cats

longform

Mar 7, 2021 12:30 PM CST

On the Hunt for an Animal Serial Killer

Atatavist magazine follows volunteers in UK, though police say culprit is a fox

(Newser) - The killings began in 2015. Beloved cats began turning up around London, their bodies mutilated. As Phil Hoad writes at Atavist magazine, the cats appeared to have been cut with a sharp knife by a human with increasingly skilled hands. The remains also seemed to have been displayed to cause...

Watchdog Raises Alarm About Popular Flea Collar

Mar 2, 2021 1:09 PM CST

Cat Is Returned to Owner After 15 Years

Brandy had vanished from backyard

(Newser) - A cat that went astray 15 years ago has been reunited, older and maybe wiser, with its owner. Brandy, a brown tabby, was reunited Monday with the man who adopted her as a 2-month-old kitten in 2005, the AP reports. "It's amazing," said Charles, who did not...

Cops' Suspicious Package
Was Purring, for Good Reason

Feb 19, 2021 2:21 PM CST

Cops' Suspicious Package Was Purring, for Good Reason

Bomb squad finds newborn kittens inside, and they're all OK

(Newser) - A police bomb squad responding to a suspicious package call at an Ohio church made an unexpected discovery: six newborn kittens and their mother inside a duffel bag. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says its bomb squad was called to a church in New Miami on Thursday, per the...

Zoom's 'Cat Lawyer' Speaks
Out After Viral Video

Feb 10, 2021 9:15 AM CST

Zoom's 'Cat Lawyer' Speaks Out After Viral Video

'I disappeared and a cat appeared,' says Rod Ponton

(Newser) - Everyone is supposedly due their 15 minutes of fame, and Rod Ponton just got his—except not as a human, but as a cat. Thanks to a video that went viral , the Texas attorney is now known around the world for being the lawyer on Zoom who couldn't figure...

Catnip Is Fun for Cats, but Also 'Functional'

Catnip Does More Than
Make Cats Loopy

NEW STUDY

Jan 24, 2021 12:00 PM CST

Catnip Does More Than Make Cats Loopy

Study suggests it also offers protection from mosquitoes

(Newser) - You may soon come to love catnip as much as your cat. New research suggests the chemicals derived from catnip and silver vine, an even more potent plant that grows in the mountains of Japan and China, can ward off pesky mosquitoes. Masao Miyazaki, a biologist at Japan's Iwate...

Biden Plans
White House
Surprise

Nov 28, 2020 4:50 PM CST

Biden Plans White House Surprise

CBS Sunday Morning teases news of a feline

(Newser) - Major, Champ, and ... pussy-kitty? Looks like Joe Biden's hope for reuniting America will extend beyond Democrats and Republicans, the Guardian reports. A CBS Sunday Morning tweet teased the fact that the new first family—which includes the two aforementioned German shepherds—will be "joined by a cat."...

'Next to Miraculous' $9M Vase
Found in Old Woman's Cupboard

'Next to Miraculous' $9M Vase Found in Old Woman's Cupboard

Rediscovered Chinese porcelain dating back 275 years kept in open cupboard near cats, dogs

(Newser) - A delicate Chinese porcelain vase believed to have been crafted for an emperor 275 years ago has sold for more than $9 million after turning up in a cupboard in a country home in central Europe. The rare find—actually two vases in one, with a pierced outer layer of...

A British Cat Has COVID

Jul 27, 2020 12:55 PM CDT

A British Cat Has COVID

Cat was apparently infected by its owners

(Newser) - There's no evidence that pets can infect their owners with COVID-19, British authorities say—but they've recorded their first case of infection apparently happening the other way. Authorities say a pet cat believed to have caught the virus from its owners showed mild symptoms, including shortness of breath...

Voter Form Arrives in Time
—for Cody, a Dead Cat

Jul 12, 2020 1:50 PM CDT

Voter Form Arrives in Time —for Cody, a Dead Cat

'How did this happen? It's not reality,' says owner Carol Tims

(Newser) - An Atlanta family says they received a voter registration form in the mail Wednesday—for their cat, Cody Tims, who died 12 years ago. "A great cat, indoor and outdoor, loved his family, loved his neighborhood. He was 18 and a half when he passed away," Carol Tims...

Study: Women Prefer
Men Without Cats

Jun 22, 2020 3:19 PM CDT

Study: Women Prefer Men Without Cats

'Cat men' seen as 'less masculine,' researchers say

(Newser) - Single men who are hoping to land a girlfriend may want to keep images of their cats out of their dating profile, or so suggests a new study . Colorado State University researchers showed photos of two men—posed with and without a cat—to hundreds of women and found that...

China Pulls a 180
on Its Dog Policy

May 30, 2020 4:45 PM CDT

China Pulls a 180 on Its Dog Policy

Beijing says it's following 'the progress of the times'

(Newser) - Looks like China has a new official dog policy—namely that people can no longer raise and trade them for commercial purposes, People reports. "With the progress of the times, people's civilization ideas and eating habits are constantly changing, and some traditional customs about dogs will also change,...

3 Cats Had the
Virus. Then It Was 6

NEW STUDY

May 14, 2020 8:20 AM CDT

3 Cats Had the Virus. Then It Was 6

Scientists say none of the cats that had COVID-19 in lab experiment ever showed symptoms

(Newser) - Cats can spread the coronavirus to other cats without any of them ever having symptoms, a lab experiment suggests. Scientists who led the work say it shows the need for more research into whether the virus can spread from people to cats to people again. Virus expert Peter Halfmann and...

At This 'Eden' for Animals,
Cops Make Horrifying Find

May 4, 2020 9:30 AM CDT

At This 'Eden' for Animals, Cops Make Horrifying Find

Police find dead dogs, cats in freezer at Ky. no-kill animal shelter

(Newser) - Police seized 90 dogs from a no-kill animal shelter in Kentucky due to its allegedly poor conditions, reports the AP , and charged its owner after dead cats and dogs were found in the facility's freezer. The dogs were taken Saturday because of "poor living conditions" at the Trixie...

US Confirms First Cases
of Coronavirus in Pets

Apr 22, 2020 1:55 PM CDT

US Confirms First Cases of Coronavirus in Pets

2 cats in New York tested positive

(Newser) - Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the US, federal officials said Wednesday. The cats, which had mild respiratory illnesses and are expected to recover, are thought to have contracted the virus from people in...

Experts: Dogs, Cats Can't
Pass Coronavirus to Humans

Mar 5, 2020 12:10 AM CST

Experts: Dogs, Cats Can't Pass Coronavirus to Humans

Hong Kong case is 'likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission'

(Newser) - Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. That's the conclusion of Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department after a dog in quarantine tested weak...

Shelter: We Have
the 'World's Worst Cat'

Jan 25, 2020 3:45 PM CST

Shelter: We Have the 'World's Worst Cat'

Her name is Perdita, and 'she's just a jerk'

(Newser) - The “world's worst cat” is available for adoption—just ask the Mitchell County Animal Rescue organization in North Carolina, the AP reports. The shelter about 55 miles northeast of Asheville is waiving adoption fees in the hope that someone will take the cat named Perdita off their hands....

Spotify for Dogs
Is Now a Thing

Jan 15, 2020 6:29 PM CST

Spotify for Dogs Is Now a Thing

Music streaming service now offers podcasts, custom playlists for dogs, cats, and other pets

(Newser) - The real question is: Will the fish be able to hear it? If you've ever worried that your dog or cat might get lonely while you're at work, Spotify has come up with an official solution, per Reuters : pet-geared playlists and podcasts. After the company's research revealed...

Airport Smuggler Used
a Body Double for a Cat

Nov 13, 2019 12:57 PM CST

Airport Smuggler Used a Body Double for a Cat

And it worked, until cat owner bragged on social media

(Newser) - A Russian cat owner is out hundreds of thousands of air miles—the price for smuggling his fat feline aboard a flight in an elaborate scheme using a body double. Mikhail Galin might have gotten away with the ruse had he not bragged about it after the fact on Facebook,...

All the Cats
Kept Escaping
a Shelter Room.
Here's the Culprit

Nov 13, 2019 10:25 AM CST

All the Cats Kept Escaping a Shelter Room. Here's the Culprit

Rescue cat Quilty just did not take to being locked up

(Newser) - Still feeling the void left by Grumpy Cat ? Meet Quilty, aka Houdini, aka "spicy a-hole," who's been terrorizing a Texas animal shelter. It seems the 6-year-old rescue cat hates being locked up—so much so that he repeatedly freed himself and his feline friends from their...