The Caturday Report: Better Kitties Through Science

Science and cats go together like chicken and my food dish! When scientists aren’t busy trying to figure out kitties, they are looking to us to help them with their studies — as you will see in this Caturday Report!

I also have some cool, informative posts from my fellow cat bloggers!

There has been a lot of discussion this week about how we “domestic” kitties bear so many similarities to our wilder brothers and sisters. But I particularly like this story about analyzing the domestic feline genome from The Verge, which points out that associating with humans has made housecats smarter… while it has made dogs, well, less bright.
Scientists are trying to teach robots how to fall (don’t laugh — it could help with search and rescue efforts someday). How are they doing it? By studying cats of course!
There is Kickstarter campaign for a new device that uses your cat’s litter box to monitor her health! Maybe my human can stop staring at me when I am trying to do my business.
We cats like to hide, and that is our prerogative, but honestly, sometimes it is not a good idea! The Pawesome Cats blog discusses dangerous hiding places for us kitties.
And no late fall report series is complete without at least once sharing a link about how to keep feral and stray cats safe during winter. CJ’s Paw Pad gives us some very valuable tips, courtesy of Alley Cat Allies.

It’s been quite a week here, although not as scientific:

I won my friend Sammy’s Sam-O-Ween funniest costume contest, and I was amazed by the prize package I won!
Tuesday was Veterans Day, and I combed the internet for profiles of U.S. kitty veterans. Here are five of them. (I’ll focus on the military kitties from other countries next year)
Although I am not as critical of my human as Sparkle was, I still see that she falls short of the Kitty Code of Acceptability. Here are some ways in which she needs to improve.
I got a new sling carrier… but is this really the best way to show it off?
Best of all, I announce the Santa Kitty Toy Hop! I hope you are able to participate, and help less fortunate kitties.

If you see a good cat-oriented news item around the internet, send me a link and I may include it next week!
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Having problems with your human or the other cats in your house? As the internet’s “Dear Abby With Claws,” Sparkle had answers to many annoying problems in her two award-winning books! Visit her author’s page on Amazon to buy one or both of her awesome Dear Sparkle books!