Monday, 23 September 2024

Infographic explains the basic differences between cat and human sleep

This is a cross-post as I think it is a quite important topic for cat caregivers.


-----------

I did this because there are lots of articles on the internet telling us that cats sleep 18 hours a day or more. Not true really. They nap for a lot of the time but this is not really sleeping. I hope this infographic straightens out some misleading thoughts. 


-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Rory McIlroy lost the BMW PGA Championship because he doesn't have a 3-iron

Once again, this is nothing to do with cats 😎 but I played a lot of golf in my youth and got quite good at it. Golf followers know that Rory McIlroy lost the BMW PGA Championship this Sunday to an eagle in a play-off with Billy Horschel. However, in my opinion, he lost the championship on the 18th hole of the fourth round; the final hole of the championship proper before the play-off.

He hit a three wood off the tee to the middle of the fairway to directly attack the large green which is over water. As I recall, it was about a 250+ yard carry into a slight wind. Here is the shot.


Rory, as I further understand it, carries a driver, then a three wood, and then a four iron. And then the usual irons and I presume a few wedges. He does not carry a three iron.

He hit his four iron as hard as he could and in doing so overhit it slightly and mistimed the shot slightly. The shot was hooked and it fell short of the water in the rough. He was fortunate because it was destined for the water.

But, if he had carried a three iron he would have carried it onto the green in my honest opinion. This would have left two putts for a birdie to win the championship. In the event, he pitched from the rough onto the green over the water leaving himself about 15 feet from the hole with a tricky left to right putt which he missed.

In the play-off he did the same thing again but the 4-iron was adequate because his 3-wood tee shot was a little further down the fairway as he carried it over the trees to cut off the corner.  He could get a four iron home from there. If Rory McIlroy had carried a 3-iron he would have won.

P.S. Billy putted superbly throughout the tournament and that last putt to win was destined for the hole. He was awesome.

-----------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Sunday, 22 September 2024

Infographic will change your mind about ancient Egyptians loving cats


Below the infographic I briefly touch on the ancient Egyptian paradox of both admiring and respecting the cat while abusing the animal. And other animals all in the name of worshipping the Gods and asking for favours. They were a very superstitious race. Many people still are. 😢😉

-------------------

The ancient Egyptians had a deep admiration for cats, considering them sacred animals. Cats were valued for their ability to protect homes and granaries by hunting mice, rats, and snakes, which helped safeguard food supplies. Over time, cats became associated with divine protection and were linked to the goddess Bastet, who was the goddess of home, fertility, and protection, often depicted as a lioness or a woman with a cat's head.

The reverence for cats was so strong that they were often mummified and buried with their owners, and killing a cat—even accidentally—was punishable by death. Cats also featured in Egyptian art and religious rituals, showing how highly they were regarded. 

This admiration contributed to the spread of domestic cats throughout the world, as they became popular trade goods and companions for many cultures.

Paradoxically, while the Egyptians deeply revered cats, they also bred them specifically for sacrificial purposes. This practice emerged alongside the religious veneration of Bastet, the feline goddess of home, fertility, and protection. Worshippers would offer mummified cats as votive offerings at her temples, hoping to gain the favour of the goddess.

Archaeological evidence suggests that during certain periods, particularly from around 600 BCE onwards, there were large-scale breeding facilities dedicated to raising cats for this very purpose. Once these cats were killed (often humanely, though not always), they were mummified and offered in temples as a means of devotion. Millions of cat mummies have been found in Egypt, particularly in Bubastis, the center of Bastet worship, and other major temple sites.

While the act of breeding cats for sacrifice might seem contradictory to their revered status, it fits within the broader context of Egyptian religious practices, where offerings to gods—whether food, animals, or objects—were a fundamental way to show devotion. The cat's sacred status didn't prevent this practice, but rather made them more suitable for offerings to please Bastet and other deities. This juxtaposition illustrates the Egyptians' unique blend of spiritual reverence and ritual practices.

It was not just cats that were abused. Eight million jackals where offered to the Gods as mummies and buried in cemeteries in Egypt. It was mass slaughter.

-----------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three cats accompanied by four children!

This story comes from Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK. It's rather sad because a mother who needs to be identified by the police burgled a home and stole three cats from that home while being accompanied by four children.

It appears, and this is the allegation, that she took her four children into this home and allowed them to watch her theft of three cats. That, I think you would agree, is highly irresponsible for the fact that it's a crime and that it might teach children about criminal behaviour.

The police have issued the CCTV photograph that you see on this page and ask people to notify them if they recognise the woman.

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three kittens accompanied by four children!
CCTV image: Source: local police force.

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three kittens accompanied by four children!
CCTV image: Source: local police force.

The story is that she and her children left in a vehicle down Lowergate in the direction of Highfield Road, Clitheroe, UK, at around 1 PM on Tuesday, September 3. They burgled a home on Moor Lane.

The strange and probably remarkable fact about the story is that the mother took her four children along with her when she burgled the home. We don't know more but the pictures are good enough to identify her.

Another strange aspect of the stories that the police historically have showed a complete disinterest in investigating burglaries in the UK. This has been the status quo for very many years, which is why there are more burglars than the should be in the country. Although burglary is less profitable to criminals than online fraud.

In this story we have to think about the cats as well and the owner of the cats. These cats have been taken from their home range, their home, and they will be disturbed and frightened. And of course the owner will be distraught if he or she is any good at their job of domestic cat caregiving.

There is a very strong emotional distress element to cat and dog theft by which I mean the caregiver can suffer tremendously for a very long time. This makes the theft of a sentient being more important to police than an inanimate object, I would argue.

In the UK, the theft of domestic animals has increased. It's quite a profitable form of criminality. Sometimes animals are stolen to breed which of course depends upon whether they can breed i.e. whether they be neutered or not.

I suspect that this woman has in mind breeding cats to make some money. She might have known that the cats had not been spayed or neutered. You see a lot of kittens for sale on social media from unscrupulous sellers. Sometimes the prices are inordinately high for non-purebred cats.

It depends on the appearance. If the kittens look great then people are more prepared to pay good money for them even if they are not purebred. Humans are very much focused on appearance. And sometimes unscrupulous people sell random bread cats as purebred cats.

That said, it's entirely possible that the three stolen cats are in fact purebred. I made the presumption that they weren't but I could be wrong.

------------------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Saturday, 21 September 2024

Lost Siamese cat walks 900 miles home from Yellowstone National Park to Roseville California

The domestic cat's astonishing navigation abilities combined with their natural homing instinct and enormous persistence have appeared to combined in compelling this Siamese cat to go home from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to Roseville, California; a journey of about 900 miles and his owner believes that he did it all on his own. His owner believes that he he was not transported in a vehicle but simply made his way home after he got lost on a camping trip to that wonderful park.


Note: you can see that Beau has a slight squint which is typical of Siamese cats. Reason? Click this to find out.

Lost Siamese cat walks 900 miles home from Yellowstone National Park to Roseville California
Image: MikeB made with images from Sky News.

His name is Rayne Beau which I think is a very clever name because it is a take on the word "rainbow". And interestingly, his owners, Benny and Suzanne Anguiano, saw a rainbow on their way home from Yellowstone National Park to their home in Salinas having searched high and low for their beloved cat. They took the rainbow as a sign that Beau would come home.

They Beau him and his twin sister to Yellowstone's Fishing Bridge RV Park on June 4. This was the cats' first trip to the forest.

The holiday ended badly because Rayne Beau ran off into the wilds of the park and couldn't be found. The couple searched for four days but with heavy hearts they returned home to Salinas, California.

They didn't give up hope and fortunately Beau was micro-chipped and in August the couple received a surprise phone call from the microchip company. They were told that Beau was safe and well at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Roseville, California.

That's about 200 miles from their home and they drove to the shelter to collect him. Apparently a woman saw Beau wandering the streets of Roseville. They fed him and gave him water until is they managed to catch him on the 3rd August and then took him to the shelter.

Beau had lost 6 pounds which apparently is about 40% of his body weight and his protein levels were low due to inadequate nutrition. His paws were very sore. These are the reasons why Ms Anguianos believes that Beau walked all the way back without help.

They've now fitted him with a GPS tracker and I have to say that this is not the first instance on a domestic cat making a remarkable return home using their natural navigation abilities.


And about the wild cats:


--------

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. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Featured Post

i hate cats

i hate cats, no i hate f**k**g cats is what some people say when they dislike cats. But they nearly always don't explain why. It appe...

Popular posts