Police trooper acts rapidly with commitment to catch escaping cat from car

I don't know why this Idaho state trooper was in this situation when a domestic cat in the back of a car escaped (update - I do now 👍: see their FB post below). And he stopped on the side of a freeway (a motorway in UK language). This would be the hard shoulder in the UK. This is a potentially dangerous place for both cat and trooper. Lucky, in a way, that the cat dived into the forest and not the other way onto the road. There is a question mark over why the cat was free inside the vehicle; not helpful and perhaps careless but maybe the cat escaped from a carrier.

Update: the FB post from the Idaho State Police tells us more. This is what the Facebook post says:

"Faster than a fleeing feline. And talk about a leap of faith! Trooper Llerenas fleet of foot kept a four-legged furball from dashing into a snowy North Idaho forest recently. A van traveling on I-90 has its side door come open and the Trooper saw several items fly onto the roadway. When the Trooper stopped the van, he found two people, two dogs, and a cat all inside. 

Turns out, both people were in possession of multiple controlled substances and eventually were booked into jail on drug charges. Local shelters took safe custody of the pets, and while Trooper Llerenas waited for the shelter folks to arrive, both dogs were as friendly as they could be. The cat, however, had other plans. 

When Mr. Kitty made a run for it, Trooper Llerenas also acted fast and caught the fleeing feline before the little critter could get lost or harmed. Trooper Llerenas said he literally took a “leap of faith” to catch the cat, and it worked! 

If you listen closely, however, after he catches Mr. Kitty and brings him safely back to the vehicle, Trooper Llerenas tells the feline that they were friends, but after the leap into the snow, maybe not so much. 😊 If this brought a smile to your face, feel free to share. And as always, thanks for your support."

Note: These are videos from other websites. They are embedded here. 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. There are two the same in case one goes kaput 👌.

It looks icy cold and there is snow everywhere. The conditions were hostile and this cat wanted to dive into the forest which would have been the end of him due to starvation and neglect. And I think that this state trooper realised that unless he acted super-quickly and grabbed the cat before it entered the forest, he would never see the cat again. 

It was a do or die moment and he did it. That's why his behaviour is, I think, very impressive at that moment. He was fully committed to catching the cat, there and then with no exceptions, with no possibility of failure. There was a lot of pressure on the guy to grab the cat successfully and only just made it.

Screenshot.

I don't know whether he caught the cat by the tail. It might have happened that way. It looks rather aggressive and dangerous for the cat but the circumstances dictated that this man went all out to grab the cat come what may.

Are orchids poisonous to cats?

 No

According to 8 sources.

It is quite nice to know that eight sources tell me that orchids are not poisonous to cats. It's pleasant to know that because there are a lot of plants which are poisonous to cats. I am almost of the opinion that a cat owner should have no plants in their home! That would be too extreme but actually it applies to me. You just have to be careful and I don't want the worry because cats like to nibble plants because they like to nibble grass which is a plant.

RELATED: Top 10 most poisonous plants to cats.

Although orchids are non-toxic to cats, if a cat chewed on one substantially it might give them a stomach upset causing them to be sick. And there may be some pesticides on orchids. I don't know if there are but the commercialisation of growing plants probably indicates that some sort of toxic pesticide is used by the producer.

However, they have been declared safe on the Internet by people who know more than me about the toxicity of plants and therefore I take that information on face value and pass it on.

Although orchids are safe, they are expensive and they are expensive because of production costs and transportation difficulties as I understand it. Market forces might also be involved which I mean demand outstrips supply which automatically forces up the price.

RELATED: House plants safe for cats.

If they are looked after well, they can last 15-20 years although they apparently become weaker producing less blossoms as they get older. I'm told that there are reports of some orchids living for over 100 years. But I guess when they are in someone's home, they might live 2-3 months.

The point that I am making is that perhaps the price is not as high as it seems if you take into account their longevity provided the conditions are satisfactory. They thrive in strong sunlight but not direct late afternoon sunlight. They also need a high humidity and air flow around the roots. And apparently, they need regular periods of drying alternating with heavy watering. They do best in temperatures above 50° but below 85°F.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth

Get this 😃. I have never seen a cat eat dry cat food pellets using their paw in such a manic manner. This cat looks starved to me. And there is no benefit to eating the pellets with his left paw. He would get them into his mouth faster if he ate in the conventional way. 

No matter. It makes for an interesting if slightly disturbing video. Eating with paws is not that unusual. It is just the crazed performance of this cat which is. 

People ask why cats sometimes use their paws to eat and drink. I think it is natural. It is easier to eat with the mouth directly but an alternative is to use a paw, usually the left incidentally which indicates that cats are generally left-handed and/or ambidextrous.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth. Screenshot.

Humans use hands to eat sometimes. And humans eat direct from the plate using the mouth sometimes (rarely 😉). Anyway, to get the food into the mouth is the objective especially when starved. The same rules apply to the cat. Cat paws are pretty dextrous. They are good at grasping objects.

@dimsimcoco

♬ Oh no, oh no, oh no, no no - Hip Hop

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. 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.

Chris Packham appeals to Gary Lineker on Twitter to get involved in the Zouma cat kicking incident

 Here is the tweet by Chris Packham directed at Gary Lineker.

Hello @GaryLineker Chris here . You may have seen that an @premierleague footballer from @WestHam has been filmed kicking and slapping a cat . As a great ambassador for sports and sportsmen and women can I call upon you to help ensure this is dealt with appropriately . Please RT pic.twitter.com/oM8P4pNKJc

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) February 8, 2022

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.

It is not clear to me what he specifically wants Gary Lineker to do. My guess is that he wants Lineker to put pressure on West Ham administration to punish Zouma more and perhaps terminate his contract with West Ham if it is feasible as per the terms of Zouma's contract.

We are still waiting for the RSPCA to reach a decision on what to do: prosecute Zouma or not. They are taking far too long over this. The evidence is in the video. It is plain for all to see. I guess they need to interview Zouma and the other people in the video. But the sluggishness of their investigation indicates a lack of commitment to prosecute.

Chris Packham publicly communicating with Gary Linker on Twitter. Screenshot

They are probably scared to make a decision as the case is so high profile. It was viral news for days. The cats are still with the RSPCA as far as I am aware. They should be taken from him permanently and rehomed.

The cat he kicked was a Bengal cat I believe. We don't know what filial. If the cat is a high filial such as and F2 the incident supports the desire of Packham and others to change the licensing laws on keeping high filial wild cat hybrids so that the licensing of these exotic cats is refused by the local authorities. This would stop the ownership of high filial wild cat hybrids in the UK by the backdoor.

Packham sees wild cat hybrids as damaging the conservation of the wild cats as the breeders need servals to create F1 Savannah cats and Asiatic leopard cats to create F1 Bengal cats. It is the importation of these wild cats into the UK which damages their conservation.

Japan: restaurant owner rescued stray cats and they rescued his business

NEWS AND COMMENT-JAPAN: This is a nice story of symbiosis, to use a rarely used word, certainly in this context. It means a relationship in which both parties benefit the other. And in this instance both Naoki Teraoka, the owner of a model railway themed restaurant (Tetsudokan) benefited greatly after he rescued stray cats near his business.

He was going through a very difficult time because of Covid. A pretty typical scenario for huge swathes of businesses in entertainment and hospitality. He has a model railway in his restaurant to create a theme and added interest. And he loves model railways.

Photo: believed to be by @Caferest_bar_Fe.

It's a popular restaurant and he was going bust because of Covid. He noticed a stray kitten next to his restaurant and decided to help because the cat needed help in terms of food and medical treatment. He named him Simba. And a few days later he noticed Simba's mother. He took both of them in. After all, he had plenty of unused food as there were no customers 👍. This implies, by the way, that he fed them human food which is not a good idea but I am pretty sure he also fed them cat food.

And then Simba's mother brought him three more kittens. He became a cat rescuer and the entire concept of his restaurant changed as a result. You can see the photographs on this page. They kind of occupied the place as they do; no doubt because they were delighted to be looked after.

Rescue cats occupy model railway themed restaurant and boost business. Image in public domain (believed).

He is very tolerant of them climbing all over his model railway which looks as if it was meticulously built. I'm sure they did some damage but I guess he accepted it because the presence of the cats attracted customers and media attention. The photographs of his rescued cats on his model railway went viral. It was a happy accident which he had not foreseen.

Japan: restaurant owner rescued stray cats and they rescued his business. Photo in public domain (believed).

He said: "It was a financially difficult time for us, but we decided to help the cat family. Yes, we thought we were helping them, but they were the ones who helped us."

His restaurant business appears to be back on its feet. He has now become a cat rescuer as well. There are 14 stray cats in all. It appears to have become a cat café/model railway themed restaurant 😊. He has opened a cat shelter and cat boarding cattery on the second floor. This allows his clients to go upstairs to adopt a cat should they wish. Thus far he has adopted out 100 cats I'm told by MSN News.

There is a moral behind the story: you reap what you sow. It's an old adage which is clearly applicable.