Beautiful Community Calico Cat in Tampines

A community ginger cat called Orange-Boy

Hair Salon Cat

Community Calico Cat of Tampines

"Please practise some tolerance. We don't ask for much. Just to allow us to live just as you want to, too. We are afraid to die, just as you are, too."

"If you are afraid of us, just leave us alone. If you like us, we love you too."

Animal lovers, beware what you call yourselves

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/animals/news/article.cfm?c_id=500834&objectid=10723578

Are you a pet 'owner' or 'human caregiver'? A new publication called The Journal of Animal Ethics says the terms you use to describe yourself may affect how you treat the animals around you. Photo / Thinkstock

Are you the "owner" of a dog or cat? Maybe you should consider yourself a "human caregiver" instead.

A new academic publication says such vocabulary changes can help humans elevate the discourse about other species. That, in turn, can help improve our treatment of them.

The Journal of Animal Ethics recommends pets be called "companion animals" and that phrases such as "eat like a pig" be banished.

Journal co-editor Andrew Linzey insists the suggestions are not about being politically correct. He says people need to see the connection between what they think and say about animals, and how they treat them.

Some animal welfare experts say it's a worthy discussion but that language is not the only hindrance to better treatment.

- AP

The world's loudest cat

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10723794

File photo / Thinkstock

It's official: Smokey the cat has roared her way into Guinness World Records having achieved the loudest purr by a domestic cat.

Guinness says the grey-and-white tabby from the Midlands in the UK earned her place with record-setting 67.7 decibels.

In a video on the cat's website, the 12-year-old, ordinary-size feline purrs with a sound akin to the cooing of an angry dove.

Smokey first rose to prominence in February, when her owner, Ruth Adams, ran a local competition for the most powerful purr. A community college recorded the purr and submitted it to Guinness.

Guinness says the loudest animal sounds are the low-frequency pulses made by blue whales and fin whales when they communicate with each other - sounds that reach 188 decibels.

By comparison, a lawnmower is 90 decibels.

- AP

A community cat in a condo near Pasir Ris

Seen at the guard-house