VIDEO: Toilet training your cat

I found this video report on the Wall Street Journal website about training cats to use the toilet.

Reporter Anne Marie Chaker describes the trial and tribulations of getting her kitty Mr Tibb's to 'go toilet'.

I can see why some people would want to toilet train their cat, if they are house cats and live in a flat or apartment, but I think Charlie would have none of it. He has excellent toilet habits.

When I first got him he knew exactly what to do over a litter tray. Now he's usually out all day, so he does his business while he's out and about on the prowl.

I do keep a litter tray on my bedroom though, just in case he needs to use it in the middle of the night, but the litter is still fresh - he hasn't used it once.

In fact, when he does need the toilet he wakes me up to be let out. I try to place him in the litter tray and he will just get out, shaking his feet and looking rather bewildered. I suppose when nature calls he wants to do it outside!

Cat food to fight plague of cane toads in Australia

Australia's poisonous plague of cane toads may finally have met its match - and it comes in a tin of cat food.

After years spent trying to batter, gas, run over and even freeze the toxic toads out of existence, scientists say just a dollop of Whiskas could stop the warty horde.

The cat food attracts Australia's carnivorous meat ants, which swarm over and munch on baby toads killing 70% of them.

University of Sydney professor Rick Shine told ABC: "It's not exactly rocket science. We went out and put out a little bit of cat food right beside the area where the baby toads were coming out of the ponds.

"The ants rapidly discovered the cat food and thought it tasted great.

"The worker ants then leave trails back to the nest encouraging other ants to come out there and forage in that area, and within a very short period of time we got lots of ants in the same area as the toads are."

Australia is beset by millions of cane toads after they were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 to control scarab beetles. The toads, which are prolific maters, eat anything and are incredibly tough, secrete poison that kills pets and wildlife and injure humans, prompting several unsuccessful campaigns to wipe them out.

"Even the ones that don't die immediately, die within a day or so of being attacked," Shine said, adding that native frogs were able to dodge the hungry ants.

"It's a simple, low-risk way of reducing the number of baby toads coming out of those ponds."

Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat

 I love Disney's Alice in Wonderland - the Cheshire Cat was my favourite character. But now oddball director Tim Burton known for The Nightmare Before Christmas and more recently Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is getting his claws into the Lewis Carroll classic. 

But Tim is not a cat-lover...but we won't hold that against him. Early on in the making of Alice in Wonderland director Tim Burton had very strong feelings about one of the characters - and it wasn't what you would call a good feeling. 

He told the Los Angeles Times: "The Cheshire Cat was a character I had a very specific image of and it's because I just have this thing about cats.

 "The Cheshire Cat taps into what you might call my hatred of cats."

Actor Stephen Fry handles the character in the film and Burton praised him for capturing the unsettling mind of a feline.

"Stephen Fry did a great job of getting that creepy quality. You know, this weird kind of floaty, too-focused, creepy - he did it great.

"He has this thing of getting up close and just sitting there and staring at you, you know, like a cat. It just kind of sits there."

Burton made a noise, not unlike a tabby struggling with a hairball.

"I have this thing with cats. And with Cheshire Cat it's a love-hate relationship. You can, uh, hear it in my voice can't you?"

*Alice in Wonderland is out in cinemas next month.

Italian TV chef axed after recommending cat stew on National Cat Day

An Italian chef has been axed after he said during his popular lunchtime cookery show that cat meat was one of the best animals he had ever tasted.

His remarks came after mentioning how, in the desperate conditions of post-war Italy, some people had taken to boiling stray mogs.

Beppe Bigazzi was explaining about traditions in Tuscany, where he comes from, and how cat meat was popular in the 30s and 40s.

As his co-presenter, Elisa Isoardi, looked on aghast, the 77-year-old told viewers that, far from being a last resort in times of near-famine, gatto in umido was "one of the great dishes of the Valdarno [in Tuscany]".

The secret, he disclosed, was to leave the cat in a fast-running stream for three days.

"What comes out is a delicacy", he enthused. "Many a time I've eaten its white meat." Isoardi, herself a cat owner, tried to interrupt, but to no avail.

"Cat in a thick sauce was "better than chicken, rabbit or pigeon", he said.

During a commercial break, the producers unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the celebrity gourmet that he should apologise when the programme resumed.

Soon afterwards, the switchboard was jammed with calls from appalled viewers.

Bigazzi was today on Italy's National Cat Day, quoted by the newspaper Corriere della Sera as saying he had been referring to events in the past, adding: "You can't judge things from 70 years ago".

Poor cat gets head stuck in Whiskas food tin

A cat in Fife has wandered into a rescue centre with its head stuck in a tin, the BBC reports.

The female cat walked into the Scottish SPCA's Wildlife Rescue Centre in Middlebank on Sunday with her head wedged in an empty pet food tin.

After the can was carefully removed she was checked over.

She has now been taken to the Edinburgh and Lothians Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Balerno, Edinburgh.

Colin Seddon, Scottish SPCA Wildlife Rescue Centre manager, said: "Luckily no damage was done and the little cat was very pleased to be freed from the discomfort that comes with having your head stuck inside a tin can.

"We think it's likely that she was scavenging and came across this discarded tin of cat food.

"She may have got the can stuck on her head and then became disorientated, it's lucky she wasn't hit by a car."

Mr Seddon added: "This only illustrates the fact that litter can pose a threat to both wild and domestic animals and we always encourage people to make sure they bag and bin their rubbish, it could save an animal's life."

The cat was wearing a distinctive collar printed with green cat's eyes.

Claws come out over shelter for Auschwitz cat

A cat living at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz has caused fur to fly between an animal care group and Polish authorities refusing to allow a shelter to be built for it.

The grey and white cat, known variously as Rudolf or Bruno despite being female, can often be seen sitting near the notorious "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free") sign at the entrance to the camp.

She has seemed unperturbed by an unusually cold winter in Poland that has seen night temperatures dip as low as minus 34 degrees Celsius.

The museum that runs the camp has rejected a call from the group For Animals to build a cat shelter, saying other animals also live at the site and that visitors are its main priority.

"All we asked for was to erect a shelter, but we were refused," said Joanna Zaremba of the For Animals foundation.

A museum employee tried in vain to give the animal a home. "The cat was not used to being indoors and the employee had to let her out to feel free. She came straight back (to the camp) like a boomerang, back to the 'Arbeit macht frei' gate," said Adam Cyra, another member of staff.

The cat is believed to have arrived at the camp about six months ago and started to attract the attention of visitors after Polish newspapers and web sites reported on the animal's attachment to the site and the campaign to build a shelter.

"I came especially to see this cat as I've heard so much about it in the local media," one Polish visitor told Reuters Television. "I'm ready to adopt the cat and give her a home."

While the cat has been staying near the entrance, a gang stole the "Arbeit macht frei" sign.

Polish police later recovered the sign, cut into three pieces, and arrested five suspects over the crime.

Up to 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished at Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War Two.

The site, near the town of Oswiecim in southern Poland, received more than one million visitors last year.

Source: Reuters

Missy the cat gets world's first feline knee replacement

The Daily Mail have a wonderful article about Missy who is the first cat in the world to have her knee replaced.

The eight-year-old family pet was stuck injured in a bush for two days with one hind leg broken in eight places and the other with a completely dislocated knee.

It was only because of her owners' relentless efforts that they found her. Ah bless Missy!

Charlie gets star treatment with professional photographer Victoria Tetley

As you many have read on my blog, last week I had my own professional photography session with Liverpool and Cheshire photographer Victoria Tetley.

I was so excited to have my pictures taken, I love posing for the camera.

Anyway, we had a wild time - Victoria came to my house and brought me a special treat - a catnip mouse!

Victoria has been taking pictures for about ten years and worked at our sister paper the Chester Chronicle for eight years.

Now, after covering more than 9,000 stories, Victoria, 34, is focusing on her own business and has set up as a freelance snapper specialising in pets and portraits.

Working at the Chronicle, Victoria has met many well-known figures from Nigella Lawson to Prince Charles, although a few stand out over the years.

Victoria said: "Richard Madeley, who was doing a book signing at Cheshire Oaks, was such a genuinely nice guy. He spent a good five minutes talking to me about my job and what I hoped to do with my career, while I was quite conscious a huge queue were waiting to meet him.

"Another character was Boris Johnson, who was visiting Chester a few years ago, and I went to photograph him being given a guided tour through the city centre, and, unlike many celebrities, he shook my hand, asked my name and had a bit of a laugh. A very amiable man."

Although Victoria loved her job working for the newspaper, she realised taking pictures of people with their cats and dogs were her favourite subjects.

"It might take that bit longer to get the shot but it is definitely worth the wait."

Victoria's thankful for the years of experience she has gained and is looking forward to using her skills in her new business venture taking pictures of pets and people in picturesque locations.

And of course I was her best subject! Check out Victoria's website - click here!

Miaow for Now!

Charlie

Woman convicted after selling 'gothic kittens'

This poor cat was being marketed online as a 'gothic kitten' by by Holly Crawford who live in Pennsylvania in America.

Crawford marketed 'gothic kittens' with ear and neck piercings over the Internet - she has now been convicted of animal cruelty.

The 35-year-old dog groomer will be sentenced on March 31. Crawford was charged in December 2008 after animal welfare officers took several kittens and a cat from her home.

Deputy district attorney David Pedri told jurors that Crawford inflicted pain upon three black kittens because, he alleged, "she thought it was neat" to sell gothic kittens on the Internet.

Defence attorneys argued that parents allow children to get pierced ears at young ages, and it would be wrong to hold cat owners to a higher standard. (A/P)

Is Oscar the cat the furry grim reeper?

Can a cat really predict someone's death? Well five-year-old Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny ability to predict when people are about to die.

The nursing home cat, seen here at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, in America has even had a book written about him.

"Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat" has been written by Dr David Dosa, who says that Oscar has correctly predicted 50 deaths in a five year period.

Oscar previously made it into the New England Journal of Medicine after the cat curled up next to 25 patients right before they died. The hospital even gave him a plaque for providing compassionate hospice care.

Dr Dosa said in an interview: "I wanted to write a book that would go beyond Oscar's peculiarities, to tell why he is important to family members and care givers who have been with him at the end of a life."

Oscar was adopted as a kitten from an animal shelter to be raised as a therapy cat at the nursing and rehabilitation centre, that cares for people with severe dementia and in the final stages of various illnesses.

When Oscar was about six months old the staff noticed he would curl up to sleep with patients who were about to die.

Oscar the cat

Dosa recounts one instance when staff were convinced of the imminent death of one patient but Oscar refused to sit with that person, choosing instead to be on the bed of another patient down the hallway.

Oscar proved to be right. The person he sat with died first, taking staff on the ward by surprise. Well, I love cats but Oscar can stay put for now!