Oscar visits the President and doesn't leave empty handed!

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090105/ap_ ... h/bush_cat

[smupony94]

Ruthless - taking out his brothers and sisters

[couch 'em]

18 years old? Do cats live that long?

[CalallenStang]

18 years old? Do cats live that long?

I know someone that had a cat that lived until he was 19 - and he wouldn't have died then had he not decided to sleep in a car engine on a cold day.

Long story short, someone started the engine...cat lost his leg...wasn't long after that the cat died.

[smupony94]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090105/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_cat

Don't let Thad know that Oscar is seeking out cats

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Ruthless - taking out his brothers and sisters

Hey, it's a cat eat cat world. Homie is just doin his job.

[smupony94]

[smupony94]

Charity cat show this weekend
By LANA BERKOWITZ HOUSTON CHRONICLE


57th ANNUAL CHARITY CAT SHOW

• When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

• Where: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas

• Admission: $8 for adults, $4 for children 12 and younger and seniors 65 and older.

• Information: www.houstoncatclub.com

The Houston Cat Club is putting on its 57th annual Charity Cat Show this weekend.

The two-day show will feature eight judging rings and 44 vendors selling everything from furniture for cats to cat-themed accessories for humans.

The feline agility course will run hourly. “It’s popular with spectators but not so much with the cats,â€

[mrydel]

ROAD TRIP!!

[smupony94]

If they only listened to Oscar's concerns


Removing cats to protect birds backfires on island

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer Michael Casey, Ap Environmental Writer – Tue Jan 13, 9:18 am ET

BANGKOK, Thailand – It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.

But the decision to eradicate the felines from Macquarie island allowed the rabbit population to explode and, in turn, destroy much of its fragile vegetation that birds depend on for cover, researchers said Tuesday.

Removing the cats from Macquarie "caused environmental devastation" that will cost authorities 24 million Australian dollars ($16.2 million) to remedy, Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division and her colleagues wrote in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.

"Our study shows that between 2000 and 2007, there has been widespread ecosystem devastation and decades of conservation effort compromised," Bergstrom said in a statement.

The unintended consequences of the cat-removal project show the dangers of meddling with an ecosystem — even with the best of intentions — without thinking long and hard, the study said.

[smupony94]

70 dead cats found in bags outside San Antonio

MARION — Authorities are trying to find out who stuffed 70 dead Siamese cats into seven large trash bags and dumped them onto a road in Guadalupe County.

San Antonio television KABB reports the dead cats were found Thursday in the San Antonio suburb of Marion. The animals were all adults.

Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke says the animals appeared to have been kept in a freezer or refrigerator.

The cats were buried at a site in Guadalupe County.

Marion is located 23 miles east-northeast of San Antonio.

[jtstang]

What's worse than 70 dead cats in a trash bag?

One dead cat in 70 trash bags.

[smupony94]

What's worse than 70 dead cats in a trash bag?

One dead cat in 70 trash bags.

That is not very eco-friendly

[EastStang]

Oh no not dead cat jokes. We're only inches away from the dreaded dead baby and leper jokes.

[smupony94]

Oscar needs to show this cat a visit

Cat predicts owner's emphysema attacks

06:01 PM PST on Monday, January 12, 2009

Associated Press

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) -- Charles Bennett is convinced Blackie the cat has a sixth sense -- he knows ahead of time when Bennett will wake up gasping for breath.

"I've tested this with him, and so I know it's true," said the 72-year-old retired engineering consultant, who suffers with emphysema. It happens too often to be a coincidence, he says.

Bennett doesn't know what the cat hears or senses but often between 3 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. he awakens at his Albany home as the former stray licks his forehead.

"The first time he did that I sat up, swung my feet to the floor and got ready to let the cat outside because that's what I thought he wanted," Bennett said.

KGW photo

"But when I didn't say anything to the cat, he started bumping his head into my side and arm. When I still didn't say anything - I didn't know he wanted me to - he put his teeth on my hand but didn't bite."

Finally, when Bennett said something while getting out his inhaler, the cat curled back up on the bed and went to sleep.

During the 10 days before the cat started his unusual behavior, Bennett said he would wake up at night fighting for breath. He believes the cat was developing an understanding of what was happening.

Since then, Bennett said he no longer wakes up gasping for breath. Instead, he awakens to Blackie licking his forehead.

"I don't know if he's helped save my life or not, but he's saved me from some full-blown breathing attacks," he said.

"I'm now getting more sleep than ever because it takes an hour to get back to sleep after an attack."

Bennett's roommate, Philippa Meehan, calls Blackie a "sentinel.

"I wonder if he stays awake just to be sure he will be there to wake Chuck up. Maybe that's why the cat sleeps so much during the day."

Blackie showed up at the roommates' home in August 2004 and jumped onto a backyard swing, looking to be petted.