Free Republic

Your cat is a killer. And we're not just talking about the hit to your soul when Fluffy stares right past you despite your sweetest cooing. Cats, no matter how adorable, are predators. They stalk, they pounce -- and then they snap the neck of whatever little flying or skittering thing they've just caught. Most of us view this as a good thing. We're all better off with fewer rodents around, and if some pretty little birds get caught up in the killing spree, we can live with that. Biologists, it seems, aren't so sure. Domestic cats aren't a natural...

Pilot Romain Jantot has one more item to add to his pre-flight checklist: always check for cats. The Daily Record reports Jantot was teaching a flying lesson in Kourou, French Guinea, when an unexpected stowaway made an appearance. After a smooth ascent, a cat creeps from its place on the wing toward the cockpit. The feline flyer seemed unfazed by its journey among the clouds, although the pilot chose to cut the trip short. Jantot uploaded the above video to YouTube on Sunday, where it has since been viewed nearly 400,000 times. He notes the carry-on cat is doing well,...

Here are five (mostly) scientific reasons why dogs trump cats. 1. Exercise motivation While dogs demand physical and recreational activity, all cats demand is food and a comfy sofa to sleep on all day. Great job being a role model, Felix! **** 2. Give the elderly a purpose Pets are wonderful stress relievers for people of all ages, but the elderly in particular benefit from owning a dog. **** 3. Sniff Out Cancer Cats have an attuned sense of smell, but they're difficult to train. The top cats also can't match the top dogs nose for nose. **** 4. Smarter...

Doing the rounds on social media is a picture that explains the difference between dogs and cats. A dog is shown looking desperate to please, over the words: ‘These people feed me, shelter me and love me . . . They must be gods.’ Next to him is a cat with the comment: ‘These people feed me, shelter me and love me . . . I must be a god.’ And there, in a nutshell, is everything you need to know about the two species. Dogs are pack animals, eager to please and desperate to be adored. Cats are not....

As it often happens, a competition between companies had benefitted the consumer. Purina was bent on catching Blue Buffalo in an advertising lie – they claimed they never used poultry by-product meal in their foods. However, Purina did some testing of Blue Buffalo product and found that was not the case and sued them for False Advertising. Just last week, a year after the case was filed, Blue Buffalo admitted to using by product meal in “a ‘substantial’ and ‘material’ portion of their pet food.” (www.petfoodhonesty.com) Blue Buffalo asked the Court for additional time to file an Amended Complaint in...

Animal rights activists are blasting a top-ranked Oklahoma charter school after its students were seen on video using dead cats to act out dance moves, set to the jingle used in commercials for Meow Mix cat food.

Kristen Lindsey, 31, of Brenham posted a photo holding up what she described as a dead feral tomcat shot in Austin County, but there are reports since that it was a neighborhood family pet named Tiger. ... The photo has since been removed and her Facebook account canceled, although copies have widely circulated on the Internet. Her original post with the photo read: "My first bow kill, lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it's head! Vet of the year award ... Gladly accepted," KWTX-TV reported. Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes said deputies were investigating...

Have you heard about the brand new H3N2 dog flu sweeping through Chicago and sickening and killing dogs? It may actually be worse than you think: round-the-clock testing has unveiled that this heretofore unknown canine influenza was originally an avian flu that made a “mammalian adaptation” and has been infecting dogs and cats in Asia since 2007. Now it is here in the epicenter of the U.S. Will it sweep across the country and endanger dogs everywhere? Will this deadly flu become like the bird flu in Asia and the swine flu in England, both of which did transform into...

Just image a nice relaxing day out on the pond catching bluegills for dinner, when all of a sudden a sneak attack from behind takes your fish.

Missan, 29, may be the world’s oldest cat, according to its Swedish owner who says that aside from suffering from some minor back and kidney problems, there is no reason why her furry friend won't make it to the grand age of 30. Missan the Swedish farm cat is turning 30 this spring and may be the world oldest living cat. By far. “I read an article about another cat that was supposed to be the world’s oldest, and I just thought to myself: ‘mine is older!’,” Missan’s owner Åsa Wickberg, from Karlskoga, told the TT news agency. According to...

An upstate New York teen who became an Internet sensation last fall after petitioning his school to let him appear in a senior yearbook photo with his cat has died after apparently taking his own life, according to police and the teen's parents. Draven Rodriguez, 17, was a senior at Schenectady High School when his petition for his yearbook photo to feature him and his beloved rescue cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, against a blue and pink laser background went viral. The petition gained thousands of signatures online after the school initially refused. While the school did ultimately reject the individual photo,...

Nala is our 5 year old Norwegian Forest Cat / Maine Coon mix living in Norway

What Ann didn’t know was that 20 minutes after she left Mr. Fancy at the shelter, he escaped. One month later, Ann woke up at 5:30 AM to the voice of her husband talking with someone in the kitchen. When she went to investigate she saw Mr. Fancy sitting at her husband’s feet. She started to cry as the cat ran into her open arms. Mr. Fancy had found his way home. “I think he had a guardian angel looking out for him, directing him back to my house. I love him so much and feel we were meant to...

Adorable video of a pet cat and pet squirrel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMWItiji2aY

It's no secret to any dog-lover or cat-lover that humans have a special connection with animals.... paleoanthropologist Pat Shipman of Penn State University argues that this human-animal connection goes well beyond simple affection. Shipman proposes that the interdependency of ancestral humans with other animal species... played a crucial and beneficial role in human evolution over the last 2.6 million years... "Having sharp tools transformed wimpy human ancestors into effective predators who left many cut marks on the fossilized bones of their prey," Shipman said. Becoming a predator also put our ancestors into direct competition with other carnivores for carcasses and...

Scientists believe cats 'sort of domesticated themselves' THE WASHINGTON POST June 29, 2007 WASHINGTON – Your hunch is correct. Your cat decided to live with you, not the other way around. The sad truth is, it may not be a final decision. But don't take this feline diffidence personally. It runs in the family. And it goes back a long way – about 12,000 years, actually. Those are among the inescapable conclusions of a genetic study of the origins of the domestic cat, being published today in the journal Science. The findings, drawn from the analysis of nearly a thousand...

TAMPA, Fla., - A cat who was buried before rising up from his grave will not be returned to his original owner, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay said Sunday. The cat, named Bart, was allegedly struck by a passing vehicle last week before his owner, Ellis Hutson, buried the cat with a neighbor. Five days later a different neighbor spotted Bart above ground, covered in open wounds and maggots. The cat was severely dehydrated but suffered no internal injuries, and the Humane Society of Tampa Bay was able to save Bart after giving him a blood transfusion, removing his...

Bart is back from the grave, and people are calling him "Zombie Cat." The Humane Society of Tampa Bay is currently caring for a cat, Bart, whose owner thought he was dead. Bart was found lifeless after being hit by a car on January 16. His owner buried him a couple of blocks away from his home. The owner's neighbor found a weak Bart in front of her yard on January 21 and returned him to his owner.

African golden cats are hardly ever photographed in the wild. In their rare, camera-trap cameos, the cats are usually seen licking their spotted fur or innocuously inspecting the unfamiliar lens. But recently, scientists captured a much more dynamic scene: a golden cat crashing a party of red colobus monkeys in Uganda.

Bart the cat should be renamed zombie cat after he was hit by a car, buried and then crawled out of his grave five days later. According to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, they’ve seen many cases at their clinic but “this situation may take the cake!” They are now caring for a 2-3 year old black and white cat named Bart who was found by his owner after being hit by a car. The cat appeared to be lifeless and his owner, Ellis Hutson, buried him in a shallow grave. Five days later, the cat showed up in...