Katzen, katzen, and more katzen

Sara wrote:

National Cat Day is a time when people give their cats a little extra attention, and homeless cats are helped to find forever homes. Colleen Paige, founder of holidays such as National Dog Day, National Puppy Day, and National Pet Day, created the day to raise awareness about the number of homeless cats, and for those who live with cats to celebrate them.

Cats are the most popular pet in the United States, with over a third of households having them, and 90 million house cats living in the country. Domesticated cats are thought to have descended from the Middle Eastern wildcat, which is believed to have begun being domesticated about 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, near the Fertile Crescent. At that time, humans made the shift to agriculture from a nomadic hunter and gatherer lifestyle and started storing crops. The crops brought rodents like mice, and this naturally attracted cats from the wild. The cats were now in a close proximity to humans, and the more docile ones began being brought into homes.

Cats were later revered in Egypt and Rome, but lost favor in Europe during the Middle Ages, when they were associated with evil, and were often killed. They began to return to favor during the seventeenth century, and have continued to be a popular pet since. Still, it is believed four million cats go into shelters each year, while one to two million are euthanized, illustrating why the efforts to help cats on National Cat Day are important.

National Cat Day is being observed today! It has been observed annually on October 29th since 2005.

There are many ways to celebrate the day. The official website - https://www.nationalcatday.com/celebrate - gives a list of 20 ways to celebrate, which includes ideas such as adopting a cat, supporting an animal shelter, and treating the cats in your life extra special.

There is also a cat photo contest - https://www.nationalcatday.com/contest - that can be entered into. Some other ideas for the day could be to look at some photos of famous people with their cats - https://www.pinterest.com/gullringsgal/famous-people-and-their-cats/?lp=true - or read some quotes about cats - https://cattime.com/lifestyle/1470-25-famous-quotes-about-cats .

The Goddess Bastet in Her form of sacred cat; detail from a statue (bronze);from the necropolis of Memphis, Late Period (ca. 712–332 BCE).
Now in the British Museum.

Published 1 hour ago
Man reportedly loses 400,000 airline miles for sneaking 'fat cat' onto flight
By Janine Puhak | Fox News


Cat’s out of the bag!

One loyal Aeroflot passenger has reportedly lost about 400,000 airline miles after playing a game of cat and mouse with the carrier, sneaking his “fat” feline onto a recent flight by duping officials with a thinner kitty as a copy-cat body double.



Last week, passenger Mikhail Galin snuck his 22-pound cat Viktor onto a layover in Moscow from Latvia, despite the airline’s rule that pets weighing more than 17 pounds must travel in the luggage hold, BBC reports.

One loyal Aeroflot passenger has reportedly lost about 400,000 airline miles after playing a game of cat and mouse with the carrier, sneaking his “fat” feline onto a recent flight by duping officials with a thinner kitty as a copy-cat body double.

Unwilling to have Viktor make the lengthy trip in the luggage hold, the 34-year-old man made the "strategic decision to find a similar cat of a lower weight" in the layover city. Seeking advice on Facebook, Galin crafted what he believed was a perfect (or purr-fect) plan for the heist.

To get around the restriction, Galin arrived at the airport with Viktor, a lookalike “cat double” named Phoebe, and Phoebe’s owners, according to the AFP. The weigh-in with Phoebe the skinny kitty apparently went well, as Galin was able to check into business class with his paunchier pet in tow.

“The operation to switch Viktor the fat cat for Phoebe the miniature kitty was successful,” the Aeroflot customer said, AFP reports. Galin shared celebratory images of the feat to Facebook, posting pictures of Viktor looking out the plane’s window and staring down a glass of champagne, where they quickly went viral with over 18,000 likes and more than 3,000 shares.

To swerve the restriction, Galin arrived at the airport with Viktor, a lookalike “cat double” named Phoebe, and Phoebe’s owners. The weigh-in with Phoebe the skinny kitty apparently went well, as Galin was able to check into business class with his paunchy pet in tow.

To swerve the restriction, Galin arrived at the airport with Viktor, a lookalike “cat double” named Phoebe, and Phoebe’s owners. The weigh-in with Phoebe the skinny kitty apparently went well, as Galin was able to check into business class with his paunchy pet in tow. (iStock)

However, Galin perhaps acted too quickly in letting the metaphorical cat out of the bag. Aeroflot soon caught wind of the hijinks, and used CCTV footage to confirm that Galin had indeed swapped felines before the flight in order to bring the fatter cat on board, the BBC reported.

Officials for the Russian airline soon discovered that Galin had indeed used a 15-pound cat to pull off the prank, and terminated his frequent flier miles in response. Reports indicated that the he had almost 400,000 miles saved up, according to the AFP.

"Aeroflot has taken the decision to take this passenger out of its frequent flyer program. All of the miles collected during his time in the program will be annulled,” a spokesperson said.

Disgruntled commenters were allegedly up in arms over the decision, with some accusing Aeroflot of fat-shaming Viktor.

Galin, meanwhile, has taken the punishment in stride — and good humor.

Following the incident, he shared an image of Viktor as a kitten to Facebook, and jokingly reminiscing on the days when his precious pet “still met the requirements of the air carrier."