Former police officer has to teardown her catio because of complaints from neighbours

A former police officer who adopted, with her electrician husband, four rescue cats (her fur babies) built a cat enclosure in her front garden which has a cat flap entrance and which contains many ramps and places for her cats to enjoy the outside safely. She checked with her neighbours first (not all it seems) and they didn't mind it. In fact her immediate neighbour finds it okay. However some neighbours complained and got the local council involved who have demanded that she takes it down.

The offending catio.

She says that she built the catio at least in part because there are cats around who were bullying her cats. So she's keeping them inside in this enclosure. It is claimed that the catio is out of character with the rest of the houses and that it impedes access to a narrow nearby lane and creates a blind spot for motorists.

The council is Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire. This is a British cat problem! The catio is certainly out of character with the rest of the houses but I doubt whether it's a blindspot for motorists and I also doubt that it impedes access. It is just, according to some neighbours, an eyesore.

Sue Haworth in her catio.

Sue Haworth has appealed the council's decision and hopes to keep the 9 foot high and 13' x 11.5' feet catio. It's a really nice catio and in almost any other place and if was built in the back garden it would probably be perfectly acceptable to everyone including the local authority.

The trouble is this; it is incredibly obvious and intrusive but it is very useful and it keeps four rescue cats very safe whilst being able to enjoy the outdoors. It's a shame she didn't seek planning permission at the outset. One issue is that she only moved in 2 years ago so some neighbors see her as a newcomer and trouble.

I don't know why she could not have built it in the back garden. Perhaps there wasn't enough space but then she could have built a small one. I fear that she is going to lose this battle. The construction cost £10,000 and the cats' names are: Chloe, Floyd, Freddie and Millie.

Cats gets brain freeze. Why?

 
Why do cats get brain freeze? Well, in this compilation on YouTube they get what is called "brain freeze" because they are eating ice cream. The reason why they like eating ice cream is because it contains quite a lot of fat in the milk and cream. Cats always like that. But then they find it is cold which causes pain and discomfort so they stop and open their mouths and pause giving the impression of 'brain freeze'.

I can only presume that they do this for the reason that (1) it allows them to warm up the interior of their mouths quite quickly because the ambient, warmer air impinges upon it and because (2) they are in pain and pull a face as humans would under these circumstances. When it is warmed up they continue to eat ice cream. It's as simple as that in my view.

Wikipedia provides me with a more technical description of feline brain freeze. They say that it is a cold-stimulus headache which is a brief form of headache associated with the consumption of cold food or beverages such as ice cream.

The authors argue that the coldness of the food in touching the roof of the mouth results in a nerve response which in turn causes a rapid constriction of blood vessels. The capillaries in the sinuses constrict and then they warm up and dilate. This is picked up by pain receptors which send a signal back to the brain. It is referred to as "referred pain".

Brain freeze pain may last for a few seconds to a few minutes. They do not explain why the mouth is held wide open which common sense dictates is for the reason that I have stated.

Cats, Rats, A.I., Oh My! - Ben Hamm

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The doomsters and gloomsters who criticise the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats' are wrong

The film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatre show "Cats" is going to be fantastic. The doomsters are completely wrong. The Internet is awash with idiotic remarks about the scary trailer to the movie. They think it looks crazy and weird and that it's odd to see cats with human breasts and whatever else they can find to criticise which is all mumbo-jumbo to me. Maybe it is a wind up and good PR.

Cats the Movie - fabulous.

I have seen the movie trailer I think it's fascinating and a brilliant way to turn this highly successful theatre show into a movie. It had to be something different and the director Tom Hooper I believe has made some excellent choices. The use of CGI brilliant. The dance routines are great and the atmosphere and ambience of the movie is mysterious. You ask questions and it draws you in.

TS Eliot's Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats upon which theatrical show is based would have liked the film because the poem itself is quite mysterious and this is reflected in the movie.

There was criticism about one cat being too small and the size of a butter knife. But this is incorrect as there are some very small domestic cats. That's a practical point and I think the criticism is over the top anyway so perhaps I don't need to make a practical point about it.

Perhaps I'm being over the top myself because the amount of publicity that this film is getting, most of it criticism, is phenomenal. It is all about public relations in my view. I wonder whether it's been planted, a lot of it. It looks that way. I will make a prediction here and now and say that the film will be hugely successful and all this nonsense about the trailer being weird and mysterious and frightening will all wash away with the success.