cats

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Couple Had 159 Cats in Small Apartment

Court in Nice, France, bans them from having pets for life

(Newser) - A French couple found to have been keeping 159 cats and seven dogs in their small Nice apartment have received a lifetime ban from having pets. Police arrived at the apartment last year to intervene in a neighborhood dispute and discovered the animals, and their poop, spread around the 861-square-foot...

Town's Residents Warned About 'Abnormal' Cat

The cat is thought to have fallen in a chemical tank in Fukuyama, Japan

(Newser) - "Chemical kitty" might sound like the name of a punk band, but it's apparently a very real thing in one Japanese city. Fukuyama has warned its residents that it appears a cat fell into a tank of toxic chemicals at a metal plating factory and emerged covered in...

Library Comes Up With Purrfect Way to Forgive Lost Books

Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts is granting amnesty if you bring in cat pics

(Newser) - A Massachusetts library has implemented a temporary—and arguably purrfect—forgiveness program for those who've lost or damaged materials they've borrowed. The New York Times reports on the "March Meowness" initiative currently happening at the Worcester Public Library: For this month only, borrowers whose library cards have...

'Aloof' Big Cats Are Partial to Keepers' Voices
Big Cats Are
Like Pet Cats
in One Big Way
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Big Cats Are Like Pet Cats in One Big Way

Familiar human voices draw longer, more intense responses than unfamiliar ones, researchers show

(Newser) - Domestic cats can tell their owner's voice apart from other humans, and apparently their larger cousins have that same capability, according to new research out of Michigan's Oakland University. In the study published Thursday in the PeerJ—Life and Environment journal, scientists wanted to see if tigers, cheetahs,...

Oregon Resident's Case of Bubonic Plague Tied to Pet Cat

It's the first case the state has seen since 2015

(Newser) - Oregon has reported its first human case of the bubonic plague since 2015 , and the local health department believes the infection came from the person's cat. Though the plague wiped out more than a third of Europe's population in the 14th century, it's not so deadly these...

Conductor Who Threw 'Stray' Off Train Faces Nation's Wrath

It was actually someone's pet cat, and it died in Russia's extreme cold after it was booted

(Newser) - More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for a Russian train conductor to lose her job after she threw a pet cat off a train, believing it was a stray. The white and ginger tom cat, known as Twix, escaped from his carrier on a train traveling...

It's Not Just Dogs Who Play Fetch
Cats Play Fetch, Too
NEW STUDY
Dec 15, 2023 10:19 AM CST

Cats Play Fetch, Too

Researchers say it's more common than people think

(Newser) - Cats have a reputation for being unfriendly and distant compared to dogs, but research is eroding that idea . In a new study, scientists found cats instinctively know how to play fetch and most often initiate fetching sessions, reflecting a broader tendency "to maintain a sense of control," per...

'Cats Eat a Lot More Than We Thought'
'Cats Eat a Lot More
Than We Thought'
NEW STUDY
Dec 13, 2023 1:50 PM CST

'Cats Eat a Lot More Than We Thought'

Hundreds of endangered species are on the menu for free-roaming cats, researchers say

(Newser) - Cats are far from finicky eaters when it comes to wildlife, researchers say. According to a study published in Nature , cats are "indiscriminate predators and eat essentially any type of animal that they can capture at some life stage or can scavenge." Researchers say cats worldwide—feral cats...

A Famous Cat Population Faces a Crackdown

NPS wants some 200 strays removed from historic site in Puerto Rico

(Newser) - Hundreds of stray cats that roam a historic seaside tourist area of Puerto Rico's capital, where they're considered both a delight and a nuisance, will be removed over the coming year under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the National Park Service. The NPS says it will contract an...

The Scottish Wildcat Is Now ... Basically Just a Cat

Over the last 7 decades, it has mated with domestic cats to the point of pushing it to extinction

(Newser) - For millennia, the Scottish wildcat prowled Great Britain, stalking prey and ignoring humans and its domesticated cousins alike. But as a study in Current Biology reports, that all changed in the 1950s and '60s, when disease killed off much of the rabbit population the wildcats depended on for food...

For This Dog-Loving Scientist, 'Enlightening' Research on Cats

Your favorite felines can make nearly 300 facial expressions, debunking their 'aloof' reputation

(Newser) - A psychology professor who also happens to love dogs had always thought of cats as being somewhat "aloof," and so when she embarked on a nearly yearlong study of felines to figure out how they communicate, she didn't expect her findings to reveal anything much different about...

Activists Save 1K Cats Bound to Become Dinner

Traders planned to pass off their meat as lamb, pork: report

(Newser) - A truck carrying 1,000 cats was headed for a slaughterhouse when officers made a crucial stop, according to Chinese police. Tipped off by animal rights activists, officers in the port city of Zhangjiagang found the truck was transporting the captured felines to their deaths so their meat could be...

Purring Is the Cat Form of Vocal Fry
Purring Is
the Cat Form
of Vocal Fry
NEW STUDY
Oct 14, 2023 8:30 AM CDT

Purring Is the Cat Form of Vocal Fry

New research found how such small animals can produce sounds at a low register

(Newser) - We all know what a cat's communicating when it lets out a pleased purr, but now researchers have solved the puzzle of how our feline friends are able to produce that distinct sound. The Guardian reports that the low register in a cat's deep purring is more common...

Australia Goes After 'Ruthless Killers': Feral Cats

They're blamed for killing billions of animals a year

(Newser) - "They are walking, stalking, ruthless killers." That's how Australia's minister for the Environment and Water characterizes cats—feral ones specifically, not pets kept indoors—and she's laid out a series of ideas to majorly tamp down their numbers. The animals are blamed for wreaking havoc...

A Stolen Vehicle Crashed Into a Cop Car. Inside, a Surprise

The owner, a juvenile, fled the crash site and was later arrested; suspect never mentioned the cat

(Newser) - Connecticut police who found a kitten in a stolen car say they've located the animal's owner: a juvenile suspect who fled and was arrested after the car crashed. The Meriden Police Department said on its Facebook page Thursday that the gray-and-white male cat, believed to be about 7...

Human COVID Pills Could Help Save Cyprus' Cats

Thousands of felines have died since the start of the year

(Newser) - Cyprus will make 80,000 anti-COVID pills that were intended for people available to veterinarians to treat the island's cats. The Guardian reports a highly virulent strain of feline coronavirus—which can't be transmitted to humans—was detected in January in the island's capital of Nicosia. FCov-2023...

Here's How You Can Get a Cat to Pay Attention to You
Want a Cat to
Come to You?
Do These
2 Things
NEW STUDY
May 13, 2023 6:00 AM CDT

Want a Cat to Come to You? Do These 2 Things

Researchers find cats come up to strangers more quickly when both visual, verbal cues are used

(Newser) - A group of researchers out of France took a deep dive into "the nuances of cat-human conversation," with some expected findings and some a little more surprising. For their study published last week in the journal Animals , a research team out of Paris Nanterre University led by Charlotte...

Kids' Cat-Hunting Contest Called Off

New Zealand event canceled after outcry

(Newser) - A feral cat-hunting competition for children has been canceled after it was not received as well as organizers might have hoped. As the BBC explains, in New Zealand, feral cats "are considered a pest and a risk to the country's biosecurity," and an annual hunt is held...

Exotic Cat on Cocaine 'Could've Shredded Us Apart'

Cincinnati Zoo now in possession of Amiry the serval, better known as 'cocaine cat'

(Newser) - It's a good thing Cincinnati Zoo employees had yet to see Cocaine Bear when they took in an exotic feline who'd gotten into the drug. Animal control officials were called to retrieve the African serval, a medium-sized cat, from a tree after he escaped from his owner's...

Cat Leads Rescuers to Man Who Fell Down Waterfall

The man's wife heard the cat making noises

(Newser) - Move over, Lassie. A California cat is being hailed for leading rescuers to a man who fell down a waterfall last month. CBS News reports that on the evening of Feb. 21, a woman in Pleasants Valley became aware that her husband was missing. She enlisted a neighbor to help...

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