Caturday felid trifecta: The top ten Kiffness songs; Find the Cat picture; cat lost in Yellowstone travels 800 miles to get home

The Kiffness is the screen name of David Scott, a South African famous for his cat videos accompanied by original music.  Wikipedia says that his videos are mostly political, criticizing the government, but of course we know him as The Cat Composer. Here are his top ten “cat jams”, courtesy of reader Divy. She likes #2, but my favorite is #7. the “num num” song.

Wikipedia adds this:

In September 2024, Scott produced a video satirising a claim made by the American Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Trump-Harris presidential debate. Trump repeated unverified reports that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating cats and dogs kept as pets by members of the local community. The claim was subsequently denied by the mayor of Springfield, Rob Rue, and widely ridiculed in the media. Scott’s video, “Eating the Cats”, has since gone viral on social media.

And here’s that video, which is awesome. Its proceeds go to the SPCA in Springfield, Ohio, where the cat rumor started:

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Can you find 20 cats in this picture? I found nineteen. Click to enlarge:

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Finally, the NYT has a good cat story (click on screenshot below, or find it archived here), reporting that a two-year-old Siamese cat, who escaped on a family visit to Yellowstone National Park, has made its way home after an 800-mile journey:

When a cat dashed into the woods of Yellowstone National Park during a camping trip in June, his California owners, Benny and Susanne Anguiano, thought they’d never see him again.

The couple searched for five days through the woods near their campground at Fishing Bridge R.V. Park but never found their 2-year-old male Siamese cat, Rayne Beau, pronounced “rainbow.” Mrs. Anguiano said that Rayne Beau’s sister, Starr, started to meow through the screen door of the trailer. Eventually, when the couple made the tough decision to drive home to Salinas, Calif., Starr, who had never been away from her brother, meowed all the way back.

“Leaving him was unthinkable,” Mrs. Anguiano said. “I felt like I was abandoning him.”

But almost two months later, Rayne Beau was found wandering the streets of Roseville, Calif., three hours north of where the Anguianos live and more than 800 miles away from Yellowstone National Park, as first reported by the news station KSBW.

When a worker from a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals notified the couple that rescuers had identified Rayne Beau from his microchip, Mr. Anguiano said they were shocked that the cat had made it back to California.

. . . . When a cat dashed into the woods of Yellowstone National Park during a camping trip in June, his California owners, Benny and Susanne Anguiano, thought they’d never see him again.

The couple searched for five days through the woods near their campground at Fishing Bridge R.V. Park but never found their 2-year-old male Siamese cat, Rayne Beau, pronounced “rainbow.” Mrs. Anguiano said that Rayne Beau’s sister, Starr, started to meow through the screen door of the trailer. Eventually, when the couple made the tough decision to drive home to Salinas, Calif., Starr, who had never been away from her brother, meowed all the way back.

“Leaving him was unthinkable,” Mrs. Anguiano said. “I felt like I was abandoning him.”

But almost two months later, Rayne Beau was found wandering the streets of Roseville, Calif., three hours north of where the Anguianos live and more than 800 miles away from Yellowstone National Park, as first reported by the news station KSBW.

When a worker from a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals notified the couple that rescuers had identified Rayne Beau from his microchip, Mr. Anguiano said they were shocked that the cat had made it back to California.

. . . Both Mr. and Mrs. Anguiano believe at some point that their cat had hitched a ride or was picked up by a driver heading toward California for part of his journey, but they do not know for sure. The couple is hoping that someone who might recognize their cat could help explain how he made it back.

“The fact that he was in California and just three hours north of us — I think that proves more that Rayne Beau was the one trying to get towards his home,” Mrs. Anguiano said.

While not common, it’s not the first time a pet has inexplicably traveled hundreds of miles to return home. The distance from their campsite in Yellowstone National Park to Roseville, Calif., where Rayne Beau was found, is more than 800 miles, and a journey would have taken him through four states in mountainous and desertlike conditions.

When the couple reunited with him, they said that Rayne Beau had lost 40 percent of his body weight. He was restless in his carrier, but once they released him in the car he calmed down.

“He just looked at me, and then he put his head down and just fell fast asleep,” Mrs. Anguiano said. “He was so exhausted.”

Here’s an AP video of the rescued moggie:

h/t: Divy, Ginger K.