Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2015

International Cat Day







To celebrate International Cat Day, here are my three fur-babes.




Teddy


Teddy (AKA Theodorable, The Tedster) is  Chief Executive Officer.
He is eleven years old and has a heart condition.
He takes medicine daily and is, thankfully, doing great.
He is wise beyond his years and is steadfast in his belief that he
must take care of Mum now.
After all, he is the man of the house.

Cassie



This is Cassie (Cassiopeia) the little star.   
She is 5 years old.
She is Mummy's girl and is a Princess.
Scared of her own shadow, she doesn't like visitors.
She curls up next to Mum, sleeps with Mum,
keeps me safe and feeling loved.
She loves to supervise especially when yarn is involved.




Mina



Not to be left out is Mina.
What a hoot she is!
Adopted from a local no kill shelter,
she really is the boss (don't tell Teddy).
She's always into something.
Never met a stranger (wish she was more like Cassie).
Hungry all the time (probably from her early days on the street).
She has hip dysplasia, but it doesn't stop her.


So, I'm a cat lover and according to this article that I found on 
Face Book, there are benefits to being a cat owner.
If you are wondering about being owned by a cat (!!!),
here's what a cat can do for you! 



1. YOU'RE SMART!

A study of British pet owners found that people who owned cats  tended to be smarter than their dog loving counterparts. Both in terms of IQ score and overall level of education, people who own cats come out on top in the brains department. It’s probably not the cat itself making you smarter, though; the researchers conducting the study said that smarter people tend to work longer hours, and since cats require less attention than dogs they are a better choice for the busy intellectual.

2. IT'S BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!

If you're worried about your  carbon footprint, it’s better to own a cat. A 2009 study found that over its lifetime, the resources needed to feed a dog make the same eco-footprint as that of a Hummer. Meanwhile, cats—which eat less in general and are more likely to eat fish than corn or beef flavored products—only have the approximate carbon footprint of a Volkswagen Golf.

3. HELPING YOU COPE!

Losing a loved one is incredibly painful, but one of the best ways of coping is to own a pet. Cats have been shown to help people get over their loss more quickly, and show less physical symptoms of pain, like crying. Despite the fact that they are only animals, cats serve as a social support during difficult times. People in mourning report talking to their pet to work out their feelings, since it is often easier to talk to something that won’t respond and can’t judge than to another human being.

4. HELPING YOU MATE!

If you’re a single guy and you can’t seem to get a date, get a cat! A British poll found that 82 percent of women agreed they are more attracted to men who like animals. And while having a dog will do wonders for your dating life, a whopping 90 percent of single women said that men who own a cat are “ nicer” than other guys. It seems women buy into the stereotype that cat owners are more sensitive and thoughtful, so listing that you own a cat on your dating profile could do wonders for the number of responses you get. But remember, a cat is for life, not just until you find a partner.

5. HEART HEALTH!

Owning any pet is good for your heart. Cats in particular lower your stress level—possibly since they don’t require as much effort as dogs—and lower the amount of anxiety in your life. Petting a cat has a positive calming effect. One study found that over a ten year period cat owners were  30 percent less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than non-cat owners.

6. COMPANIONSHIP!

The stereotype that dogs are more affectionate than cats is just that: a stereotype. In fact, it turns out that cats can be just as good companions as dogs,  especially for women. A 2003 Swiss study found that having a cat in the house is the emotional equivalent of having a romantic partner. As well as initiating contact much of the time, studies have shown cats will remember kindness shown to them and return the favor later.
But cats really do have the upper hand in these relationships. After thousands of years of domestication, cats have learned how to make a half purr/half howl noise that sounds remarkably  like a human baby’s cry. And since our brains are programmed to respond to our children’s distress, it is almost impossible to ignore what a cat wants when it demands it like that.

7. A REFLECTION OF YOUR PERSONALITY!

Owning a cat tells people a lot about your personality. While dog lovers tend to be the life of the party, cat owners are  quieter and more introverted. However, they score very highly when it comes to how trustworthy they are and how much they trust other people. Cat owners are also less manipulative and more modest.
Cats




International Cat Day


Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Thank you to the hosts of:





Camera Critters




Saturday, November 23, 2013

Camera Critters: Cougar



On one of my recent visits to the zoo,
cougars Shasta and Haley were having a discussion about the best place to take a nap.



Cougar
Cougar
Cougar
Cougars

Both of the cougars are young cats and their stories are similar.
It is legal to kill cougars under certain circumstances.
It is illegal to kill female cougars with kits.
Both Haley and Shasta's mothers were killed. 
Shasta had two siblings that were found quickly and rescued, but Shasta went hiding.
He was finally found and made his way to the Houston Zoo where he is now the official
mascot of the University of Houston cougars. 

Just look at those feet! 
They share a lovely habitat -- plenty of room to climb, run and jump and no one to shoot them.


Camera Critters
Thanks to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing all of you well and much joy.


Friday, January 7, 2011

The Amazing Painting Cat!



I couldn't resist this postcard.
It is from the postcard book Cat Artist's And Their Work.
The original is a lithograph poster made around 1887 and can be found in the
Museum of Animal Acts in Wisconsin.



Cat Artists


The back of the postcard reads:
"Cat-marking behavior was trivialized in Victorian times, as this poster shows.
While Matissa certainly made marks with paint, Mrs. Broadmoore
(in reality a rather portly man dressed as a woman),
amused the audience by pretending that the cat's simple paintings were
"pawtraits" of people in the audience."

A big thank you to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

I hope this card brought a smile to your face.
Wishing you well and a fun filled weekend!

 

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Camera Critters



It's Camera Critters time! Misty is our lovely hostess. Be sure you visit!

Here's more of the Houston Zoo and Photography Morning with one of my favorite kitties ---

the beautiful cheetah.




Cheetah


"You again? Here I am. Beautiful as usual."



Cheetah


"Is that breakfast I see in your hand? Let me get closer."


Cheetah


Have a wonderful day!

Joy to You on Critter Day!


Friday, April 23, 2010

Postcard Friendship Friday




This week Beth has a beautiful little girl posted to start off Postcard Friendship Friday. I looked for a beautiful little girl and stopped when I saw this postcard. She definitely has the cat by the tail! Poor kitty. Just wanted his fair share of dinner!


Cat By The Tail Postcard


This postcard is from The Cat Postcard Book (a celebration of cats, with 30 full-color portraits to mail, share and cherish) published by Running Press Book Publishers.
The back of the card reads:
Mischievous Kitty, 19th century (American).
Advertising trade card for E. G. Southwick & Co.
Northampton Historical Society, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Happy PFF!


Friday, October 30, 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted every week by our lovely postmistress, Marie.

I wanted to come up with something special for Halloween.
I found a collection of postcards called
Famous Painted Cats.
It was published by Ten Speed Press in 2004
and has 24 postcards.

I picked three of my favorites that said Halloween to me.



This is Bone Voyage, 2000, vegetable dye and neutralized bleach on Bruno, tabby and white shorthair moggy. T. Yates, SanFrancisco.

The back of the postcard reads: "Zeno Baron's work conforms to Braque's requirement that art should disturb, to say nothing of making you jump out of your skin. It was once described by a critic as being "...on the teasing edge of macabre with an increasing tendency to fall right off." But Baron refutes such detractors by saying they're "shallow," and "afraid to engage with the inner message."



Miss Chatreuse, 2001, Vegetable dye on Stella, white moggy. P. Knight, Toledo.

The back of the postcard reads: "Robert Geldzahlor's cats are designed to be a celebration of female night sports with all the glitzy jewelry, makeup, and weapons of mass seduction beautifully painted on their silken attire. They preen, they gossip, they stalk their prey, and provide a vivid reminder of the animal that lurks within us all."


Heavenly Bodies, 2001. Organic peroxide on Blackie and Patch, black and white moggies. D. McGill, Edinburgh.

The back of the postcard reads: "Kate Bishop works quickly using stencils and an electrostatic airbrush, to position images at the correct height so they can interact with images on other cats. As the cats move about in a confined, space, the images merge, becoming partially obscured and transformed in a vast orchestration of rapidly changing random forms, each one representing the sum of its infinite possibilities. This work has been described as representing a significant advance in the celestial-bestial chromosphere."

From the back of the book: "Cat painting, once the preserve of a few Midwest American artists, is becoming so mainstream that it's possible to see a cat being styled and painted in a specialized beauty salon or competing for "Best Painted Cat" at a pet show. In other cultures it's not so new. people paint their cats in India and Japan and if you traveled to Ayuba, an independent territry of Botswana in the Okavango Delta, you would find the local Bayeyi people using bark dyes to paaint butterflies on their cats' faces."

The one thing I know for sure, I've never lived with a cat who would stand for being painted. Having a portrait done is one thing, but actually being painted -- NO WAY!

I hope you all have a Happy Halloween.
Happy PFF!


Thursday, October 8, 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday

Postcard Friendship Friday is made possible by our delightful Postmistress, Marie.

Every year a Japanese Festival is held in Houston's Hermann Park.
It includes food, music, bonsai and lots of vendors.
One year, I found these postcards.
I love cats and couldn't pass them up.






The backs of the cards simply say: PostCard.

Be sure to stop by here to visit other members of PFF
and see the wild and crazy card Marie has posted!


Saturday, September 26, 2009

Camera Critters

It's Saturday so it must be Camera Critters time.
Be sure to visit to see other critters from around the world.

We are going back to the Houston Zoo
for more of Photography Day
and cats.





This beautiful little cat is the Margay.

The Margay is about two feet tall from feet to shoulders, three feet long and weighs about five to twelve pounds. It has gray to golden-brown fur with black and brown spots. The spots on its sides are often different shapes and are often black with a brown center. Its undersides are white. The Margay has a small head, large ears and eyes and a long tail.

The Margay can be found from Mexico to Argentina. It was once found in the United States in Texas. The last Margay seen in the United States was spotted in Texas in the 1850s.


(Please excuse the blur ... between the rain and this little guy being in constant motion it made getting a really good shot a little beyond my capabilities.)



The Margay makes its home in tropical and subtropical forests.

The Margay eats a wide-variety of food including birds, bird eggs, small mammals, reptiles and fruit. It hunts primarily in trees.

Margays mate year-round. Females give birth to one or two young three to four months after mating. The kittens begin to eat meat when they are about eight weeks old.




The Margay is nocturnal. It is a very good climber and jumper. It has joints in its ankles that rotate 180 degrees. This helps it climb down vertical trees headfirst. It is the only cat in North America that can do that! It can also hang from tree limbs by one hind foot. It spends most of its time in the tree canopy hunting for birds, small mammals, reptiles and eggs.

The Margay is near threatened because of loss of habitat.



We spent a lot of time just watching this little guy. He was in constant motion -- up, down, around and do it all again and again.


Here's a video from the zoo on You Tube. The keeper will talk about enrichment for the cats and this little guy is in the video -- constant motion! You'll also see the Fossa, Leopards, Tigers.

Enjoy!