Cats always seem so very wise, when staring with their half-closed eyes. Can they be thinking, 'I'll be nice, and maybe she will feed me twice?'        

                                                                      ---Author:  Bette Midler, Entertainer   

Why is a Cat called a Cat?

The name Cat is used by almost every European nation with a slight variation:  

The word for cat in ancient Egypt was Mau. It is also found in countries around the Mediterranean: in yiddish it is kats, in greek, ga'ta, and in maltese qattus. The source appears to be Arabic, because the oldest use of it is found in North Africa, where it is quttah. And there is a similar word used by the Berber tribesman.

This fits with the idea that all domestic cats are descended from the North African wild cat, felis lybica, via domestication by the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians also provide us with an explanation of why we call a cat puss or pussy, these being variations of the name of the early Egyptian cat goddess, Bast (pronounced Pasht). Tying the animal even tighter to this part of the world is the origin of the word tabby, which comes from its Turkish name utabi. And the general word for a cat in Turkey is kedi, which has probably given us our pet word kitty.

Other Countries:

1 - Law of Cat Inertia
A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.

2 - Law of Cat Motion
A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

3 - Law of Cat Magnetism
All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.

4 - Law of Cat Thermodynamics
Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, all heat flows to the cat.

5 - Law of Cat Stretching
A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.

6 - Law of Cat Sleeping
All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.

7 - Law of Cat Elongation
A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any countertop, that has anything remotely interesting on it.

8 - Law of Cat Acceleration
A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop.

9 - Law of Dinner Table Attendance
Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.

10 - Law of Rug Configuration
No rug may remain in its naturally flat state, for very long.

11 - Law of Obediance Resistance
A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to do something.

12 - First Law of Energy Conservation
Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.

13 - Second Law of Energy Conservation
Cats also know that energy can only be stored, by a lot of napping.

14 - Law of Refrigerator Observation
If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat.

15 - Law of Electric Blanket Attraction
Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.

16 - Law of Random Comfort Seeking
A cat will will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.

17 - Law of Bag / Box Occupancy
All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.

18 - Law of Cat Embarrassment
A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment times the amount of human laughter.

19 - Law of Milk Consumption
A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.

20 - Law of Furniture Replacement
A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

21 - Law of Cat Landing
A cat will always land in the softest place possible.

22 - Law of Fluid Displacement
A cat immersed in milk will displace her own volume, minus the amount of milk consumed.

23 - Law of Cat Disinterest
A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a human expends in trying to interest him.

24 - Law of Pill Rejection
Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.

25 - Law of Cat Composition
A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter.

26 - Law of Selective Listening
Although a cat can hear a can of tuna being opened a mile away, she can't hear a simple command three feet away.

27 - Law of Equidistant Separation
All cats in a given room will locate at points equidistant from each other, and equidistant from the center of the room.

28 - Law of Cat Invisibility
Cats think that if they can't see you, then you can't see them.

29 - Law of Space-Time Continuum
Given enough time, a cat will land in just about any space.

30 - Law of Concentration of Mass
A cat's mass increases in direct proportion to the comfort of the lap she occupies.

31 - Law of Cat Probability (Cat's Uncertainty Principle)
It is not possible to predict where a cat actually is, only the probability of where she "might" be.

32 - Law of Cat Obedience
As yet undiscovered.

__________________________________________________________________

Feline Articles:

    Cat's Whiskers

   Cat's Eyes

            CAT'S ALPHABET  

---------------------------------------------------

 HOUSEHOLD PLANTS:

• Toxic for Cats
• Okay for Cats

(author unknown)

• Make the world your playground.
• Whenever you miss the sandbox, cover it up. Dragging a sock over it helps.
• If you can't get your way, lay across the keyboard till you do.
• When you are hungry, meow loudly so they feed you just to shut you up.
• Always find a good patch of sun to nap in.
• Nap often.
• When in trouble, just purr and look cute.
• Life is hard, and then you nap.
• Curiosity never killed anything except maybe a few hours.
• When in doubt, cop an attitude.
• Variety is the spice of life. One day, ignore people; the next day, annoy them.
• Climb your way to the top, that's why the curtains are there.
• Make your mark in the world, or at least spray in each corner.
• Always give generously; a bird or rodent left on the bed tells them, "I care".

________________________________________

Stephen Baker

 _______________________________________________________

*****************************************************