Tomorrow is Veteran's Day here in the U.S., so I wanted to give some well earned recognition to cats in the military, particularly those who served in wartime! The National WW2 Museum notes that cats were often used as rodent control in ships, barracks and field offices. But, cats in wartime went beyond just keeping food and equipment safe, they were also mascots, helping provide stress relief and entertainment to soldiers in some of their worst times. Cats in war were particularly useful on ships. Ship cats kept the food supplies safe from mice and other vermin. Their small size let them get into areas where rodents might hide to prevent them from chewing ropes or communication equipment that was essential....
Did you know there is a Guinness world record for best mouser? Meet Towser the mouser, the current record holder for most mice killed! Towser was a distillery cat, employed by the Glenturret distillery in Scotland. Like other brewery cats, she was tasked with rodent control, and according to the good folks at Guinness, she was the best who ever did it! The Glenturret distillery is well known for their whisky, including one named the Famous Grouse, which according to ScotchWhisky.com is so popular it even has it's own visitor experience for those who would like to tour the distillery. They even named a whisky after our heroine Towser in 2017 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her death. So...
We've featured some famous cat lovers and cats here, like Abraham Lincoln and Felicette, first cat in space, and today let's learn about another cat lover - Mark Twain! There are several Mark Twain cat quotes that show his esteem and affection for our feline friends. When we look for quotes by Mark Twain on cats like "A home without a cat -- and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat -- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?" from Pudd'nhead Wilson, and "If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." NewEngland.com even notes that when his 13 year old daughter wrote a biography of...
You may have heard it say that they worshipped cats in ancient Egypt, but is that true? Let's look into cats and ancient Egypt! History.com quotes Monique Skidmore, a professor of anthropology at Deakin University to say that “Cats were not worshipped as gods themselves, but as vessels that the gods chose to inhabit, and whose likeness gods chose to adopt." One of the ancient egyptian cat gods was Bastet and historycooperative says she was believed to take the form of a cat. She was originally depicted as a fierce lioness, but became the cat goddess associated with domestic cats and kittens. She kept harmony in the home and was the protector of mothers. Bastet's personality often focused on the nuturing aspect of being a mother, but...
This week I wanted to talk about some famous cats who were the best friends of a famous person - the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln! Abraham Lincoln was an animal lover. According to EverythingLincoln.com, he had a cat as a boy who would come with him on his trips to fetch water. Later on he got a dog named Fido, but left it at home when he moved to Washington DC to become president. PsychologyToday relates that the friendly dog was unfortunately assassinated after trying to make friends with a drunk man who was sleeping on the sidewalk. The man awoke and stabbed the dog in in a panic thinking he was being attacked. Because of Fido's association...
