E Pluribus Unum

The most addictive -- and surprisingly simple -- game in a long time: Chat Noir (Black Cat).

Mark Frauenfelder:

The object of this simple game is to click on the light colored dots to create a barrier that prevents the kitty from getting away. Each time you click on a dot, the kitty gets to move from one dot to another.

Sounds easy -- until you try it. Then you'll be shocked at how much time has elapsed since you sat down to begin playing it...again and again and again and again....

Boing Boing commenter:

The Flash version is OK, but the real-life version (marketed in the U.S. as "Get Your Kitty Into the Carrier to Take Him To The Vet For His Weekly Glucose Reading") is much, much more challenging, and the graphics are better.

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Categories: Friday Cat Blogging

Wednesday morning, Itchy nailed another squirrel. This surprised me because I thought he (Itchy) had lost a step or two because of his, ahem, extra weight. Not so, apparently -- he still has his mojo workin.

I snatched this latest squirrel away from him before he could chew off the head and bring the remains inside (which he usually tucks under our bed for later snacking).

I've lost count over the years -- he's caught at least four squirrels that I can remember. Who knows how many he got that he left outside?

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Categories: Friday Cat Blogging

This happens to me every morning at 4:15 am.

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It was about 2 am and I was finally going to turn in. I went over to turn out the lamp in the den and here's what I saw. Wish I could sleep that soundly.

P.S. Someone said he looked like Garfield.

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After all, what's a black cat for?

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Shmuley and his calligraphic tail.

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Hey look! We've got a new kitty in the house and his name is Shmuley. He's nine weeks old. When he meows, he sounds like a squeak toy.

Itchy has, ahem, "mixed feelings" about him. Translation: we keep them separated right now because Itchy could, if he wanted, eat Shmuley in one bite. Or, at least, roll over on top of him and squash him.

Update: Yesterday, we happened to find them on opposite sides of the patio door glass and it was pretty fascinating watching the ballet between them (below, click on any of the thumbnails to get a close-up).

Since then, we've put them together in the same room and things have been OK. Itchy growls a lot and Shmuley ...moves ...around ...in ...slow ...motion, head down, sniffing the ground in front of him.

He follows Itchy everywhere he goes -- after all, other than his mother, Itchy is the only adult cat he's ever seen. This probably annoys Itchy. Or maybe it freaks him out -- after all, Shmuley looks exactly like Itchy's dead brother, Scratchy.

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Categories: Friday Cat Blogging

Robert Evans, Reuters:

Scientists have identified a leopard found on the South-East Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra as a new species of great cat...

Genetic and skin tests on the creature, now dubbed the Bornean clouded leopard, or Neofelis diardi, have shown that it is almost as different from clouded leopards found on the Asian mainland as lions are from tigers...

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...because he likes drinking out of the tub.

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Itchy is a deadly hunter, helped in no small part by his natural coloring. It gives him superior camouflage in this environment.

Now if we could just stop him from bringing those headless squirrels into the house through the cat door...

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All Hail King Itchy-mois!

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Not my cat, but I wish she was:

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