the ULTIMATE cat mansion

Apparently this has been making the rounds since October, and Frank posted this in his blog, but apparently some Japanese Geniuses (Japaneniuses?) have created the ultimate in cat comfort and luxury, in a house totally designed for cats.

I will not post all the photos - i'll leave that to the wonderful post on My Cat Goma - but this photo below should be sufficient to make you click through:



All I can say is wow. the pictures speak for themselves - they've really thought of everything.

more here and here: manufacturer's website - japanese

water cat

It's usually pretty safe to assume that housecats don't like water. Well, at least, they are very interested in it but not interested in being submerged in it (it's well known that tigers are great and frequent swimmers, so this assumption cannot be extended to all cats). It's a good generalization about cats, though, and many people can attest to trying to bathe their cat (why? you do realize they bathe themselves...) or using a squirtgun for discipline uses.


However, there's an exception to every rule - and I think this is more of a kitten thing than a cat thing, to be frank - but some cats totally love the water. Here's a cute example:


Funny Videos

this little kitty is having a ball in a pretty darn full bathtub. Tux liked kind of putting his paws in the water when he was little, but never to this extent.

Peta's "Sea Kitten" campaign

PETA, everyone's favorite pro-animal organization (you know, the ones with the controversial ads and tactics that makes vegetarians ashamed to be associated with them) has started a new ad effort to make people stop eating fish.

Their idea? Call fish "sea kittens." They are using the fact that everyone loves kittens and no one could possibly eat one (except Koreans of course). I applaud their effort to try and capitalize on the cuteness of the kitten, but let's face it - a rose would smell as sweet by any other name, and a fish would taste as delicious (especially to a real cat) by any other name.

Before you vegans get all up on in my grill, trust me, i know that fishing is awful and that the oceans are really overfished and whatever. I just think this is a stupid idea. Here's a news article about the campaign.

Anyway, i made myself a sea kitten. a ramones sea kitten:

Always On Their Own Terms

It's true.

Cats are totally, unequivocally always on their own terms.

Eating? On their own terms. Snuggling? On their own terms. Being pet? You guessed it - always on their own terms.

This is fine, and probably one of the main reasons I enjoy having cats as pets- their independence is less insulting than the attitude of a dog who follows you around absolutely everywhere demanding attention like a small child.

It's even more awesome when cats change their owner's lives because of their terms. This happens to me in the morning when my cats get hungry. There's no way they let me sleep when they've got it in their small little brains that it's feeding time.

Observe this:




This awesome cat is so on his own terms that during this timelapse video he spends most the time just annoying his owner, as if to say, "You can't sleep now. I don't want you to. you have to sleep only when I say." Now that is cool.

the worst cat website ever

Feline's Pride

What is that AWFUL song that's playing?! AND WHY IS IT PLAYING?

Diets

First of all, happy new year to everyone out there! I hope your celebrations were safe and the cat nip intake was kept at a minimum.

Secondly, I am thinking about making tux and turtle's diets a bit more interesting. I am thinking of, in addition to the totally gross canned food they eat, giving them a mixture of cooked fish (salmon and white fishes), some small amounts of cooked egg and vegetables (like Broccoli), seaweed, and perhaps a small amount of brown rice all mixed up.

Before I get myself into this too deep or risk making them sick, I'll need sufficient resources to ensure that what I intend on feeding them is healthy and that they'll get the sufficient protein and vitamins that cats require.

So, I will be doing some online research (this seems like a good starting point) but was wondering if anyone out there may have any opinions or ideas about feeding your cats homemade food.