Now we can reveal - for the first time - that 10 Downing Street, the equivalent of the US White House - has fleas. Lots of 'em. The whistleblower is Liz Truss, the UK's shortest serving prime minister. She writes in her memoir just published: "The place was infested with fleas. The entire place had to be sprayed with flea killer. I spent several weeks itching."  As a cat who knows more about fleas (and probably more about the UK economy) than Liz Truss, I want to put it on record that the woman only spent a few weeks in 10 Downing St anyway.  Perhaps if she had concentrated on on ..read more

Jill Biden - https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1487008748577214465  As an author in my own right, I felt irritated  about more publishing competition from humans. It's bad enough that my human, Celia, keeps making money out of writing cat books... Now the First Lady, Jill Biden, is getting into the act - with a children's book about the White House cat, Willow. I don't mean to be catty, but readers will note that she did not write a book about the Biden dog, Major, who bit several members of staff. He was sent away in disgrace to live with family friends. Neither did she wr ..read more

Men don't diet themselves or us We cats are not misogynistic. We don't much care whether are our pets are male or female - though sometimes I have wished that both could be neutered. Humans would be so much easier to control, if they were without romantic interests. For years male humans have sneered at women for loving cats too much. Now the tables are turned in the UK. More men than women are adopting cats from Cats Protection! Is this good news for cats? I think it is. Male humans have larger laps than women so we can really stretch out. They will spend hours watching sport on TV ..read more

Sometimes - just occasionally - humans do something clever. So the George Online Cat Award for March 2024 goes to some of the public libraries in the US. Instead of fining humans for returning books late or damaged, they are accepting pictures of cats instead of money. They reckon they will get back more books that way. (Details here) It's part of Massachusetts libraries'  Meowness month of March. It doesn't have to be a cat photo. It can be a drawing, a painting or just a magazine picture of a cat. In return for this normal fees for lateness of damaging a book will be forgiven and thei ..read more

  Are you microchipped? Of course you are. We feline bloggers are the lucky ones - up to date with our vaccinations, given regular vet care, and microchipped just in case. Here in the UK about a third of cats are not. So if or when they get lost, there is no way of identifying their humans. If they are lucky enough to be picked up by a cat rescue organisation they just have to stay in a pen just hoping their humans will find out where they are. Microchips also allow us to have a cat flap that closes against any feline intruders. This is so important for our mental health and feelings of ..read more

Box as a refuge from Toby Amazon is reducing the number of boxes it uses. This news is a shocking blow to all cats. Box to play in. We rely on Amazon boxes as cosy places to sleep, as fun places to play and as refuges from other cats or interfering humans.   Box as a feeding station My human used to use boxes as feeding stations for her fat foster cat, Boomer. He had to jump into them to get fed - making him exercise more to lose weight.  They can be used as kitten cradles by nursing feline mothers - keeping the kittens inside while she takes a nap ..read more

My uncle George scratching Are snowdrops dangerous to cats? My human was asked this last week and she didn't know the answer. One of her friends had read it in a news outlet - so it must be true. Well, it was true... but only in theory. Do not let your human believe everything they read online. Yes, snowdrop are potentially poisonous - the bulbs, that is. And what kind of cat is going to dig up snowdrop bulbs and eat them? A dog - well maybe. A cat - no. When I go into the garden, I enjoy a good scratch on a tree; I enjoy sniffing where other cats have been; I look out just in case t ..read more

 I play, therefore I am a cat. I play when I am relaxed and feeling safe. I DON'T play if I am feeling stressed, or angry, or frightened or just hungry. So play is a way humans can recognise feline happiness. It's also the way humans can recognise an unhappy cat. A cat that cannot or will not play is not relaxed and may be anxious or stressed. Play is almost as good as hunting. Yes, I know that we house cats don't need to hunt for food any more. But the hunting instinct is designed to make us feel intensely absorbed and fully alive. We indoor cats don't have the chance to hunt, but play ..read more

  This cat is stressed and fearful. When I am stressed and a bit frightened, I lower my ears towards the side of my head. So there is a bigger space at the top of my head, between each ear.  I might swivel them back a little too - if I think I might need to defend myself. That puts them out of the way of an attack from the front. And my pupils grow large as I need to see exactly what is going on. The photo shows a cat that is crouched low too.  All these signs should be noted by our humans, but some of them are very bad at reading what we are saying. Or they think that ..read more

I need a quick head shake when I feel stressed - often when my human has stroked me too much and I need to regain my serenity.  It's such a quick head shake that often humans don't notice it. Or they just think I am rearranging my fur. But it's like the way humans sometimes wriggle their shoulders or do a quick sigh.  Or fiddle with their hair. A sign that I want to get back to equilibrium. It makes me feel a little  bit better.  I can't show this in a still photo - my human has tried and it is just too difficult. So she is posting a video at the end of this post.  ..read more