cats

Renowned cat veterinarian and beloved Cornell University professor James Richards died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident that occurred on Sunday.
Richards, the director of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Feline Health Center, was thrown from his motorcycle when he attempted to avoid a cat in the road.

This Kitty Washing Machine may very well be effective, but I don’t think its efficiency trumps the fact that it looks like the cat is scared out of its mind. I think even a decade ago — before I owned any cats — that I would not have laughed at this poor feline’s frantic fright. <link via LYD>

If you were sitting there and decided to make a list of things that leave hideous yellow permanent stains on white t-shirts, you probably wouldn’t even think to put cat urine in the top five.

But you’d be wrong.

Oh, boy. Would you be wrong.

mycathatesyou.com
Shakespearean Insults
I Found a Duck.com

You really should read Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by the late, great Douglas Adams. There’s a bit in there about Schrödinger’s cat that started me tumbling down a long road (many, many years ago) of trying to learn everything I could about physics, metaphysics, philosophy, blah blah blah. (Try to find a copy of William Poundstone’s Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge, too. It will blow your mind.) The folks at Mad Science Laboratories have created a Schrödenger’s Cat Web Cam that is hysterical. I love the disclaimer:

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS EXPERIMENT YOURSELF AT HOME. WE ARE TRAINED SCIENTISTS! YOUR CAT MAY THEORETICALLY DIE!

I’m interested in learning how you feel about this:
A company called Transgenic Pets is attempting to create genetically modified cats. These cats, “will be like any other cats except they will no longer have the protein that causes an allergic reaction in human beings.”
BBC article
NY Times article

“For centuries, people in the West have marveled at the delicate beauty produced by Oriental artists and sculptors. From gardening to tattooing to dance and martial arts, these craftsmen have enthralled us with complex forms and simplistic perfection. One of the most fascinating of the visual techniques to emerge from this highly cultured region is the Oriental art of miniature sculpture. Who has not been stricken with the expressive grace of Japanese Bonsai? Though once the sole province of Bonsai masters within Japan, Bonsai plants have been available to fortunate consumers throughout the world for some time. With this in mind, we are proud to now offer to you the animal complement of this art form; the Bonsai Kitten.”

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