Cat Zodiac Signs

Sorry, Fido, It’s Just a Guy Thing

IF you ask Adam Fulrath who is the love of his life, he will barely blink an eye before responding: Parappa.

Marilynn K. Yee

MAN’S NEW Best Friend 

Adam Fulrath, a k a “straight geeky guy,” with his cat Parappa, a k a his “primary relationship.”

Larry W. Smith for The New York Times

Paul Klusman has featured his cats in a YouTube video. They are, from top, Zoey, Ginger and Oscar.

Mr. Fulrath, a 37-year-old design director at Time Out New York, keeps five photographs of Parappa, a shorthaired, bicolored, mixed-breed cat, on his desktop. He knows that it might be considered a little weird that a grown man would be so enamored with his kitty, but Mr. Fulrath, who is into video games and comic books and calls himself a “straight, geeky guy,” doesn’t care.

“She’s my primary relationship,” he said.

Mr. Fulrath is one of a growing number of single — and yes, heterosexual — men who seem to be coming out of the cat closet and unabashedly embracing their feline side. To that end, they are posting photographs and videos of their little buddies on YouTube and on Web sites like menandcats.com, and Twittering about them to anyone who will listen.

Indeed, it seems that man’s best friend is no longer a golden retriever, but a cuddly cat named Fluffy. This movement, such as it is, is in direct contrast to the most notable in the recent spate of reports about the relationship between a man and a cat, which were far darker; they focused on a young actor who was recently on trial in New York City for killing his girlfriend’s cat — he said it attacked him — only to have a jury decide after several days that it could not reach a verdict.

If it had been a little less violent, that case might have been more in line with what the world seems to expect of men and cats.

The image of the crazy spinster cat lady persists, and plenty of people do wonder about a guy with a cat. As a writer on adventuresofacitygirl.blogspot.com put it: “Single men and cats are like a burger and broccoli. Separately they are okay, but together it just seems off.”

But those who see a growing link between men and cats see that attitude (not to mention the cat slaying) as old-fashioned.

Clea Simon, who wrote “The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats,” said: “I do think it has become more acceptable for men to own cats — partly for practical reasons, like the growing realization that they’re better city pets, and partly the whole acceptance of our cross-gender traits that men crave intimacy, too.”

Stacy Mantle, the founder of Petsweekly.com, a magazine for pet lovers, said that men are becoming more “cat literate” because they themselves are evolving.

“It’s the unevolved members of the species who tend toward abuse of cats — and oftentimes, women and children,” said Ms. Mantle, who owns 18 cats.

Although there are no hard (or soft) statistics (it is rare to find an owner, man or woman, walking a cat in public), it seems that single, heterosexual male cat owners are on the rise. Over the last few years Sandra DeFeo, an executive director at the Humane Society of New York, said she had seen an increase in the number of single, straight men who are adopting cats.

Carole Wilbourn, a cat therapist (yes, really) in Manhattan, said that the number of her single, straight male clients has risen about 25 percent over the last five years.

When the Web site PetPlace.com asked its readers, “Do Real Men Own Cats?” almost 84 percent of respondents said “yes.” “Only intelligent, aware, caring men love cats,” one reader said. And in a 2005 survey by Cats Protection, an animal welfare agency in the United Kingdom, the majority of the 790 people who responded said it was cool for a guy to own cats.

This line of thinking does not surprise cat lovers, many of whom believe that only pillars of virility and masculinity would dare to own one. They are quick to point out other well-known macho cat owners: Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, Victor Hugo and Marlon Brando, who reportedly found a stray cat on the set of “The Godfather” and incorporated it into a scene.

John Scalzi, 39, an author in Bradford, Ohio, has been a cat guy his entire life. In September 2006, he posted a picture of a piece of bacon taped to his cat, Ghlaghghee (pronounced Fluffy — an ode to George Bernard Shaw), on his Web site www.scalzi.com/whatever. Thousands of viewers apparently found this hilarious.

Mr. Scalzi, who is now married and has a daughter, blames Hollywood for the continual bad rap that has befallen the male cat owner. Originally, he said, only strong men like Don Corleone, or the villains in a James Bond film, had cats.

“But then in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, Hollywood decided that we need to have the token gay man as the witty sidekick friend of the main female protagonist,” he said. “ ‘What kind of signature thing can we give him to convey that he is not an entirely masculine being? I know! We’ll give him a big fluffy cat!’ ”

In fact, Mr. Scalzi thinks that dogs are for the weaker of spirit, since the dog is, in effect, “your wingman.”

“If you’re feeling insecure about your space in the world, you get a dog because he will always back you up,” he said. “He’s the insecure man’s best friend.”

A man with a cat, on the other hand, “is secure with himself,” he said. “He’s sharing his space with a predator.”

Many women agree that guys with cats are extra special.

“They make the best boyfriends because they’re totally cool with staying home and watching a movie,” said Elizabeth Daza, 28, a video producer in Manhattan, who dated a cat-owning man for eight years. “Straight men with cats seem to be really secure and stable. They don’t need to be running around the park and proving their masculinity like the dog guys.”

On a practical level, cats are easier, male owners say — especially if they (the men) travel a lot. They can leave the cat alone for days on end, and the cat will survive.

“I would feel guilty if I had a dog and was out of the country for three weeks,” said Mark Fletcher, 38, an entrepreneur in Redwood City, Calif. who has two cats, Einstein and Babe (as in Ruth).

What’s more, cats are relatively low maintenance.

“A dog is a lot of work,” said Nader Ali-Hassan, 29, an account executive with a digital marketing firm in Cleveland.

Although he is married, he has had cats his entire life, and even has a picture of Ringo, a longtime feline companion, in his office.

“Maybe it’s not the most masculine thing in the world, but I’m comfortable enough in my own manhood,” he said. “The cat’s nice. I come home after a long day of work, it sits in my lap, I pet it, and then it goes about its business.”

SOME guys are even using their cats as vehicles to celebrity, like Paul Klusman, 39, a Wichita, Kan., engineer who catapulted to Internet fame after posting “An Engineer’s Guide to Cats” on YouTube in April.

The film, which features his three cats, Oscar, Ginger and Zoey, garnered about 3 million views. Mr. Klusman said he received about 300 marriage proposals from “lonely cat ladies from all over the world,” in addition to more risqué propositions.

“Any single, straight man who has the slightest bit of insecurity about his own sexuality will probably find it difficult to admit to owning or even appreciating cats” he said, echoing Mr. Scalzi’s sentiments.

Of course, it can become tricky, like when the cat gets in the way of a relationship.

The Cats Protection study found that single male cat owners were more likely than their female counterparts to have made, or consider making, a sacrifice for their cat — including giving up a holiday or going into debt for their cat if necessary.

Single men were also almost as likely as single women to break a friendship rather than lose their cat, and would consider choosing their cat over their partner.

This happened to Mr. Fulrath, who dated a woman who was allergic to cats.

“I thought, ‘This is never going to work,’ ” he recalled. “My cat takes priority over the new relationship. Realistically, unless there’s something absolutely amazing about her, he wins.”

Miss Connecticut Contestant Sponsors Virtual Cat Pageant For A Good Cause

Tales Of Rescue

Marisa Barnard of Bristol, the reigning Miss Naugatuck Valley, has created… (Cloe Poisson, Hartford…)

|By BETHE DUFRESNE

As the young beauty queen behind this month's Miss/Mr. ConnectiCAT Pageant peruses photos submitted on behalf of her CATestants, she must be feeling at least a touch of envy. One cat is dressed up in a cheerleader outfit. Another is wearing a lobster hat. How did their owners manage this?

‘Purrfect’ Match: ‘Cat Whisperer’ Mieshelle Nagelschneider & ‘Cat Daddy’ Jackson Galaxy Join Forces for Stray Cat Alliance

Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska 

Stray Cat Alliance

Stray Cat Alliance

Earlier this summer, Lucy Noland, a co-anchor at NBC4 News in Los Angeles, shared some impressive achievements in regard to battling a crisis faced by many metropolitan areas in the US—an out of control stray cat population.
Notice I said “stray” and not “feral cat“ population, as the problem demographic seems to be comprised of stray animals here in Los Angeles, according to the cat rescue and advocacy organization, Stray Cat Alliance.

This distinction, as made by national cat advocacy organization Alley Cat Allies, is important because stray cats, like “resident” cats in the home, are socialized to people and can be acclimated or reconditioned to life inside where they can once again thrive as companion animals.

By helping to reduce the overpopulation of stray cats through owner and would-be owner education and more directly by neutering (removing reproductive organs of either gender) adult and sub-adult cats, Stray Cat Alliance is profoundly mitigating potential concerns associated with an overwhelmingly large free-roaming population of stray cats.
The organization not only prevents recruitment of strays into feral populations, which are more challenging to deal with, and the birth of unwanted litters through humane intervention, but it provides permanent and foster homes for strays.
To top it off, Stray Cat Alliance works anywhere there is a need. This includes low income neighborhoods, which may require the most attention. In such areas, clientele and other residents may be entirely unaware or, at least, incapable of employing responsible measures to care for an already overwhelming number of domestic felids out “on the prowl.”

Christi Metropole, the Executive Director of the Stray Cat Alliance said, “in two years her organization has neutered over 5000 cats in its effort to help Los Angeles become a “no kill” city.

But she and her staff and hundreds of volunteers have more ambitious plans. They hope to not only build a “no kill” city, but become a model for other metropolitan areas in hope of building a “no kill” nation; and they are doing it one stray at a time for a huge stray cat population, which is commensurate with a city as large a size as Los Angeles. It’s a big problem.

(Stray Cat Alliance)

The most responsible thing a cat owner can do is keep his or her cat indoors, and certainly make sure they are spayed or neutered and vaccinated.
Animal advocacy groups like the Stray Cat Alliance are ardent supporters of Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR). This method of population control is considered quite humane and supports the “no kill” agenda of Stray Cat Alliance and complements the organization’s rescue efforts.
Some wildlife conservationists argue that TNR programs have limitations as a measure for controlling stray and feral cat populations. Their concern is that the practice may not adequately address issues more peripherally related to population control, like the impact free-roaming domestic cats have on veterinary public health and human health in terms of communicable disease transmission, or the impact cats may have on wildlife populations.

Christi Metropole, Executive Director of Stray Cat Alliance

Disciples of activist and lawyer Nathan Winograd, like Ms. Metropole, are indeed, ardent supporters of Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) programs. Ms. Metrople is acknowledged for having said the following:

“For every dollar you spend on spay or neutering cats, you save $10 that you would spend on warehousing, killing and disposing of that animal.”

A recent study suggests that vasectomized or hysterectomized (TVHR) cat populations are even less sustainable or easier to extinguish than TNR populations.  In fact, in a blog post summarizing the study, Nat Geo News staff writer Christine Dell’Amore reported the following:

“The results showed that if 35 percent of a cat population underwent TVHR, that population would be reduced by half and would disappear in 11 years. Alternatively, if the cat population underwent TNR, 82 percent of cats would need to be captured and neutered in order to eliminate the colony in 11 years.”

This is promising news. However, in that same post, Christine reported that “Sheilah Robertson of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Welfare Division also noted that “it’s unlikely a single tactic will be a cure-all” for the feral-cat problem.”
I myself, a wildlife conservationist, am writing a book about the unfortunate plight of black cats—animals that often end up the last to leave shelters, if they leave at all. I’ve always been enamored with the “big cats,” but more recently I acquired an affinity for “house” cats, especially black cats—the true underdog. Many are euthanized because no one ever rescues them.
Black Cat Rescue in Boston, like Stray Cat Alliance in Los Angeles, is praised by cat enthusiasts.  Like the Stray Cat Alliance, they are finding homes for otherwise unwanted animals and making critical contributions to cats in need of homes and capable of being helped.
Black cats, in particular, have suffered greatly for centuries at the hands of humans. They have been abused and outright tortured. Their story has been likened to the Holocaust. And it has moved me beyond words.
I may have been born a “dog” person and as a zoologist I studied bears—and I guess I’ve to become a “bear” person. With that said, learning of the persecution of black cats over a period of centuries has facilitated my conversion to a “crazy cat guy.”
And after learning how many black cats have been euthanized because of a larger issue of overpopulation, I can’t go back.

An outrageous number of pets have been overlooked and neglected with respect to responsible cat ownership. Black cats continue to be abused due to the persistence of pure mythology, but all cats suffer when their human caretakers act irresponsibly.

“The reason people are so mesmerized by house cats is because they are truly miniature versions of lions, tigers, and leopards.

Mieshelle explains in an unprecedented and a most accessible way, the behavior of the house cat, with her unique insight into the often misunderstood companion animal that is as wild as we have become civilized.” -Jordan Carlton Schaul

(Range of Domestic Cat) NGS

The following excerpt was taken from the National Geographic Society webpage on domestic cats:

“Domestic cats, no matter their breed, are all members of one species.
Felis catus has had a very long relationship with humans. Ancient Egyptians may have first domesticated cats as early as 4,000 years ago.
Plentiful rodents probably drew wild felines to human communities. The cats’ skill in killing them may have first earned the affectionate attention of humans. Early Egyptians worshiped a cat goddess and even mummified their beloved pets for their journey to the next world—accompanied by mummified mice! Cultures around the world later adopted cats as their own companions.

(Nat Geo Archives)

Like their wild relatives, domestic cats are natural hunters able to stalk prey and pounce with sharp claws and teeth.
They are particularly effective at night, when their light-reflecting eyes allow them to see better than much of their prey. Cats also enjoy acute hearing. All cats are nimble and agile, and their long tails aid their outstanding balance.
Cats communicate by marking trees, fence posts, or furniture with their claws or their waste. These scent posts are meant to inform others of a cat’s home range. House cats employ a vocal repertoire that extends from a purr to a screech.
Domestic cats remain largely carnivorous, and have evolved a simple gut appropriate for raw meat. They also retain the rough tongue that can help them clean every last morsel from an animal bone (and groom themselves). Their diets vary with the whims of humans, however, and can be supplemented by the cat’s own hunting successes.” -National Geographic Society

About the Author

Jordan Carlton Schaul

Dr. Jordan Carlton Schaul is a “retired” zoo keeper and exotic animal trainer based in Los Angeles, California. He recently joined the LA’s own Wildlife Waystation as their Director of Advancement.
Jordan just returned from India, where he served as a consulting adviser for communication, development and scientific research programs for the largest animal welfare and conservation organization in South Asia, Wildlife SOS. Wildlife SOS’s sister charity, Friendicoes, is dedicated to helping companion animals in need of rescue on the subcontinent.
Prior to his work in India, Jordan served as general curator and conservation biologist for zoological facilities in California and Alaska, including the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
Jordan began his career as a wildlife professional at a zoo in Ohio and worked with the animal care department at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts before moving on to four other zoological facilities.
He is an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage and an affiliate research scientist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Jordan is an ex officio council member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management and a former member of the Bear Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (United Nations Commission).
Dr. Schaul is writing a new book on melanistic (black cats) and looks forward to seeing you at the event on October 19th.
For Jordan’s complete biography, please visit his author page on this National Geographic Society website and to subscribe to his Nat Geo blog feed, visit this link