who's a big boy? ok you're huge!

Today im tipping my hat to the wonderful creation of the Liger. For those of you who havent heard this term this is the off spring from a male lion and a female tigress. Pretty cool, but what's so special about it? Well in lions it is the male that carries the growth gene and the female in the case of tigers, so when you mix these two together the end result is a giant!

There's no hiding from Hercules as his owner takes him for a stroll....

Although this is super cool, in the wild this is very unlikely. a male lion meeting a bunch of female tigers.. sounds like a cat fight. Also being so big wouldn't be a great advantage in the wild. The amount the Liger needs to consume to survive is ALOT and being so large would probably make hunting/stalking harder. So as you can imagine this  has only been recorded in captivity, sometimes an accident!

A tiger on the left compared to the Liger on the right

It's not so surprising really, we cross breed dogs all the time. Horses crossed with donkeys make mules, you also might of heard the story about grizzly bears and polar bears making pizzlies!  They even think we may even be a result of cross breeding! But of all the hybrids i think the Liger is the coolest, mainly because of its sheer size and cuddly 'looking' face.

This is Hercules, a 64 stone Liger with his little brother.

There are thought to be around 20 Ligers and Tigons around the world altogether. Heres how you know what to call it:

Lion + liger = li-liger
Lion + tigon = li-tigon
Tiger + liger = ti-liger
Tiger + tigon = ti-tigon

Other Kitty hybrids:

Leopard x lion= Leopon

Bengal Cat x Ocicat = Cheetoh

African serval x Asian Leopard cat x domestic house cat = Ashera

serval x domestic cat = savannah

Bengal cat x tabby cat = Toyger

(A result of cross breeding its not a real hybrid but still, super cute!)

here my sources and some great links to check this out further:

http://ligerliger.com/ this is the homepage for the park where Hercules comes from, a great website and foundation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger good old wikipedia for those straight forward facts!

cats in the hall of fame

Hey guys going to start doing this regularly to honour those kitties that make this world a little cuter.

Today i gice you "Casper the commuting cat" a cute little cat from plymouth who was crazy for bus rides! He was adopted by his human who had no idea of his habits! Eventually the bus drivers found out he was sneaking on without a ticket but they continued to give him free rides for the rest of his life. Ofcourse casper became a local celebrity and a lot of humans got to enjoy his company. Unfortunatley Casper passed away at the age of 12 but his memory lives on on the busways of plymouth. 

Fan art

more fan art. loving this one!!

I Cant stop killing...

Im a cat, have urges and needs, instinct and guts. I was born to hunt, catch, bite and scratch. No matter how much poor mummy tries to stop me from killing those beloved wood pigeons, I just can't help myself. Think a bell will stop me, no can do. They are mine, so far i've killed 5 in my first week of successfully bringing home dinner for mamma.

 

 Even though i look damned evil, i'm not. Cat's go blind if they eat a vegetarian diet so it is just natural to have a killers attitude.

please take away any kills your pet makes. It is a very easy way for them to pick up worms, bad bacteria and heart worm. also fleas and other parasites can transfer onto your kitty pretty quickly. 

Me and The neighbour's cat play fighting. It's just play but we do test the territory bounderies as there are so many cat's round here. this was all shot in about 15 minutes. SO CUTE >.<

Portrait

What a wonderful privilege to have an artist do a portrait of you. Thank you to Cisco Jones the artist.

Cats heavyweight lifting experiment, must watch!

Kitty Cats taking their lunch with them:

This video is in Japanese but they show the weights in English and is very easy to follow,

but i do suggest muting it >.<

Aren't they such lovely cat's? All animal experiments should only include giving us nice treats. Just so you know, it goes without saying, i'm against any experiment that causes an animal any kind of stress. This however is my idea of science!!  

Tasty big fish, some of them i don't recognize at all! Are you surprised how strong us cat's are?  

The Cat's Mystic third eye..

No, we aren't mystic moggies really. but us cat's, well actually pretty much any other mammal or bird other than monkeys and human's have a third eyelid. 

Imagine where the normal two sets of eyelids like your own meet vertically, on the inside of these cats have another eye lid that closes horizontally. its a bit of cartilage called the nictitating membrane...eww.

Here you can see the white membranes of the third eye 

creeping in

The purpose of this eyelid is not yet fully understood, it keeps the eye nice and clean with a tear substance that helps clean away dust and bacteria. It's thought that maybe its because cats descend from the African wild cat which is a desert creature, a third eyelid would be really useful with all the sand in a storm. 

Once in awhile you may catch a glimpse of our third eyes its an oddity and irregularity cannot be comprehended by humans, its why the Egyptians thought we had a third eye and that we could see things that humans can't. Maybe i can but that's a secret.

If your kitties third eye has stuck around its very important that you rush them down the vets, its a strong indication that they might be really ill. Do not ignore this it may be fatal and the vet will know what we need to get better. 

So why don't humans or primates have them? I don't know but that fleshy lump in the corner of your eyes, that's where yours used to be! So I guess you just don't need them anymore, not like me who's always in the tall grass, its good to have my eyes protected!

Hair Hair... Everywhere!!!

Man i'm hairy and this is what spring brings..

There's hair on the carpet, hair on the curtains, hair on my owners clothes and every time they stroke me... more hair!! But phew, i'm glad to be rid of this thick coat. Very important to brush or 'groom' your kitties to help us out with this.

A great tip that my owners use is a bowl of water, wet the palm of your hand and rub it against the surface your trying to clean, surprisingly efficient. Brushing your kitty outside stops a lot of the build up in our environments too.

This has all led me to think about how when its summer you miss those cosy cold nights of winter, but when its winter you long for those long summer days... like today i was sooo hot! seeking refuge in the big shadows i thought about the snow we had this year, it wasn't long ago.. i like snow.. and here's a pic

I love you or I own you?

Why kitties do it?

Humans are always confusing each other with their body language but what does it mean when its your kitty? I was just thinking about when you get home from work and your cat is oh so excited to see you, he's purring and stroking up your leg in an affectionate way...

But is this just the cat showing you they own you?!

Like most mammals cat's have scent glands: on their heads and lips, front paws and flanks, also on the rears. Now these glands are sweating out a potent mix of chemicals that another cat would be able to read up on when he was there, fertility status, what mood he was in and what direction he was travelling. 

All scents are unique so this helps your kitty feel safe in his environment knowing its just him there, now its all been marked as his. So really, when he's rubbing all over you and you think its cute he is really saying 'your mine, all mine!' which is kinda cute anyway.

Although if you have two cats you may sometimes (rarely) see them rubbing faces or almost head butting, this is called bunting. Even though cats are mainly solitary, when two cats feel deeply content around each others presence they show this by rubbing there facial scent glands together to make a cocktail of the two. this is to create a group scent and is a way for kitties to show there trust to each other and to create a mutual territory. Ever had your kitty rub their face all over yours?

 Even though these acts are strictly territorial, i think that there is a way us kitties purr and rub up against you, that there is some kind of affection intended.

 After all, love is when you belong to each other right?

Here's to water..

Do you know why the cat's loved Egypt...? because there is no water there. well there is but most of its in the Nile. Anyhow you know how sunny it was in England today, well it wasn't where we were per example:

View from the Dam

We went to the Avon Dam in Devon and i think its actually a bit of a hidden gem, didn't see a single dog and it was totally deserted. Head down there if your local for a free and rewarding walkies. 

http://www.swlakestrust.org.uk/lakes-and-facilities/the-lakes/avon 

Erm..wading through rivers.. I dont think so, carry me!

I hear there is one more day and we are going home...

Poisenous Plants in your back garden

After roaming around the wilderness I thought id look up some plants, you would be so suprised how many common plants are bad for kitties. here a just a few really common one which are also poisenous to horses and dogs. If your a pet owner and looking to do some gardening this spring maybe you'll avoid these:

English Ivy: Vomiting, abdominal pain, hypersalivation, diarrhea. Foliage is more toxic than berries 

Horse Chesnut or conker tree: Severe vomiting and diarrhea, depression or excitement, dilated pupils, coma, convulsions, wobbly 

The cherry Tree: Stems, leaves, seeds contain cyanide, particularly toxic in the process of wilting: brick red mucous membranes, dilated pupils, difficulty breathing, panting, shock. 

Daffodils: Vomiting, salvation, diarrhea; large ingestions cause convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. Bulbs are the most poisonous part.  

Hyacinth : Vomiting, diarrhea, dermatitis and allergic reactions. Bulbs contain highest amount of toxin. 

ALL Lillies: only applies to cat's it's highly toxic and causes kidney failure, not even a good idea to have them in your house as flowers as they transfer there pollen very easily! 

And there's a lot more than just these.... and now i'm scared :( meow.

The White Lady

I say, it's lucky i am a cat and can sleep at all times as my owners had me up at 6am this morning. Not sure i like the hotel, it's clean and tidy but when you are paying for luxury, don't you think that if they are going to give you 6 different sachets for hot drinks then surely only putting out 2 milks would never be enough. Being rationed on the milk now, can you believe this is the world we live in.
Anyway the reason we woke up so early is because we went to see a waterfall...why???
We all should know I wouldn't be the fondest of water and when it's falling down from a couple of hundred meters at some silly it doesn't excite me too much. So i didn't get too close, but i guess its something new. The waterfall was called The White Lady and unfortunately i refused to stand still for a photograph. :)

Hopefully there is much more to see!

6 whole hours!

And this is how much i like cars....

How far is Devon away from my territory? Only about 6 hours in light traffic!!
Are they serious?!? I was a very good boy though; i must say, sat on their laps as they drove, i slept and slept .Best of all no accidents, very smug.Then i got bored and was hungry and stole some fast food burger from them.. hungry humans? Other than my love for cheese, i haven't seen much at all other than the inside of that car. At least i didn't have to go in the travel case that just gives me the creeps.

I have noticed the air is cleaner here though, you wouldn't be able to tell, but i'm a cat and i notice these things.

Not met up with any local cats yet, although iv spotted lots of stupid dogs. looking forward to actually travelling by foot and exploring. Cars make me sick and i hope we don't go back for a while as i'm not looking forward to the journey home!!



This is me being carried in to the hotel, sleepy and moody :)

Strike a pose!

I am the man of your dreams :)

Tomorrow is another day..

I cant believe it i'm so excited, i was just told we are going to Devon tomorrow!! I really cannot wait its brilliant, i wonder what birds they have there? i'm doing some research now on my laptop, very nice isn't it and the big keys are perfect for my paws.

Spring has Sprung!

A windy but lovely day to wander about the unknown. I adore the big daffodils showing themselves off so proudly. Make my nose go funny though.

Still thinking about my mum...

Mothers day...

Oh, so I learnt about an odd tradition today; humans and meeting their birth mothers once a year and i also learnt the child doesn't enjoy it very much. This is actually my first mothers day, I didn't get either of my mothers a present, feline nor human, but i would have caught something tasty for them or made them a macaroni pen holder had i known. Now i do and i'll make sure i remember next year...but i'm not sure i can find my real mother, she's probably stalking some farm in that little village in the middle of nowhere. It Suits her to roam the high grass through the fens, like a tiger. Stealing territory from any tom cat. I may try and find her. In the meantime in memory to her is a picture of some big carp i saw, very tasty. She'd like that, she the cats mother.