Guy saves 2 domestic cats living in -6 degrees Celsius and snow

This is the guy who runs the Cole and Marmalade website. He is a cat rescuer. He worked with a woman who is an experienced cat trapper to rescue this couple of abandoned domestic cats from the snow in sub-zero temperatures; the kind of temperatures that can kill or injure e.g. frostbite of the paws.

Clarence in the freezing cold before rescue. Screenshot.

They had to get them into the warm. They succeeded all the way to finding a woman who was prepared to adopt both of them including a full veterinary check up. Fantastic. Clarence is a tabby and Midnight a black cat. They are the kind of cats that might get left on the shelf so to speak but through great teamwork the lives of two cats have been quite possibly saved and homes for them found.

Clarence is warm at last after being trapped and cared for. Screenshot.

The video tells their story really well so no more words are needed.

The cats were domesticated and in good condition. He thinks that they were dumped by their owner or relatives of a deceased owner for example. They are both very nice characters.

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.

Camilla Long doesn't know the difference between Pen Farthing and Joe Exotic

Camilla Long is a well-known journalist writing for The Sunday Times. She comments on the news and I guess anything that interests her. Today, she has written something which irritates me. I'm sure she doesn't give a damn. In fact it probably pleases her because her provocative articles are meant to irritate and delight at the same time. She is a consummate writer, very bright, Oxbridge educated and blah blah blah. She is talented. But she's got this completely wrong.

Camilla Long. Photo: Twitter.

She is criticising animal lovers and "animal people" who, I presume, are the same species of human. And she can't tell the difference between the behaviour of the well-known animal rescuer, Pen Farthing, who was until the mass evacuation based in Kabul, Afghanistan and the obnoxious but made-for-television personality, Joe Exotic.

I'll tell her what the difference is. Mr Farthing saves the lives of unwanted and discarded animals. He shipped many dogs from Afghanistan to America. This is because American military personnel rescued dogs in Afghanistan and became close to them. When they came to the end of their deployment and returned to America they had to leave their dogs behind. Mr Farthing rectified that problem. He raised considerable funds to ship these dogs to America for a reunion and to allow the dogs to live out their lives happily. He saved lives and did good work. He also ran a vet surgery in Kabul. He founded and ran the best animal rescue organisation in Afghanistan for years. He alleviated pain and distress in animals.

RELATED: Taliban likely to ban dogs but accept cats

He bent over backwards and struggled enormously to save the lives of about 200 cats and dogs during the mass evacuation when the Taliban took over. Camilla Long criticises him for euthanising 32 older dogs at that time because they weren't enough crates to transport them all, she said. She also criticises him for the death of six cats who were tear-gassed after a suicide bomb went off at the airport.

I'm sure Mr Farthing reluctantly euthanised the dogs that she mentions. Sometimes rescue animals have to be euthanised despite best intentions. Under the most dire and critical conditions, Mr Farthing saved lives. If he euthanised these dogs it would have been an absolutely last resort that he was compelled to take. It would have been a humane decision.

RELATED: 25-30 cats at US Embassy Kabul have been abandoned

By contrast, Joe Exotic, for many years, ran the biggest private zoo in America and exploited big cat cubs for financial gain on a treadmill basis. They were used for photo shoots but when they grew up they were redundant. They were surplus to requirements. There were sometimes shot. Basically he was exploiting animals in the most abusive way for many many years. And he is serving a 22-year sentence for plotting to murder Carole Baskin, one of the world's 'animal people'. He is a thoroughly obnoxious individual.

These two individuals are in stark contrast to each other. You cannot say what Camilla Long has written about them which is as follows:

What's the difference between Farthing and the execrable human beings who run roadside tiger parks in America?

Well, I agree about the execrable human beings who exploit big cats and abuse them in the process but as mentioned there is a big difference. There's a big difference between exploitation and saving lives. In fact, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum of our relationship with humans.

Kitten copies his rabbit companion and hops

This is a classic case of a kitten learning by observation. It just so happens that his owner has a pet rabbit as well inside the home and therefore we see the kitten hopping in following their rabbit companion. That's my take on what I see in this video. It is charming and it is cute. I don't think that it will become a habit that lasts throughout the adult life of this kitten. It's just a temporary state of affairs because of the kitten's observation of what he or she sees at that moment. 

When your cat thinks he is a rabbit too. Screenshot.

RELATED: Kitten Learns by Observing his Mother

It's a reflection of how kittens learn from their mother. They learn to eat prey animals and then to hunt prey animals from their mother. It's their journey to becoming independent at which point they leave their natal range and find their own home range if they are living in the wild and not in someone's home. I am referring to true wild cats and the ancestor of the domestic cat.

RELATED: Kitten raised on a military base learned to march.

You have probably seen domestic cats opening fridge doors, opening doors, even opening windows and other human activities which they've picked up through observation of their human caregiver. I've even seen a young cat watching boxing on television. The kitten started to box while sitting on his hind legs. It was an exact copy of what they saw on telly! Cats can copy complex human movements.

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.

10 tips about moving home with your cat

Photo by Finn Frode when moving home.

Here are 9 hopefully helpful tips about moving home with your cat if you need them. It is a much discussed topic:

1. The biggest potential danger is your cat getting lost; going missing because of a complete disruption to his or her life. We know how cats love the familiar and their routines and rhythms. It is all destroyed. And they're going to a new place which removes them from their 'home range'. It can take months for a cat to get used to a new place but it does depend upon the individual cat. In fact, it can take months for the cat's owner to get used to a new place. 😕.So the biggest danger is losing your cat and therefore a lot of the procedure should be built around that to prevent it happening;
2. Experience says that the safest and most pragmatic arrangement is to put your cat in a boarding cattery before you move and then you collect your cat from the boarding cattery a couple of days after you have moved and when furniture and household items are more or less in place. It also gives you time to dig out all the cat stuff so it is to hand. This brings peace of mind provided the cattery is known to be good;
3. One of the dangers is losing your cat on the day of the move. Some owners have lost their cat in the removals lorry! The cat jumps in to explore and it is closed. Avoid that one like the plague. Or the disappear because of all the disruption. The run off. Some owners have placed their cat in a carrier and placed the carrier in the removals lorry. Your cat should go with you if you don't leave them at a boarding cattery.
4. When you collect your cat from the boarding cattery it is advisable to restrict your cat to a single room until the time comes when he or she wants to investigate their new home. Some cats take weeks while others want to explore the place immediately, but if so it should be done with great care. There are new and sometimes unknown dangers. I think some supervision of your cat is needed and increased vigilance;
5. If you move home a short distance, your cat might, if he escapes, try and return to his home range if that is firmly fixed in his head. For example, if your cat was raised as a kitten in a certain place and is removed from it they are probably more attached to their home range and want to return to it after you have moved. This may encourage an escape. Cats have been known to travel long distances and they are amazing navigators;
6. RELATED: How far has a cat travelled to return home?
7. You can sprinkle a little of your cat's urine-soiled litter close to your new home to act as an outdoor signpost. This may help to reset his brain to thinking that he is in his home range;
8. You should escort your cat outside if your cat is an indoor/outdoor cat and supervise on the first few exploits;
9. Normally it takes several weeks for a cat to become fully custom to their new indoor and outdoor home. It may take longer to become settled and as long as a year to feel truly fully relaxed;
10. After moving, the advice from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is to choose a room where your cat can get used to the new environment and in which there is everything that they need. It should be comfortable and safe. You might place in that room a pheromone diffuser such as Feliway. The whole house should be escape proof. I think the last point is the most important until your cat is familiar and doesn't panic.

Two cats: one somersaults in a plastic container. The other fits tightly into a tiny box.

Two cats messing around in containers. Screenshot.

Two domestic cats messing around in small containers. The cat who somersaults inside a small plastic container is priceless. What's he up to? Cats love small containers; usually carboard boxes. The one of the right totally ignores the antics of the cat somersaulting.

I love how cardboard cat is doing everything in it's power to pretend plastic cat doesn't exist!😂 pic.twitter.com/4eLkOzzA6q

— 🍃 Ɣ 🍃 (@V_its_me888) November 19, 2021

Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Why do domestic cats love small containers to much, especially cardboard boxes? It must be to do with the sense of security they feel. If that is true it means that they feel insecure. And if that is true we are in big trouble 😕.

Well, domestic cats live in the human world. They're used to it but it is alien. No one knows how cats perceive us. No one, not even the greatest minds on cat behaviour. We can guess. They probably see us as surrogate mothers sometimes, kittens at other times and giants when frightened by us. Sometimes, the human world is scary for domestic cats. But it beats being abandoned and stray or feral.