The puss in books

Fidel enjoys books - Image from the BBC

Fidel is not your average cat. The eight year old black cat lives in Kent in Britain and his home is the local library. Well, his second home, and he visits it when his owners are away at work. Fidel has his favorite blue chair where he basks in the sun the whole day before he returns home to his owners.

Staff at the library say that they initially threw out Fidel when he came everyday but he always returned. Now he is an attraction for people who come to the library. Fidel was adopted from a local sanctuary and now he is the most regular customer at the library, which he has been frequenting for two years.

Dante the vegetarian cat

Dante the vegetarian cat - Image from Daily Mirror

Heard of a cat grimacing at the sight of fish? Well, two year old Dante is one such and he is now the only vegetarian cat in the UK. Dante was found when he was a starving kitten by Becky Page near Norwich, Britain. Like any normal person she tried to feed him everything that cats like but Dante did not touch the fish or the meat. But one day before she could throw out a plate of vegetables Dante ate the whole serving, licking the plate clean.

Becky tries to put in bits of meat in the vegetables so that Dante stays healthy, but sometimes when he spots them he refuses to eat. Dante’s current favorite foods include melon, bananas, broccoli, rhubarb, asparagus, aubergine and Brussels sprouts. Unlike humans and dogs there are certain nutrients that cats can obtain only from sufficient quantities of meat, which is why experts are extremely baffled at Dante’s preferences. But he seems to be healthy and enjoying his meals filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. He is one cat I would definitely invite for dinner!

Read more about Dante

Master cat

Tama with her jaunty cap - Image from CNN

Some animals do have exalted jobs. Like Tama the nine year old cat. Tama was born on 29th April 1999 and she had a pretty simple life near her home in a grocery store near the Kishi train station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan until a couple of years ago. The small town with a few thousand people was the last stop in what had been a falling train line. In 2006 the Wakayama Electric Railway converted all stations on the Kishigawa Line from manned to unmanned to save costs and station masters were selected from employees of local businesses near each station. For the Kinokawa station, Toshiko Koyama, the grocer was selected as the station master. Koyama had adopted Tama among other stray cats and would regularly feed them at the station.

Tama's life changed in 2007 when railway officials decided to make her the official station master in which her primary duty would be to greet passengers. They gave her a station master's hat and free cat food as her salary. Amused passengers began to enjoy Tama's presence and ridership grew by 17% in one month. Tama's star status was elevated when this year she was given the title of "super station master" complete with a new office - a converted ticket booth furnished with a litter box.

Watch a couple of videos of Tama

Strange but beautiful

Etheridge with Snowy and Gladys - Image from All-Creatures

Unusual friendships are not a rarity in the animal world. This one is between Gladys the chicken and Snowy the cat who live in Middleton, England. The story begins when Jane Etheridge's bantam hen hatched a batch of 14 chickens about two and half months back. Sadly, that number was reduced to just three chickens after a fox marauded the coop leaving only feathers behind. Two of the survivors died soon and only Gladys was left. Etheridge brought a shaken and traumatised Gladys into the house to help her get her bearings. Thats when Snowy took over. For 10 year old Snowy, Gladys was like a little sibling to be taken care of. He cleaned and washed her and made her comfortable. Now Gladys is two and half months old and is inseparable from Snowy. Etheridge says that they are, "the best of friends, very much so, and when she first started going out she would not go unless they went together."

'Tyring' day

Bella the cat couldn't bear parting - Image from AOL News

There's nothing new about the cat who went on a two and half hour trip in her owner's truck. But with Bella the difference is that she was perched on the spare tyre under the truck. Gil Smith who lives in Arizona drove 70 miles to attend a meeting in Kearny. When he reached his destination he heard the distressed cries of a cat and discovered Bella, shaken and stirred. Smith said that the cat was smart enough to know not to jump off the truck as soon at stopped even though she was hyper with fright. Smith and his wife have three cats, three goats and three chickens, but Bella holds a special place in the family, especially for his wife. So much so that he cancelled his meeting and drove all the way back home to get Bella back to his wife. I thought that was even better than Bella's adventure.

Coming back to life

Cats have an amazing kidney that gives them survival longevity - Image from Wikipedia

That a cat has seven lives has been proved by Bonny. Her owner Monika Hoppert, a 60 year old widow living in the town of Stadthagen, Germany, is convinced that its a miracle. The black cat with big green eyes disappeared on 19 June while construction workers replaced pipes in the block of flats where Hoppert lives. Just before the bathtub was sealed back into place Bonny must have crept in underneath. By the time the neighbour noticed Bonny's desperate but weak cries on 8 August the cat's weight had dropped from 13 pounds to a mere four pounds. After the rescue she was just a bag of bones and the vet suggested she be put down since she will not live much longer. But Hoppert was determined to have her back and nursed her to good health. Am sure Hoppert would have played "Coming back to life" for the next few days.

How long can cats survive without food and water?

Ear ear!

The Star Wars Yoda and the four-eared Yoda - Image from FOX News

As if two weren't enough. Yoda the cat has probably had enough of sounds what with four ears popping on his head. Yes you heard it right. Yoda's owners, Ted and Valerie Rock has been inundated with various offers from television, ever since their son posted Yoda's photo on the web. The Rocks, who live in Downers Grove, Illinois, found him in 2006 while watching a Chicago Bears game at a Blue Island bar. Some patrons were passing the eight week old kitten around making fun of its ears calling him "Beelzebub" and Devil's Cat." The Rocks felt sorry and and offered to adopt the kitten from the bar's owner who in fact had caged the kitten for his customers' amusement. The Rocks had lost their cat of 20 years just six months before and they saw something special in Yoda, who is named after a character in Star Wars. I think Yoda the cat is much better looking!