Austin City Council could vote to ban the declawing of cats

Austin City Council could vote to ban the declawing of cats. The video on this page says more or less all you need to know but I'll add something. Austin could follow 9 other cities who've banned declawing (and did so some time ago), 8 of which are in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, West Hollywood, Burbank, Santa Monica, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, and Culver City) and the 9th is Denver in Colorado. New York State banned declawing a little while ago. Large parts of Canada have banned declawing. 

Anti-declawing poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

The first part of the news bulletin is on a different topic to declawing cat but the section on declawing is useful. They mention the pain it causes. It is one of the most painful veterinary operations. It is 10 amputations as you might know by now and there is no medical or other benefit for the cat. In fact the operation is very detrimental to the health and welfare of the domestic cat or kitten. Yes they put young kittens through it. Can you imagine the cruelty of it? A kitten looking for love and care from their human companion and all they get is hell and piles of pain. Not a good look

Declawing only takes place in North America and the USA is by far the biggest perpetrator. I think America is a great country but declawing is a horrible blind spot. It is a nasty stain on the character of the country. It tells us that millions of Americans simply do not have a good relationship with their cat companion. They don't have true empathy and sympathy for their cat. They are insensitive to their cat's wellbeing and welfare. 

I can say those things with confidence because no one with a grain of sensitivity towards their cat's welfare would put them through the brutal declawing operation for what they believe is their exclusive benefit. But it is a fallacy that cat owners benefit. They think they do because they can't be scratched. But declawed cats compensate by biting more. And their cat may be in pain for a long time or indefinitely. This may change their character for the worse. They may avoid the litter tray and urinate on the carpet. See what I mean?

For outsiders it looks completely bonkers. It looks like a crime to Europeans if they thought about it and it is a crime by the way. If a vet did it in the UK, they'd end up in prison! But a lot of Europeans hardly know about it. It would never occur to them. It is alien to them. So alien they don't think of it.

Yet for millions of Americans it is one of the first things they think of when they adopt a poor kitten. And the vet does it on request even though in doing so he is in complete breach of his oath to do no harm.

I just can't get my head around it. My message to people who want to declaw their cat: you do realise that cats walk on their toes and the declaw operation removes the end of each toe of the forepaws. Think about it: how would you like it if someone cut off the tops of each of your toes? You'd struggle to walk and humans are not digitigrades.

Video of tabby cat with bright emerald eyes

This is a video on Reddit.com of a tabby cat with the most astonishing emerald eyes. Initially when I saw a still image of the cat (and not the video) I thought that this was an example of excellent photo-editing. But can you photo-edit video material like this? I think you can because I just can't bring myself to believe that this eye colour is genuine.

Update: the video failed. They always do from Reddit. They are hopeless on embedded videos. So hopeless that I think they deliberately make them fail. But if you click here you can see it on Reddit (hopefully).

Here is a screenshot from the video:

Tabby cat with bright emerald eyes. Screenshot.

But, you know, I could be wrong. It could be genuine. I'd love someone to tell me that I am wrong in a comment. Amazing cat. He/she should have an Instagram page. I can't find a page on Instagram which features this cat. Is that proof that the eyes are too special to be real?

Picture of a cat on top of a Euston train preventing its departure

This is a short story about how cats can disrupt travel. Just this morning I wrote about a feral cat attacking an airline pilot in the cockpit in midflight. The pilot had to return to Khartoum International Airport. The passengers were perhaps bemused and amused at the same time except for the disruption the cat had to their itinerary.

Picture of a cat on top of a Euston train preventing its departure. Picture: Network Rail.

In this instance travellers on the 9 pm service from London Euston to Manchester faced disruption because a domestic cat had climbed on top of a high-speed train. The cat refused to budge and it took Network Rail staff 2.5 hours to coax the cat down. It was made more complicated because there were overhead 25,000 volt lines. They had to avoid them both for their sakes and that of the cat.

Eventually they succeeded by pulling a heavy-duty bin towards the carriages, leaving it next to the carriage on which the cat was perched and which encouraged him to jump down. The cat duly disembarked and walked off without thanking his rescuers.

Tabby cat on top of a train which
prevented its departure. Photos:
Network Rail.

Pictures have been released by the government-owned company yesterday showing the cat perched on the driver's cab of the Pendolino operated by Avante West Coast. They are published here.

P.S. The passengers were not delayed for the full 2.5 hours as they were taken off the said train and travelled north on another.

Feral cat attacks pilot mid-flight

COMMENT ON THE NEWS - SUDAN - TARCO AIRLINES: A plane was parked in a hangar at Khartoum International Airport before the flight. It was being worked on: cleaning and maintenance. A semi-feral cat sneaked onboard and into the cockpit where it hid.

Cat attacks pilot of plane mid-flight. This is a fun mock-up but
it was not fun at the time. Photo: News Hub.

30 minutes into the flight the cat emerged or was seen by the crew. The report is skimpy but the cat attacked the senior pilot, we are told. This sounds like defensive aggression from a scared cat. Perhaps the crew tried to remove the cat from the cockpit. 

It was a potentially serious situation as it could have jeopardised the safety of those onboard. The captain aborted the flight and returned to Khartoum  International Airport.

We don't know what happened to the cat. I hope it was simply freed. Airport management may change their policies and procedures to avoid a recurrence. I hope that the cat and no other cats are harmed as a consequence.

It is a very rare, perhaps unique event. Although there have been many incidents of domestic cats escaping their carriers and getting lost at airports. These cats make their way to safe places such as in the roof spaces. Great distress is felt by the owner. 

The cause? Probably a broken lock on the cat carrier or man-handling of the carrier at the airport causing the lock to break or become distorted.

Persian cats have been banned from one airline becuase they have breathing problems due to extreme breeding. There have been Persian cat deaths in the hold of aircraft during the flight.

Dramatic pictures of navy sailors rescuing 4 cats from boat off Thai coast

NEAR THE ISLAND OF KO ADANG, THAILAND: Thai navy rescue four domestic cats from sea after their boat sinks. What looks like a small commercial boat caught fire and began sinking. On board were the human sailors and 2 ginger cats and 2 torties (probably related). The eight crew members abandoned their boat and were rescued but they appear to have abandoned their cats too! 

Dramatic pictures of navy sailor rescuing 4 cats from boat off Thai coast.
Image credit: per image.

First-class Petty Officer Wichit Pukdeelon noticed the cats at the front of the boat. The fire had engulfed the back. He used his camera to zoom in on the boat and noticed their heads popping up.

A colleague, Thatsaphon Saii, 23, from the Royal Thai Navy's Air and Coastal Defence Command Operation Unit 491, swam out to the sinking boat to rescue the cats. The boat was 50 feet away. The boat had capsized and the cats were huddled at the bow. 

He brought the cats back on his shoulder. His colleagues reeled him in using a rope.

Dramatic pictures of navy sailor rescuing 4 cats from boat off Thai coast. Credit: see above.

Thatsaphon said: "When we arrived it was to secure the wreckage and check for oil spills. But we noticed the cats onboard. I immediately took off my shirt and put on a life jacket so I could jump into the sea. The flames were at the back of the boat but it was starting to sink, so I knew I had to be quick."

The rescued cats on dry land and being fed. I have added the words. Pic: Facebook.

He said that he was very relieved to have saved the cats. They would have certainly died.

The cats are being cared for by their crew members at their command station on the island of Koh Lipe.

The wreckage will be salvaged to protect marine wildlife.