Prince Chunk Finds New Castle

The fat cat that was found homeless and roaming the streets of New Jersey the same week that the dog abuse at Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County, California hit the news and drew more than a few chuckles and oohing and ahhings has finally found a new foster home.

Photo credit: A Schell / Courier Post

This cat, named Powder, and dubbed Princess Chunk when he was first discovered, nicknamed because of his size, weighs approximately 44 pounds! Despite its weight, Powder has been given a clean bill of health.

Powder’s owner lost her home to foreclosure two weeks ago and just let the cat out as she could no longer afford to keep him. Isn’t she highly irresponsible?

Photo credit: Warga/News

Following a whirlwind media tour, including a TV appearance on” Live with Regis & Kelly”, there were five hundred people, some from outside the United States, who wanted to adopt Powder but the Camden County Animal Shelter, who is responsible for Powder for the time being, has selected a couple with a teenage child to adopt him because they have prior experience with cats. The adoptive father is meanwhile building a little cat castle and will collect him next week.

What is sad is that while five hundred people offered to adopt Prince Chunk, almost none of them wanted to adopt any of the other abandoned cats at the Camden County Animal Shelter. It's as if most of them are only seeking publicity. I figure that if you could open your home to Powder, you could open your home to any other cat. Camden County Animal Shelter reported that they euthanized a thousand cats last year, a third of the cats in the Shelter.

For the full report, click HERE.

Dead Cat Becomes Black Diamond Ring

As you know, I run a Weird & Interesting news story blog as well. When I came across this weird news article about ten days ago, I was in two minds if I should republish this interesting animal story on this blog or on the Weird stories blog. Looks like in the end, I decided to post it here because it involves an animal, a car, in particular.

I copied the entire weird news article here because I know that with news sites, once news articles are archives, the old links will be broken. So here it is. I wished they have a photo of the cat as well....

ILFRACOMBE, England, May 19 (UPI) -- A British woman said she turned her beloved, recently deceased cat into a one-third-of-a-carat black diamond ring with the help of a U.S. firm.

Sue Rogers, 45, said she was so distraught over the death of her 11-year-old cat, Sooty, that normal avenues of memorial didn't seem special enough for her beloved pet, The Telegraph reported Monday.

Scientists with Chicago's LifeGem said they created the diamond by extracting 2 grams of carbon from 100 grams of the cat's ashes. They placed the carbon in a diamond press, where it was submitted to more than 1 million pounds of pressure and temperatures reaching 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rogers told The Telegraph the black diamond, thought to be the only such jewel in the world made from animal ashes, was cut, polished and set in a gold band. She said the item cost her more than $4,000.

"I asked the company if they did black diamonds and they said they had never done one before. But thankfully they were able to and now Sooty is a black diamond," Rogers said to the newspaper. "They use ashes, but not all of them, so it is still possible to scatter some ashes in the traditional way as well."

Source: United Press International

CutyBoy, a Cat Like No Other

Have you heard of CutyBoy, the Persian cat who lives in Dubai?

CutyBoy is no ordinary cat. He can count, do Math better than I, and understand eight languages. He has been tested by experts and all have acknowledged his intelligence.

CutyBoy has also been featured in many websites and magazines on cats and animals.

Visit CutyBoy's Palace and drop him a line.

Cat Thwarts a Cat Burgler

I was up late (1:00 a.m.) and decided to cover my geraniums, since a hard frost was predicted for that night.

When I came in, I didn't lock the door (big mistake). A few minutes later I thought I maybe heard something outside, but didn't think much of it.

Frankie Joe, my cat, came running over to me, and looked up at me. He was running in place as he nervously looked back and forth between me and the back storm door.

"What is it Frankie Joe? What's wrong?" I asked him. I ran to look out the back door. When I got there, a man with a stocking cap pulled down low was right at my back step. Once he saw me, he took off running. There is no doubt in my mind that given a minute more, that man would have entered my home. Frankie Joe saved my life and ever since that day, his official name became Frankie Joe, the Hero Cat.

-- Submitted by Sandi Arnold, Normal, Illinois

Source: 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