VIDEO: 100 cats star in new Ikea advert

I never thought I would say this but for once I wish I didn't have Sky +! I know - shock horror! The reason being is because I have only just stumbled upon the new Ikea advert - it's full of cats!

Usually I fast-forward through all the adverts but one glimpse of a whisker and I had to press PAUSE! What I found was the most fuzzy feline feeling in my stomach as all these cutie kitties leaped across my screen.

But if you think the adverts good you have to check the making of it! The Ikea cats have their own youtube page and Herding Cats looks behind the scenes at all the cats who starred in the advert.

Cats explain the entire series of LOST in one minute

I'm back from my holidays and I have been vigorously recording all my favourite TV shows while I've been away.

Not had time to watch the LOST finale yet but I heard about this video which combines my two favourite things - LOST and kitties!

This is hilarious!

Is your cat always on the hunt for birds?

I've just come back from a spot of hunting, browsed a few magazines and now I'm going to curl up for a nice nap.

Gemma is always moaning and telling me off when I bring her little gifts.

What can I say? I love the taste of little birdies in the morning.

She's always trying ways to stop me hunting - and half the time her efforts succeed - damn you Gemma!

She puts big bells on my collar, so the little birds can hear me when I come.

She's always feeding me, I do like to eat though, I think she's trying to encourage me to stay closer to home, I'd like to see her catch me!

I'm only really allowed to go out in the day, not too early and not too late - which is a shame because that's when I can usually find a little vulnerable birdie to feast on.

There's also lot spiny plants like holly and thorn bushes around the bottom of trees in the garden, I try my best to get up there though!

Anyway, my cat nap is calling me! Miaow for now! Charlie xx

Dogs are better than cats? I don't think so...!

I felt compelled to write this blog entry myself this week instead of my gorgeous assistant/owner Gemma. So

I have put claws to keyboard after spotting an article on the Telegraph website with my cat's eyes entitled, "Dogs are better than cats - at least scientifically speaking".

According to researchers, they have found that when it comes to a number of criteria including intelligence, bonding and obedience, dogs narrowly beat their feline adversaries.

I bet my catnip mouse these 'researchers' are dog lovers! Out of 11 categories selected by the magazine New Scientist, dogs won six compared with five for cats. I hardly call that a conclusive result!

Despite cats deemed overall to have a more powerful brain, dogs showed greater ability to understand commands, problem solve and were generally more helpful, it was said. Just because we don't do what you say, doesn't mean we don't understand!

Cats on the other hand had better acute senses, a smaller carbon footprint and their miaowing and purring was considered less intrusive than dogs barking and whining. Not only are we clever, we are doing our bit for climate change!

While dogs were thought to bond better with their owners especially as they appeared to offer unconditional love, cats were more independent and needed less care. This was all down to evolution said the scientists that pointed out that cats were generally loners and dogs pack animals. However the study admitted that despite the dog advantages, cats remained the most popular domestic animals in the world. The top 10 cat owning countries in the world had an estimated 204 million felines, compared the top 10 dog owing countries having fewer than 173 million canines. 

Ha, we will rule the world - cats rule dogs drool! Charlie

Send me pictures of your Christmas Cats!

Charlie is calling on all his feline friends to get festive! Next week we are launching Festive Pets across all our titles. But he is looking for Christmas Cats to feature on his blog.

Here he is with housemate Mitzy - Charlie wants to make sure she is looking her best! Charlie wants pictures of all sorts of cats, black, white, big, small - send your festive felines to me and we will feature one each day up until Christmas on Cat Chat. Email your pictures to catchatwithcharlie@live.co.uk.

Funny cute cat photos - what more do you want?

I found this website which was created by Ben Huh, a journalism graduate from America, who after interning at a several newspapers decided he would have a more lucrative career path in: funny cat photo captions.

Huh, 31, is the big cheese behind www.Icanhascheezburger.com, the enormously popular blog revealing the inner feelings of felines.

His company, Pet Holdings Inc. of Seattle, is a burgeoning media empire with 27 other sites and counting.

Pet Holdings has been profitable since its founding in 2007. With a bare-bones staff of 22, it generates millions in annual revenue through advertising, merchandising and publishing.

The company's first book, a collection of so-called LOL - or laugh out loud - cat photos with captions, sat on the New York Times Bestseller list for 13 weeks.

I really recommend checking this website - you really will be in stitches.

My chat with Charlie

Charlie and I were having a discussion the other day and he was telling me all sorts of things about his species.

There are about 100 breeds of cats. A group of cats is called a “clowder,” but a group of kittens is called a “kindle.”

Charlie says that, in Egypt, entire families would shave their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when the family cat died.

People should never pick up cats by the nape of the neck. Only a mama cat knows how to do that carefully and safely.

Charlie says that cats have a third eyelid, called a “haw.” We’ll only see that when he isn’t feeling well.

Did you know that cats can see six times better at night than humans can! Charlie has very pretty yellow eyes, but all cats have blue eyes when they are born.

Some of them start to change colour at about three weeks.

Many cats lack the necessary gene required to be affected by catnip, but Charlie goes mad for it!

Charlie has four rows of whiskers on either side of her face. The top two rows move independently from the bottom two.

He says it’s because the whiskers help measure openings. He can only fit through an opening as long as either side doesn’t touch his whiskers. Pretty cool, huh!

Charles has a really cute nose, but did you know that’s not the only way he smells? He has something called the Jacobson’s organ, which is located in the upper surface of the mouth.

Did you know a cat, left to its own devices may have three to seven kittens every four or five months?!

This means that during a cat’s lifetime, she can have up to 2,100 kittens in a 10-year life span. This is why spaying and neutering is so important.

Charlie said when he was a stray, he would use his homing ability to get back to the place he started but I don't think it worked because he walked into my life.

He uses his biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the earth’s magnetic field to get back home. Who knew cats were this smart?

Did you know cats are three times more likely to contract rabies than dogs? They cover more territory, they roam freely and spend a large part of their time at night, increasing their chance of running into a rabid animal.

Rabies vaccinations are so important to cats. Please make sure your cat visits the vet every year for this.

Cats have over 100 vocal sounds. Dogs have only about 10. Charlie says you can learn a lot about a cat by its tail.

First of all, a cat’s tail has 32 muscles. You can tell how a cat is feeling by how it controls its tail. For instance, a cat’s tail held high means happiness.

A twitching tail is a warning sign and a tail tucked in close to the body is a sign of insecurity. Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run. The only other animals that do this are giraffe and camel.

Charlie says he ages differently than I do. A cat that is one year old is equivalent to 16 human years. The second year, a cat ages eight human years, and each year after that, about four human years.

This means a six-year-old cat is equivalent to 40 human years!

God help me when Charlie turns one in a few months!