On April 4, 2017, doors opened at the brand new Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in New York City. While Best Friends has been working to save pets in NYC for some time through adoptions and large-scale events, the center’s opening is a new beginning. The state-of-the-art space welcomes visitors to meet adoptable cats and dogs, and engages them in Best Friends’ mission to end the killing of pets in shelters by 2025. For more about the new adoption center, visit BestFriends.org.

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A 13-year-old cat in Florida has a vocabulary of about 50 words, using an augmentative alternative communication (ACC) device. These devices have previously been used by dogs, but Billi appears to be the first cat using an ACC device. The creator of the device was skeptical about cats using the buttons, but is now intrigued by the way cats are using the device differently from dogs. For more about Billi and her skills, visit Salon.com.

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We’ve all heard stories of animals sensing earthquakes long before the first tremors are felt by humans. A Melbourne, Victoria woman happened to be taking video of her cat playing with a toy moments before an earthquake struck. The video shows the cat playing, pausing, and even going to stand underneath the doorway, which is said to be the safest place to be in a quake. For more about the kitty and the video, visit news.com.au.

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Tabby cats with their pattern of distinctive stripes, lines, dots or swirling patterns and pencil like lines on their faces are not a breed. Almost all tabbies have markings shaped like the letter “M” on their foreheads. The tabby pattern is found in domestic cats as well as many purebred cats. A fascinating new study has identified the gene that plays a key role in creating the tabby stripe pattern. Visit the New York Times for an in depth look at the study.

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A French philanthropist has left a sum of money to some unusual beneficiaries in his will — the 50 cats living in the basement of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The museum houses 3 million works of art and artifacts and has been a home to cats since the 18th century. According to the museum, the cats are taken care of by volunteers and museum staff, and supported by donations. For more about the museum cats, visit CNN.com.

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I’m pretty sure Amazon is most cats’ favorite retailer, especially now that so many more humans are shopping online. After all, what’s more fun than a box when you’re a cat? Well, cats are going to be even happier when their humans’ orders will start arriving in Amazon’s new sustainable packing materials. Their “less packaging, more smiles” program uses less packaging material and combines orders into fewer boxes, and, bonus, the new boxes can be reused to create cat condos, box forts, and more! For more on Amazon’s new boxes, visit USAToday.com.

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No matter how much time we get with our cats, it’s never long enough. 31-year-old Rubbles was with her human Michelle Heritage for more than half of Michelle’s life. Heritage credits Rubble’s long life with the fact that she never had children and treated him like he was her son. For more about Rubble, visit The Daily Mail.

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The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral in the UK has been offering daily morning prayers from the cathedral’s beautiful gardens, where he is often joined by Leo the Cathedral cat. Leo even went viral recently when he disappeared in the dean’s robes during one of the morning sessions. Watch the video of the “incident” below. Regardless of your religious or spiritual orientation, doesn’t just looking at this beautiful photo of the lovely spot the dean picked for his daily prayers soothe your soul? What a lovely, serene spot, enhanced by Leo’s presence!

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