Category Archives: cats

wrap it up.

Standard

not olive and i,

but similar to what went down when we wrapped gifts together 

i apologize in advance for any cat hair in the tape.

 

==

“a wonderful gift may not come wrapped as you expect.”

-johnathon lockwood huie

 

 

photo credit: getty images- 1938

cat’s eye view.

Standard

my daughter’s two black cats

who i collectively call ‘the nathans’

waited until her halloween display was up

deciding to become the stars

sitting centerstage in the tableau.

“in a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.”

-joseph wood krutch

 

into the wild.

Standard

 a kind tribute

to my little himilayan irish kitty

yeti kennedy

from my compassionate vet’s office

in a perfect circle  

he

appeared from the wild

returned to the wild.

“trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come.”

― karen joy fowler 

the art of living.

Standard

 the littlest yeti

the bravest warrior

the sweetest brother to olive

 lived with a disease he valiantly fought

 made it to his first birthday

 filled with crazy fun and sass

left the earth as suddenly as he appeared

as yetis sometimes do. 

“all the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

~ havelock ellis

inside edition.

Standard

side eye and some intense discussion going on at a recent meeting

as co-editors in chief olive and yeti make the tough calls.

insider exclusive – behind the scenes backstory of ididnthavemyglasson.wordpress.com:

before each and every time i post a blog

i am subjected to the scrutiny of my photo editorial board

who can be

exacting and my most challenging critics

or

supportive and my most passionate champions

 often made to defend my choices

i am never sure how it will go.

“they can’t censor the gleam in my eye.”

charles laughton

cat tracks.

Standard

new research shows that cats track their owner’s movements

Cats are special and intelligent creatures, and a new study led by Dr. Saho Takagi at the University of Kyoto in Japan confirms this.

Takagi’s research reveals cats’ ability to track their owners as they move about the house, and show signs of a genuine surprise if their owners pop up where they don’t expect them.

These findings support the idea that cats retain a mental representation of their owners, even if they’re out of sight, which is a sign of higher cognitive processes that can include planning ahead and using imagination.

There have been studies in the past that suggested that cats search in the correct places if they see food disappearing and that they expect to see their owner’s face if they first hear their voice, but how these abilities were practiced in real life still evaded researchers. “It is [also] said that cats are not as interested in their owners as dogs are, but we had doubts about this point,” Takagi explained.

To explore cats’ cognitive capacities, Takagi and his team studied what happened when 50 domestic cats were individually shut inside a room while repeatedly hearing their owner calling their name from outside the room. Then, the cats were exposed to either a stranger’s voice or that of their owner coming from a speaker that was positioned inside the room they were in.

Human observers watched recordings of the cats’ reactions during the experiment and ranked the cats’ level of surprise based on their ear and head movements. It appeared that the cats only showed confusion and surprise when their owners’ voices were suddenly coming from the speaker inside the closed room, implying to the cats that their owners had somehow managed to teleport to get inside the room with them.

“This study shows that cats can mentally map their location based on their owner’s voice,” Takagi explained. “Cats have the ability to picture the invisible in their minds. Cats may have a more profound mind than is thought.”

That said, it’s not too much of a shock that cats possess these abilities. “That awareness of movement—tracking things they cannot see—is critical to a cat’s survival,” said Roger Tabor, a biologist, author, and presenter of the TV series Cats on BBC.

“A lot of what a cat has to interpret in its territory is an awareness of where other cats are. It is also important for hunting: how could a cat catch a field vole moving around beneath the grass if it couldn’t use clues, such as the occasional rustle, to see in its mind’s eye, where they are? A cat’s owner is extremely significant in its life as a source of food and security, so where we are is very important.”

 

“the moment I walk into a room,

i have kind of like the terminator’s tracking system for where the food is,

and i can get there immediately.

-mike birbiglia

 

 

 

Source study: Plos One- Socio-spacial cognition in cats: Mentally mapping owner’s location from voice

a star is born.

Standard

yeti has always held a secret dream of co-starring in a judy garland film

 

“somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”

-judy garland

piece of my art.

Standard

the cats have done it again

(the most likely suspects)

a long while after putting my latest puzzle away

without finding a missing piece 

they have left a piece at my feet

now all i have to do is find their secret lair

where i may discover a treasure trove

of all of my missing ‘one-pieces.’

 

“sometimes the hardest pieces of a puzzle to assemble, are the ones missing from the box.”

-dixie waters

going nowhere.

Standard

thought it might be interesting

to expose the cats to a bit of world geography 

while sipping a refreshing drink.

so far they have refused to take any quizzes

but i’m confident they are learning by osmosis. 

 

“without geography, you’re nowhere.”

  • -author unknown

awkward.

Standard

seemingly overnight

baby yeti

has transformed from a crazy toddler with mini claws and fuzzy fur

 into an awkward, gawky teenager

who’s not quite sure what to do

with his newly stretched out body and all his parts

can’t wait for the

 sassiness

storming off to his room

eye-rolling

questionable choices

acting like he doesn’t know who i am

mercurial emotions

and the puberty talks.

 

“no matter where you are or where you grow up,

you always go through the same awkward moments of being a teenager

and growing up trying to figure out who you are.”

-aimee teegarden