Furball Fables shows us how to celebrate Easter as a crazy cat person. You don't really have to be crazy, just have cats and no children to make baskets for. I really like how she puts catnip into eggs and then has the cats hunt for them. It won't take long for an apex predator to find them by smell!
One part of the Cat's Guide to Easter is making the greeting card. That appears to be the most difficult task, since there are five cats and getting them to pose for a picture is like... well, it's like herding cats.
Even though this video is kind of dark, the real payoff is in the audio. I had to listen to it over and over. Check the vibrato. This cat has soul! The Tumblr version is here. -via reddit
Mary is a 17-year-old in Australia. Secret is her dog, a border collie/Australian shepherd mix. With a pedigree like that, you know this is an intelligent dog. Mary has been training Secret all her life, beginning with clicker training. They even exercise together!
Secret is learning new stunts during their exercise routines.
You've probably seen this picture somewhere. It gets posted at reddit every few months, and it is shared on social media quite a bit. The cat's name is Suki, and she has 800,000 Instagram followers. Suki the Bengal cat was adopted by Marti Gutfreund, who trained her from kittenhood to walk on a leash and to enjoy traveling to new places, such as the beautiful parks of Alberta, where they live, and the deserts of the Southwest. Suki has a great time, and takes awesome pictures because she always looks like she is posing.
Though Suki usually appears without a leash on Instagram, she’s always wearing one when outdoors — Gutfreund simply removes it in Photoshop to achieve a cleaner image.
Canada’s provincial and national parks require animals to be leashed, and Gutfreund is committed to Suki’s safety. She encourages other owners of aspiring adventure cats to properly leash-train their pets before taking them outdoors. Once a cat is comfortable outside, owners should ensure their pets stay hydrated even on shorter adventures, Gutfreund advises.
Suki herself is gearing up for the adventure of her lifetime: In August, Gutfreund is whisking her to Europe for six months. They’ll visit Gutfreund’s family in Germany and tour the rest of the continent too, snapping as many pictures as possible along the way.
We know cats are liquid, as they take the shape of their container. And cats love any kind of container: boxes, dishes, shelves, closets, bags, or whatever they can get into. A cat's definitinon of "container" is pretty flexible, ranging from mom's purse to a rain gutter. We might even call a cat a "container-seeking liquid."
Chris Poole has recorded video of his cats Cole and Marmalade ever since they were kittens. Here is a compilation that shows how they like to try on any kind of container to see if they fit. And if they fits, they sits! -via Tastefully Offensive
Unless you're a biologist or a bit of a freak you probably don't spare much thought to how animal genitalia has evolved over the centuries, but it turns out the private parts of animals are pretty interesting.
Fay's Restaurant in New York City was the spot for a fight that made the papers in May of 1910. The eatery kept a container of lobsters on the sidewalk for diners to select for their dinner. A cat named Mattie lived at the restaurant for pest control, but she was always more fascinated with the lobsters. And Miss Rose Leland came in to eat with her bulldog Gus, who was allowed to stay as long as he behaved and his leash was wrapped about Leland's chair.
On this particular spring night, one of the lobsters fell on the sidewalk after the waiter had gone inside. Naturally, Mattie jumped at the opportunity. She had no idea what she was up against.
The lobster clamped its claw onto Mattie’s tail, sending her howling and scurrying through the front door and into the restaurant. Not about to be left out of the fun, Gus the bulldog pulled wildly at his leash–and Miss Leland’s chair–to join in the melee.
Down went Miss Leland, who screamed in horror and then reportedly fainted. Gus caught up with cat and lobster as they ran around the other diners. The lobster released its claw on Mattie and grabbed Gus by the hind leg.
Sven has a cat named Muldar who is a genius. He wants what he wants and no human shenanigans are going to stop him. Closing the door? Pfft! Muldar will just open it. Set a pan of water in front of the door? Not a problem. For Muldar. For Sven, it's a problem.
Sven noted that the water pan was added to keep Muldar from scratching at the door, and that putting a round knob on the door (as has been recently suggested) would make no difference. I concur; Muldar would just figure out how to open a door with a round knob. -via reddit
Last weekend at the annual Crufts Dog Show, a Papillion named Tinklebury Bingo had a memorable second round run in the agility course. The dog was suffering from either stage fright or a brain fart, but once the clock ensured that there was really no competition in the balance, the judge took things into his own hands, literally.
My dog has a hard time telling me when he's in pain, and he tries to go about his business as usual no matter what's wrong with him as if admitting to pain would disappoint the alpha.
Meanwhile other pets I've had would yelp and holler and wail at the slightest twinge of pain, flipping out like the world is ending over something minor. This difference in how animals react to pain has always made me wonder- how do animals experience pain?
Cats are the ultimate stunt critters, and their acrobatic feats never cease to amaze humans who underestimate the tiny panthers living in their house.
Sometimes their stunts look like a scene from a movie, and when they make the stunt look as smooth and effortless as the cat in this video does you can't help but wonder whether you actually witnessed the stunt at all.
But since the vet's office employee who shot this video shared by Daily Mail UK knew to film the cat's leap of faith this daring kitteh must have practiced this stunt at least a few times before. That doesn't make it any less impressive though!
The song of the laughing kookaburra is one of the most distinctive bird songs in nature, and it's one of the standard sound effects used whenever footage of the Australian bush is shown on film.
That signature kookaburra sound is so unique and such a rich, full-bodied sound that it even sounds cool when it's played in slow motion, as demonstrated in this video of Dacelo the kookaburra shot by his human Connor Margetts.
Wild animals don't think of their fellow critters as much more than noisy neighbors, predators or prey, but to humans who adore animals these wonderful creatures are seen as superstars.
We love looking at pictures of them, view videos of them doing their thing in the wild with wonder, and we see them as some of the most beautiful residents of planet Earth.
So when former landscape photographer Joachim Munter decided to start shooting the critters that inhabited each natural scene instead of the scene as a whole he felt it only right to shoot them like you'd shoot a super model.
Joachim's fabulous portraits of the critters who live in the forests around Helsinki, Finland almost seem staged, but that's because Joachim takes the time to make his wild models feel comfortable around him:
Upon first glance, these animals look like they were trained. From a curious fox to a hungry squirrel, Munter builds such a strong bond with the creatures, they look perfectly comfortable while in front of his lens. "Wildlife photography is all about gaining the trust of the animals," Munter said. "The most important thing - in my opinion - is not to chase the animals. You just need time and patience; let the animal become comfortable around you."
Okay, maybe they got a little help from the editing powers of YouTuber Smoothes. And some backing tracks from Chunk Funko. But they are still very good dogs. -via Digg
A homeless man was stabbed and taken to Santa Casa de Novo Horizonte hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His dog chased the ambulance to the hospital, and waited outside the entrance. The man soon died of his injuries, but the dog remained for more than four months, waiting for his man to come out the door. Local lawyer Cristine Sardella asked about the dog's story and posted it to Facebook. The Dodo contacted her.
Hospital staff have been providing food and water for the dog since then, but Sardella hoped more could be done to help him. Having taken in two dogs already, she's unable to provide a home for him herself, so she decided instead to spread the word on social media. The response was overwhelming.
Shortly after, a local rescuer picked up the dog and carried him to a kennel while arrangements were made to find him a forever home. But before that happened, he escaped.
"He fled across the city," Sardella said. "He walked over 3 kilometers and returned to the hospital."
Before adoption, the animal was taken to a veterinary clinic by Marco Antônio Rodrigues, who learned of the situation and decided to rescue him.
"He stood at the hospital door every day, but the important thing is that the hospital staff gave him support. Most of the time people drive the animal out. I hope he can now have a happy life with these new owners, "he says.
At the clinic, Champion went through treatment, showered and put the vaccines up. The man who paid the expenses was a woman who was also sensitized by his fidelity.
In an interview with G1 , the new owner, Leticia Fatima Nawas Botoluci, 30, who works at the hospital, said she chose the name because she considered him a winner.
The image at Mundo Pet shows Champion looking much better. -via reddit
