Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
We have a lot of videos today, so you can do more watching and less reading. The first shows the laziest cat in the world. Unless he’s paralyzed, which I seriously doubt, he’s just too indolent to get up on his hind legs, and so slithers down the stairs like a Slinky.
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And this useful instructional video returns every Christmas—but with a different cat. Not surprisingly, they use very chill cats. It sounds like an Aussie woman is about to give someone a beautiful British Shorthair for the holidays. I have to say that I’ve never seen a more patient cat, and how did this woman know that the cat would take it so well? She must have practiced!
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The Daily Fail and News18 Australia have a story about a cat in China adopted by firefighters. Now it mans (or cats?) the fire station 24/7. Click on the screenshot to read the Fail, and here for the Aussie take:
From News18:
A stray cat that was adopted by Chinese firefighters is now accompanying them to stand guard every day at their fire station braving the vagaries of weather.
According to reports, the former stray cat would curl up near the feet of the officer on duty or lie in front of the post from where it keeps a close watch over the fire station’s barracks in Guiyang City of southwest China’s Guizhou Province.
The cat was looked after by the fire station personnel for three years after it accidentally walked into the station. At that time it was a malnourished, homeless kitten. The firefighters stationed there befriended the kitten and took turns to feed it. It is now in good health and has become close to the firemen in the station. The cat often lies next to any firefighter on guard duty.
Nicknamed Lan Mao or ‘blue cat’, it has now become an integral part of the Guizhou Provincial Fire Brigade station. According to Sun Hoaxing, one of the firefighters at Guizhou, Lan Mao stands guard with any firefighter who is on guard duty and it is around to accompany the fireman. Lan Mao stands put even if the weather conditions are not suitable. As and when it gets cold it will jump on the stand and lie down next to the feet of the fireman.
I’m not sure why firefighters are standing guard outside. Why can’t they wait for a call?
Hoaxing also mentioned that the cat was initially timid and scared of humans when they took it in.
Under the officers’ care it soon started liking and mingling with them. The video footage shared by the fire brigade shows Lan Mao sitting in front of a blue-uniformed guard and looks ready for a nap. It then moves on the sentry stand to snuggle up to the guard.
The officers arranged a bed for it and the cat seems rather intelligent as over a three-year period it became attached with people sporting blue uniforms, Hoaxing added.
The emotional story has touched the hearts of many people and netizens have expressed their love for the pet and the fire brigade personnel.
Click below to see the video, and I’d appreciate a translation from any Chinese-speaking readers:
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Lagniappe: A fat cat enjoys being bipedal. The Cat of Size, from Luxemburg, Wisconsin, is described by YouTube this way:
“Riggs is 5 1/2 years old. He’s a domestic cat that we rescued when he was a baby. He’s a very happy loving cat that loves playing with his other cat friend and our two German Shepherds. He’s been sitting up like that for as long as I can remember, and when his daddy comes to pet him, he stands up.”
Of course it’s not at all healthy to let your cat get this fat, but some of my friends have struggled with trying to get moggies to lose weight, and it’s damn hard.
10 thoughts on “Caturday felids trifecta: Laziest cat ever; wrapping your cat for the holidays; a firefighting kitty—and lagniappe”
How you could ever wrap up a cat like that without a lot of tranquilizer, I have no idea.
Love Riggs. What a weird cat.
That poor fat cat, the damage done by feeding kibble
The Best Cat in the Worlds, Loki, died from lipid toxicity, he was a kibble cat and when we moved him to wet/raw food he lost weight but all the toxins (from inedible kibble) that were stored in his fat overloaded him and killed him.
I have never fed kibble since and my feline overlords are so healthy and active, they are like playful kittens. Their vet is amazed how healthy they are at their age.
I think of Loki almost every day, and I will never put another animal through that again, seeing these poor obese cats breaks my heart because they have no choice in what their humans feed them and they suffer for it.
All of my menagerie is on their own species appropriate diet.
I’m sorry for your cat, but kibble is sold as edible and without poisons such as too much mercury. Of course it may not be as well controlled as food for human consumption, but generally it is harmless as intended.
Lipotoxicity on the other hand is caused by lipids.
Failure of packaging of excess lipid into lipid droplets causes chronic elevation of circulating fatty acids, which can reach to toxic levels within non-adipose tissues. Deleterious effects of lipid accumulation in non-adipose tissues are known as lipotoxicity.
[“What Is Lipotoxicity?”, Ayse Basak Engin, Adv Exp Med Biol]
Wow – I’ve never had a cat that you could do that to. Any of mine would have to be drugged. Then it would be flat-out on its side – so it wouldn’t work anyway.
I was wondering if this handsome charmer was a Chartreux as I’ve seen them at cat shows and their owners could kind of ‘plant’ them down on a table anywhere and behold – they would just stay there.
That wrapped kitty was purring so loudly that my iPad was vibrating.
I suspect the “Aussie woman” is a Kiwi…
Not sure I believe a report from someone named “Hoaxing.”
I believe the slinky cat does have paralyzed back legs. If you watch he/she does not move them at all. The only movement is from gravity.
Wrapped Cat has a baleful look in her/ his eye. Some hoomin has got a year’s worth of intermittent furry sleep apnoea booked and ready for delivery.
How you could ever wrap up a cat like that without a lot of tranquilizer, I have no idea.
Love Riggs. What a weird cat.
That poor fat cat, the damage done by feeding kibble
The Best Cat in the Worlds, Loki, died from lipid toxicity, he was a kibble cat and when we moved him to wet/raw food he lost weight but all the toxins (from inedible kibble) that were stored in his fat overloaded him and killed him.
I have never fed kibble since and my feline overlords are so healthy and active, they are like playful kittens. Their vet is amazed how healthy they are at their age.
I think of Loki almost every day, and I will never put another animal through that again, seeing these poor obese cats breaks my heart because they have no choice in what their humans feed them and they suffer for it.
All of my menagerie is on their own species appropriate diet.
I’m sorry for your cat, but kibble is sold as edible and without poisons such as too much mercury. Of course it may not be as well controlled as food for human consumption, but generally it is harmless as intended.
Lipotoxicity on the other hand is caused by lipids.
[“What Is Lipotoxicity?”, Ayse Basak Engin, Adv Exp Med Biol]
Wow – I’ve never had a cat that you could do that to. Any of mine would have to be drugged. Then it would be flat-out on its side – so it wouldn’t work anyway.
I was wondering if this handsome charmer was a Chartreux as I’ve seen them at cat shows and their owners could kind of ‘plant’ them down on a table anywhere and behold – they would just stay there.
That wrapped kitty was purring so loudly that my iPad was vibrating.
I suspect the “Aussie woman” is a Kiwi…
Not sure I believe a report from someone named “Hoaxing.”
I believe the slinky cat does have paralyzed back legs. If you watch he/she does not move them at all. The only movement is from gravity.
Wrapped Cat has a baleful look in her/ his eye. Some hoomin has got a year’s worth of intermittent furry sleep apnoea booked and ready for delivery.