Here’s a recent episode of Simon’s Cat logic, which includes both behavior information from Nicky Trevarrow and the usual animated cartoon. Nicky says that cats groom in a specific order; check your own cat to see if that’s the case. I always wonder about this: how do cats get the back of their neck and their “shoulders” (on the back) clean given that they can’t reach them? I examined these bits of Hili in Poland, and those parts seemed just as clean as the rest of her (she’s fastidious). Since she hates other cats, it can’t be “allogrooming”.
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The BBC reports that Bobby, a Bengal mix who lives in Notthingham, was trapped in the wash cycle in a washing machine for a full two minutes (temperature: 60°C) before his owner rescued him. Here’s the full story
Lisa Keefe, of the Meadows in Nottingham, did not realise her Bengal crossbreed Bobby had climbed inside the appliance for a nap.
She raced to get him out after hearing “a loud thudding noise” from inside the appliance.
A vet at the clinic who treated him said: “In my 15 years as a vet, I’ve never seen a case like this.”
Nine-month-old Bobby was taken to Nottingham Pet Hospital on the verge of collapse and needed IV fluids to treat shock.
His brush with death has seen him nominated for a PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) Pet Survivor award.
Ms Keefe, 47, said Bobby was known to climb in the machine and she had put him outside before putting in a new load.
But she said the curious puss must have snuck back in and hidden under a duvet before she switched on the appliance.
“As soon as I heard the noise I rushed to the machine and could see the colour of his fur mixed in with the quilt. I was petrified and raced to get him out,” she said.
The kitten was in the washer “for about two minutes”, vet James Kellow said.
“Bobby has learned his lesson the hard way, he doesn’t go anywhere near the washer any more”, his owner added.
Vet Tamsin Thomas said: “Bobby was on the verge of collapse as his body was soaked through and his temperature was dangerously low.
“We gently dried him out, kept him warm and gave him IV fluids to treat shock.”
Mr Kellow, who treated Bobby, said the kitten had sore eyes from the detergent, but within a couple of hours was “as right as rain”.
I wonder how many lives that used up. And here’s Bobby, right as rain now:
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On July 29 the BBC announced that a third cat has joined the Downing Street Duo (Larry and Palmerston) as a mouser, this time for the Treasury. As with all Downing street cats, the new one, a black moggie named Gladstone, came from the Battersea Cat and Dogs home. Larry is the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office (yes, a real title), and will stay on at 10 Downing Street with the new PM Theresa May. Palmerston, a tuxedo cat, has the title of “resident Chief Mouser of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) at Whitehall”. Palmerston and Larry have had serious scuffles in Downing Street, as the Wikipedia article describes. But that didn’t stop the appointment of Palmerston:
Relations between Larry and Palmerston are rumoured to have been strained, and there was speculation that Larry’s recent trip to the vet was the result of one of their run-ins.
But the latest feline appointment – who is named after former Liberal prime minister and four-time chancellor William Ewart Gladstone – signalled a willingness to stand up to No. 10.
A caption on Gladstone’s photo – taken of him in a cat carrier – reads: “The humans had to keep me in this cage in case I ran down the street and tormented some other mouser called ‘Larry’. Personally, I’ve never heard of him.”
Asked why Gladstone, who was previously called Timmy, had been drafted in a spokeswoman said it was to “help control the mice problem in the 1 Horse Guard Road building”.
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Finally, how about a little Maru as lagniappe? This is the most salacious Maru yet, and is called “Sexy Japanese white radish and Maru.” (I notice that Maru now has his own Wikipedia page.)
h/t: Pyers
Maybe cat cleaning is over rated? Many fur animals looks fine without necessarily grooming so much.
The video mentioned the cat ribbed tongue, and wisely didn’t suggest it evolved for grooming. I don’t know why it evolved. (Maybe other readers know?) But I was reminded of the fastidious way of cat drinkers in comparison with the inevitable slobbering of dogs, thanks to the barbs.
1) Cat drinking water in slow motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXd-W_GCoI
2) Dog drinking water in slow motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Ch2pNkZwU
[I hope I licked [sic!] the WordPress embedding problem…]
Ouch! Sorry about that. (Xs off another surefire way suggested by expert sites. Has anyone a neat way to prevent WP embedding?)
Ah, it’s in Da Roolz! Let me try that suggestion – the usual link which I think I’ve tried before, but here goes – which may or may not compound the problem:
1) Cat drinking water in slow motion:
Cat drinking water in slow motion
Our cat stays out of the washer but does like the dryer. Will wait until cool down is over so most of the heat is gone. Then jumps in and you are done doing laundry for who knows how long.
Obviously I need to work harder at growing daikon in my backyard. None of the ones I’ve harvested so far has been remotely sexy. Tasty, yes, but not sexy.
I learned a new word today:
Bonus: κνῆστις – ‘knestis’ – meant both ‘spine’ and ‘cheese-grater’ in Ancient Greek.
I’m convinced that Maru’s Tail is some sort of Parasitic animal that has somehow attached itself to the Cat,because it has a mind of its own.
When my cat was younger, her tail was the same: oversized and pretty independent of its host. And whenever the cat was trying to hide herself from us, she was forgetting her tail to protrude outside.
It is strange to me that Hili, who is on such good terms with Cyrus the d*g, hates other cats. Do you think this may be confused species identity?