Author Archive
House Cats Control Humans, Feline Secret Exposed.
May 15, 2012 | Author Gracey
The Tiniest Tiger getting ready to unleash the manipulative meow.
House Cat Secret Cry Exposed
Human researchers have been trying to gain an understanding of inter-specific communication, the interactions between individuals of different species, for quite some time. Despite this desire, few studies sought out to understand the interactions between companion animals and the humans that share their habitat.
However, a recent study exposed one of the house cats best kept secrets, that cats are able to control their humans by making a subtle change in their purr that exploits the sensory biases of the humans that share their homes. Cats are able to embed a high frequency vocal component within their low frequency purr that triggers a sense of urgency in their humans.
House cats use many different tactics and signals to communicate with their humans. Sometimes if a cat feels a hunger pang and breakfast is not served, the cat might attempt to wake their parent by knocking items off of the night stand or leaping onto their beds and waking them with intense staring or a tap of the paw. If these efforts fail, the cat will turn to its secret weapon, the solicitation purr also known as the manipulative meow.
Posted in Cat Health, Gracey's Blog | 
Tags: House Cats, inter-specific communications, purr, purr embedded with cry | 
6 Comments »
Happy Mother’s Day to Lions, Tigers, House Cats and Humans
May 13, 2012 | Author Gracey
Happy Mother’s Day!
Sometimes it is easy to take for granted all the things that our mother’s do for us. On this day, I thought I would share with you just a few things mothers do for us for which we are grateful whether we are lions, tigers, house cats or humans.
Mothers Guide Us Down the Right Path
Photo courtesy of Bushbaby Travel
There are many paths to choose from while we learn our way in the world. Mothers do their best to guide us down the right path. It is up to us to listen.
Read the rest of this entry »
Iams Play Young Stay Young Honorable Mention Cat Delilah
May 12, 2012 | Author Gracey
Hey There Delilah!
Delilah is a beautiful tiger girl with white socks and a pretty pink nose. Delilah, who is 14 years young, earned an Honorable Mention in the Iams Senior Plus Play Young Stay Young Contest.
Here is what Delilah’s pet parent Carolyn from Flower Mound, Texas has to say about her young at heart girl:
If only I had half the energy that Delilah has. One of her favorite daily activities is to take the blanket on my bed and completely wad it up by kicking her back feet. Occasionally I catch her in the act which really embarrasses her. I think a life-long diet of Iams has kept her in top form… plus lots of TLC.
Posted in Gracey's Blog | Tags: Iams, Iams Senior Plus, Play Young Stay Young Contest | No Comments »
Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy Signed Copy Giveaway
May 10, 2012 | Author Gracey
Happy Book Release to Jackson Galaxy!
Jackson Galaxy
May 10, 2012 was the release day for Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love and Coming Clean, by Jackson Galaxy star of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell. Earlier this year, we talked tiger with Jackson about how his love for cats goes back to his youth when he was enamored of the big cats.
Today, Jackson, a cat behaviorist opens up his life, heart and soul in his new book, the fulfillment of a promise Jackson made to Benny his cat, that he would tell his story. When we spoke with Jackson a few days ago, he hoped readers would obtain a better understanding of how their own cat sees the world and if the reader is not already sharing their home with a cat, that the book would motivate the reader to adopt one!
Jackson credits Benny with saving his own life.
The book is about me and a cat named Benny, meeting each other at a busted up point in our lives, living a life together under incredible challenges, healing one another.”
Posted in Cat Chat- Gracey's Interviews, Gracey's Blog | Tags: Animal Planet, Benny, Cat Daddy, Cat mojo, Giveaway, Jackson Galaxy, My Cat From Hell | 59 Comments »
Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Reviewed Part 3
May 9, 2012 | Author Gracey
This is Thinking Gracey. When you see this image, you might want a "thinking beverage" and/or a nap.
The Cats Rule Dogs Drool Evidence
In Part 3 of our review of the New Scientist article that concluded dogs are smarter than cats we will move on to evaluate the final three categories: 9) Supersenses, 10)Eco-Friendliness and 11) Utility. In case you are new to our discussion, in Part 1 we reviewed: 1) Brains, 2) Shared History, 3) Bonding, 4)Popularity and 5)Understanding. In Part 2 we reviewed: 6) Problem Solving, 7) Vocalisation and 8 ) Tractability. The score:
Human Study Winner: Cats-3 Dogs-5 The Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-5+ Dogs 0
Let’s continue now with category nine.
9) SUPERSENSES
Does it even seem fair to compare dogs and cats in this category? The very word SUPERSENSES screams cat doesn’t it? Alas, here is what the humans had to say about the senses.
a) SMELL Even though endless breeds of dogs have been created trying to tweak the canine’s perceptual ability, the average cat out sniffs the average dog. With one exception, the bloodhound’s nose contains 300 million smell receptor sites. However the average dog’s olfactory receptors range from 125 -250 million whereas the average cat has 200 million smell receptors. SMELL GOES TO THE CATS!
Posted in Gracey's Blog | Tags: auditory range, cats, Dogs, flicker-fusion rate, New Scientist, supersenses, The Lazy Leopard Research Institute | 2 Comments »
Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Claims Flawed Part 2
May 8, 2012 | Author Gracey
This is Thinking Gracey. When you see this image, you might want a "thinking beverage" and/or a nap.
Dogs Smarter than Cats?
As we discussed in Part 1 of our review, we think the claims made that dogs are smarter than cats in a New Scientist article are flawed and we continue on with our explanation of why we think so here in Part 2.
When we left Part 1 we had reviewed five of the eleven categories: 1)Brains, 2)Shared History, 3) Bonding, 4) Popularity and 5) Understanding. The score:
Human Study Winner: Cats-2 Dogs-3 The Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-2+ Dogs 0-
Let’s continue now with category six.
6) PROBLEM SOLVING
The human study claims that both cats and dogs do fairly well at finding bits of food hidden from them, even though cats hunt for the food on their own and the dogs cheat by asking their pet parents for help as reviewed in category 5-Understanding.
The humans go on to say that not much else is known about the cat’s ability to solve problems. Dogs on the other hand, have been tested ad nauseum. And guess what? The dogs have failed their testing and compared to their wolf cousins, should be wearing dunce caps.
Wolves were able to open a door with a complicated catch simply by watching another wolf do it and the dogs could not figure it out even after years of watching the door open and close. Cats were not tested, so The Lazy Leopard Research Institute* would like to inject an example of a clever cat solving a problem without the help of humans. If you would please direct your attention to this short video:
Notice how Oscar was able to do the math to calculate the leaping distance to grab the handle and then uses his back legs to push off gaining the leverage needed to open the freezer door. Then carefully jumps down and recalculates the distance to leap up into the freezer to snag the fish sticks. Oscar did not need to observe one of our brilliant wildcat cousins either, he just figured it out on his own.
Posted in Gracey's Blog | Tags: cats, Dogs, dogs smarter than cats, New Scientist, Tractability, Understanding, Vocalisation, wolves | 16 Comments »
Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Claims Flawed Part 1
May 6, 2012 | Author Gracey
This is Thinking Gracey. When you see this image, you might want a "thinking beverage" and/or a nap.
Dogs more Intelligent than Cats?
Dogs and cats were evaluated in eleven categories in an attempt to determine which species is more intelligent. I know, this is like trying to determine which is of greater value, a piece of limestone gravel or an emerald but try to control any hissing and fat tails. The New Scientist article’s shocking research results show a clear bias towards dogs with the canines awarded 6 points and the felines a meager 5.
Research Study Demonstrates Clear Bias Towards Dogs
Dogs celebrating the declaration that they are smarter than cats came a wee bit early in our opinion. And just like dancing in the end zone, this display of excessive celebration usually results in a penalty. So, The Lazy Leopard Research Institute is about to blow the whistle and place a flag on the play.
While our canine compadres celebrated by fetching toys, speaking on demand, and toasting with toilet water cocktails, their fellow felines were hard at work analyzing the data. Here is what the superior minds at The Lazy Leopard Research Institute* found out.
1) BRAINS
The average dog brain weighs in at 64 grams and the average domestic cat’s brain weighs 25 grams. This stands to reason as dogs on average are much heavier than the typical house cat. What is more important than simply brain size, not a reliable measure of intelligence, is to take a look at the brains information processing capacity: the number of neurons in the cortex, known as the executive brain. Cats clearly rule with 300 million neurons compared with a mere 160 million in dogs. We have created a chart to rub it in, we mean to make it easier to compare.
Human Study Winner: Cats-1 Dogs-0 The Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-1+ Dogs 0-
At this point, do we need to even go on? We cats are not ones to kick a dog when it is down but in the interest of science we must follow through.
Cats Love KatKabins! ScracthKabin Giveaway!
May 2, 2012 | Author Gracey
Super Hurrah and Congratulations to J.M. Blanchard the winner of the ScratchKabin.
I am a Cat and I love my ScratchKabin™
Friends, when I told you about the ScratchKabin™ the nice people from KatKabin® gave me to try, there was such a positive reaction, they decided to give a ScratchKabin™ to one lucky member of our The Tiniest Tiger community. Super Hurrah!
My Safe Place in a Storm
The ScratchKabin™ arrived at my habitat and I could not hardly wait to hop inside. I feel snug and cozy inside. The top is curved just perfect for me to scratch and scratch and scratch. Now when people come to visit, or we have a mild thunderstorm, I can dash inside my ScratchKabin™ and feel safe and secure.
Super Stylish Too!
And my parents like that it is stylish and fits just perfect under the end table. The new ScratchKabin™ comes with a washable KatKushion, (which my over protective mom washed right away) a free toy hanger and sisal mouse toy and is available in three colors; Oatmeal, Blueberry or Cocoa. Mine is the Oatmeal.
The ScratchKabin™ Giveaway
How to Enter
This contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation. Stay tuned for other exciting giveaways.
Pounce on over to the KatKAbin© website and tell me below in the comments which color you would like to win. Then tell me if you think your cat would like the ScratchKabin™ as much as me.
The Rules:
Contest closes on Tuesday, May 8 at 5 pm Eastern. Please one comment per person. I will enter all names in to Randomizer.com. The winner will be notified by email or through facebook depending on the contact information you provide. Make sure you are watching for an email from me. The subject line will say ScratchKabin Winner. Void where prohibited by law.
Don’t forget to enter our Hill’s Science Diet Hairball Control cat food giveaway! Pounce here.
Disclosure: We were given one ScratchKabin™ by KatKabin®. No other compensation was awarded for this post.
Posted in Feline Friendly Products, Gracey's Blog, Product Giveaways | Tags: KatKabin, ScratchKabin, The Tiniest Tiger community | 126 Comments »
1 More Important Timeline Tip from The Tiniest Tiger
April 30, 2012 | Author Gracey
It has been a little over one month since our The Tiniest Tiger Facebook page converted to the new Timeline design. Although many were worried and frustrated at first, I think most of us have adjusted quite nicely and in fact might even find some things about the new Timeline that we like. Reviewing the 10 Timeline Tips from The Tiniest Tiger I wrote last month to help us prepare for the Timeline change, I realized I forgot to add one of the most important tips of all and that is how to make sure we do not miss any posts, photos, and links from our Friends.
So today I want to share with you, how to make sure we all stay connected and socially engaged with one another in our The Tiniest Tiger community. Here we go.
1 More Super Important Timeline Tip from The Tiniest Tiger
Step 1) Locate the little rectangle in the center of the page with the word Highlights.
The blue arrow is pointing to the little rectangle in the center of the page.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Gracey's Blog | Tags: facebok, social engagement, The Tiniest Tiger's Facebook Page, Timeline, Timeline tips | 6 Comments »
Spotless Cheetah Sighted in Kenya, First in Nearly 100 Years
April 29, 2012 | Author Gracey
A rare big cat was sighted by Guy Combes, a British Wildlife photographer after he had heard about several reported sightings of a lesser-spotted cheetah in the Kenyan plains. After looking high from an airplane and low from a Land Rover, Combes gave up trying and went back to Nairobi. After receiving a call that the unique cheetah had been seen, he decided to try again.
This time Combes came within fifty yards of the incredibly rare spotless adult cheetah with its spotted mother. Experts say the last recorded sighting of a cheetah with a plain tawny coat with freckles but no spots was in 1921, nearly one hundred years ago.
Photo by Guy Combes/BNPS.co.uk
Posted in Our Big Cat Cousins, The smaller Big Cats | Tags: "King" Cheetah, Asiatic Cheetah, Athi Kapiti Conservancy, Cheetah, Guy Combes, Kenya | 15 Comments »
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Advertisements: