Urban manners

basic fact about human beings: the farther apart they live, the more pleasant their relations are. The flip side: the closer together, the m...

Paws together = I’m scared

A truly frightened cat will not only hiss and arch his back, he will literally gather all four feet together under his body, as if his back ...

Not glad to meet

unneutered toms can be hostile in a very noisy way. Normally the two approach each other with tails moving slowly from side to side, all ...

Go for the gut

Cats use their hind claws to scratch themselves, but those long hind claws serve a defensive purpose as well. A cat under serious attack by ...

Scavenger buffet

food inside, and while he might have been someone’s pet, he was most likely a feral cat dining at one of his favorite feeding sites. Huma...

A semi-dead token of affection

The author has had half-dead lizards dropped in his lap or at his feet, and countless cat owners get presented with similar “gifts”—dead or ...

The cat-chicken truce

Siamese tomcat had no qualms about killing and eating baby chicks. And why not, since cats like to prey on birds, and what easier prey th...