About Cats. Kitten & Senior Care. Texas City Explodes. Picture of “Dog-Tag Smokey” & Misty!

For Mammal Monday”:
Surprising Cat Facts - 10 Things You Don't Know About Your Favorite Feline
"After spending years with your cat, you may think you know everything there is to know about her. But here are 10 things that your favorite feline may not have gotten around to sharing with you.
1. A domestic cat can run about 31 mph. Running fast is something usually attributed to wild cats, gazelles and greyhounds, but your house kitty is pretty speedy.
2. It is possible for every kitten in a litter to have a different father. Hopefully, she is spayed so there's no risk of an unexpected pregnancy.
3. Cats walk on their toes, which probably accounts for their graceful movements. In ballet there is a step called pas de chat -- the cat step. It's a little jump to the side, but in truth nearly every move your cat makes is lovely.
4. A cat's collarbone isn't connected to his other bones; it's buried in the muscles, which is how kitty can fit through small places. He's not boneless -- even though it looks that way sometimes -- but he is adaptable. A cat actually has more bones than a human.
5. Your cat will respond only to catnip (an herb in the mint family) if she has the catnip gene. Not every cat is born with this gene, and it doesn't show up right away, so don't expect a young kitty to respond to catnip the way an older one will.
6. Thirty-two muscles control a cat's outer ear, and he can rotate it 10 times faster than a dog. In fact, kitty can rotate each ear 180 degrees.
7. Cats have scent glands in their cheeks, so if your cat rubs against you she is "marking" you as hers. She really does love you. She'll also mark furniture and clothing this way. Everything she likes is hers. It's also her way of leaving her "mark" to say that she was there.
8. Cats can move their jaws only up and down; they can't move them side to side like a dog or human.
9. Cats whiskers are extremely sensitive. They not only help the cat locate where she is in the dark, but how the cat moves them is an indicator of the cat's feelings at any given time. The top two rows of whiskers can move independently of the bottom two rows.
10. Cats are obligate carnivores. This means they must eat meat. So even if you're a vegetarian, you need to come to grips with the fact that your cat can't be. He will get very sick and die without meat in his diet. As you probably already know, spending time learning more about your cat is time well spent. In fact, these cat facts are just the tip of the iceberg. Your cat has much more to tell you if you pay attention, watch and learn.
As the late Ernest Hemingway said, "A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not"."
_____________
First the Intro: How to prepare and care for your cat or kitten:

How to pick up your cat or kitten:

About Cats: Think How They Think!

Introducing a new kitten:

Trimming their claws:

Caring for an older cat:

About cats:

_______________
On This Day:

Texas City explodes, Apr 16, 1947:

“A giant explosion occurs during the loading of fertilizer onto the freighter Grandcamp at a pier in Texas City, Texas, on this day in 1947. Nearly 600 people lost their lives and thousands were injured when the ship was literally blown to bits.
Ammonium nitrate was used as an explosive by the U.S. Army in World War II and, after the war ended, production of the chemical continued as its use as a fertilizer became accepted. However, the precautions used in its transport became far more lax in the post-war years.
On April 16, the Grandcamp was being loaded with ammonium nitrate as well as tobacco and government-owned ammunition. Cigarette smoking, although officially banned, was a common practice by longshoremen on the docks. Just two days prior to the explosion, a cigarette had caused a fire on the docks. On the morning of April 16, smoke was spotted deep within one of the Grandcamp's holds.
Some water and an extinguisher were used to fight the fire, but hoses were not employed for fear of ruining the cargo; there were already 2,300 tons loaded on the ship. While the ammunition was removed from the ship, the crew attempted to restrict oxygen to the hold in hopes of putting out the fire. Apparently they did not realize that because of ammonium nitrate's chemical composition, it does not require oxygen in order to burn.
By 9 a.m., flames had erupted from the hold and within minutes it exploded. The blast was heard 150 miles away and was so powerful that the ship's 1.5- ton anchor was found two miles away. The force of the explosion lifted another ship right out of the water. People working at the docks were killed instantly.
Pieces of flaming debris damaged the oil refineries in the area. A nearby Monsanto chemical storage facility also exploded, killing 234 of the 574 workers there. Nearly all of the survivors were seriously injured. A residential area of 500 homes was also leveled by the blast. Another ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying similar cargo, was pushed completely across the harbor. The crew fled when it came to rest, failing to notice that a fire had started and the next day their ship also exploded. Two people died.
In all, over 581 people died and 3,500 were injured. The explosion caused $100 million in damages. A long-disputed court case over the cause of the blast was resolved when Congress granted compensation to 1,394 victims. They received a total of $17 million in 1955. The port was rebuilt to handle oil products only.”
_______________
Yesterday:
Misty and I had a busy day.  After I had my coffee, I dressed in work clothes, and bathed Misty.  She doesn’t like being in the dog dryer, (a cage with heat blown in through the wire floor), so I only left her in there for 10 minutes and then blow-brush dried her.  She was all clean and fluffy.  Then it was time for me to get ready. 
I loaded the pet stroller in the van, and put Misty in her carrier and strapped it in with a seat belt.  I was expecting her to gripe, as she had the last time we went on a road trip.  Misty had grunted and groaned all the way, when I took her to my daughter’s lake house at Lake Somerville, TX, last year.  This time she was quiet and seemed to enjoy the 55 mile trip to Livingston Trades Days, where we were going to see Dog Tag Duncan and his famous puppy, Smokey. 
Some RV-Dreamers wintering in the Valley (Rio Grande Valley, or RGV as it is known) have seen Duncan’s Dog Tag Trailer over the years, and remarked about the big puppy.  It was good to see Duncan and Smokey again, before they head north again for the summer.  They are Full Time RVers, and “Sunbirds”!   I walked Misty around the flea market in the pet stroller, a first for her, and she loved it.  She is blind so I didn’t want her bumping into people, and I wasn’t about to carry her 16 lb chubby body.  She just can’t get the hang of a white stick!  Duncan had me to pick up some BBQ from one of the vendors, and we had a great lunch in his dog tag trailer.
Here are Smokey and Misty:

Smokey is now three years old and 150 lb.   Duncan made Misty a little bone-shaped dog tag with her name and phone number.  She was alert and attentive the whole time we were gone, and didn’t even get in her nap.
It dawned on me on the way home, that the first time I put Misty in a carrier, she thought she was going back to that terrible abusive house where she stayed after her “Dad” died, as that is how they had brought her here.  It was probably the first time she had ever been in a carrier, but now she knows that we only go to good places when she travels in it.  She ate her dinner and was stretched out asleep for rest of the day.