happy meowloween!

boo! all hallows eve is upon us yet again, and with it's devious delights come some common pet-related worries. any holiday with a lot of decorating and commotion can be pretty scary to our furkids but when you add in spooky costumes and ringing doorbells it can create the perfect storm of terror for you kitty. here are some tips to help keep them safe and happy while you do your best to scare the bejeezus out of the neighborhood kiddies.



"Don’t dress the dog or cat in costumes unless you know he or she will love it. Otherwise, it puts too much stress on the animal."

as if my cat doesn't love dressing up like rambo? as if!

cats help hearts

having lived with cats my entire life i've always been under the impression that cats make everything better. have a cold? cuddle a kitty! lose a sock? cuddle a kitty! get scratched? just get back on the bike and cuddle that kitty!

well it turns out i am right, well at least when it comes to heart attacks. a university of minnesota (shout-out to my homies!) study has concluded that owning a cat can reduce stress and help prevent heart attacks. what i find most interesting is that they are unsure yet if it is the actual cat-ownership or the personality of the owne that is the key. interesting. more fodder for the cats vs. dogs people.

"If we assume that cat ownership is directly responsible for the benefits, then the most logical explanation may be that cat ownership may relieve stress and anxiety and subsequently reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases."

an enterprising young lady in new york has come up with a new way to fund local cat rescue and her methods are really sticking it to the man. she is even able to raise enough money that she doesn't even have to go out and beat the streets. she really whipped her small rescue operation into shape. i could go on like this all day.

"It's kind of funny. I spend all day as the master of men, but when I get home, I'm ruled by my cats," said Haley, who asked that her real name not be used."

in all seriousness she is doing a great job and as long as the cats are happy nobody should torture themselves over it.

in memory....

though I hate to do it, every now and then i have to report on a rather sad story. this one is a little less sad, though, because this is the story of a hero. scarlett was the brave calico cat who rescued her five kittens from a fire back in 1996 and rose to international acclaim as a sort of iconic mother-figure. she will be missed but her memory will live on in all the brave kitty mothers who battle significant odds out of love for their babies.

onion story has me all red in the face

while perusing the onion archives the other day i stumbled across this humorous story that made me really embarrassed. its about those commercials that use cute talking animals in their adds to sell stuff and how much people love them. people....like me! i know it's all a carefully master-minded manipulation of my maternal instincts but i just can't ignore how cute they are. talking cats will always put a smile on my face. isn't that part of the reason why lol cats are so popular? who doesn't love talking cats? well, as long as i never phone my sister to discuss a cat littler commercial i think i'll be alright.

"Dale, who missed a majority of the 30-second spot, managed to race back to the living room in time to see the cat's owner hold out a bag of Fresh Step cat litter, to which the sass-talking feline responded, "Meow you're talking!"

LOL!

the story of my life

this video is the perfect example of what it's like to share your bed with a cat. they are all warm and cuddly and look so cute sleeping away, off in kitty-cat dreamland......at first. then, come 5 or 6 o'clock the unwelcome wake-up calls start. by 7 o'clock the ear-grabbing, hair-licking, face-dusting and cheek pinching is in full-swing. so why do we do it? to save money on alarm clocks? nah, because deep-down we really love it.

new sabre-toothed cat discovered; dottie jealous

tuesday is science day for the new york times, so i figured we can have fun with science today, too. the folks over at science news have broken a story that should cause a chill to overtake your frail, human bones. the discovery of a new species of sabre-toothed cat, nicknamed the "cookie-cutter cat" due to its serated teeth and precision bite, had the largest arm-span of all the big cats for grabbing prey and ripping it into bite-sized morsels of yummy goodness.

“This was the sumo wrestler of big cats.”

i sure hope they don't try and pull an encino man stunt with this guy.

monroe's new look

ok, I have to apologize for not posting anything in awhile. sorry! we've all been crazy-busy with the monroe st. store remodel. now that we are done with the big stuff (like ripping out walls, laying carpet and generally pimping our store) i promise to post more funny pictures and amusing links in the coming days. for now, though, let me leave you with a few pics of what we've been up to.

winter kitties

the humane society of canada has some great tips on how to keep your furry friends safe, happy and healthy in the coming winter months. especially close to our hearts is the risk of kitties climbing up into the engine blocks of cars to keep warm. if an engine is started with an animal inside it can result in severe injury or even death. so honk, honk, honk and scare the bejeezus out of any sleepy kitties before you drive off into the sunset.

real men love cats!

this story from the new york times is an indicator that the times they are a changin'. gentlemen, it is officially cool and completely acceptable to not only have a cat, but to love your cat unashamedly. let fe-love reign!

"This line of thinking does not surprise cat lovers, many of whom believe that only pillars of virility and masculinity would dare to own one."

station master tama

this is another great tail (see what i did there?) about the positive impact a cat in the workplace can have not only on employees but also on the public. tama is the cool cat who was promoted to station master of the kishi train station in kinokawa, japan. since her arrival to the station as a kittn, tama has become quite the celebrity and is responsible for bringing over 10 million dollars into her city's economy from curious tourists and cat-lovers alike. plus, she wears a cute little hat! who wouldn't like a cat with a hat?! maybe we could get morty to wear a beau chapeau. maybe....

garfield minus garfield

so this may be a stretch as far as it's relation to cats goes, but i just had to share. garfield minus garfield is one of the best sites i've seen in a while. it's simple comedy, just remove garfield and all of his blurbs from the three-panel garfield comics and laugh at john arbuckle's insanity.

i guess this is how we cat people must look to everyone else.

hugo - the cat of a thousand faces