and left to die.

All in all a bad picture for the millions of feral and stray cat in the United States. If you are going to work out the success of cat domestication you have to weigh up the pros and cons. You have to carry out a balancing act between the good and bad.

Negative spin-off

Stray and feral cats are a negative spin-off, a bad consequence of cat domestication. They are there thanks to the carelessness of humankind. They are a failure in cat domestication. They should not exist at all. Every feral cat is a symptom of failure in the human-to-cat relationship. This was not the end game envisaged by humans when cat domestication first started.

Wildlife

And think of the wildlife that feral and stray cats kill. A lot of people don't like that. This is another aspect of failure in the cat domestication process.

'Weighing' the good and bad in cat domestication

Now let's imagine we add up all the pain and misery suffered by stray and feral cats in the United States. Let's put that pain and misery on a scale and call it negatives. Now let's add up all the happiness and contentment enjoyed by domestic cats in nice homes. Let's call that the positives.

My argument is that the negatives are the same "weight" as the positives" and therefore he cannot say that cat domestication in the United States is successful.

I can add a further factor here. Of the approximate 82 million domestic cats in America at this time, not all of them will be happy. There must be a reasonable percentage who are unhappy because their caregiver simply don't do a good job. I'm going to guess and say that about 10%-15% of human caregivers of domestic cats are underperforming and the cats are unhappy. This further adds to the equation I mention above and it tips it in favour of cat domestication failure. What do you think?

Number of stray and feral cats in the USA - 2024

In the United States, the population of stray and feral cats is estimated to be between 60 and 100 million. These cats, once they leave the comfort of our homes, become one of America’s most impactful invasive species. They pose ecological, economic, and ethical challenges for animal welfare groups. The issue of unowned cats has long been a community concern.

Here are some key points about stray and feral cats:

1. Origins of Stray and Feral Cats:
   • The general understanding among experts is that the homeless cat population is growing and currently sits at around 60–100 million cats. Some estimates are more conservative, ranging from 30–80 million.
   • Only 85% of pet cats are spayed or neutered. Spaying or neutering pets is crucial for controlling stray and feral cat populations. When pets escape or roam outside, they can mate with neighborhood cats, perpetuating the problem. The closer we get to 100% pet neutering, the more we reduce the strain on welfare groups and the current homeless cats in our communities.
   • Roughly 15% of cat owners lose their pets at some point during a 5-year period. Cats and dogs tend to roam when the front door swings open. However, only 75% of lost cats are recovered, compared to a 93% return rate for dogs. Over a five-year period, this translates to over 3 million cats becoming lost and never returning home.

The challenge of managing stray and feral cat populations requires a collective effort from pet owners, animal shelters, and governments to address this complex issue.

Number of domestic cats in the US - 2024

In the United States, cats are the most popular house pet, with approximately 90 million domesticated cats residing in around 34% of U.S. homes. That’s quite a feline presence across the nation!

To break it down further:

• The average number of cats per household is 1.78.
• There are approximately 123.6 million households in the U.S. according to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data.
• Roughly 26% of households have at least one cat.

So, if we do the math, we get approximately 82 million pet cats living happily in people’s homes throughout the country. That’s a whole lot of purring companions! 🐾🐱

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

This stray cat brings his feline friends to a Metro station in Istanbul

Ginger tabby owns the Istanbul Metro. Screenshot.

This video, for me, is a reflection of the relationship that Turkish people living in Turkey have with their stray cats. They have community cats in Turkey and Turkey has an ancient tradition going back thousands of years to be kind to street cats. That's the way I see it. There are two cat breeds which originated in Turkey namely the Turkish Van and the Turkish Angora. Although, in my view, they are one and the same cat breed. What happened was this: the cat fancy took one Turkish non-purebred community cat and turned it (selective breeding) into two different cat breeds. But that's my theory and I can't really support it.

The real Turkish Vat.

But the real Turkish Angora is entirely different to the American cat fancy version of the Turkish Angora. And something similar can be said about the Turkish Van.

The real Turkish Angora.

But to get back to the video, initially we see a ginger tabby enjoying sitting on the barrier to Istanbul's Metro. The reason why this cat is there is because it is warm. They enjoy the warmth coming out of the machine. 

And then people stroke him because he is adorable (the vast majority of ginger tabby cats are male cats). And when they stroke him, he might follow them down the escalator by sliding down the side of it as if he is on one of those ski slopes about to do a job at the end.

And at the end of the video, you will see that feline mates of his join him in Istanbul's Metro where they do exactly the same thing; sitting on the warm ticket barrier waiting to be petted. It is here that they get access to company and some interaction with humans. That's what they like.

They should be in someone's home. It looks cute and lovely in many ways but it is very sad in another way. They don't have a genuine home and a cat caregiver to look after them properly. That is the failure of community cats. People do look after them in an ad hoc way but they don't really get the kind of care they need such as veterinary care.

Ginger tabby cat embarks a Japanese train and is politely ejected

This couple of photographs have received a certain amount of fame on Twitter. The story went viral I guess for two reasons. Firstly, it is unusual for a wandering domestic cat to get onto a railway station platform and then try and jump onto a train. This has to be a very confident cat without fear of strangers and strange events.

Ginger tabby cat tries to embark a Japanese train and is politely ejected by the guard or driver. Image: Twitter.

Or perhaps the cat was used to getting onto trains! The train in question runs along the Kamaishi Line in Eastern Japan.

I'm told that the cat actually got onto the train and stayed there for 30 seconds before the driver or the guard spotted him and politely ejected him. He didn't have a ticket!

My guess is that he is male because nearly all ginger tabby cats are male.

This isn't the first time that cats have been seen to jump onto public transport. I've seen several domestic cats jump onto buses in the UK. Not in person but in videos and photographs online.

Japan is quite famous for its stray cats. They do like their cats in Japan and are generally respectful of them.

On the mothership.com website there is another photograph of another cat on a train integrating nicely with the passengers one of whom is reading a book. The cat joins him in reading that book! It looks as though this cat was on the train for quite a long time. See image below:

Domestic cat travels on Japanese train. Image: Mothership.com

What kind of cat does this? Both these cats look fit and in good condition. They might be fully-fledged domestic cats living with a human caregiver but with a great tendency to wander. They might disappear for a day or two and then come home. Sometimes cats are like that.

They might be stray cats who are looked after and therefore you might call them "community cats". It looks dangerous to me. I am fearful for their safety.

I've seen one domestic cat snoozing on the ticket barrier at an underground station.  It must have been warm. And another sleeping just at the top end of an escalator in an underground station. At the exact point where many thousands of people exit the escalator. Amazing and extraordinary. Once again, I expect the cat was there because the electric motor was just below the surface emitting heat.

These cats like human activity but above all warmth. They might be lonely. They might live in a home where the owner is out all day. That's a remote possibility but it does take quite an extraordinary cat to put themselves in such vulnerable positions surrounded by many thousands of people throughout the day.

What would you do if your mostly indoor cat goes outside and doesn't want to come home?

Sometimes you might do all you can to keep your cat safe and secure. You make them a full-time indoor cat and you look after them well. Or they might be a mainly indoor cat and sometimes they go outside and return willingly.

If your cat was raised as a stray or feral cat, they might want to revert to the outdoors lifestyle because it is a lifestyle that they know. It's those early weeks - the first seven weeks of life - which are so important for a cat. What they learn during that sensitive time they carry with them all their lives.

It is actually a bigger issue than that as all domestic cats are barely domesticated it is said. Arguably their natural instinct is to live outside the artificial environment of the human home.

Cat prefers to live outside the human home. Image: in public domain.

If you have domesticated a feral cat or adopted a rescue cat that was a stray or feral cat, they might want to revert to the wild so to speak.

They simply might prefer to live outside the human environment which means the human home. And in my opinion, there is not much you can do about it. You may see them, talk to them and try and entice them back but they decide to stay in the 'wild'. 

You can try and keep them inside full-time and more importantly transform the inside of your home to where it becomes very cat friendly with a catio or two and some window boxes to sit in to watch the outside (cat TV). There would be a couple of climbing trees up to the ceiling and so on and so forth.

But this would be something that a typical homeowner does not want because they want their home to accommodate humans and being entirely suitable for humans. A compromise is the way forward.

However, if a cat with an urge to live outside wants to vacate a home which has been reasonably modified to accommodate cat behaviour, they'll do it no matter. 

The rather negative point that I'm making is that on some occasions domestic cats simply want to live outside and are prepared to put up with the hardship. If that is the case, there is not much you can do about it.

You may have to kiss your cat goodbye because ultimately people don't own cats. They possess them if you want to put it that way. They probably don't even possess them. They live with domestic cats and care for them but they have their own mind and you have to let them express their own behaviours in the hope and expectation that your efforts will be sufficient to keep them with you as a companion.

There is the faint possibility that another cat - provided that cat really gets along with the resident cat - might help to keep the cat at home; to 'anchor' them. That's a chancy way to proceed because often resident cats don't get along well with incoming cats. 

And a former stray cat is likely to be more territorial than is typically encountered. That might make them more difficult when asking them to get along with a new cat.

Photo of street cat in China should leave us feeling concerned

This is a straight forward photograph of a street cat in China, somewhere. It should not worry us but it concerns me because I've just been reading and writing about a monstrous individual who likes to torture and kill street cats in China. You can read about this man if you want to buy on this link but it's unpleasant although there are no photographs which might harm you psychologically.

Street cat in China. Image: What's on Weibo.

The picture that you see on this page accompanies an article written about 3 years ago which tells the story of a Chinese security guard pouring scalding water over a pregnant cat. another psychopathic individual who gets kicks from extreme violence against cats. 

The story went viral on social media and there was a call for animal welfare legislation in China which trended on Weibo.com.

It takes extreme animal cruelty to provoke Chinese citizens to demand animal welfare laws which should be entirely acceptable and which should have been in place donkey's years ago.

China is out on a limb in respect of animal welfare. All abandoned or homeless animals - almost always cats and dogs - are highly vulnerable to becoming the victim of extreme torture or turned into a meal in China.

There is no value in street cats or sensitivity towards their sentience in China. They are garbage. Rubbish. Trash. You can do what you like with them.

Although there must be many Chinese who love cats and care for them well. It's just that there are far too many who are the opposite. And no protection for them under the law.

Turkish Van cat lookalike brings her kittens to the person who feeds her in an act of deep trust

The video on Twitter says that this cat was being fed by a person and decided (wisely, it has to be said) to bring her kittens to the person for help in raising them. It is a beautiful example of complete trust from a cat in a human. Good on that human whoever they are.

We are not told but it would seem to me that the video was captured somewhere in the Mediterranean region and perhaps even in Turkey as this cat is a dead ringer for a Turkish Van purebred but is in fact a stray cat.

RELATED: The Real Turkish Van Cat.

The Turkish Van in Turkey is more purebred than the registered selectively bred Turkish Vans in cat shows in America.

Most cat breeds have lost their inherited connection with their origins due to intensive selective breeding by breeders over decades in following breed standards.

Cat on the track during Azerbaijan F1 sprint race 2023

Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - April 29, 2023: Charles Leclerc the leading Ferrari driver was misunderstood over the radio when competing in the sprint race which takes place these days before the main race.

He reported a cat on the racetrack but his team heard the word 'cut' and believed that he was reporting an engine cutout - misfiring, I guess. 

He clarified after the race when interviewed by reporters:

"Absolutely not. I said a cat -- which is different. There was a cat in the middle of the road and the safety car had to stop, but I think I was probably the only one who saw that."

He added:

"In the exit of turn one there was a cat and the safety car braked."

The reason why a cat got onto the track is because the circuit snakes through the old section of Baku. The fences around the circuit are not designed to keep animals out it seems but to protect spectators.

Maybe the organisers need to do something about that. They won't as it was 'only a cat' and it would be too expensive to make alterations.

But if the cat had been struck it might have resulted in a serious crash.

The incident is not shown on the video but here it is in any case:

Greek stray cat's charm and loving personality compels British holiday couple to bring him home

Couple say a kitten "adopted them" after they found him meowing outside their hotel room in Greece. I say this sweet, Greek, stray, bicolour cat used his smarts and charm to compel the couple to adopt him 👍😎. That purr can be so persuasive.

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Toni Czogalik, 23, and her boyfriend were on holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes in October 2022. There was a thunderstorm outside. And there was a small, six-month-old black-and-white kitten outside their hotel room as well and he was meowing to be let in. He was soaked through.

It's probably pretty clear that the thunderstorm frighten the cat and he was looking for some comfort and used his charm and persistence to adopt this British holidaying couple. 

Toni said:

"One night on holiday there was a thunderstorm, and the kitten came to hotel door crying and soaking wet. We looked after him for the night and ever since then he kept coming back to our room and wouldn’t leave us alone. "

They named him Nermal and decided to adopt him. The video explains the difficulties of doing this and also the persistence and intelligence of Toni in achieving her goal. 

She had to go to a veterinarian to get Nermal micro-chipped and vaccinated. They bought a cat carrier from a local pet shop and an ID bag and some treats for the journey to the UK. 

Nermal was then flown from Rhodes to Athens and then he travelled by boat to Italy from where he was driven to the UK to be reunited with Toni. 

He arrived on November 8 and settled in well as you can see from the video. Toni explains the hurdles she encountered but she was aware of them:

"It was really difficult, the first few days I messaged every single charity in Greece that dealt with cats. We first took him to the vet to find out if he was healthy and microchipped. He wasn’t microchipped, so they said he was definitely a stray. The vet then gave him a microchip, rabies vaccination and a health passport, where I then began the process to have him flown over." 

The rescue cost £800 and it took four days in all. I'm not sure who drove him from Italy to the UK. It might have been her boyfriend. Perhaps they hired a car which must've added to the cost substantially. 

Toni and Nermal. Image: Toni and boyfriend.

Toni says that she loves looking after Nermal and she thanks all those who helped her to bring him back to the UK. She said: 

"We fell in love with him as he is the friendliest and most loving little kitten I have ever met. He is so cuddly; he wants to jump on and cuddle you all the time. We are so excited to spoil him and give him the best life in the UK. He is loving life; he is so spoiled. The volunteers were amazing - without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it." 

It's the kind of task which is a bit daunting but when you fall in love with a stray cat there's nothing else you can do but take him home.

Photo taken immediately after parents of a four-year-old child adopt a stray cat in Walmart carpark

A stray cat in a Walmart car park went up to a four-year-old child and rubbed against him. The child's parents adopted the cat. One of the child's parents (the mother is my guess) took the photograph that you see on this page. It was taken not long after this stray tabby cat introduced himself to the child in the carpark. The child looks pleased; delighted even. I bet he had something to say about adopting the cat. When a domestic, stray cat does this i.e. chooses their human caregiver, you more or less have to accept if you are open-minded and, in a position, to adopt a cat. These beginnings nearly always lead to a fruitful and close relationship for the lifetime of the cat.

Photo taken immediately after parents of a four-year-old child adopt a stray cat in Walmart carpark. Photo: u/janaynaytaytay on Reddit.com.

What is the population of stray cats and dogs in India?

NEWS AND COMMENT: What is the population of stray cats and dogs in India?  Despite the report I mention, we don't know. If we are being honest. In the India language there are 6.2 core stray dogs and 91 lakh stray cats according to a fresh report recently published by the State of Pet Homelessness Index. How accurate are these numbers? How did they count them? Is it possible to count them? No. They are estimates. It took Washington DC a long time and a lot of effort to count their cats in a landmark survey.

Stray cat India. Photo: Pixabay.

A 'core' denotes ten million (10,000,000) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. A 'lakh' is equal to one hundred thousand (100,000).

Therefore 6.2 core is 62 million. 91 lakh is 9.1 million. I can't believe the cat numbers. Far too low. Perhaps it depends on how you define 'stray'. In India there are community cats. Are these stray cats?

There appears to be an index of stray animal populations called the 'All Pets Wanted' index. India scores 2.4 out of 10.

I think India is known for its stray cats and dogs. Isn't it? There is only one unhappy reason: carelessness and apathy about companion animal welfare. Yes, there is also a lot of the same in developed countries. It is a worldwide phenomenon. But in India and Pakistan for example the problem is more severe.

RELATED: 6 reasons for the 90% drop in pound killings of US dogs and cats since the 1970s

The same kind of carelessness which causes so much environmental pollution in India. A great nation let down by these weakness. This is supported by the finding - as reported in One India - that 61 percent of dog owners don't visit the vet (ever!). Is that true? I find that hard to believe too.

The reasons might sound justified: distance and poor reputations or facilities, but ultimately it is down to cat and dog caregivers to find a way. And if these reasons are true there is a failure at government level.

7 in 10 citizens of India see stray cats and dogs weekly.

Clearly a huge percentage of domestic or semi-domestic cats and dogs are not sterilised. They breed and generate a greater stray animal problem. It seems to be out of control. Is anyone doing anything about it?

Let's compare the 85% homeless companion animals in India with the United States (26%), Germany (7%), Greece (51%), China (29%), Mexico (20%), UK (5%), South Africa (27%) and Russia (6%). India is at the bottom by a long way. I can't vouch for these figures. You make up your own mind as to whether they are accurate. I am always dubious about counting stray cats. How do you do it? Where are they? 

In the table below please use the slider below the spreadsheet to read the data on the RHS.

RELATED: 85 percent of companion animals in India are homeless

Before and after photographs of Mikey a stray cat adopted in the West Midlands of the UK

I always like good before and after photographs of stray cats who have come in from the cold and the wet after adoption and found themselves in a place they can call home, where they should have been in the first place. 

Before and after photographs of Mikey a stray cat adopted in the West Midlands of the UK. Photo: Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands (believed).

Before and after photographs of Mikey a stray cat adopted in the West Midlands of the UK. Photo: Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands (believed). 

Before and after photographs of Mikey a stray cat adopted in the West Midlands of the UK. Photo: Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands (believed).  

These photographs, from the Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands, point to a success in cat caregiving but they are built upon failure. Somewhere in Mikey's past things went wrong. 

We don't know what it is. He might have been abandoned by his owner or he might have wondered away from his home. He might have been born in the wild and become feral but that's unlikely because judging by the "after" photograph Mikey was a domestic cat who just happened to be in the wrong place, stuck outside the home. 

That is why he is sopping wet in the "before" photographs. It is also why there is blood on the right side of his face. It appears that he got into a fight. That is the normal way stray cats end up with a bloodied face and broken and torn ears. It is, as the experts say, a harsh existence.

RELATED: Feral Cats Are Healthier and Live Longer Than Thought

But we shouldn't paint all feral and stray cats with the same brush. Sometimes they are well cared for by TNR volunteers. Under a good TNR program feral cats in the colony can live good lives. Sometimes their lives are better than that of a domestic cat.

P.S. The story comes from the FB page of the rescue concerned. Thanks.

Instant love from a cat he found in the woods

A guy found a stray cat in the woods next to his house while he was checking the height of the river. He brought her to his home. She was very affectionate almost immediately. In his words:

"So we've known each other about a half hour. I found her in the woods next to my house while i was checking the river height. She has been this way since."

Instant love from a stray cat the guy found in the woods near his home. Screenshot.

It seems pretty clear that she was abandoned or lost and needed a human companion. People ask if a domestic cat can survive in the wild. The answer is that some can and some can't (for long). But they all need a human caregiver.

Domestic cats are 'trained' to be with humans. This is socialisation to humans. It is why they are domesticated.

Note: This is a video from another website. 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.

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The guy's reward for bringing her home is to make her happy. If you know that you have made a cat happy, it makes you happy because you know that you have done well. And you've increased the sum total of happiness in the animal world.

I suggested that he keep her after checking for a microchip to check ownership. Her health should also be checked out. The usual things that you have to do when finding a domesticated stray cat.

Woman had dreamt of adopting a stray cat and it happened in Walmart. She did great.

She spots a stray kitten in a humungous Walmart. She was told the kitten was abandoned in the car park and had been coming into the store. It seems the abandonment had happened a little while ago. The woman acts positively and quickly without doubts. She'd been dreaming of this moment and it happened. 

"I've always dreamed of this day."

Woman had dreamt of adopting a stray cat and it happened in Walmart. She did great.

Mentally she was attuned to the moment which helped to act correctly and well. The video explains it all. It is a good one; liked 1.3m times. A major success. She had the presence of mind to video the whole process of meeting the kitten and adopting her. Clever and sensible. 👍

@wallyfromthemart

Worker told me this ##kitten was dumped in the ##Walmart parking lot. Kitty keeps sneaking into the Garden Center. I couldn't leave it there. ##fyp

♬ original sound - Wally's rescuer

Note: This is a video from another website. 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.

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I like the way that she grabbed a can of cat food from the shelf and fed the kitten immediately. She paid for it at the checkout! She bought a cat carrier there and then. No doubts. No prevarication. All action. And successfully.👌

Woman had dreamt of adopting a stray cat and it happened in Walmart. She did great.. Job done. Adopted! 😇

The kitten is quite domesticated. Lovely to see her being  cuddled and purring on the lady's shoulder. The bonding had begun and there was no going back. The lady made a life-changing decision.

This is a cross-post from another website as I thought it was worth it. It is a good story. I wish them both the best of luck. They should have 15+ or more years together. She called him Wally.

Some time later (don't know how long). What happened next...

@wallyfromthemart

The stuff I gotta get done can wait. 🤷‍♀️ ##WallyTime ##wally ##kittensoftiktok ##rescue ##Walmart

♬ original sound - Wally's rescuer

Cat makes a car engine his home in Hamburg

Hamburg - news and comment: This kitty was very lucky!  Walkers heard noises and meows under the hood of a van on Thursday afternoon. The de-registered vehicle was parked on the roadside at Billwerder Neuer Deich. The passers-by informed the police. Comment: this was not dangerous because the vehicle was non-functional. But the cat still wanted to make the engine his home. Normally cats like to crawl into engine compartments because they are warm. Not so in this instance. Not sure what the police would have done! Nothing is my guess. Perhaps they checked the cat for a microchip and if he had one, they might have been able to reunite the cat with his caregiver. The cat looks healthy. My guess: a domestic cat that was just outside for a while but he may be a stray.

Cat makes car engine his home. Foto: CitynewsTV

A stray kitten decided to follow me home the other day…so I guess I’m a cat dad now?

A stray kitten decided to adopt this man as their human caregiver on the streets of LA. It happens all over the world all the time. The outcome obviously depends on how the human reacts. In this case it was the right reaction! You wander where the kitten came from. Just turned up. Where is the owner? Or the feline mother?

A stray kitten decided to adopt this man as their human caregiver on the streets of LA. Screenshot.

Here is the TikTok video which may well disappear one day and probably will because that is the way the internet works. Sorry if is gone. It is quite nice. The beauty of it is that this kitten has been lucky enough to have found a life. There was next to nothing for him on the streets. I guess he made it happen by having the courage to walk up to a stranger.

@erikjuicetea

made a new friend for life 💜👑 ##meow ##catsoftiktok ##kitten

♬ Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root

Macho baseball players can't catch a cat on their field of play

A cat caught in a baseball stadium is finally caught. Screenshot.

YANKEE STADIUM, NEW YORK CITY - COMMENT: The video provokes two opposite emotions: concern and hilarity. I'm in the former camp because when I see this video of a stray cat trapped inside a baseball ground, trying to get out, I feel for the cat. The players and spectators are amused. Some of them laugh. I understand completely because that is the conventional response.

Tabby cat evades capture at baseball ground. Screenshot.

But I see a frightened cat trying to get away from strange people. It is, in fact, quite a dangerous moment for this cat. He or she could have been harmed. I don't know the outcome. Judging by the celebrations of the players at the end of the video we have to presume that the cat was caught. We don't know the outcome from thereon however. What happened to the cat? Was he taken to the outside where he might be able to return to his home if he has one? This should not happen but it is no big deal as long as the cat was unharmed.

The video will disappear in due course as they nearly always do. If that has happened, I am sorry but I can't control it as the server holding the video is not within my control.

Yankee Stadium security chases a cat around the field for nearly four minutes and never gets its hands on what might be the most elusive animal that ever lived pic.twitter.com/w2HR4H3HaW

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 3, 2021

The comments to the video on Facebook are in those two camps: amusement and concern. On the amusement side there are people questioning why so many people could not catch a cat. On the concerned side there are cat lovers saying that the cat is terrified and sarcastically saying "I'm glad everyone found terrifying a small helpless creature so amusing."

Cats trapped on baseball grounds seem to be a feature of the game of baseball. I have seen quite a few of them. Perhaps something should be done to ensure that cats are not able to get into these grounds. It may be the case that cats are attracted to these places because there is food. Somebody might be feeding them. Somebody who is in the catering business.

Stray cat inspires man to cycle 10,000 km around the British Isles coastline for charity

SWANSEA - NEWS AND COMMENT: Jean-Louis Button, 28, is a very fit man but he admits that during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown he was hit hard with mental health problems just like many other people. But a stray cat came into his life and cheered him up. 

Jess, the name that he gave to his cat companion, is believed to be around 18 years old and Jean-Louis says that "luckily at just the right moment a beautiful feline crept through my door and woke me up with her gentle purr."

Jean-Louis Button and Jess. Photos:- Left: ITV News. Right: Jean-Louis Button.

They became very close over eight or nine weeks. Because of the amount of comfort, happiness and love that she gave him he felt a strong desire to give back and help Cats Protection, one of the UK's largest cat welfare charities which is entirely run by volunteers who foster cats.

John-Louis because decided to raise money for three charities, one of them being Cats Protection, by cycling around Britain which, as mentioned in the title, is about 10,000 km if you follow the coastline entirely around the island. In short, he was inspired to take on this arduous and lengthy fundraising project because of the companionship and love shown him by a stray cat who introduced her to him unannounced. He said: 

"I honestly don't know how I would have coped without Jess's loving company."

The other charities that he is riding for are The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Water for Kids. These are two charities that provide food and water for vulnerable people across India and Africa.

"I chose each charity because they help causes, I feel strongly about."

He started his 10,000 km cycle ride on June 22. He believes that he will complete it before September. So far, he has travelled about 3,500 km. One of the photos on this page shows him about to enter Scotland. The picture was published on the ITV news webpage on July 13, 2021.

The other picture shows him with Jess who is a grey/brown tabby-and-white random read cat. Jess is currently being fostered by Cat Protection until he returns from his journey in September. She is an elderly lady. I hope they are reunited and that they stay together until she goes over the rainbow bridge