Now this is both heartbreaking and somewhat reassuring at the same time.
The distance between those who love and cherish cats and those that think them disposable toys has never been more well displayed.
My heart goes out most of all, to those innocent of souls, the cats.

If this video even reaches one soul and makes them more aware of the responsibilities involved with cat stewardship, it is worth my posting.
Be aware, some tears may be involved.

Mad Cats and English Women

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

OK...enough tears....(wipes eyes).

On to a more uplifting and interesting show about kitties.
Now that we have seen the dark side of the human/cat relationship.

From a biological rather than an emotional viewpoint, cats are simply a most amazing creature. And the fact that they have taken us on as cohabitants is at times surprising. You may never look at kitty the same way again...LOL.
Cats indeed, saved many lives from the bubonic plague in some regions by keeping rodents under control.

Hunting the origins of the modern day slightly domesticated cat.............
Part 3 is particularly interesting.......an Egyptian tomb site with thousands of mummified cats. This most certainly would not have been done had they not considered the cat as an exceptional being.

In their usual excellent style, a well done NatGeo special about....
The Science of Cats. (Part 1 of 4)

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

BIG kitties need love too.
Or at least the space to be what they must be.
My little Tigger's ancestors.

Tigers Fight Back....

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Interesting little analysis, from a physics point of view......
Why cats can do this...

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Another vid, the physics of cats.
It is interesting to note that scientists HAVE noted the manner of cat uprighting......
Head first, spine follows, rear end next.
I am not sure that although it has been documented the manner in which they do this, it is quite understood HOW.

Falling kitties....
I cannot do it........LOL. I have tried to demonstrate it to my kitties many times. They have quite a trick there. The first thing a cat does is try to figure what way is up. Now, this has eluded me on many occasions.
Especially when I find myself upside down in the bathtub.

Mind you, no cats have been harmed in the filming of this documentary.

Meow.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Sorry Mark, I do not find that entertaining. Animals are not here for our experiment or amusement. You of all people should know that.

Chris........
What post are you referring to?
The one from NatGeo was quite educational.
The other one was to enlighten some of the plight of the kitty interacting with our human world, less than inspiring, indeed.

Please explain. Even the NatGeo show did not experiment on kitties, other than the drop from a few feet, which as you can see, was into a padded box.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Hi Mark,

It was the falling kitties one. Ok, I fully accept that no animal was harmed, but it's not very kind to drop cats from an upside down position. But lets leave it there. We both support your local cats charity, so we are on the same side at the end of the day :-)

Chris, it was kindfully done. Kitty did not run off screaming, so you had to know she was not hurt.
Just a soft and gentle landing, as kitties are able to do.
That's what the vid was trying to explain. The scientific part of kitties.
I have, in the last 48 hours, gained a lot of additional knowledge about all sides of kitties, and you can too, if you follow my links. They are mostly documentaries, and one is an hour and half long. I only post the ones that I think are worthy of consideration, there are hundreds more on youtube.

You just mistook a sincere interest in the way cats work for abuse.
Kitty was NOT abused in any way, I can assure you. You can see that in her demeanor.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Very informative links about cats - thank you!

Big or small, domesticated or wild, I love them all (and dogs and all other creatures too of course!) but the cat seems so finely-tuned to me.

beautifully adapted for speed - the cat with a spring running through it

No matter how horrible life gets at times, I count myself truly fortunate always... because I got to share time on this earth with one :)

Very informative links about cats - thank you!

Big or small, domesticated or wild, I love them all (and dogs and all other creatures too of course!) but the cat seems so finely-tuned to me.

beautifully adapted for speed - the cat with a spring running through it

No matter how horrible life gets at times, I count myself truly fortunate always... because I got to share time on this earth with one :)

Thanks, anniet.
I am in the same place right now. Lost.Cold. I have chosen to drink instead of being with Lori, my love. My kitties, of course, are always by my side no matter what. I am a sorry sot at times. But my soul carries on unabated, without me at times.

Here is something I ran across just moments ago.............
Mavericks. With one of the greatest singers still alive today, I think. Raul Malo. Their version of Blue Moon.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Very informative links about cats - thank you!

Big or small, domesticated or wild, I love them all (and dogs and all other creatures too of course!) but the cat seems so finely-tuned to me.

beautifully adapted for speed - the cat with a spring running through it

No matter how horrible life gets at times, I count myself truly fortunate always... because I got to share time on this earth with one :)

Thanks, anniet.
I am in the same place right now. Lost.Cold. I have chosen to drink instead of being with Lori, my love. My kitties, of course, are always by my side no matter what. I am a sorry sot at times. But my soul carries on unabated, without me at times.

Here is something I ran across just moments ago.............
Mavericks. With one of the greatest singers still alive today, I think. Raul Malo. Their version of Blue Moon.

That is one of my favourite versions I must admit :)

While you were running across that, I was running across this...



and hoped it might make you smile (whilst also hoping you wouldn't mind a dog in your thread) :)

Lori will be missing you. :( Don't stay lost and cold.

I am not lost and alone, I still have my kitties and Lori, I hope, shall understand and forgive me tomorrow.

In the meantime, I too have found a version of the song that warms the cockles of what is left of my heart.
Cowboy Junkies have blue moons as well...........

For Lori, my true and only love. I am sorry I could not be with you tonight.
I shall be tomorrow, and always, you know that.

Meow sigh for my failings.

Meow.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Please forgive me.
I know this is a repost.
It is well worth your moments in ignoring it, if you must.

Rosanne Cash, in a tribute so wonderful for her father, Johhny Cash.
The hole he left in many lives is no more expressed by her loss, much less ours.
She just almost loses it all just before the song starts.

But, he had enriched so many lives, including mine. And he did indeed leave behind a gurl who could sing so wonderfully about the Tennessee Flat Top Box.


I too, choose love, Rosanne. You are so wonderful.
Thank you for sharing so much with us, gurl.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Please forgive me.
I know this is a repost.
It is well worth your moments in ignoring it, if you must.

Rosanne Cash, in a tribute so wonderful for her father, Johhny Cash.
The hole he left in many lives is no more expressed by her loss, much less ours.

I too, choose love.

He was truly one of the greatest wasn't he! Was listening to a couple of his albums earlier this evening actually. Timeless artistry! :) It makes me sad knowing there will be no new gems from him though... but so grateful for the ones he left behind for us all to share.

Please forgive me.
I know this is a repost.
It is well worth your moments in ignoring it, if you must.

Rosanne Cash, in a tribute so wonderful for her father, Johhny Cash.
The hole he left in many lives is no more expressed by her loss, much less ours.

I too, choose love.

He was truly one of the greatest wasn't he! Was listening to a couple of his albums earlier this evening actually. Timeless artistry! :) It makes me sad knowing there will be no new gems from him though... but so grateful for the ones he left behind for us all to share.

Well, it just leaves us to wonder.
I feel the same about Stevie Ray Vaughan. He had just cleaned up from his addictions and was starting to rocket when his career was cut short by that idiot copter pilot.
I was there that night and thought the sky was the limit....no sick puns intended whatsoever. He was sterling that night. I had bought the 'Live Alive' album, and thought it rather lame. He was still addicted when that was recorded, to the best of my knowledge, and it just had no shine or spark of the Stevie than I remembered. And I had OD'd on his first album like a freakin' junkie on coke for the first time. It was so astounding. And to see him that night, starting to shine once again......
I virtually and actually hit the floor when I heard the news the next morning.

Like many other losses, to me, they just seem to mount one upon the other. I guess I just don't know how to let go of these things. Each and every one seems to build up a higher mountain. The last notch was my Squirrel kitty.
I had to go back in the western part of my yard to haul some branches away the other weekend. Right past her grave. And I had to stop, drop to the ground, and bawl my eyes out. That is what my mind does to me.

Is that crazy? Sick? Undeniable grief? I don't know. I only know that it controls me, I cannot control it. It is something that cuts me like a knife.
And may kill me one day if I cannot get a grip on it.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Yes, my friends.
I am NOT a stupid man.
I can see all this, laid out like a tapestry before me.
A map, from which I am unable to alter or change course. Sadly, or not so, it is destined.

My life seems to be predestined. A path laid out before me that I must follow, and there is no left or right, nor turning around.

I can see each day unfolding before my, unyielding in it's course, the only choice I have is whether to continue or not. And you know I cannot choose not to continue my journey. That would be inexcusable. That is the one path I shall never choose, and most of you know exactly why I cannot.

I take some wonderful side trips from the path to visit you, my friends.
And that, God has allowed me with no problems. I must advance upon my journey though, and that may take me far from where contact with you is possible in the future. If that is the case, please do PM me from time to time, but if I do not respond, please know that I have assured kitty care for my loved ones at all times. There is no greater love than that I have for my kitties. Even Thor, though I think he should be calling me to wield, could not take me from my kitties' care, no matter his powers.

Do you understand me now? Meow?

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Well, it just leaves us to wonder.
I feel the same about Stevie Ray Vaughan. He had just cleaned up from his addictions and was starting to rocket when his career was cut short by that idiot copter pilot.
I was there that night and thought the sky was the limit....no sick puns intended whatsoever. He was sterling that night. I had bought the 'Live Alive' album, and thought it rather lame. He was still addicted when that was recorded, to the best of my knowledge, and it just had no shine or spark of the Stevie than I remembered. And I had OD'd on his first album like a freakin' junkie on coke for the first time. It was so astounding. And to see him that night, starting to shine once again......
I virtually and actually hit the floor when I heard the news the next morning.

Like many other losses, to me, they just seem to mount one upon the other. I guess I just don't know how to let go of these things. Each and every one seems to build up a higher mountain. The last notch was my Squirrel kitty.
I had to go back in the western part of my yard to haul some branches away the other weekend. Right past her grave. And I had to stop, drop to the ground, and bawl my eyes out. That is what my mind does to me.

Is that crazy? Sick? Undeniable grief? I don't know. I only know that it controls me, I cannot control it. It is something that cuts me like a knife.
And may kill me one day if I cannot get a grip on it.

No... it's not crazy Mark. It's the price we pay for love. :( The pain is often too unbearable at times, but I would rather suffer that, than not to have experienced the love that preceded it.

There is often very little justice and much too much suffering and tragedy in this world, I agree. I wish it were not so :(

Perhaps this will help, I don't know... but I remember being told as a child that when we think of those we've loved and lost, we cast them in the warmest and brightest of sunbeams. If your Squirrel kitty was anything like any cat I've ever come across - then sunbeams are treasures :) and she would not want you to be sad whilst she basked in them.

Well, it just leaves us to wonder.
I feel the same about Stevie Ray Vaughan. He had just cleaned up from his addictions and was starting to rocket when his career was cut short by that idiot copter pilot.
I was there that night and thought the sky was the limit....no sick puns intended whatsoever. He was sterling that night. I had bought the 'Live Alive' album, and thought it rather lame. He was still addicted when that was recorded, to the best of my knowledge, and it just had no shine or spark of the Stevie than I remembered. And I had OD'd on his first album like a freakin' junkie on coke for the first time. It was so astounding. And to see him that night, starting to shine once again......
I virtually and actually hit the floor when I heard the news the next morning.

Like many other losses, to me, they just seem to mount one upon the other. I guess I just don't know how to let go of these things. Each and every one seems to build up a higher mountain. The last notch was my Squirrel kitty.
I had to go back in the western part of my yard to haul some branches away the other weekend. Right past her grave. And I had to stop, drop to the ground, and bawl my eyes out. That is what my mind does to me.

Is that crazy? Sick? Undeniable grief? I don't know. I only know that it controls me, I cannot control it. It is something that cuts me like a knife.
And may kill me one day if I cannot get a grip on it.

No... it's not crazy Mark. It's the price we pay for love. :( The pain is often too unbearable at times, but I would rather suffer that, than not to have experienced the love that preceded it.

There is often very little justice and much too much suffering and tragedy in this world, I agree. I wish it were not so :(

Perhaps this will help, I don't know... but I remember being told as a child that when we think of those we've loved and lost, we cast them in the warmest and brightest of sunbeams. If your Squirrel kitty was anything like any cat I've ever come across - then sunbeams are treasures :) and she would not want you to be sad whilst she basked in them.

Ahh, Squirrel, bless her little soul, loved me until the very last instant I had to let her go. But, I have not a second thought about that. It was her time to go. She had used up every ounce of her survival to give me her love. Every single ounce and measure of it. There was nothing left for her to give me. She knew that, and I knew that. I don't have one iota of doubt about the decision I made that day. Not a pinch. She looked up into my eyes that one last time, with as much love as she ever had. And said, I must go, thank you, Mark, for sharing your life with me. It was heart rending, terrible, but it was what I had to do. And she thanked me for it with her loving eyes.
I should be so lucky if one should do me the same favor in my last moments.
Meanwhile, I have her 3 half sisters who are now approaching 13yo. And I don't have any hopes or dreams than any of them shall make it to Squirrel's ripe age of 18. There are some rough times coming for the ol' kittyman.
I have not decided whether to get another kitty or two, or to suffer the pains and arrows of time and let God decide what I should do.
After breaking down in the back yard by Squirrel's grave, I just don't know what I am ready for at this point.
As much as I love kitties, I just don't know what I am ready for yet.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3KagMEP2Cw

Was that just a random tease, or do you understand just what you did there?

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster