Liverpool cat nominated for Go-Cat BOBO award

A moggy from Liverpool is in the running to be crowned Britain's most adventurous cat after his owner, Graham Mullen, entered him into the Go-Cat® BOBO AWARDS, a nationwide search for the UK's most fearless feline.

Always on the hunt for his next escapade, Woody has been nominated for his sense of adventure and free-spirited nature. Go-Cat recently launched the BOBO AWARDS in honour of Bobo, the amazing, acrobatic free-running star of Go-Cat's latest TV ad, to celebrate courageous cats that live life to the full, just like Bobo.

Woody is certainly shaping up to rival Bobo, he loves to play hide and seek and his most recent adventure saw him disappearing for an entire morning, to later be found sitting happily on a milk float after doing the rounds with the local milk man.

If you think your cat is as adventurous and daring as Woody then what are you waiting for?

Enter your cat into the Go-Cat BOBO AWARDS to be in with a shot of winning a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime safari to the wilds of Africa with a chance to see really big adventurous cats in action.

There's also a whole host of runner-up prizes that will keep the most adventurous cat lovers entertained - from a day learning circus skills to an afternoon of hovercraft flying.

Go-Cat spokesperson, Alison Ashman, says: "We're looking for cats of all ages with bucket loads of cat'itude, who live life to the full and have extraordinary adventures. Whether they're intrepid explorers, plucky climbers or brave rescuers, we want to hear your stories."

Well better get Charlie's entry sent in then!

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."

Can people safely eat cat food?

The American Dietetic Association did a study to see if humans could eat cat food.

I found this article on popsci.com:

Let's take a look at the ingredients in a typical can of cat food: meat by-products, chicken by-product meal, turkey by-product meal, ash, taurine.

Nothing too horrible, but in general, these things don't constitute a healthy human diet, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association.

"That said, I'm fully confident that your body can handle kitty chow."

Your liver, kidneys and skin do a terrific job of removing foreign substances from the body, especially mild ones like those found in cat food.

"Technically, you could safely digest a baseball," Blatner says. Perhaps the worst stuff in cat food is the high mineral content in the ash, but your body would clear that out quickly.

Actually, the ingredients listed on the organic blends of cat food sound pretty tasty.

There is a pet shop near where I live that sells Applaws Natural Cat Food.

To show us how natural it is the shopowner opened up a can and started to eat it.

I got some for Charlie and he loves it. His favourite food is cheese.