The Cat Blog on TheCatSite.com

I know, I need to open 2009 with an apology – and a belated one at that! I’m afraid I have slacked off over the past month. Time to get back to blogging here, and let you in on all the latest on TheCatSite.com and in the world of cats.

We’ll start with positive post this year, that will make you even happier for being cat owners.

For one thing, we have a new article on the site – the first one for this year:  The Health Benefits of Cats. Check it out to find out just how useful cats can be for both your mental and physical well-being. This is one of those articles you may want to bookmark and send on to people who are still unsure about becoming cat owners

Secondly, I’d like to start with an honorary mention of Fluffy, “a big orange and white fluff ball” who saved the lives of five family members (that includes a dog and two cats), by insisting on waking them up at 5AM, when no fire alarm would do the trick. Read the full story here. Fluffy joins a long line of life-saving felines, including one that a century ago saved the lives of my own late Grandma, her parents and her little brother, under similar circumstances.

Happy adoption stories never fail to give me a nice feeling all over. I know, from volunteering in a local shelter, just how difficult it can be to match the right cat with the right owner. A careful screening process is in order, to make things work. And even then, some cats are returned, and keep on looking for their forever home.

So, here’s a happy story I was reading today. One lucky cat who found a wonderful home. I am glad for this little cat, especially since he’s had such a rough start in life, losing a leg in a hunters’ trap.

Read the Full Story here

Work and cats don’t usually go together. Our pampered pet cats no longer have to hunt rodents for a living, and these days, working is considered a canine trait. The story that one of our forum members, catsknowme, brought to our attention is certainly unusual in that respect.

It’s the story of Tama, a tortoiseshell cat, born and raised in the a small train station in Japan. When the railroad company – Wakayama Electric Railway – decided to shut down the station, they jokingly appointed Tama as the Stationmaster. To their surprise, not only did the cat stuck around (according to the article, she does have a caregiver in a nearby shop, and the company pays for Tama’s food), but she actually did a good job, as the number of passengers using the line keeps increasing.

Well, being so good at her job, Tama was promoted to the rank of “Super Stationmaster”. One of 36 top managers of that rank, she is the only female there, believe it or not.

Myself, I am worried mostly about this cat being left unsupervised for long hours in a train station. The thing most on my mind… is Tama spayed? Does she get proper vet care? So, fun story, or borderline abuse by a big company? Make up your own mind and let us know by adding a comment here -

http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20080525120728705C537945#

Remember the pet food recall scandal from March 2007, involving over 95 brands of cat food? Another phase was reached last week in the litigations of over 100 lawsuits against the manufacturer of the defected pet food – Menu Foods. A settlement fund of $24 million dollars was set up by Menu Food, to allow for compensation for the plaintifs who have lost dogs and cats to kidney disease after feeding them with cont animated pet food.

Here are some links to articles with more details -

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jWoj-xA1xcoCq8oQAb5janun5ZpQD90RA98O1

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ij9-7i0Yutj46z-mBQqd-lpccgMQ

And if you need a recap about the details of the food recall -

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfood.html

Browsing through our cat forums never fails to bring up some interesting and thought provoking debate, especially in the IMO (In My Opinion) forum. I came across one today, in the Breaking Mews sub-forum. The thread title that caught my eye said -

Car owner suing dog owner’s family

I admit, at first glance, I thought it was a cat owner suing there… and was wondering what the dog ever did to the poor kitty. It was a car owner after all, suing the owner of a dog it had struck on the road. An interesting debate evolved in the thread over the fairness of the issue, where some members claimed that had it been a child, no one would have sued the parents. As other members noted, pets are considered property, and not family members, and thus, as pet owners we are liable for any damages caused by our pets.

Dogs are more likely to a problem in that respect. In fact, just the other week, my husband was attacked by a dog on his way home. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt, but a brand new pair of trousers was ruined. We got the owner’s phone number and rang them that night. Being pet owners and lovers ourselves, we tried not to make a huge fuss. Once we made sure that they will be taking precautions to prevent this from happening again to someone else, all we asked for was compensation for the damaged garment, which they were quick to send in.

Think that cats are less likely to cause damage? Well, usually that would be the case, but there are exceptions. I still remember the web designer with whom we met in our home several years ago to discuss a web project. The guy had this brand new pair of jeans on, which for some reason evoked an uncontrollable desire by one of our cats to use it as a scratching post… And yes, with a resident psycho kitty, there have been instances of bites and scratches too. We were fortunate to get away with apologies so far, but the risk is still there. In fact, whenever we have guests over, we make sure to warn them about our cat and always mention that we’re not insured

Are you insured for potential damages caused by your cat? If you can’t post about it in the thread (it is in a restricted forum), then by all means, post your comment here!

I was shocked to read this story about the town of Pincher Creek in Alberta, Canada, where a woman is being practically driven out of the town because she’s a cat lover. I just can’t fathom where the other cat lovers in this town are?

The article tells the story of Val Allen, who’s lost four cats in the space of two years to her neighbors who seem to be in the habit of trapping cats for all the wrong reasons… In fact, one of her cats was shot, and another poisoned, apparently while playing supervised in her backyard.

Now, you have psycho neighbors in all sorts of towns, but the amazing thing about Pincher Creek is that they seem to receive the support of the local authorities. The town’s Mayor apparently feels that cats take away from the quality of life and are nothing more than pests. Apparently, instead of working towards keeping cats indoors-only, he prefers to let the neighborhood thugs take the law into their hands!

Read the story here and remember to warn people of Pincher Creek – one town I will definitely stay away from!