Yoda the 4-Eared Cat

Once in awhile, I come across pictures of mutated animals that make me go, "WTF?" The miniature horse is fine, the piglet with monkey face is not. This cat, Yoda is not too bad!

Meet Yoda, the four-eared cat. Isn't he cute? He has been adopted by Valerie and Ted Rock of Chicago, Illinois, who found him in a bar being made fun of a group of drinkers.

Yoda has become an international animal celebrity, appearing in talk shows and print media. He is said to be completely normal except for the ears. Eerie!

Source: That's Weird

The Black Cat ~ Superstition Busted!

The Chinese believe that black cats bring bad luck. As far as I know, if a black cat crosses your path, you're not supposed to pass that route and if you are forced to, you need to spit, to ward off the curse. How true that is, I don't know. I'm not going to experiment =)

In the 1800s, cats in Washington, D.C., helped control a serious rat problem—even inside the U.S. Capitol. But one cat may have done more than hunt rats. Some say its spirit haunts the Capitol's corridors.

Legend has it that before national disasters occur, "DC" emerges from the shadows, its creepy eyes glowing. People have reported seeing the cat before the stock market crash of 1929, which sparked the Great Depression, and also before the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"Some members of the nighttime protection service shudder at the thought of encountering DC," wrote John Alexander in the book Ghosts: Washington Revisited.

Read the full story HERE.

An Eye on You

It's common to read of animal-human relationship, but this one is an animal being a hero to another, and of different species too. We used to read about why dogs hate cats so much, but not in this case.

Read on....

"Cashew, my 14-year-old yellow Lab, is blind and deaf. Her best friend is Libby, 7, her seeing-eye cat. Libby steers Cashew away from obstacles and leads her to her food. Every night she sleeps next to her. The only time they're apart is when we take Cashew out for a walk. Without this cat, we know Cashew would be lost and very, very lonely indeed. It's amazing but true: This is one animal who knows what needs to be done and does it day in and day out for her friend."

- Submitted by Terry Burns, Middleburg, Pennsylvania

This story and more HERE.

Samantha, the Hero Cat

Samantha and her turtle friend, Shelly

Many Chinese people do not like keeping cats because it's said that cats are not close to people, they just come around when they are hungry, and then they do their own stuff, unlike dogs who are really close to their owners.

From the following account, we can see that cats know how to come to the rescue of its owner too. They are not that bad, after all :-)

Written by Ms. Tia Jenkins

I suffer from depression and I have a medical condition that has left me with no side vision. This means I can only see the big "E" at the top of the eye chart. I also have seizures. They are complicated by the fact that if I were to hit my head, it would be fatal, because I've had four brain surgeries.

I was living in a studio apartment when one of my neighbors brought me this black cat he had, named Samantha. He told me that if I did not take her, he was going to feed her to a pit bull dog. He was angry, because Samantha had bitten him. I couldn't let him do such a cruel thing to the cat. So I agreed to take Samantha and find a new home for her. At that time I was pending Social Security insurance, so I did not have any money to take care of a cat. My boyfriend, Jason, said that he would buy anything I needed, if I wanted her. I said I would think about it.

I decided to keep Samantha for myself when I noticed that she brought me out of my depressed moods. She would make me laugh by playing fetch with me. I started to train her to bring items that I could not find due to my loss of sight and other disabilities. I trained her to alert me to people and dangers. Samantha also learned how to get help for me, if I went into a seizure.

Jason and I moved into a two-bedroom apartment. It had a faulty stove that the landlord kept putting off fixing. On January 20, 2004, I was at the computer in the living room. Jason called home from work and said he could hear a clicking sound.

I went into the kitchen and checked for the noise, but nothing was on. I went back to the kitchen about five minutes later. That's when I heard Samantha, standing at the kitchen door, making the sickest sounding meow.

With what little sight I have, I saw a reflection of flames on the kitchen wall. A fire on the stove had caused the George Forman Grill to burst into flames.

I reached down the side of the wall and hit the fire with the fire extinguisher. At that point I could not see anything. I didn't know that smoke was going up the stove hood. And now it was filling the apartment fast.

I dialed 911 and told them I had a fire. I was confused about how to get out. All I knew was that I wouldn't leave without Samantha or Shelly (my turtle, and Samantha's friend). Then I heard Samantha over against the other wall. I managed to get to the pet taxi by following the sound Samantha was making. But she was not there!!

Then I heard Samantha clawing at the aquarium's glass. This is where her friend, Shelly, lived. Again, following the sounds Samantha made, I crawled over, lifted the top off the aquarium, and put Shelly in my purse. Now that I knew about the fire, her turtle friend was safe, and I had called for help, Samantha opened the door to her pet taxi. She got inside, ready for me to rush her, Shelly, and myself out of there.

Just as the fire department arrived, I locked Samantha into the pet taxi, grabbed my purse with Shelly in it, and ran from the apartment.

Later, the firefighters told me that by the time the smoke detector sounded, the whole kitchen would have gone up in flames. If it had not been for Samantha's warning and bravery, none of us would be here today.

Ever since Samantha saved my life, I have tried to get my state to recognize her as a service animal. On August 4, 2004, The Epilepsy Foundation of Kentucky paid and sent for Service Animal Registry of America (SARA) and Therapeutic Animal certification for Samantha. This means no one can ever take my angel kitty from me. Samantha will have the protection under the law that she deserves.

There is not a day that goes by that Samantha is not helping me with my disabilities. Shelly and I both love and are ever grateful to this little angel kitty.

Bio: Tia Jenkins is a disabled twenty-seven-year old woman who lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Source: HERE

Why Dogs Chase Cats

This is only one of the many versions of why dogs always chase cats.

Once long ago, Dog was married to Cat. They were happy together, but every night when Dog came home from work, Cat said she was too sick to make him dinner. Dog was patient with this talk for a while, but he soon got mighty tired of fixing dinner for them both after a hard day's work. After all, Cat just stayed home all day long.

One day, Dog told Cat he was going to work, but instead he hid in the cupboard and watched Cat to see if she really was sick. As soon as Cat thought Dog had left, she started playing games with Kitten. They laughed and ran about. Cat wasn't the least bit sick.

Dog jumped out of the cupboard. When Cat saw him, she stuck a marble in her cheek and told Dog she had a toothache. Dog got so mad at her he started chasing her around and around the house.

Dogs have been chasing Cats ever since.

This story was retold by S. E. Schlosser. You can read more of such folktales at Spooky South.