The Cat Blog on TheCatSite.com

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!

Meet Marcel, our new Cat in the Spotlight! This green-eyed boy was born on a farm, believe it or not, but his unique grey-blue fur singled him out and destined him to be a lap cat with our forum member MuleNag.

Here’s a paragraph out of Marcel’s story by MuleNag -

I always wanted a gray kitty. I love the smokey look that grays have. My aunt had a litter of kittens and said there was one gray. I told her if it was a boy, I wanted it. So the little boy kitten was spoiled rotten until he could be weaned. My aunt was calling him Tick ‘cuz he was such a lap cat and clung to you like a tick.

MuleNag shares more about Marcel on his cat page. Check it out to find out how he got that special name!

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!

Feral cats have always been near and dear to my heart. Those often misunderstood felines share the exact same genetic makeup as our precious pet cats. They are not wild animals. I have always felt that we, as human beings, share a collective responsibility towards their fate. Feral cats are domesticated animals which due to irresponsible cat owners in the past have lost the much needed protection and compassion of human care givers. It is up to us, as cat lovers, to take notice of them, and take action too. You can read more of my thoughts about ferals, what they are and how you can help them in an article published long ago on our site -

Feral Cats – The Invisible Felines

If feral cats are dear to your heart too, I’m sure you’ll find this blog not only fascinating but perhaps even useful. It definitely should be in the bookmarks of anyone involved in feral cat management and care -

Feral Cats in the News

Barb from Oregon, who runs this blog, has been providing a wealth of information about feral cats in her various related blogs (you can find links to them all in her profile). This specific blog, Feral Cats in the News, is a continuously growing archive on the topic. If this topic is close to your heart, be prepared to spend a few hours browsing this blog (with its archives going back to 2003!), reading all about the latest news about TNR, feral cat management, related legal issues, cat advocacy and more.

If you need help regarding feral cats or if you are involved in feral cat care and want to share your expereinces with like-minded people, please do visit our Caring for Strays and Ferals forum on the TCS community of cat lovers. If you’re not a member yet, join us here.

I adore tuxedo cats and Tucker here, owned by forum member ShopCat is definitely an adorable specimen!

He’s not just beautiful though. This is what ShopCat tells us about him on his cat page -

A soft spoken articulate little gentleman, he is not only well dressed, but very sociable & well versed! He likes to wait for me to get home from work so he can tell me about his day, & likes his “quality time with Mom” on the couch later on at night while watching TV. Not only is he tall dark & handsome, he is a sweet, affectionate patient kind of guy who loves his Mom! What else can a girl ask for?

Get your cat into the Spotlight here – send me a clear, good quality pictures, along with a description to anne@thecatsite.com with the words “cat in the spotlight” in the subject line and have your furbaby featured on the blog!

I’m talking about literal broken legs here. And other bones as well. We have a brand new article on the site today, discussing bone fractures in cats. Hopefully, you won’t need to apply any of that to your own pet, but I do believe that expanding one’s knowledge about feline health is always a good idea. The article also includes an section about prevention, which is relevant to every cat owner. Keep your cat out of harm’s way, and may you always refer to our health section just out of intellectual curiosity!