Cat Kills Tortise

Cat Facts

From "The Encyclopedia Britannica". All cats are members of the family Felidea. Interestingly enough, the cat family split from the other mammals at least 40,000,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest mammalian families. All cats share certain characteristics that are unique to the cat family. Cats are pure carnivores. They need a high level of protein in their diets - around 30% - and lack the digestive equipment to do well on a diet of grains, fruits or vegetables. In fact, if you were to design a creature to live from hunting mammals you would have trouble doing better than the design of the cat. If you know cats at all, you know that they have powerful jaws, long, sharp teeth, and claws that draw back into their paws when not in use. Cats hear extremely well. Their eyes are adapted for vision in dim light for hunting just before dawn and just after dusk, the prime hunting periods.


Don't be alarmed when your cats bring you gifts of birds, mice or other wild critters. This is a natural part of their gift ritual, and they do it to please you.


Cats purr to communicate.


Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.


Cats have true fur, in that they have both an undercoat and an outer coat.


Contrary to popular belief, the cat is a social animal. A pet cat will respond and answer to speech, and seems to enjoy human companionship.


If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important.


Kittens are born with both eyes and ears closed. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change color over a period of months to the final eye color.


When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years.


Cats live 14 to 20 years, some 30.


Cats beat dogs for the #1 spot as the most popular pet in the United States.


Dogs and cats are color-blind.


If you sneeze whenever you're around cats, chances are it's not the cat hair that sets you off, but the saliva that remains on their fur.


Aspirin is poisonous to cats.


A smooth, shiny coat is the sign of a healthy cat.


Cat saliva contains a detergent that keeps their fur clean.


Dogs and cats that are not around people before they reach the age of three months seldom turn out to be good pets.

More Cat Proverbs

Cat mighty dignified till the dog come by.


They agree like cats and dogs.


Don't trust the weak appearance of the wolf or the disappearance of the
cat: they'll both make a come-back.


Kick the cat out; she'll come back sure enough.


A good cat deserves a good rat.


By scratching and biting cat and dog come together.


It is a bold mouse that makes her nest in the cat's ear.


Young cats will mouse, young apes will louse.


Don't buy a cat in a bag.


Care killed the cat.


The cat that catches nomice does not earn his keep.


Curiosity killed the cat.


But, satisfaction brought it back.


A scalded cat dreads even cold water.


Keep no more cats than will catch mice.


At home an elephant, abroad a cat.


When rats infest the Palace a lame cat is better than the swiftest horse.
- Chinese Proverb


He who plays with a cat must bear its scratches.


When the cat and the calf play the fiddle, you are caught in the middle.


Keep an eye on the cat and another on the frying pan.


The cat in gloves catches no mice.


The cat shuts his eyes while he steals the cream.


The eye of the housewife makes the cat fat.


The old cat refuses to admit that the face in the looking-glass is her own.


If you give your milk to the cat you must drink water out of the sink.


What joy fills the mouse when the cat is out of the house.


When a weasel and a cat kiss, the future is not very bright.


If you play with a cat, you must not mind her scratch.


The widow gave orders to her cat and the cat gave them to its tail.


When the cat sleeps the mice play.


The cat loves fish, but she's loth to wet her feet.


Lions are not terrified of cats.


If the cat had wings she'd choke all the birds in the air.


The kind man feeds his beast before sitting down to dinner. Hebrew Proverb


The cat loves fish, but hates wet feet. Medieval Proverb


The cat dreams of garbage. Hindu Proverb


All cats are grey in the dark.


The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.
- French Proverb


A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
- Indian Proverb


Those that dislike cats will be carried to the cemetery in the rain.
- Dutch Proverb

Cat Survives 35 Days in China's Ship Cargo

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.- After Eric Congdon opened a crate from China and discovered a cat inside, coming up with a name for the furry stowaway was easy.

China the cat had chewed through one of the boxes before it left Shanghai on April 3 and spent at least 35 days on a ship inside the container filled with motorcycle gear.

"I saw something in the container move," Congdon said. "I turned up the headlights on the fork lift to get a better look."

That was when he saw the cat cowering in a corner, weak but still alive. Congdon, owner of Olympia Moto Sports in Hendersonville, said he and a co-worker called the county's animal services when the cat would not let them near.

A co-worker of Congdon's plans to adopt China, as animal service workers are calling her, if she checks out with a veterinarian. North Carolina law says any animal coming into the country must be vaccinated and quarantined for six months.

"We have to take precautions," said animal services manager Brenda Miller.

How could China survive for so long on no food and water?

"Usually we say that animals can only survive a few weeks without food and only a few days without water," said Raleigh veterinarian Michelle Misavage. "The theory is that cats have such good kidneys their bodies adjust to the lack of water and somehow they received small amounts of moisture from condensation."

Cat Proverbs

• "You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats." - Colonial proverb

• "In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb

• "Beware of people who dislike cats." - Irish proverb

• "An old cat will not learn how to dance." - Moroccan Proverb

• "After dark all cats are leopards." - Native American Proverb

• A cat may look at a king. - English Proverb

• Happy owner, happy cat. Indifferent owner, reclusive cat. - Chinese Proverb

• A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays. - English Proverb

• "Happy is the home with at least one cat" - Italian Proverb

• "The cat was created when the lion sneezed" - Arabian Proverb

• "Curiosity killed the cat, Satisfaction brought it back!" - English Proverb

• "Books and cats and fair-haired little girls make the best furnishing for a room" - French Proverb

• "I gave an order to a cat, and the cat gave it to its tail" - Chinese Proverb

• "Cats, flies and women are ever at their toilets" - French Proverb

• "The dog for the man, the cat for the woman" - English Proverb

• "Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed...the Great Cat." - Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes

  
  

  

  
  

• "The cat who frightens the mice away is as good as the cat who eats them" - German proverb

• "A cat bitten once by a snake dreads even rope" - Arab Proverb

• "A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat" - Ethiopian proverb

• "Ye shall not possess any beast, my dear sisters, except only a cat." - The Ancren Riewle (Nun's Rule)

• "The cat is nature's Beauty." - French Proverb

• "When rats infest the Palace a lame cat is better than the swiftest horse." - Chinese Proverb

• All cats look gray in the dark.

• A cat has nine lives.

• When the cat is away the mice will play.

• The cat is honest when the meat is out of her reach.

• It takes a good many mice to kill a cat.

• A cornered cat becomes as fierce as a lion.

• If you don't feed the cats you must feed the rats.

• Wanton kittens make sober cats.

• The cat is a good friend but she scratches.

• A cat may look on a king.

• There are many ways of skinning a cat.

Cat Myths

Dreaming of white cat means good luck. - American superstition

To see a white cat on the road is lucky. - American superstition

It is bad luck to see a white cat at night. - American superstition

If a cat washes behind its ears, it will rain. - English superstition

A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity. - Scottish superstition

A cat sneezing is a good omen for everyone who hears it. - Italian superstition

A cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means cold weather ahead. - English superstition

When moving to a new home, always put the cat through the window instead of the door, so that it will not leave. - American superstition

When you see a one-eyed cat, spit on your thumb, stamp it in the palm of your hand, and make a wish. The wish will come true. - American superstition

In the Netherlands, cats were not allowed in rooms where private family discussions were going on. The Dutch believed that cats would definitely spread gossips around the town. - Netherlands superstition

To reverse the bad luck curse of a black cat crossing your path, first walk in a circle, then go backward across the spot where it happened and count to 13.

Cat Sayings

• "Honest as the Cat when the meat's out of reach." - Old English saying

• "A cat's eyes are windows enabling us to see into another world." - Irish Legend

• "Cat's motto: No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it." - Unknown

• "When the cat's away, the mice will play" - Folk Saying

• The cat is mighty dignified until the dog comes by. - Southern Folk Saying

• "Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack" - Folk Saying

• "Who would believe such pleasure from a wee ball o' fur?" - Irish Saying

• "A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes." - Indian Saying

• Touch not a Cat but a glove.

• What can you have of a Cat but her skin?

• When the Cat's away the mice will play.

• Cat and Fiddle.

• Cat and Kittens.

• Cat and Mouse Act.

• To play cat and mouse.

• Cat-o'-nine-tails.

• Cat-call.

• Cat-eyed.

• In Ireland, if something is funny we say: "It would make a cat laugh."

• Let the Cat out of the Bag

• Put (or set) the Cat among the Pigeons (British Informal)

• Rain Cats and Dogs

• The Cat's Pyjamas (or Whiskers)

• Fat Cat

• Look what the Cat dragged in

• Curiosity killed the Cat

• Nervous as a Cat in a room full of rocking chairs

• Like a Cat on a hot tin roof

• Cat got your tongue

• Not enough room to swing a Cat

• To grin like a Cheshire Cat

• Better one cat tofay than no cats tomorrow.

Vegetarian Kitty?

Cats benefit from some vegetable matter in their diet. When devouring prey, the intestines, along with anything in them, will also be eaten. Many owners grow some grass for their cats to munch on, both for a healthy diet, and to distract them from other household plants!

In general, seeds that are OK to grow and give to your cats (but do not use treated seeds, identifiable by a dyed red, blue or awful green color):

• oats (cheap, easy, big)
• wheat (not wheatgrass)
• Japanese barnyard millet,
• bluegrass
• fescue
• rye (but beware of ergot, which is a fungal infection and produces LSD-like chemicals),
• ryegrass (annual ryegrass is cheap and easy to grow, but small),
• alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts in SMALL amounts (these have anti- protein compounds that reduce the protein value of other things fed to the animal -- or human!)

Seeds that are NOT okay: sorghum or sudangrass, which have cyanogenic glycosides, and can cause cyanide poisoning. These are commonly found in bird seed and look like smallish white, yellow, orangish, or reddish BB's, or the shiny black, yellow or straw colored glumes may be intact.

Feral Cat Coalition

Taken from: http://www.thebeenews.com/news

"We’ve written about this unique organization in the past. People who feed stray cats voluntarily participate in this trap-neuter-return program.

Following our instructions, we locate the one-day clinic hidden away in an industrial district of Portland, and meet a volunteer coordinator for the program--Carma Crimins, a Woodstock resident.

“The goal of the program,” Crimins begins, “is to reduce suffering for existing feral cats, and prevent births and suffering of future generations.”

She leads us in to where the organization’s 24-foot mobile hospital is parked. We learn it is designed specifically for spaying/neutering feral cats, has three separate rooms: A surgery suite, with room for three veterinarians to operate simultaneously; a prep area, complete with sink and autoclave; and an anesthesia room.

One Sunday a month, the mobile hospital operates in Portland. Other weekends, it travels to other communities that sponsor their program.

“The reason we keep the location secret,” explains Crimins, is that we don’t operate a ‘drop-in’ program. We only want to deal with individuals who demonstrate a commitment to do what we request.”

What they don’t want, Crimins added, is people dropping off cats at the clinic, thinking that, somehow, someone will find the stray cat a good home. “This isn’t an adoption service.”

The program’s services are specifically for feral cats being fed by caregivers. The caregivers trap the cats, bring them to a clinic, and return the cats to where they are being fed with a commitment to keep on feeding the cat permanently.

“Typically, the cats we see here haven’t ever been touched by humans; and they never will be,” clarifies Crimins. “We lend humane ‘live traps’ to the caregiver, and show how to use them. These traps are simple, and don’t harm either the cats or the people.”

On this day, 96 cats will be seen — each of them from Inner Southeast Portland. “In Woodstock, and further east, is an area rich in feral cats,” Crimins tells us. “And, there are a lot of good-hearted people who care for them enough to bring them here — and take them home again.”

“We have about 30 volunteers operating the day-long clinic, in addition to the four vets and four vet technicians. Caregivers bring in the cats inside cages or traps. A blanket is put over the cage to keep the cat warm and reduce anxiety,” we’re told.

Then, one by one, each is taken into a feline version of a Mobile Army Surgical Unit (MASH). The mobile hospital gleams of stainless steel, and smells antiseptic.

After being anesthetized, the cats are checked over, are spayed or neutered, and receive distemper and rabies shots.

As they sleep, get the full feline “day spa treatment”. They’re flea-combed and sprayed, treated for ear mites and other minor medical conditions, and each has his or her right ear tipped for future identification. Cats that appear to be suffering, as determined by a veterinarian, are tested for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus; all cats testing positive are euthanized.

In the “recovery room”, we see a dozen volunteers: They’re stroking, warming, and watching over the cats as they wake up.

As she caresses a drowsy kitty, Crimins tells us she’s been involved with the coalition for five years. “Over the years, I’ve brought in hundreds of cats. Now, I’ve started help other people get their cats in to the clinic.”

Crimins says she’d like to live in a world in which every cat is wanted. “What we’re doing today will eliminate the suffering of hundreds of kittens this year, and prevent thousands of unwanted and homeless kittens down the road.”

No other programs in Portland provide this service, Crimins tells us. It’s supported by volunteers and donations. “When you donate to the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, 92 cents of every dollar goes to fulfilling our mission of spaying/neutering, and community education.”

One way you can support the organization is by attending their annual “Furball”. This year, it’s on May 12th at the World Forestry Center next to the Oregon Zoo. This year’s theme for the party is “Night on the Nile”. To donate to the event, to volunteer, or just to get more information, visit: www.feralcats.com."