The cat in the stable....

FREDERICO BAROCCI

Yes, of course, there was a cat in the Bethlehem stable. How else would the stable been safe for a baby, at that amazing moment in history

So, it's not in the Bible account. Does that mean it wasn't there? That though there were oxen and a donkey, those were the only animals.

Not so. There would have been the pigeons or doves, roosting during the night up in the rafters. And, of course, there would have been mice and probably some rats, picking up any spare grain left by the oxen.

LEONARDO DA VINCI

There would have been the insects too. Probably some beetles, ants, moths and butterflies in hibernation. There might even have been some hibernating wall lizards that winter. 

It was an ordinary stable with ordinary creatures great and small. And in the centre of them all, a new born baby.

REMBRANDT

Of course there were cats. The great painters knew that. 

Christmas trees.. this year's disaster.

 Yes, she's done it again. My living room now has a rather unpleasant pine tree in it.

I used to enjoy the tree when I was younger. I climbed it. I pulled off the baubles. Sometimes I succeeded in pulling it down altogether.

She tried hanging it from the ceiling one year. That was a real challenge. I managed one of the best leaps of my life and clung on to it, while it swung wildly.

But it all ended badly with a trip to the vet, when I got a pine needle stuck in my paw. 

So this year I intended to ignore the tree.

Alas for good intentions. This tree smelled of DOG. To be exact, it smelled of dog pee.

So I had to overmark it. I backed up and sprayed on it.

That didn't end well, either.

• Get your human to buy this. Sales pay for my catfood!
  
  
  
  

It hurts, you stupid human!

 

Ouch.. why do humans do that? The vet was pulling my leg around so I doubled back and bit him.

Then my human apologized as if I had done something wrong. He had hurt me. He should have apologized to me.

What did he expect, handling me like that. His explanation (not to me but to her) was that he was palpating me! Palpating! Not so much palpating as punishing me with pain.

You just can't get through to them. As if it wasn't enough that I am getting stiff with arthritis in my old age! Of course that makes me grumpy. Oldies in pain always are. Not just cats but humans too.

It's that flooring in the kitchen that is to blame. I have to go there to eat and use the litter tray, but it's hard and slippery tiles. What I need is non-slip flooring or carpet.

The litter tray is getting difficult too. She should get me one with an easy entrance. It hurts when I have to lift my legs to get into it. 

One day I won't bother. I will just pee on the floor. And she will blame me, rather than the high sides of the litter tray.

I could do with a ramp on to the sofa, and on to the bed. Yet it has never occurred to her. Why doesn't the vet suggest this instead of pain-palpitating me! A fat lot of good that is.

I heard him say "weight loss." Food is almost the only pleasure I have left. Why didn't he say "Flooring."

Humans - dumb animals without any empathy for elderly cats! I 

Cats are smarter than babies.

That cats are more clever than babies is not news for us cats. It is obvious to any cat who has compared human babies with kittens.

Kittens can walk at the age of two weeks: babies are still unable to do this at that age. Kittens are litter trained by eight weeks: babies are not potty trained until about one to three years (depending on their mothers' skills).

Now scientists have tested how quickly cats can make an association of a word with a picture. They can do this more quickly than babies.

Is this surprising? Not in the least. Human babies are incredibly slow to develop physical and mental skills compared with kittens. 

Sad that scientists have to rediscover obvious truths. But that is how humans work...

We just get on with enjoying warmth and sunlight and good food and hunting. 

Wiser than dumb humans? Of course.

 

• Here is the original report - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74006-2 

"Elections?" No, cat shelters.

Stray cats in Idaho love US "elections", I have been told by feline friends. It is all because of the election signs humans put on their lawns.

These are useless rectangles with markings upon them that humans call writing. Some rectangles are blue. Some are red (though this colour is difficult for me to see.) Don't ask me why because I don't know.

Why they create these idiotic useless signs is beyond my understanding. Humans get excited about such odd things and do so many pointless things.

But there is a human in Idaho who makes these plastic rectangles into insulated cat shelter boxes, so that stray cats can keep warm in winter.  

So there is one sensible human who knows what really matters. And it isn't this so called "election."