feral cats and ninja rats

duluth adopted out its first feral cats, giving them a second chance at life. see, even in non-no kill cities, having faith in the community and relying on the kindness of strangers can save countless lives. maybe this is the first step to initiating a real t-n-r program that will save so many more.

in other cat news:

allerca, the company behind the supposedly "allergy-free cat" that bred and sold cats for thousands of dollars a pop, is going out of business.

UK comic, Russel Brand, says he won't move to the states to be with his gf, katy perry, unless his kitty can come, too.

the brits don't have the only mass-tranist-loving felines; boston's subway kitty, kenmore, has a new, less noisy, home.

and last, but not least, the ninja rats have arrived. nikki luvs hers because she thinks of herself as a bit of a samurai. her claws agree.

make it pretty with a kitty!

new iphone application lets you add cats to your iphotos. why not? cats make everything a little bit cuter. though if you're reading this blog your camera roll is probably already full of cat pics. amirite?

a croation soccer player got a yellow card for removing a stray kitty from the playing field. cats are naturals at soccer, he probably thought the soccer ball was just a really big glitter ball.

here's the now-famous video of the adorably friendly little kitty who kept interrupting a police officer while he was issuing a ticket. while the officer was certainly professional enough we can't believe he was able to ignore the high level of cuteness. we would have been all over that little guy.

and just because we love goofy cat-humour, cats 4 gold! "lose the treasure, get the cheshire!"

my fair kitteh - dottie doolittle

straight off the runways of japan, designer clothes for your cats! that white blouse and red skirt would look just darling on our lovely lucy.

in local dog news:

the dane county humane society is asking potential adopters to give pit bulls a chance. at a time when breed bans are a hot-button issue it's comforting to hear local animal behaviorist patricia mcconnell put things into perspective, "every dog should be evaluated as an individual. breed is so irrelevant so often."

good news for fast dogs, the last of the five greyhound parks in the state is closing at the end of the year. yep. six dog deaths in three months will do that to ya.

hello kitty kitty

the iconic face of adorableness, hello kitty, is turning 35 this year. she's still cute as a button after all these years.

hope you all had a fun halloween! looks like the obamas got into the holiday this year as they handed out candy at the white house. mrs. obama even dressed up as cat!

it's the birthplace of the pet cat some 9,500 years ago. now Cyprus is laying claim to two new breeds: the appropriately named "aphrodite" and the "st. helen"

wuh oh. looks like dogs are the new hummers: analyzing our pets' eco-footprints. cats are like priuses, only they look a lot cuter.

gabby - raider of the lost punkin

candy - the best part of halloween also happens to be the biggest threat to our pets in the holiday season. chocolate, particularly the dark kind, and xylitol-sweetened candies are the most dangerous. keep an eye on your stash or gabby will find it!

what's with british cats and mass transit? now there's a cat who takes a daily train ride down to a marine-life sanctuary where he passes time with penguins. how wonderfully odd!

remember the 71-year old man who was facing criminal charges for freeing a cat from a raccoon trap on his neighbor's property? well, lucky for him, and the cat, the charges have been dropped.

if you happen to have a lot of cardboard laying around you could follow these instructions from evil mad scientist to make your kitty it's very own cardboard chaise lounge. but don't worry if you're not the handy type because we've got you covered with this awesome cardboard chase lounge. get it? chase!

poly poly oxen free!

we've all heard of polydactyl cats, the cool kids with extra fingers on their mittens, but this guy is more like super-polydactyl with 24 combined toes! he'd probably make an excellent catcher in baseball.

own a cat, don't get deported. "an immigrant facing deportation from Britain cited ownership of a pet cat with his girlfriend as part of his legal battle to stay in the country."

the crazy cat lady board game. but, if they're true crazy cat ladies they would only have cats to play with!

will ferrel's comedy blog, funnyordie.com, is hosting a new web series called "the pearl and I" about a divorced man re-entering the dating world with a little help from his cat, pearl. word on the street is that it's pretty funny and pearl is charming as all get out.

stare into my eyes...you are getting very sleeeeepy.

turns out any old tom, dot or lucy can be registered as a hypnotherapist in the united kingdom. cat dancers could come in handy for those sessions.

simon tofield, the genius behind the youtube series "simon's cat," just published his very first book. it will undoubtedly be a best seller in no time.

if you were planning on dressing as a sexy ragdoll or naughty little bo peep for halloween but don't want your dog to miss out on all the fun then you might want to check these costumes out. let's just hope they don't dress any doggies as sexy kittehs. it might confuse them too much.

just for fun: "squirrels suspected after flags go missing from veteran's graves"

the postman always squeals twice

you don't often hear of mail carriers being terrorized by cats. maybe they should start carrying catnip with them. a catnip kitty is usually a daze-y, lazy kitty.

more kitty-mail news! this poor guy was accidentally shipped across the country in a ups box. opening that box must have been quite the surprise for the chiropractic clinic.

a police officer shot at a playing pitbull because she thought it was attacking. this is why breed-bans are dangerous, they propagate fear.

more on the marine corp's breed ban that we mentioned on tuesday. it turns out that the marines in south carolina are using a team of ASPCA animal behaviorists to do their temperament testing yielding positive results. while the ban is still unnecessary and prejudicial this is one step back in the right direction.

morty's trick is riding trees - he's a regular cowcat

cats can do anything dogs can do better, cats can do anything better than you. well, maybe not, but this russian cat-trainer has former-shelter cats jumping through hoops and pushing little dogs around in baby strollers.

interesting time article on the growing cat and pet supply business in the gaza strip. even in tumultuous areas a cat can turn an apartment into a home.

the u.s. marine corps has issued the first-ever world-wide breed ban preventing certain breeds and "aggressive" dogs from all u.s. bases and housing facilities.

taiwan will pay your for your dog poop; 2 pounds for 3 bucks. what a deal!

would you steal from this face? we didn't think so.

how rude! stealing from a rescue group is lower than low. basement cat is waiting for you, thief.

pet rescue takes flight: pilots are donating their time and resources to transport animals away from deathrow.

aussie cat clyde spent three years in the outback, proving to the world he's ready for the next installment in the crocodile dundee franchise.

remote controls, loose change, socks, cellphones, kittens: all things you can find in a couch if you just look hard enough.