This won’t be a long post because I’m leaving for an appointment in five minutes, but I wanted to share my friend’s story.  She has two small dogs and a very loving, sweet cat and asked her family for help in taking one.  You see, she had to give up one pet because they are moving to an apartment where only two small pets are allowed.

I offered to let one of her dogs stay at my place until a new home can be found, but we both knew that it would be hard on my own two dogs and cat.  Luckily, the owner of her new rental finally agreed to allow all her pets to stay, as long as she could pay a bit more on the pet deposit.

We just found out this weekend that one of her aunts just adopted a cat from a stranger instead of helping family.  Sometimes I just don’t understand people.  Sigh.

From I Can Has Cheezburger.

TheoGeo published this video on her site.  Her advice was to turn up the volume because it would drive your cat crazy. My cat, Kitty?  She opened one eye, looked at me, then fell back asleep.  But if I got the laser pointer out, it would be an entirely different story.

The laser pointer.

These are my favorite animal photos this week.  Most ALL have been found thanks to Brittney’s intrepid internet searches… Thanks Brittney!

Leeland

Cat on Cat

Love

And finally… Scary.

I love my cat and would actually love to be the crazy cat lady (as if you don’t already know).  But if I had the opportunity to get this cat, I’d have to say absolutely not.  It seems more like a cheetah or jaguar than a domestic IMO.

MAGIC is the tallest domestic cat measured from toe to shoulder. She is an incredible 43.43 centimeters (17.1 inches) high – and is the world’s tallest domestic cat. Now that tells us quite a lot about the complexities of awarding that award. Is MAGIC the longest too? This is to come. And what is a domestic cat. Now that is a big question….

Here’s a video of the kitty from the web site Pictures of Cats.

In a very very clever campaign to find homes for a booming feline population at the Michigan Humane Society, cats are being certified as pre-owned.  From Big Dorky White Guy,

The Consumerist said,

The key part of this promotion is that the shelter is charging no adoption fees for adult cats—hence the “$0 down, no payments” gimmick. The idea is to get more cats into happy homes, and shelters have found that with careful screening, waiving the adoption fees doesn’t affect the quality of homes they’re able to find, or the rate of return.

I want another cat. I’m pretty sure that when I get old in the not-too-distant future, I’m a prime candidate for crazy cat woman.  However, I’m determined to not adopt any more animal residents for now… I’ll just hold on to the three at home now.

Of note, we had four pets before Christmas but lost Lord Voldemort the beta fish over the holidays.

Though I had every intention of writing about something today besides CATS again, I wanted to update you about the cat rescued last week from high in a tree in Clarksville, Tennessee.  The cat is fine and expects to be adopted this week.  From Clarksville’s Leaf Chronicle,

Attempts were made to lure the cat from the tree with food. The feline would back down the tree trunk 5 feet or so, then scurry back into the upper limbs.

“She would have never made it because it was so cold, and she’d been up there for two days without eating,” he said. Clarksville Fire Rescue was asked to help with a fire truck but were unable to do so because of power lines close to the tree.

Thanks to Christian for the update!

Neither of my cats EVER had problems being vocal.  Old Pootster was especially loud with her caterwauling.  She wanted OUUUUUUUT or MOOOOOOOOOOOOM constantly.  Little Kitty is quieter but she’ll definitely let you know if you’ve displeased her.  As a result, I was amazed to learn that cats can lose their voices just like people!

On the kitty forum, we hear why,

Yes, kitties can loose their voices from overuse, just like humans. There are a ton of other things that can cause laryngitis in cats too; colds, allergies, overuse, respiratory infections, hairballs, acid reflux, obeisity, elevated pollution levels, or just stress. If she seems healthy, then it’s probably nothing. But if her voice doesn’t come back in a day or two I’d take her to the vet to get checked out.

If you don’t believe this, check out Winston.

Poor kitty.

H/T Brittney’s Shared Items.

There have been exactly two times in my life that I’ve seen - and subsequently rescued - a cat from a tree.  The second time was when our cat was attacked by a neighbor’s dog and violently shaken.  She got away because we never declawed her and she deeply scratched the dog’s face and nose.  Pootster then darted up a tree… it took about 20 minutes to coax her down.  It was like we saw her cash in one of her nine lives that day.

The first time I saw a cat in a tree was as a child living in Arkansas.  One of our outdoor cats found a bird nest, climbed up, and methodically bit the babies and dropped them to the ground. I scrambled up that tree with the speed only a 10-year old tomboy can muster - made it in about 10 seconds flat.  I got the cat out of the tree, but it was too late for every single one of those baby birds.  You’d think I’d become a cat hater after that, but I still love them.

This story about a cat stuck HIGH in a tree in Clarksville, Tennessee by my friend Christian reminded me of my two treed cat experiences,

By the time our evening producer got the details it was too dark to do anything with it.  I thought about that cat all night long. Kean told me when she got home Thursday night she heard its hoarse little kitty voice crying all night.

Poor kitty was stuck for five days.  It’s safe now and will be adopted after a three-day recovery with Animal Control.  Yes, the picture at the top is of the sweet thing. 

I have three favorite silly sites: LOL Cats, Fail Blog, and Cute Overload.  This one is from Cute Overload because… how can you not love this face?