Professor Ceiling Cat is quite ill today: I’ve been diagnosed with viral bronchitis,wheezing like a steam engine, and I should be home in bed. I will repair there shortly. Given my debilitated condition, don’t expect a whole lot today. Fortunately, though, I wrote most of today’s posts yesterday. Here’s the Caturday Felid, which I pride myself on never having missed in over four years.
Reader Taskin owns Gus, the Earless Cat who, I maintain, is the Whitest Cat on Earth. As I noted when introducing Gus on this website, he lost his ears via frostbite when it was -40° (same in both F and C) and he was caught in a live trap. (He almost lost his tail, too.) Now he’s a sweet moggie, and, when outdoors, wears a harness mandated by local laws in the part of Canada where Gus lives.
I have two short videos of Gus to show today. The first involves a very strange device for feeding cats (a “ball dispenser”), which, when you think about it, is actually a pretty good invention. Taskin’s notes:
Gus eats quite enthusiastically. We divide his breakfast into three just to slow him down a bit. He gets half a can of wet food divided in two portions, then he gets some dry food from this ball dispenser. I should have sent this vid during the World Cup! Gus vs Messi?
My vet friend gave it to me, as her cat couldn’t figure it out. For Gus, we use it to slow him down but I think it’s main idea is the exercise. There is also the added bonus that your floor gets cleaned!
And. . . “Gus gets afternoon tea.” Yes, I’m told that’s really tea (with milk, of course) that Gus is slurping
Finally, two pictures of Gus. He likes to sit on the highest spot in his backyard, inspecting his domain:
And sometimes, like all cats, he sniffs the air, but always with great dignity:
Tell me, can a cat be any whiter than that?
Well, perhaps this one, sent by reader Richard with the title, “Cat cloud pareidolia!” The attached note said:
My daughter and I beheld this on eastern Long Island. Ceiling Cat!
Praise his Felinity, o my brethren! For surely this beats even the Miracle of Fatima!
Finally, reader Grania sent me an adorable tw**t from Foyle’s bookstore, celebrating World Cat Day with a photo of author Edward Gorey blissed out with cats:
The one on his chest reminds me of Hili. . .
I didn’t know Edward Gorey was an ailurophile: as if I didn’t like him enough already.
I hope you feel better soon! Bronchitis is horrible: take painkillers and stay in bed for a day or two.
Love the pictures and videos of Gus. He seems to have his own personal patch of paradise.
Those are good ideas for slowing down Gus’ eating. I wonder if there are food balls for people, and by that I mean for me.
I love how Gus drinks his tea so politely & daintily! So cute!
Sorry you feel sick. My mom has gotten viral pneumonia several times & ended up in the hospital, but not before she infected me and my dad with the original flu that set it off, rendering us unable to visit her & in bed for 2 weeks. I hope you get better soon!
I trust PCC is under excellent medical treatment and will soon be as good as new. Until then, to help a little with any possible boredom resulting from being confined to bed here’s an interactive ‘identify the mimic’ game (spoiler: no nightjars!):
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/mimicry/mimicry-interactive
I see the Ceiling Cat in the clouds! I’m now a believer! 🙂
We had a nearly all white cat when I was growing up. Completely white except for the tabby M on her head in grey.
:o)
Hope you feel better soon!
I found all threefrogs immediately. Why can I never find the damn nightjars?
Feel better, Jerry. Hot lemon juice??
Ceiling cat is au ciel?
This is worrisome. Get better soon and come back to us, Jerry. Stay away from the light.
The Whiteness of the Cat
I had a friend who lived in Pittsburgh when that city still had a thriving steel industry and the air pollution to go with it. She had a gray cat, who groomed itself incessantly. My friend moved to a much cleaner place with her gray cat. About a month later, she noticed that her cat was white and didn’t groom itself all day long.
:-). I hope the kitty didn’t get black-lung disease or something..
I lived in London as a youngster in the early 60s and you could not possibly wear a white blouse or shirt more than once. The collars and cuffs would get black.
I meant more than once without washing. I did not get to throw them away after one wearing. I believe that London, like Pittsburgh, is much cleaner now.
They passed the Clean Air Act in 1956 which banned coal burning in London so the air is cleaner but now the EC has said London’s air is bad due to microparticles from diesel engines. About 50% of road vehicles in the UK are diesel powered.
50% of passenger cars as well!
I meant ?, not !.
‘And. . . “Gus gets afternoon tea.” Yes, I’m told that’s really tea (with milk, of course) that Gus is slurping’
What a civilised cat. Does he have sugar with his tea?
“Methinks it is like a Gus.”
I agree, I’ve never seen a whiter cat! In those last two photos, with the whiteness and those diminished ears, he looks like some arctic-adapted felid. (Also, most handsome!)
Late to this thread, so I hope you’re already feeling better, PCC!