With posts by our blogging cat Bambi, we have fun cat information and articles, plus updates on our store. This blog is dedicated to the memory of our beloved Leo.
Check me out, this is my scary Howl-oween face! Grrrrowl! - Leo
Why do you keep taking pictures of me next to this thing? This had better be the last one. - Bambi
Well, what the heck is this?
Happy Halloween from all of us at the Paw Path Blog & Store!!!
My affinity for stuffed animals has been fairly well documented on this blog…here’s another one for the collection! This is snowball, a very large stuffed dog. I’ve never met a real dog in my life, but I really like this one. He’s fluffy, big, and quiet! - Bambi
There are very many wonderful (and some not so wonderful) euphemisms, anecdotes and sayings in the English language about cats. Ever wonder why people say cats have nine lives? We did! And here’s what we found out:
One reason, which is fairly obvious, is that cats are very resilient and crafty, and can survive falls from great distances with their ability to absorb shock (although many stupid people overestimate this and don’t protect cats from falling to their deaths from high windows). Cats, being their tenacious selves, gracefully skirt near-death situations, making them seem like they have multiple lives. But why the number nine?
The number nine was a lucky, mystical, or magic number because it is the Trinity of Trinities (3 x 3). As cats seem able to escape injury time and time again, this lucky number seemed suited to the cat. While in most countries the cat is said to have nine lives, in Arab and Turkish proverbs poor puss has a mere seven lucky lives and in Russia, is said to-survive nine deaths.(source: Paws For Proverbs)
The Egyptian Goddess Bast, or Bastet
Another possible origin is Ancient Egyptian mythology, when cats were worshipped as gods in Ancient Egypt (ahhh, those were the days!). Justine Hankins claims that the number nine is associated with various Egyptian gods and cats, but we haven’t been able to fact-check these statements. Any Egyptolo-cats out there who have any insights?
During the Dark Ages, cats were killed as demonic beings (unfathomable!). The most possible origin of the nine lives saying could be Beware the Cat, which is the earliest original piece of long prose literature in English, published in 1533.
The author William Baldwin wrote, “it is permitted for a witch to take her cat’s body nine times.” (source: Cat Facts) If you want to read about the number nine, check out the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight, which also gives Beware the Cat credit for the 9 lives myth.
As a bonus, here’s a related term which is a bit more nasty, but hey, it’s Halloween time!
Cat O’ Nine Tails:
In olden days, people were flogged by a nasty device made up of three separate knottings of three stands attached to the whip’s handle. While the strands may have been made from the hide of cats, the multiple of 9 had already been associated with cats; presumably if a person being flogged survived, they were as lucky as a cat with 9 lives. Yeeeeowch! (source: Cat-ch phrases)
Wow, all that research made me want to take a nap with Pinky, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do!
- Bambi
Here’s my contribution for Tummy Tuesday. It’s pure white, and fuzzy, and the fuzz gets all over everything to my delight and the humans’ chagrin.
Aren’t long, exquisite stretches in the warm sun the absolute BEST?! I think so.
It would have been better if I had a picture with us in the same position as the one from yesterday, but oh well. The humans always seem to be very amused that this stuffed animal is the same color as me. He isn’t one of my favorites (as you can see that I’m a bit grumpy right now), but he’s ok. I prefer my mouse Pinky. Here is one picture of me and Pinky. And here’s another one me and Pinky taking a nap.
One of them is me and one of them is an imposter. Can you tell which is which? Ok, it’s pretty easy, especially for you intelligent cats out there, but can you guess who or what is next to me? I’ll post a picture with both of our faces tomorrow!
-Bambi
A 4-year old short hair Calico Manx Spay, Grand Premier Fuzzy-Foot Confetti of Deydream from New Jersey won Best in Show this past weekend at the CFA-Iams Cat Championship at Madison Square Garden where 300 cats representing 41 distinct breeds competed for the coveted ribbon. Go and meet the winners!
See photos from the championship on Yahoo! News >>
Or watch a slideshow with commentary by the executive director of CFA on CNN >>
The headline everywhere today is that our country is becoming overpopulated, as the U.S. hit a population of 300 million Tuesday morning, making us the third most populated country in the world next to China and India. Read more on cnn.com >> or see the Population Clock on the U.S. Census homepage.
What about cats? According to the Veterinary Market Statistics in 2001, there were about 70 million cats in households. It is estimated that there are over 60 million feral cats roaming the streets in America, which would make the cat population about 130 million in the U.S.! However, there are no reliable sources for the exact cat population (see wildlife.org), so nobody knows how many cats there really are. The U.S. Census does not collect data on pet ownership.
There are a lot of organizations that are doing excellent jobs on controlling the feral cat population. One of them is the Alley Cat Allies.
We’re catching up! Careful, puny humans, we are taking over the world. Mwa HA HA HA HA HA HA! -Leo
Don’t be such a bonehead, Leo. Seriously. Cat overpopulation is a serious issue! -Bambi
Some cat related news this week!
Genetic Savings and Clone, the company that offered cloned pets for $50,000 (they recently reduced the price to $32,000) is going out of business due to lack of demand.
The company was launched by John Sterling, the billionaire founder of the University of Phoenix who wanted to clone his hunting dog Missy. It was never accomplished. The company opened for business in 2000. The company has reportedly produced 5 cloned cats since it opened, but only sold 2 to paying customers. Needless to say, this practice has sparked intense ethical and scientific debate over cloning.
Animal rights activists rejoiced when hearing the news of Genetic Savings and Clone’s closing, as thousands of stray cats are euthanized each year and there is no need to make more cats. The Humane Society of the United States’ president, Wayne Pacelle, called Genetic Savings “…not just a bad business venture, but an operation grounded in the misuse of animals.” He stated that numerous failed cloned cats suffered deformities, chronic pain, and suffering.
Read more on USAToday.com or Reuters via Yahoo! News.
In more whimsical news, a stray cat has been hanging out in a cherry tree in a pigeon’s nest in Norfolk, England! We wish there was a picture, but there isn’t. What a strange cat! Read a brief article in All Headline News.
