A family on a camping trip in Washington State found a small tortie inside a drain pipe along the side of the road. They brought the emaciated cat to their RV and took her home after the weekend. A few days later, Caci the tortie gave birth to six kittens. The babies needed to be bottlefed initially, but as Caci became stronger, she was able to nurse the kittens. The kittens have already found new homes, but Caci is still waiting for her purrfect forever home. For more about this beautiful family and wonderful photos, visit LoveMeow.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

I don’t usually get excited about archaeological finds, but this one had me awestruck. A huge feline figure carved into an arid hillside more than 2,000 years ago has been discovered in southern Peru. The geoglyph measures 121 feet across and is part of the Nazca Lines, a collection of hundreds of mysterious artworks etched onto a plateau 250 miles south of Lima. For the story of how the giant cat was discovered, visit SCNOW.com.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap: Continue Reading

A Japanese cat may be the world’s first real copycat. Ebisu was able to imitate the actions of her human under controlled scientific conditions. Claudia Fugazza, an ethologist at Eötvös Loránd University, who had been studying dog cognition for nearly 10 years using “Do as I Do” training, discovered this talented feline by accident. As part of the study, she was working with a  Japanese dog trainer who told her that she had trained her cat with the same method. For more about Ebisu and to see him in action, visit sciencemag.com.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

Warning: today’s edition of Mews and Nips may cause cuteness overload! When a litter of kittens was dropped off at Animal Welfare League of Arlington, volunteers in their kitten nursery worked around the clock to care for them. Two of the kittens needed extra attention, so Lauren Strycula, one of AWL’s foster parents, took the pair home. The male kitten in particular had a hard time. His sister never left his side, and soon both kittens were thriving. For more about the pair, and super adorable photos, visit LoveMeow.com.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

Math was my least favorite subject in school, and I never believed my teachers when they said I would need it to function in life. Now granted, we all do some level of math, whether we like it or not, but what about our cats? In her most recent blog, Dr. Michael Delgado reports on a fascinating study titled “Revisiting more or less: influence of numerosity and size on potential prey choice in the domestic cat.” The study used live prey to asses cats’ preferences as to how much and how large a prey they prefer (and don’t worry, no mice or rats were harmed, in fact, they were adopted by university students after the study was completed.) My favorite part of the study: five cats had to be dropped from the study due to inadequate participation. Click here to read Michael’s full report on the study.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

If international travel becomes safe again, the Poezenboot (Catboat) in Amsterdam is one of the  places on my list of dream destinations. Forbes recently did a feature on this floating cat sanctuary, which has been in existence since 1966. It can accommodate up to 50 cats, and is open to visitors. For more about the Poezenboot and more wonderful photos, visit Forbes.com.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

When a litter of three-week-old kittens was found on a baseball field in the Bronx, Sunny, a local animal rescuer, took the kittens home. There was no sign of the mother cat. One of the kittens, a tortie, quickly took a special liking to Sunny’s son. She wanted to be held and cuddled by him, and if anyone took her away from her favorite person, she showed a hefty dose of tortitude even at her young age. For more about little Chimera and more adorable photos, visit LoveMeow.com.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading

In one of the best feel good stories of the year, actor Dennis Quaid recently adopted a black cat named Dennis Quaid from the Lynchburg Humane Society in Virginia. “It was really off the wall but we couldn’t resist,” he said, adding: “I’m out to save all the Dennis Quaids of the world.” The two Dennises met via Zoom, and Quaid’s The Pet Show cohost Jimmy Jellinek will fly to Virginia to pick up the new member of the Quaid household. For more about how this adoption came about, visit CNN.

If you missed any of the stories featured on the Conscious Cat this week, here’s a recap:Continue Reading