Venus the Two-Faced Cat a Mystery

Famous feline may have different DNA on each side of her body. 

Source: National Geographic

Venus's face is split evenly into two colors.Photograph courtesy TODAY Show/NBC. 

Venus the two-faced cat is currently the most famous feline on the planet. 

The three-year-old tortoiseshell has her own Facebook page and a YouTube video that's been viewed over a million times, and appeared on the Today Show last week. (Watch National Geographic cat videos.)
One look at this cat and you can understand why: One half is solid black with a green eye—the other half has typical orange tabby stripes and a blue eye.

How does a cat end up looking like that? Leslie Lyons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies the genetics of domestic cats said she's never seen a cat exactly like Venus. "She is extremely, extremely rare," Lyons said. "But you can explain it and you can understand it."
(See "House Cat Origin Traced to Middle Eastern Wildcat Ancestor.")

Is Venus a Chimera? 

Many reports about Venus refer to the cat as a "chimera." In mythology, a chimera is a mishmash monster made up of parts of different animals. A feline chimera is a cat whose cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together. Among cats, "chimeras are really not all that rare," Lyons said. In fact, most male tortoiseshell cats are chimeras. The distinctively mottled orange and black coat is a sign that the cat has an extra X chromosome. But female cats, said Lyons, already have two X chromosomes so they can sport that coat without the extra X. That means Venus is not necessarily a chimera. To find out would require genetic testing, said Lyons. With samples of skin from each side of the cat, "we can do a DNA fingerprint—just like on CSI—and the DNA from one side of the body should be different than the other."
(Also see picture: "Lobster Caught 'Half Cooked' in Maine.")

Cat's Blue Eye Another Mystery 

If Venus isn't actually a chimera, then what would explain her amazing face? "Absolute luck," Lyons said. One theory: perhaps the black coloration was randomly activated in all the cells on one side of her face, while the orange coloration was activated on the other, and the two patches met at the midline of her body as she developed. Cat fanciers who are transfixed by Venus's split face may be missing the real story: her single blue eye. Cat eyes are typically green or yellow, not blue.

A blue-eyed cat is typically a Siamese or else a cat with "a lot of white on them," she explained.
Venus appears to have only a white patch on her chest, which to Lyons is not enough to explain the blue eye.
"She is a bit of a mystery."

Seven cats who made the mews in 2012

Source: Daily Mirror UK
 

Obviously they are in no particular order, because how can you say one cat is better than the other when all cats are amazing?

Stray cat: Shankly walks across the pitch at Anfield

1. THE ANFIELD CAT

LAST February this sweet boy achieved the impossible – he made a game of football interesting for a few minutes. He wandered on to the pitch in the middle of a match and had a little sit down, completely unperturbed by the noise of the crowd, (who started chanting “A cat, a cat, a cat”, because nothing gets past football fans). His courageous protest was brought to an abrupt end when a steward picked him up in a most undignified manner and took him away, without so much as a cuddle.Luckily justice prevailed in the end – the cat became a worldwide internet sensation while the mean old steward was never heard of again. (Well not by me, anyway.)

2. LARRY AND FREYA

The Downing Street cat fight hit the headlines back in October, reportedly with Freya (No. 11) getting the better of Larry (No. 10). They were probably arguing over which of them was most ashamed of their owner, “It’s me”, “No, it’s me”, “NO IT’S DEFINITELY ME” etc etc etc.

3. HANK THE CAT
Five facts about Hank.
1. He ran for a US Senate seat in Virginia this year.
2. He came third.
3. He owns more than one tie.
4. Hank has not ruled out a return to politics.
5. I love Hank.

4. ORVILLE, IT’S NOT WRIGHT
Orville the cat’s life was tragically cut short when he was run over.
His owner Bart Jensen decided that the perfect way to “honour” him was to have him stuffed and turned into a remote control model plane. Funnily enough Bart has received the odd bit of hate mail since he revealed his dead cat-copter to the world in June. His defence is something about how Orville loved birds, and can now fly among them... which obviously makes the whole thing perfectly fine.

5. “CHARLIE CHAPLIN” Every festive season a ­loveable stray looking for a home hits the headlines, so meet Charlie, who has been living in an animal shelter since July.
The staff there reckon she looks like Charlie Chaplin.
I suppose she has a better chance of being adopted if we all just pretend this is true, and accept the hat, rather than saying who she really looks like.
*cough* Kitler *cough*.

6. THE ESSEX LION
The entire orange population of the country was on high alert in August after reports of sightings of literally A LION in Clacton-on-Sea. It was not reem, everyone was well scared but it was well funny ’cos it turned out it was just a cat innit. A cat called Teddy Bear. No you shut up.

7. A STREET CAT NAMED BOB
The tail (!) of how this incredible moggy inspired James Bowen to turn his life around is now a best-selling novel and future Hollywood movie. It’s a lovely story of triumph over adversity, of love, and hope… and best of all there’s a photo of Bob on the cover happily wearing a really cosy little scarf.

Enough already of the week

“What I would like for Christmas this year is a new kitchen for me nan.” Christopher Maloney

Ho ho ho.. oh no!

“It’s a good job I’ve got Father Christmas’s direct number to grass my kids up or they’d never go to sleep.” Simon Gregson

Thrilling celebrity anecdote of the week

“That awkward moment when you realize you JUST took off last Chrismas’ holiday weight and it is indeed now Christmas AGAIN can I get an amen?” Lady Gaga

Mayan-be not

If you’re reading this, it looks like the Mayans were wrong.
I hope they’re not too embarrassed about their mistake though, after all it’s hardly the end of the world.

Internet cat stars scratch the surface for fame

Source: Yahoo! NEWS

  

In this June 2011 photo provided by mugumogu, Scottish fold Maru rests in a cardboard box in Japan. After years of viral YouTube viewing and millions of shares, the cat stars of the Internet are coming into their own in lucrative and altruistic ways. Roly poly Maru, the megastar in Japan with millions of views for nearly 300 videos since 2007, has three books and a calendar, among other swag for sale. (AP Photo/mugumogu)

 

NEW YORK (AP) — They frolic in empty boxes and stick their heads under faucet streams of water. They dance on tippy toes and fly through the air with Pop-Tarts. They play piano wearing little frocks and get tickled to distraction to the delight of millions on YouTube. 

I speak, of course, of the cat stars of the Internet, a place filled with felines and their wacky uploading humans since the dawn of bandwidth. Now, after years of viral viewing, they're coming into their own in lucrative and altruistic ways.

The first Internet Cat Video Film Festival drew a Woodstock-esque crowd of more than 10,000 — people, that is — to a Minneapolis art museum in August. Police closed a span of highway clogged with cars trying to get to the Walker Art Center for the free outdoor slate of 80 videos culled from 10,000 submissions that covered the simple, funny moment to polished animations and works made by trained filmmakers.

"People were spilling out into the streets. It kind of took our breath away. You hit the people that are the cat lovers but you also get people who just like sharing something on the Internet, and it kind of reaches across age groups," said the museum's Scott Stulen, who worked on the festival and helped curate entries.
Corporate kittydom is happy with the higher profile for the cat meme, which actually goes back to the '70s, when swapping VHS tapes was big and the word meme was barely known. It means, by the way, all the crazy, viral themes that spread online faster than you can say nom, nom, nom (cat-vid speak for the sound of a cat eating.)

In addition to the Walker's free night in cat video heaven, Fresh Step litter sponsored Catdance, an evening of felines on screen that coincided with January's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. A fan-voted winner among five scripted finalists — 10 films were commissioned at the launch of the program — will earn $10,000 after online voting ends later this month. 

In November, Friskies gave a lifetime achievement statue to angsty existentialist Henri, le Chat Noir, at the brand's own awards ceremony and donated 250,000 cans of cat food to shelters around the country. Henri, the troubled Tuxedo, won another statue in Minneapolis and will soon begin a collaboration of food-focused videos with Friskies.

Oh, and Henri's putting out his first book in April.

Roly poly Maru, the megastar in Japan with millions of views for nearly 300 videos since 2007, has three books and a calendar, among other swag for sale. The squishy-faced, often blissed-out Scottish fold who loves boxes and bags was used by Uniqlo when the Japanese brand launched its San Francisco store in October. Maru chose boxes, called "Lucky Cubes," stuffed with giveaways for human contest winners.

Not to be outdone, Simon's Cat, a funny feline in a series of line-drawn animated videos out of London, has a book and an online store, as does Henri, who lends his fame and some of his dollars to cat charities.

Even the funny faced Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, coughs up some bucks to animal welfare groups, while captions for her still photos fly around the Internet and she sells T-shirts off her website. She put out some videos after her existence as a living, breathing and not digitally altered feline was questioned, according to her site. 

So why cats?

Cats are fluffy and unpredictable and usually kept behind closed doors, which lends them allure and appeal that other common pets — I'm talking to you, dogs! — don't seem to have when it comes to vapid, funny or deranged video. At least that's what cat fans think.

"Cats are going to do what they want to do and that's one of the reasons that we love them," said David Kargas, a Fresh Step spokesman who worked on Catdance.

These days in the cat video game, acts of charity are expected as much as laughs, said William Braden, the Seattle filmmaker who morphed a pampered family cat named Henry into the French-speaking Henri for a 2006 film school project. Cranking out Henri videos and managing the black-and-white long hair's growing projects are now Braden's full-time job. 

"On the one hand you'd be stupid not to do charity because fans are sensitive," Braden said. "On the other hand, for the love of God, I make a living doing this... . How horrible would I be if I didn't give a little bit of it away?"

The gravy train for cat vid makers is a long one not likely to dead-end any time soon. Consider the ad revenue from YouTube and other social networks and personal websites. But while commercial ads are often included on the sites, so are fans looking to help cats in need.

On the Facebook page of Simon's Cat, for example, people post to find homes for wayward cats. The Facebook page of Oskar the blind cat, who hit it big on YouTube as a kitten when he came home to his older buddy Klaus, raises awareness that disabled cats can make great pets.

Animator Simon Tofield, creator of Simon's Cat, said from London that his first video, "Cat Man Do," changed his life. Inspired by his cat Hugh, one of several he shares his life with, the first video was his attempt to teach himself the computer program Flash. It features the hungry, googly eyed cat character trying to annoy his owner awake, wonking him with a baseball bat at one point. 

The video was put on YouTube four years ago and received millions of views overnight, Tofield said. More than two dozen videos later, Simon's Cat views have exceeded 300 million.

"Before Simon's Cat launched, I was working as a freelance animator, which could be frustrating as you would never know when the next job would come in," Tofield said. "Although I was drawing, which I love, it wasn't as enjoyable as what I'm doing now by drawing and creating my own characters."

Nobody knows the cat meme better than Ben Huh, who with a group of investors bought the I Can Has Cheezburger site in September 2007. The site, now an empire of sites for Huh, allows users to generate captions on cat photos using LOLcat speak, a language with spelling and syntax all its own. 

Huh has none of Braden's guilt about making money off of funny cats on the Internet. He recently starred in his own Bravo reality show, and sees a healthy future ahead as cat memes spread and merge with other content.

"People are mixing and matching and the content can't be put into neat little boxes anymore," said Huh, noting that Grumpy Cat's still photos pop up just about anywhere nowadays. "That's the irony. That has caused the Cat Internet Industrial Complex to continue to grow."

___

Henri, le Chat Noir: http://www.henrilechatnoir.com/

Simon's Cat: http://www.simonscat.com/

Maru Greatest Hits VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDuls5TyNE

Internet Cat Video Festival: http://www.walkerart.org/openfield/programs/internet-cat-video-film-festival/

Catdance: http://www.freshstep.com/promotions/catdance-festival/

___

Cruel beyond belief: The moment a truck crammed with FIVE HUNDRED cats was stopped en route to restaurants in China

Source: Daily Mail UK

Some were crammed into rusty cages so small they could not stand up.
Others were gasping for air in sacks. All were starving, exhausted and just hours from being killed and served up as a delicacy in restaurants. These harrowing photographs were taken after 500 cats were found piled on top of each other in a lorry bound for the slaughterhouse.

Disturbing: When the cats were found some had been struggling to breathe through small holes in burlap sacks 

Caged animals: Many of the 500 cats were crammed together in tiny cages as they made the trip in the back of the truck across China 

Many would have once been pets, stolen off the streets by ‘cat snatchers’. They are taken for slaughter in what animal welfare campaigners describe as ‘hideous conditions’, often without food or water. These cats were saved by chance when police pulled the vehicle over for a routine check in the city of Xuzhou, eastern China, after noticing it had out-of-town licence plates.

 

They asked the driver what was being transported after hearing muffled whimpers from under the tarpaulin covering the cargo, ‘He said it was a full load of rabbit, but after we instructed him to uncover the load we were shocked to find a full load of living cats,’ said officer Sun Hai. 

Intercepted: The felines were rescued thanks to routine vehicle checks, before they were sold as food 

Helping hand: Volunteers rushed to give the cats water, before they were transferred to an animal centre for treatment 

The lorry driver had not broken any laws, as in China it is not illegal to eat cat meat, nor to sell the animals for slaughter, But the police contacted animal lovers in the city who negotiated for three hours with the driver, before eventually managing to buy the cats for 3,500 Yuan (£350). 

Horrifying: Some of the cats had been stuffed into bags with barely enough room to breathe

The rescuers gave the cats food, water and medical attention and took them away to safety. Eating cat meat dates back thousands of years in China, and despite a fledgling animal rights movement it continues to be considered a delicacy in some areas.

One Cantonese dish, called ‘tiger and dragon locked in battle’, is a hot pot of cat and snake meat. The appetite for the dish has already made cats scarce and costly in the southern region of Guangdong, where restaurants have had to look elsewhere for a steady supply. This means the animals are often transported long distances from other areas. Animal welfare groups say many do not survive the journey and are dead before they reach their destination. 

Yesterday Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: ‘There are horrendous practices in China and their animal welfare system is abysmal.‘It is a hugely rich country and they really need to take themselves out of the dark ages and into a more humane way of treating and transporting animals.’ 

Lucky escape: Fortunately the haul of cats are now being cared for at an animal centre 

David Neale, animal welfare director for Animals Asia, said: ‘They are transported in hideous conditions, often with no food or water, to their death. It’s appalling, absolutely horrific. ‘These are animals which in much of the world are pets and they are suffering terribly.’Draft animal protection laws were presented to the Chinese government last year but no legislation has yet been passed.

Cats in the Sea Services 

Source: U.S. Naval Institute

 

Sailors and cats have a special relationship that dates back thousands of years. It is likely that the ancient Egyptians were the first seafarers to realize the true value of having cats as shipmates. In addition to offering sailors much needed companionship on long voyages, cats provided protection by ridding ships of vermin. Without the presence of cats, a crew might find their ship overrun with rats and mice that would eat into the provisions, chew through ropes and spread disease. The more superstitious sailors believed that cats protected them by bringing good luck. It was also common for crews to adopt cats from the foreign lands they visited to serve as souvenirs as well as reminders of their pets at home.

 

  

Apprentices aboard the USS Pensacola pose with mascot cat and dogs in February 1888. The Pensacola was a screw steamer that participated in Admiral David Farragut's capture of New Orleans in 1862.

Crew of the USS Nahant with their two cats, ca 1898. The Nahant was an ironclad monitor that joined the fleet of Rear Admiral Samual Francis du Pont (for whom Washington, DC's Dupont Circle in named) in the attack on Charleston Harbor in 1863.

Crewmen on the deck of the USS Olympia using a mirror to play with their cats in 1898. The Olympia served as Admiral George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila during the Spanish American War. The Olympia currently is docked in Philadelphia and is the world's oldest floating steel warship, but is in desperate need of restoration

Crewman of the USS Texas pose with mascot dog and cat on the muzzle of one of the ship's 12"/35 guns, ca 1900. Built in 1892, The Texas was the first U.S. battleship and gained a reputation for being jinxed because of a series of accidents. The crew probably hoped the cat and dog would change the ship's luck.

"You may fire when ready, Muffin." Two cats pose in the breech of a 4" caliber naval gun of an unidentified ship prior to World War One.

"I'll be in my bunk." The cats of the USS Mississippi climb ladders to enter their hammock, ca 1925. The Mississippi was involved in several fierce battles in the Pacific during World War Two and was hit by kamikazes twice. It survived to be among the ships in Tokyo Bay that witnessed Japan's surrender.

"Do not want!" USS Flusser cat 'Wockle' on the capstan in Venice, Italy, 1924-25.

"Waiting instructions in the briefing room, pilots on a US Navy aircraft carrier relax by playing with the ship's mascot. Shortly after this picture was taken they were flying far above the Atlantic on a battle-mission." Probably the USS Ranger, July 1944

"Why don't you leave me alone so I can get some shut eye?" New mascot 'Saipan' of the USS New Mexico tries to get comfortable. The New Mexico provided support during the U.S. Marine invasion of Saipan in 1944, so it it likely the cat was rescued after the battle.

"After the smoke of battle had cleared on Betio Island, Tarawa, this tiny kitten crept out from beneath a wrecked Japanese tank, to receive a drink from a U.S. Marine." Tawara Invasion, November 1943

"Here is 'Bilgewater', the mascot of the Coast Guard Academy, circa 1944. He's modeling the new wartime grey cadet uniform."

"War Veteran - 'Pooli', who rates three service ribbons and four battle stars, shows she can still get into her old uniform as she prepares to celebrate her 15th birthday. The cat served aboard an attack transport during World War II." Los Angeles, 1959

"I demand your terms of surrender!" French sailors play with a cat as they wait to take over six LSSLs (Landing Ship Support, Light) being given to France by the US Navy under the defense aid pact. Seattle, 1950

"Accepting her fate as an orphan of war, 'Miss Hap' a two-week old Korean kitten chows down on canned milk, piped to her by medicine dropper with the help of Marine Sergeant Frank Praytor ... The Marine adopted the kitten after its mother was killed by a mortar barrage near Bunker Hill. The name, Miss Hap, Sergeant Praytor explained, was given to the kitten 'because she was born at the wrong place at the wrong time'." Korea, ca 1953

Cats and Humans Suffer from Similar Forms of Epilepsy

Source:  Science Daily

Feb. 1, 2013 — There is something sinister about epilepsy: the disease affects the very core of our being, our brain. Epileptic attacks can lead to seizures throughout the body or in parts of it. Clouding of consciousness or memory lapses are also possible. The causes are still only partially understood but in some cases brain tumours, infections, inflammations of the brain or metabolic diseases have been implicated.

Epilepsy is not confined to humans and many animals also suffer from it. Together with partners in Oxford and Budapest, Akos Pakozdy and his colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have managed to identify the cause of a certain form of epilepsy in cats, in which the body's own immune system attacks particular proteins in the cell membranes of nerve cells. The symptoms include twitching facial muscles, a fixed stare, chewing motions and heavy dribbling. Based on their clinical experience, the researchers believe that this form of epilepsy is fairly widespread in cats. Interestingly, a highly similar type of epilepsy occurs in humans: an inflammation in the brain, known as limbic encephalitis, leads to epileptic seizures that generally manifest themselves in the arm and the facial muscles on only one side of the body.

Pakozdy and his colleagues have found antibodies in the blood of epileptic cats that react to proteins in the cell membranes of nerve cells. The proteins form the building blocks of ion channels that are involved in the production of nerve signals. The same ion channels are affected in the corresponding human form of epilepsy. They control the membrane's permeability to potassium ions based on the electric potential across the membrane, thereby helping generate the rapid nerve signals of the so-called action potential.

Immunotherapy for cats?

If the immune system attacks components of these ion channels, the production of nerve signals is disrupted. There is an increased release of neurotransmitters, which leads directly to the symptoms of epilepsy. Previous work -- in another group -- on human patients has shown that normal anti-epilepsy medication has hardly any effect on this form of epilepsy. However, immunotherapy has proven to be relatively effective. Pakozdy's work now shows that "limbic encephalitis in cats has the same cause as it does in humans, where the origins have been known for years. It is important that cats with epilepsy are diagnosed early, so that the correct form of therapy can be started. We believe this will dramatically increase the chances of a successful treatment. It seems as though epileptic cats might benefit from treatment with immune preparations."

World's longest cat dies in Nevada 

Source: CBS News

In this file photo taken July 1, 2009, Robin Hendrickson stretches out her Maine Coon cat Stewie outside of her home in Reno, Nev. / Andy Barron,AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal

RENO, Nev. Stewie the Cat, the longest domestic cat in the world at more than 4 feet long from nose to tail, has died.

Stewie was surrounded by family when he succumbed to a yearlong battle with cancer Monday evening at his Reno home, owner Robin Hendrickson said Tuesday. He was 8.
Guinness World Records declared Stewie the record-holder in August 2010, measuring 48.5 inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.

• Nevada Feline Crowned World's Longest Cat

Hundreds of fans flooded Stewie's Facebook site with memories and condolences Tuesday. The Maine Coon cat was a certified therapy animal that frequently visited a Reno senior center and helped promote animal welfare awareness with the Nevada Humane Society. "Stewie was always very social and loved meeting new people," Hendrickson said. "He has touched many lives, and for that I am grateful."
Stewie's full name was Mymains Stewart Gilligan. Hendrickson bought him from a breeder in Hermiston, Oregon, in 2005. Last month, he attended the International Cat Show in Portland, Oregon. "He did really well at the show, even though he wasn't feeling totally perfect," said Stewie's breeder, Valerie Horton, who also serves as the show's entry clerk. "He loved being there because he loved the public. He always did."
Horton said Maine Coons are the largest domestic breed of cats. She's been raising them since 1980.
"It's the luck of the draw," Horton said. "We mostly breed for type and temperament, and then hope for the size. Stewie's father came from some very large cats."

Guinness World Records officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about a successor to Stewie's record. The previous record-holder, Leo, a 48-inch-long Maine Coon owned by Frieda Ireland of Chicago, died several years ago. Stewie was diagnosed in early 2012 with Lymphosarcoma, a malignant disease of the lymphoid tissues. He responded successfully to chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free, but the remission period was brief, and a vet recently found another, more aggressive tumor on his kidneys, Hendrickson said. "I knew that although we could fight it, the end was near and so I wanted to simply make him comfortable and let him enjoy the time he did have," she said.

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