Hi all! I was happy to note you seemed to approve of my post about working cats. So I decided to explore this topic further. I did some digging around and managed to unearth some incredible stories about cats with jobs for you. Enjoy!
When you think about jobs for cats, the most obvious line of work for them would be rodent control. And indeed, there have been many famous mouse-catchers in history. The cat currently holding the title of World’s Best Mouser is Towser, who was the resident cat of the Famous Grouse distillery in Scotland. She is listed in the Guinness Book of Records with an impressive number of 28,899 mice caught in her lifetime of 24 years.
As a nation of animal-lovers, of course the UK has officially appointed a Chief Mouser to the Cabinet. The cat currently in charge of rodent control at Downing Street is Larry, a tabby and white rescue cat. Larry has also had a postive influence on international relations by getting on well with President Obama. 🙂
But there’s something else cats are good at. They are great company. They are warm, furry and loving. Maybe they aren’t very suitable for being trained as physical assistance animals, but therapy cats are on the rise. There are some amazing stories out there about the emotional support a cat can give people.
Take for example Oscar, a cat who lives in an American nursing home. When a terminally ill patient is about to die, Oscar jumps on their bed and lies with them until they have passed away. This kitty provides invaluable, quiet comfort in the final hours of these people. Oscar’s sixth sense is so accurate, that the nursing home staff call the patient’s family as soon as they see the cat lying on somebody’s bed. I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a very peaceful way to go, with a purring kitty next to you…
Then there is Bodacious, the Irish sheep herding cat. He is right out there in the fields with his farmer human, watching over the sheep, comforting ewes giving birth, warming chilled lambs and generally being supportive. His human says she couldn’t do the job without him.
My own pet zoo cats do a lot of emotional support, too. They come right up to people, purring and wanting to be petted. Children adore them, some come especially to visit the cats. As for me – I love all my animals, but the cats are special to me. They are like co-workers. They catch mice, chase off crows and snakes, but never touch the pet zoo animals. They guard against other, feral cats who might try to snack on chicks. They are members of my team.
Where cats go, they bring joy. Therapy cats bring love and healing power to hospitals, nursing homes, schools, war veterans and so on. Cats literally have healing properties. Stroking a cat lowers heart rate and blood pressure, relieves anxiety and depression and even heals physical problems. The vibration of a cat’s purring has been shown to promote bone density and reduce joint inflammation.
No wonder snuggling with a cat is so blissfull. My 9 year old son does not go to sleep without a cat in his bed. Now I know why! 🙂
Apart from mousers and therapy cats, there are some cats with very unusual jobs indeed. There have been several cats in politics, like Stubbs, who has been mayor of Alaskan town Talkeetna since 1997, and Catmando, the official leader of a UK political party (the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, admittedly). Right now, a cat called Limberbutt is running for US president, with the slogan “Meow is the time.” Go Limberbutt!!
One more thing cats are good at: massage! The kneading movements they like to make with their front paws makes for a great massage, as many pet owners have found out. Recently, I learned in the Catington Post of the existence of Cat Massage Parlors in Japan, where people can opt to have a cat help massaging them, by sitting on their backs and kneading with their kitty paws. How fun and relaxing would that be!! (Although to be honest, when my own cats do this, their nails kind of bother me…)
Cats can do anything. There are cats who are station masters, police officers, hotel hosts and security guards. Cats can be movie stars, artists and internet celebrities. They can even be deities. There is nothing cats can’t do!
We hope you enjoyed this post! My pet zoo cats, Tseli and Stav, and my three house cats invite you all to visit my pet zoo blog: Pet Zoo Kibbutz Shiller. Thanks and see you soon!
Tarnegolita.
Oh they are amazing,,our kitties!
Interesting post and great read-thanks!
Well some of my catz have jobz, besides mousers that is: Colton chases dogs, No Neck Monster chases Tatt, babies chase babies, Spitz keepz the bogie man at bay, and finally Jillian Titten steals other mothers’ kittens. The rest of the motley crew just eat.
However they are very good at it….professional eaters if you will…and all very adept at knocking things off and breaking them. ~~~dru~~~
Every cat has their own talent! 🙂
Well, there you have it: cats rule! I’m a writer, my brofur Bilbo is a singer, and our sisfur Tammy is a ballerina. We’re a very cultured family!
Definitely a very accomplished cat family!
Reblogged this on Rattiesforeverworldpresscom.
Great post!
Reblogged this on Hell onWheels/Life One Handed and commented:
I’m wanting to get funding for Jamima from the NDIS. I might not be able to as I’ve had her longer than I’ve had my disability. And not as long as I’ve had my AVM. So, the prosecution rests!
You have a therapy cat? How interesting! Does she help you in many ways?
I often warn my careers apolagetically, Jamima made a mess. I’m referring to the contents of the tray & the floor surrounding the tray (with the kitty litter)and my crazy-cat lady Carer replies; “That’s ok, that’s her job!” She is not talking about her responsibilities as my Carer but Jamima’s.
And they are great at it indeed! 😉
Great post! I am convinced that Mr. M is a writer’s muse, though he is very subtile about it. Reblogging.
Thanks!! Glad you liked it! Of course, muse would be one of the many jobs cats could do perfectly well! I suppose Mr. M doesn’t want to brag 😉
No, he doesn’t brag, but after one of our books gets a particularly good review, I’ve seen him twirl his whiskers. ;-)))
beautiful. animals are wonderful creatures </3
Great post.
My job is to be adorable and I do it so well!
Have a wonderful weekend…
Noodle and crew
I’m sure you are doing a great job at that, Noodle! 🙂 Thanks for reading! xx
Most interesting! Now why I haven’t I heard of Limberbutt running for U.S. Pres? Why, I know where my vote would go! 😀
Sadly I cannot vote in the US! But a cat for prime minister might be the best thing that ever happened to my country! 😉
Sounds like we might be in the same boat, different country…. 😛 😉
I keep telling my Henry to get a job, I don’t think he’s listening…:)
I’m going to borrow your cat purr image for a bit.
Of course, I borrowed it off the internet anyway! I think your Henry already has a job – human companion! 😉
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LOVE this article….so cute!
A fun read. Cats are so adept at so many things. We should appreciate them more and take better care of them. Especially the homeless and Feral ones.
Now there’s a thought! We could have therapy cats for rescue cats! Cats who help other cats after being rescued from the streets! 😀
Good idea. Cats would love it.
Great article! Cats are so amazing, and really good at such a wide range of things. Our housepanthers, Zoe and Gracie, take their jobs of being loving, funny companions very seriously. 🙂
But of course! They feel responsible for the emotional health of their humans! 😉
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine and commented:
Wow great post.
Really enjoyed your post. Yes, cat purrs are very soothing and healing and sitting stroking a cat lets us slow down and just be for a while.
Meditation teachers. Cats would be good at that, too! 🙂
cats are purrfect!
LOL. I think cats are fascinating creatures. I’m highly allergic or I’d have one (along with my little Shih Tzu – one of the few dog breeds that doesn’t trigger my allergies).
Somewhere on the web I read a post about agility training for cats. (They said it couldn’t be done, right?) I seem to recall that they even compete. The man who developed this cat-specific training with a difference is the son of a woman who is an agility trainer for dogs. Might make an interesting post if you could find out more about it.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
That is a brilliant idea!! Thank you so much. I will definitely check that out! I myself am quite fascinated by agility for rabbits! It’s the funniest thing! 😀
Rabbits? That WOULD be a hoot. Animals are so much smarter than people who don’t live with pets ever believe – kinda’ frosts my grapes.
I did a Monday Grumpy Monday post prompted when I read a snarky article I found in an alternative paper about supposedly new findings on the intelligence of dogs: “Science CONFIRMS what we have always known – again.”
It includes a video of a Shih Tzu who can shape sort and count. Amazing, huh? (you can use the search box at the top of my site to find it).
Eager to see what you dig up about agility and cats.
xx,
mgh
I’ve seen a couple of great videos already! I don’t think my grumpy cats would ever do this! Fantastic to see these cats flying over the course! 😀
Given the little I know about cats, never able to live with one, it would seem to me that “training” cats would be closer to “inspiring” cats. I’d love to watch how they train them. I can’t imagine. xx, mgh
Yes, I imagine that you’d have to ‘seduce’ them to take the jumps! In the videos, people are using clicker training successfully though! Very interesting and fun to watch! 🙂
Clicking before or after? Cats are curious. No, no – I shall let you do the research and then follow the leads in your eventual article.
xx,
mgh
With one of my patients there were cats everywhere. On his bed…on his wheel chair…in my lap as I did nurse’s notes. I really miss that family…my patient…his mom…his siblings and his cats especially his special needs cat Rascal.
This most as informative as it was entertaining. Thank you for sharing and thank you for following my blog.
With one of my patients there were cats everywhere. On his bed…on his wheel chair…in my lap as I did nurse’s notes. I really miss that family…my patient…his mom…his siblings and his cats especially his special needs cat Rascal. A very informative and entertaining post. Thank you for sharing and thank you for following my blog.
There is also Palmerston, a handsome black and white gentle paws, who is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Cat. He shares his office with the Permanent Under Secretary : @SMcDonaldFCO Palmerston has his own Twitter account @DiploMog and was adopted from the Battersea Home for dogs and cats .
Perhaps you could do a story about him. He is has a lot of PR responsibilities so u could probably even “interview” him and do a photo shoot. I am sure ons of people would enjoy reading about him as much as I do
I didn’t know about him, how wonderful! That’s a great idea, thanks! ?
We featured a general press story before but you are right we should try and get our own audience! 😀
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