| Issue
12, Vol. 3 |
March
21, 2004 |
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| Claw
Caps For Scratching Cats A Hit |
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March 12, 2004
Japanese cat owners are snapping up colorful claw caps that can stop
their pets scratching furniture, or be used as decoration for a pampered
puss's nails.
Japan
in January became the first Asian nation to offer the U.S.-produced
Soft Claw caps, which come in four sizes and are available in purple,
pink, blue, and red as well as a transparent version.
Since
then around 4,000 Soft Claw cap kits have been sold in Japan, most
of them this month after a major economic paper reported on the product,
Soft Claws Japan president Tamio Matsumura said. "We had been targeting
sales of 40,000 for a whole year, but orders are likely to far exceed
that," he said.
The
vinyl caps can last for four to six weeks and come off as the claws
grow. Cats can also draw in their claws with the caps on. They are
sold in Japan mostly by mail order or through veterinarians and wholesalers.
A complete
kit, including 40 caps and glue, is priced at 3,600 yen ($33), and
a starter kit with 12 caps at 1,800 yen ($16.50).
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A
six month-old cat named Konomi wears colorful soft caps on his claws
in Tokyo on March 12, 2004. The caps, produced by a U.S. company
called
Soft Paws, not only help prevent damage to furniture,
they serve as decoration as well.
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Sent
to The Cat's Meow by a subscriber.
We are investigating sources for these, in hopes of offering
them to you on our website.
We'll let you know more as soon as possible!
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Cat
Gives White Sox More Run-Around Than Opposing Team
(also, the funniest baseball joke in the world)
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Runner on...
Center Field?
Center
fielder Kenny Lofton and groundskeeper Artie Smith don't know
what
to do with this pitch...And according to the Daily Herald, the
spirited pussycat
received more cheers and hoorahs from the crowd than the players
did!
Photo:
Ted S. Warren, AP
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A
few months ago, I had an interesting discussion with a Canadian man
about how some cities contain particularly nice folks. Chicago,
among others, was one of my top picks of friendly American cities.
The man (apparently an avid baseball fan) replied, "Of course
Chicagoians are friendly. And the only explanation for it is
that their baseball team is awful! The people love their team
like none other;
and they are loyal to the Sox to the very end. But they don't
have that 'chip on the old shoulder'
(aka 'attitude problem') that folks who are loyal to winning
teams usually have."
So...
with that in mind, and with no further ado, you can hopefully forgive
us for launching into:
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A
guy walks into a bar... with a
Chartreux pussycat named Misty Bleu under his arm.
The kitty is wearing a Chicago White Sox jersey and cap,
and is festooned with White Sox ribbons and
pom-poms. The bartender says, "Hey! No pets are allowed!
You'll have to leave." The guy begs him, "Look,
I'm desperate! We're both big fans and the TV is broken
at home. This is the only place that we can see the game."
The bartender finally relents, so the man and his cat seat
themselves in front of the tube to watch the game...
In the
first inning, a White Sox batter hits a single, causing
Misty Bleu to leap up onto the table and spin around on
his hind paws while shaking his pom-poms in the air.
The bartender proclaims, "That cat really is a Sox
fan!" The next batter gets up to the plate and
hits a beautiful double. Seeing this, Misty Bleu jumps
up onto the bar and starts doing cart-wheels and flips up
and down the the bar, while giving everyone seated there
high-fives. The bartender says, "Wow, that is the most
amazing thing I've seen! What does the cat do if they get
a home run?" The owner replies, "I don't
know, I've only had him for 14 years."
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CHICAGO,
Illinois, (USA) — A true-blue White Sox fan decided to show her
team spirit Tuesday when she ran out onto the field during the eighth
inning of a baseball game. And not unlike other textbook fanatical
supporters, she was dressed for the part: black coat with white
socks!
The
White Sox were trying to break their latest four-game losing streak
in this game against the Texas Rangers when the fan (you guessed it:
she's a cat!) went prancing across Comiskey Park.
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Luck
or Omen?
After
the kitty was removed from the field, the White Sox finished the
game, only to end their losing streak by beating the Rangers 15
to 4. Which leads many to speculate whether the black kitty will
bring the team good luck or bad luck in later games. Tony
Graffanino, the star of Tuesday's victory, seems to think the cat
will bode well for their future since it had "white feet".
The
Chicago
Tribune, on the other hand, cited the time when the '69
Cubs broke a winning streak after a black kitty pranced through
Shea Stadium in New York.
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No,
now is definitely not the time to initiate "the wave"!
Artie
Smith catches our little fan.
Photo: Sue Ogrocki, Reuters
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Where
Did the Cat Go?
So
now is the time in our story for the embarrassed pet owner
to show up and claim the little celebrity, right? No.
Okay,
then certainly somebody at the game took the kitty home with them.
Not necessarily.
Well
in the very least, staff of the ballpark took the cat to an animal
shelter where it might get adopted by someone, right?!
The
truth is, nobody seems to know. The furball that evoked more
people to laugh in one sitting (17,503 to be exact) than perhaps
Morris the Cat; and drew nearly as much publicized speculation
as Nasdaq dot-coms, now cannot be accounted for!
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The
"Streak" to end all Losing Streaks:
Kitty struts in front of the not-terribly-amused outfielder Aaron
Rowland.
Photo: Sue Ogrocki, Reuters
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§§§
So with that
in mind, lets go back to that discussion I had with the Canadian man
about how nice people are in Chicago... Is it just me, or should we
all start hoping that the White Sox will begin losing again?
§§§
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Reprinted
from http://www.catsinthenews.com
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The
Cat In the 'Yarmulke'
By ALEX CUKAN, United Press International
Dr.
Seuss' classic "The Cat in the Hat," has been translated into Yiddish
by a New York City couple who run a home-publishing business.
Although
only 113,000 New Yorkers speak Yiddish, Celeste Sollod and her husband,
Zackary Sholem Berger, have sold 3,000 copies of "Di Kats der Payats,"
the New York Post reports.
The
$15 book is considered a literal translation -- with a little fudging
-- but has the same pictures as the original version published in
1957 -- except it reads from back to front.
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You
can buy the book directly from the authors or read more about Zackary
Sholem Berger at Jews Week |
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Sent
to the Cat's Meow by a Subscriber
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