Elf Cat

Elf cats are an extremely rare breed indeed and an Arizona woman featured on ABC15.com recently as a specialist breeder. I must confess that I had never come across them before and was even more surprised to see the number of websites devoted to them.

What are Elf Cats?

Elf cats are simply a cross between the Sphinx cat and the American Curl cat. The Sphinx is a hairless breed (which suits people who are allergic) but it is prone to heart problems. This is a result of inbreeding. Crossing the two results in a hairless cat but without the associated health difficulties. The American curl has a good strong bone structure and the result is a cat better able to withstand more rigorous conditions, although it is still advisable to avoid strong sunlight for any length of time

Dobby

The appearance has been likened to a cross between Dobby (from the Harry Potter films) and Legolas (from The Lord of The rings) or at least that is what the Daily Mail says in an article just a few days ago!

When I said that they were rare then I was not joking, it would seem that there are only about 100 in existence.

As a result of their rarity then they certainly are not cheap. Expect to pay about $2,000 dollars for one. There are only a few bred each year also so if you do want one you will have to be quick.

Where Can I Get one?

I looked up the details of the breeder at http://www.elfkittens.com/ (Vanyar Elf Cats) and it would seem that there may be a kitten available but an alternative site http://elfkittens.com/home implies differently.

Elf cat kitten

A cat like this should not just be bought for its novelty value, like all animals they deserve a good home and ownership should not be taken lightly. Both site I mentioned above give good advice on care of these unusual cats and also where to get one and how to adopt one from the right people. You can find this at http://www.elfkittens.com/aboutus.html

I would love to hear from you if you are lucky enough to have an Elf cat.

The Elf Cats Arizona breeder is Angela Orton at the site I have mentioned previously.

Photographs of the Elf Cats are strictly copyrighted. Many thanks to Angela for permission to put them here

It is ironic that a zoo is asking for Christmas trees for it’s large felines when just a few days before we cat owners were looking for ways to keep our cats out of Christmas trees. Cats and ornaments are not always such a good mix!

That is the situation however at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire.(CBBC) It would seem that the lions there are particularly fond of Christmas trees for some reason. An appeal has been sent out as a result for any old, unwanted Christmas trees to be donated to the zoo, thus solving two problems in one go.

I am not sure what the situation is in Cambridgeshire but round here the trees are collected for recycling by the local council but in some areas disposal can be a bit of a problem.

What Are The Trees For?

So what happens to the trees that are donated to the zoo? Those that are without roots are simply put into the enclosure as they are. It would seem that the big cats enjoy rolling on them and actually cuddling up to them. If they are too dried out then they are used in the bio-burner system at Linton to provide extra hot water and heating.

If the trees still have their roots on them and are alive then they can be planted to add to the greenery in the enclosure and improve the surroundings.

A spokeswoman for Linton Zoo said that they were very pleased and the response had been

“fantastic.Greenery is very important to our animals, so live rooted and growing trees can be given a second chance at life by being planted in one of our animal enclosures.”

As an aside this matches a similar appeal at Berlin Zoo (Washington Post) but this is for the elephants, which seem only too happy to eat the trees as a supplement to their diet. The only difference was that these trees came direct from the growers.

Cat Trees

There was a worry that if they came from the public then ornaments such as baubles and tinsel might accidentally end up on the menu, which would definitely not be good for their digestive system.

The lions and the elephants shared one thing in common, they both seemed to like the strong smell of the Christmas trees.

To the subject of keeping your domestic cat out of the tree then it a bit like training cats to stay off counters. Maybe later in the year I will research a few more tactics you can explore to keep your own cat away from the festive decorations. When it is all over then you can donate your Christmas tree for big cats knowing you are making a large feline very happy.

Roger Shann

The Cat Hacker Problem

Japanese police have so far been led well astray by a hacker who has set a sort of treasure hunt for them. Details of a supposed computer virus were attached to a cat’s collar and a series of clues were set to lead them on to the trail.

The whole thing started when certain media outlets, including newspapers and broadcaster were sent a series of messages with hints to the whereabouts of a powerful new virus strapped to the collar of a cat in the Tokyo area.

The Search For The Cat

There then ensued a series of further clues which led investigators nearer and nearer to the location of the cat. The whole thing would have been taken for a hoax but for the targets of the hacker.

The virus was claimed to be aimed at bizarrely different places, including kindergartens, hospitals and websites connected to the Emperor himself. The threats were too strong to be ignored, particularly as the messages were coming from multiple sources and computers.

The Capture of The Cat

The cat in question was eventually tracked down and captured, sure enough in a Tokyo suburb but that is not the end of the story.

The Plot Thickens

Rather than being the end of the matter the memory card on the collar simply made the whole thing more complicated. All that was found was a series of further clues for police to follow!

The virus itself iesys.exe use C# and the hacker seems to be able to get around the net without leaving any trace.

Cat Hacker Baffles Police

The whole thing is a bit of an embarrassment for the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA) which prides itself on its efficiency. Earlier in 2012 four arrests were made, of prominent people such as lawyers, and it was claimed that the problem was solved, but the messages and hacking continued until the police had to admit that they had made a mistake.

Throughout it all of course the cat remained completely innocent of all charges!

Image From Wikipedia of “dead cat”

The Intro

A man has been accused of a dead cat fraud in Tacoma after he tried to get money from an insurance company allegedly using a photograph of a cat as evidence.

The photograph was take from the internet and was of a cat that was never his in the first place, indeed in the charges leveled against him, it has been said that he never even had a cat in the first place.

The Source

I came across this story in the Seattle Times where their reporter Christine Clarridge says that “Yevgeniy Samsonov” had been involved in a car crash in March 2009 when his stationary vehicle was struck from behind. The other driver stated to her insurers that her foot had slipped onto the throttle by mistake.

The Payout

He received compensation for this, for whiplash and soft tissue injury, for $3,500 but returned two years later, claiming that his beloved cat had been killed in the same accident.

The insurance company, Pemco, sent him a cheque for $50 as a means of compensation for this loss but he refused to accept this and demanded $20,000 instead as the cat had “been like a son to him”. This made Pemco suspicious and they requested to see a photograph of the cat.

The Blunder

Samsonov sent them a photograph of a white cat but one of the insurance company,s employees subsequently tracked this down as being from the internet, indeed it was from a Wikipedia page on cats and can be found halfway down the page there. A fairly blatant piece of trickery if ever there was one it is alleged.

Naturally Pemco refused to pay and withdrew their $50 previous offer. This prompted Samsonov to apply to the state insurance commissioner’s office, asking them to act on his behalf. This was when things started to go really wrong for him.

The Charge

Instead of them helping him he now finds himself charged with fraud and attempted theft, with the charges over the dead cat fraud being filed in Pierce County last week.

I suspect that this may not turn out as Samsonov had hoped.