Adorable!

We always keep our cats indoors. But every year at this time we remind our friends to keep their cats, especially their black cats, indoors for the rest of the month, no matter what.
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An Australian cat may have saved its own life by ingesting a mix of drugs that no normal human would have tried.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an 8-month-old Himalayan showed up at a vet with a racing heartbeat and other signs of nervous distress. The owner’s wife admitted it could have licked from "plates of cocaine" they had put out for their dinner guests.
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Cat Rescuer Given 90 Days to Remove Her Cats

According to news reports, Kristy Grant of Pierson, Florida has almost 170 cats, and local officials have told her to get rid of them.

So far, this sounds like a typical cat hoarding case. But wait, there’s more.

First off, Pierson is a tiny rural community of about 2600 people in 7 square miles. And Ms. Grant lives not in a typical tiny house stuffed to the rafters with half-dead cats and their poop, but a clean place on 10 acres well outside of "town" proper. And she reputedly knows all her cats by name — as opposed to cat hoarders who are generally clueless as to even what’s going on in their house. And her neighbors aren’t complaining about the smell from the poop and dead cats, because there isn’t any (and aren’t any) — instead, they’re complaining that the cats are so healthy they’re killing too many squirrels and birds.

Not a Cat Hoarder

It turns out that Ms. Grant has rescued all her cats, and wants to turn her property into an animal sanctuary. She’s quoted by Local 6 News (where you can see a video if you use IE but not Firefox) as saying "I’m in the middle of nowhere. If I can’t take care of cats here, where can you?"

As is all too common, her local City Council has denied her requests and given her 90 days to remove all but the four that she is allowed to keep under zoning regulations. I’m not sure what it is about Florida — maybe the humidity — but it seems as though that state is crowded with local officials and homeowners associations that love to push people around and try to control their lives. Maybe the Pierson City Council ought to use some common sense in this situation before they give their town a bad reputation.
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Coping with Cat Fur

Fur, fur everywhere and not just on my cat…

We love our feline companions, but often wish for ways to control or clean up their shed fur. Here are some ideas to help you (and your cat!)

Why cat fur is shed everywhere

Cats have at least two layers of fur (some have three!) and the one we see most often is the longer upper layer. This layer is not shed in great quantities by cats. It is the dense shorter underlayer designed to insulate cats during weather of any kind that is shed. Shedding of old fur occurs year-long, with a seasonal increase after winter being the most prolific. A cat’s self-grooming of this seasonal shedding is what leads to spring and summer hairballs and the resultant problems for your cat and you. Having said this, we turn to ways of decreasing shed fur, first on your cat, and then in your home.

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Cat-Inspired Humor

Some homegrown humor about cats and their humans from our family to yours.

With apologies to Sir Issac Newton: A cat in motion will tend to stay in motion, a cat at rest will tend to remain at rest…unless food or a toy are wafted nearby.

More silly jokes…

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All four of our cats like to eat grass. Only one wants it in order to throw up. The other three just like the taste. Two of our four cats love catnip, fresh or dried. One will eat catnip just like regular grass. A fourth feline avoids catnip in any form. Our cats have nearly killed my spider plant with their desire for greens. So we grow catnip as well as safe grasses for them. Here is how you can, too.
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Several companies offer online sample ideas of crafts for children that focus on cats and other animals. We visited them so we could help you enhance your child's creativity and imagination.
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Free You-Print-Them Cat Posters Free Feline and Nature Posters http://www.nationalgeographic.com/printaposter/ for personal use from the nature photographer’s premier journal of the National Geographic Society. They allow you to download pdf Adobe Acrobat files, print the pages and assemble them into 25 x 33 inch (64 x 84 centimeter) posters. Instructions included at the web site.
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Showing your appreciation and staying in touch are important human activities. But the fine art of letter writing has been replaced with email. We found for you web sites that offer free post e-cards with cat related photographs or animation.
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