Cat – Page 11 – moggyblog

May 11, 2013January 5, 2018

Claw fight at the Borage Corral

Reader,

At last the lovely sunny weather has arrived, but you wouldnt know it cause it was coming down in buckets all day today…. I know this, because I have been sitting here in the snug window, watching the aforementioned rain whilst (really) watching out out for a certain big white moggy who wont take the hint!

It’s a stand off! … but who’s that nosey so ‘n so

The reason I’m stuck here in limbo, incarceration, quarantine (call it what you will) is on account of my claw fight with a neighboorhood imposter who had the gall to repeatedly step on my patch of turf. Over the past three weeks I’ve been spraying and spraying to warn him to stay away,but ohhh noo, he didn’t take heed did he ….well this show down had been on the scratching post for months.

It all came to a head Friday last. And now, here I am like the prisoner in Behan’s jail, trussed up in this stupid headdress, cum bonnet so kindly loaned me by the Vet. And since I’ve got this extra time on my paws I thought I’d relate to you, dear reader, the story.

Me in my spring bonnet. Horrid!

I lay dozing in the shade of my favourite pine when I saw, out the corner of my eye (as y’do), strolling casually down MY garden path, a big white beast of a moggy. To cut a long story short, I kept watching and he (the upstart!) began to nestle down in MY borage patch.

Well, I jumped up and trotted over for a closer peek and then when he saw me the ‘I’m not budging’ standoff began.

Twenty minutes later, we’re still stood staring there, growling, muewing and hissing at each other. ‘White Body Black Tail’ as I like to call him, but my humans think of as ‘Patch’ (for obvious, unimaginative reasons), was slowly realising the error of his ways…

The final straw was his lunge at my face as he passed me, I turned swiftly and ran down the path in chase, but he was as fast as me and made the six foot fence in ten bounds. The Imposter was defeated but I was in one of those frisky moods, having been forced into spending the whole day in the garret…. and I followed upwards just for the heck of it. My sharp claws digging in to the old wood to help my climb…. Sadly, I then slipped (hope no one was watching) and (it tuns out) ripped a claw off in the process. Oh the pain… I strolled back home proud but bowed.

‘White Body Black Tail’ was gone but I had paid the price. For my sins the kindly (not) Vetinary Nurse presented me with a spring bonnet and slipped it on without my consent. Oh how I absolutely loathe it. The damn wound is itching like crazy and I can’t now get to lick it better.

April 10, 2013January 8, 2018

Leopard Rescued from Gujarat Well

Forest wardens in India’s Gujarat state have rescued a three-year old leopard which had fallen into an open well. The leopard is the second of its kind to be rescued in the area this week, highlighting the growing problem of creatures loosing their habitat and having to stray into populated areas for food.

A young leopard peers towards a rescuers torch beam

Photograph: Biju Boro/AFP/Getty

The distressed leopard was finally winched to safety after many hours of incarceration and trauma. The animal was tranquilised using a dart after its struggles against a noose round its belly were thought to be harming the animal.

Eventually the three-year-old animal was lifted from the water and hauled onto a wooden frame by a team of eight wardens in the village of Aambaliya.

It is said that the Leopard is becoming India’s Urban Fox as incidents such as this are growing in frequency as shrinking natural habitats forces more of these big cats to venture into human territory. They approach settlements where they are tempted to prey on domestic livestock including dogs, pigs and goats, and of course they will always be in need of a drink of water.

Leopard in the net. On his way to Freedom (oh sorry, the local zoo)

Photographs: Reuters

Leopards were once common across all of southern Asia but have been recently classified (since 2008) as ‘near threatened’ by International Union for Conservation of Nature. In May 2010, the Wildlife Protection Society of India estimated that at least 3,189 leopards were killed in the country since 1994.

The animal is sedated and taken to the nearby zoo. Poor Thing!

Photographs: Photo: Biju Boro/AFP/Getty

Norman and I are pleased the animal was freed from his ordeal but feel that incarcerating him in the local zoo (and not setting him free) was a little uncalled for. However we have no knowledge of affairs in this region and so hope the leopard is given a large home in which to live.

March 9, 2013January 5, 2018

Ptolemy, Sir Patrick Moore’s faithful friend

Cat of the Month ~ March 2013

Ptolomy, Patrick Moore’s long time friend

Photo: hiltonratcliffe.com

“A catless house is a soulless house”

..so said Sir Patrick Moore the well respected and eccentric astronomer who sadly passed away in December 2012, (and he should know what he was talking about as he had seen into the deepest reaches of our universe! Norm)

As well as being a top flight Astronomer Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore CBE, FRS, FRAS was a researcher, radio commentator and U.K. television presenter, who also happened to love all things CAT.

Patrick and Ptolomy pose for the camera

Photo: hiltonratcliffe.com

Well, we here at Moggyblog couldn’t agree more ( moore geddit?) with his comment so this month’s cat of the month is Ptolemy, One of Sir Patrick’s many cats who was with him along with close friends when he died. Of course we musn’t leave out Patricks other feline friends Jennie and Smudgie.

Jennie and Sir Patrick in amongst the globes.

Photo: unknown

As well as helping to map the surface of the moon and helping us all to look at the planets and stars in the night sky with a little more understanding, Sir Patrick Moore was a great cat enthusiast who supported the cat charity ‘Cats’ Protection” in many ways throughout his life. Although he wrote over 70 books on astronomy, Sir Patrick also recently wrote about his personal experiences with cats in the fabulously titled book ‘MIAOW! Cats really are nicer than people!’ (which, let’s face it, we all knew anywayNorm).

Ptolemy, Sir Patrick’s last cat in a long line of family cats, was named after Claudius Ptolemy AD 90-AD 168, who was a Greek-Roman astronomer (amongst other things) who lived in Egypt.

We hope that Sir Patrick is now happy with his previous beloved cats among the boundless galaxies and countless stars. We also hope he is pleased with Moggyblog’s small homage to him (and Ptolemy), one of the many cats who inspired him in his lifetime. Patrick certainly inspired my love of the stars with his regular TV program ‘The Sky at Night‘.

The Cats Paw Nebula, located in the constellation Scorpius

Photo: https://www.eso.org

February 12, 2013January 5, 2018

Bob the Street Cat

Bob the street cat and his friend the Street Musician (and now author) James Bowen have been inseparable since their chance meeting in Spring 2007.

Cat of the Month ~ February 2013

Bob in one of his favourite neck scarfs

Photograph: Comuedu.ru

James Bowen was once a homeless musician, barely scraping though, until he had an encounter with a homeless ginger Tom cat he named ‘Bob’.
One day James returned to his sheltered accommodation in Tottenham north London when he saw

“…a pair of glowing eyes in the gloom and the sound of a faint meowing”

Over the next few days James found that Bob was a half starved stray who had been wounded (probably) in an animal fight. Clearly Bob was not owned by anyone in the vicinity, so was taken in, given food and nursed back to health, with the help of the local RSCPCA center, who incidentally asked James to pay 22 pounds (or a day wages) for the drugs to treat the poorly creature.

Back at home, James was really glad of the company of lively Bob but at this point he decided he was going to let Bob go back to his street home and life as a stray cat….but ginger Bob was having none of it….

Bob High Fives James

Photograph: Comuedu.ru

Bob had decided that that savior who had come to his rescue would forever be His friend. Bob began to shadow Jim around wherever he went. So what could Jim do?… of course Bob became Jims’ best friend. When James plays guitar on the street Bob accompanies him. He rides round on James’ shoulders when he doesn’t want to walk and also gives James High Fives..Paw to Hand! Bob proved to be a real attraction to the passes by too. James found that his takings for entertaining the passing public grew and grew.

James gives bob a tidbit at a book signing

Photograph: Comuedu.ru

The story ends and begins with James writing a book about his adventures and his eventful life on the street with Bob. James opens by saying

” …we are all given a second chance every day of our lives.. meeting bob was one second chance that I took and looking back on it something tells me it might have been Bob’s second chance too…”

James could not have imagined how this meeting with a stray cat would change his life forever.

January 26, 2013January 8, 2018

Tigers and Snowmen

Cat of the Month ~ January 2013

Longleat Tiger

Tiger meets snowmen

All Photographs: https://www.longleat.co.uk

Longleat’s four Amur (Siberian) Tigers were fascinated by the deep snow outside and were always going to make the most of ‘snow day’ when it came around.

…So where are these snowmen you promised?…

… but when their keepers decided to build some snowmen, things got more exciting and they just had to go in to investigate….

…Look at me guys,….. hey this is fun

So what were these strange white creatures with orange noses…..

…How about a little hug then?…

Photograph: https://www.longleat.co.uk

So inquisitive were the four handsome beasts that they caused the fragile snowmen to collapse…..

…Whats that Camera doing in there?…

…and so, it was off to explore the rest of their snow bound enclosure before retiring to a snug warm pen for the evening.

…nice old tree trunk this…

…Hey I’m cat of the month you know?…

… oi, what are you up too?.. this is a moggies only website….oh you’re sooo cute so its o.k. I guess

Heres the video of the whole episode

…or head over to the
Longleat website for these and many other wonderful animals.

And what’s an Amur Tiger? you might ask. Well here’s a pretty concise article on the National Geographic website.

December 20, 2012January 7, 2018

Cat Show Capers

Reader, just a few pictures from the annual Supreme Cat show here in Birmingham, England.
The one-day Supreme Cat Show (aka The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy’s ‘Supreme Championship Cat Show’ … phew) is one of the largest cat fancy competitions in Europe with over a thousand cats being exhibited. Best in breed awards up for grabs include: Persian, Semi-Longhair, British, Foreign, Burmese, Oriental and Siamese.

All these posh moggies have to endure hours in cages for their art and beauty. But they do have all mod cons in there, including plumped cushions, fireplaces and (in one case) tins of cider…. Norman tells me that’s all very well but how the heck do they cope with the boredom of being stuck in a cage for most of the day!