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A series of 16th-century manuscripts that have been making waves on the Internet look like a Monty Python version of the Renaissance: They show cats outfitted with flaming backpacks, attacking castles and villages. But the illustrations are legit. They're intended to show how cats and birds could in theory be used to set fire to a besieged city, according to a University of Pennsylvania scholar. Mitch Fraas, scholar in residence at the University of Pennsylvania—the university digitized the manuscripts last year—says that the drawings are from artillery manuals and are accompanied by notes explaining how to use animals as incendiary...

Pictures of 15 dogs and cats dressed up for the Ides of March.

He acknowledges that he hasn’t visited the Palmer home but he deals with aggressive cats on a near-daily basis. “If you watch my show, you know that within five minutes, the human component is really identified,” Galaxy said during a phone interview. “We realize this behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum. That’s really the important thing, is that there’s always a context.” Lux may have scratched a 7-month-old boy, but the attack began after the boy pulled his tail. When he reacted by scratching the child, owner Lee Palmer kicked the cat. It was at that point that Lux “went...

A 60-year-old British man was cleared of an assault charge in the case of a fight between neighbors that began with an argument about throwing cat feces. Chippenham Magistrates' Court in Wiltshire, England, heard Matthew Lucas, 38, confronted neighbor Douglas Pidgeon, 60, after finding cat droppings that appeared to have been thrown into his yard, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. Lucas said he was concerned his 5-year-old daughter could have touched the cat droppings and suffered ill effects. Pidgeon told the court he threw the feces over the fence because he was tired of the Lucas' cat using his "garden...

"(Reuters) - A rampaging, 22-pound Oregon house cat with a "history of violence" attacked a baby and trapped a family and their dog in a bedroom at their Portland home before being captured by police, authorities said on Monday."

Everybody Loves A Purry Kitty

Today I took my beautiful feline companion for her final trip to the vet. For nearly 20 years she was with me, through the ups and MANY downs. RIP, my sweet little Heidi, you don't have to struggle anymore.

The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which can cause blindness in people, has been identified in Beluga in the western Arctic. The discovery by University of British Columbia scientists has prompted a health advisory to Inuit people in the region who eat the whale's meat. Researchers say it is an example of how the warming of the Arctic is allowing the freer movement of pathogens. Icier conditions in the past acted as an obstruction to infectious agents. Quite how the parasite got into the whales is a puzzle that scientists are now trying to solve. They suspect the influx of cats...

Before the Cat Internet Video Festival, before Grumpy Cat, even before Keyboard Cat, there was the Saintly City Cat Show -- a pageant tied in with the St. Paul Winter Carnival that features hundreds of cats, a half-dozen judges and just one king and one queen, draped in luxurious capes and crowns. "We kind of use it as a climax of the show, the outfits. It adds a bit of excitement," show manager Linda Mae Baker said. The capes and crowns have been around as long as the show, since the early 1970s. And while they are a highlight of...

A cat that was shot 17 times in the head in Sarnia, Ont., is now recovering after surgery. The cat named Joe had several hours of surgery on Thursday to remove the pellets, according to Donna Pyette, a manager with the Sarnia and District Humane Society. "The surgery lasted a few hours," said Pyette in an email to CBC Windsor. "He did lose the eye we had suspected he would lose. However, he is now resting comfortably and [is] expected to continue to improve over the next few days."

You've heard of The Cat in the Hat but the latest fashion craze for animal owners is to turn their pets into something more predatory. Cats and dogs are now sporting new designs in their fur to make them more king of the jungle rather than domesticated house pet. However, one poor ginger feline looks genuinely embarrassed by her new look after its owner rouged-up its cheeks with make-up. We've all had a haircut we didn't ask for but would you subject your pet to some of these styles?

'Biggest cat I've ever seen,' as one animal control worker puts it, is now living at an Arizona animal shelter. Meatball is affectionate, but needs placement at an overweight animal facility and isn't eligible for adoption. He arrived at the Arizona animal shelter after being shuffled from home to home, according to KTVK-TV in Phoenix.

Generally speaking, dogs are usually the animals that have the most trouble with mail man. But dogs aren't the only ones with adverse feelings...now cats have joined the game. The mail carrier in the video seems to be having way too much fun with the feline felon.

A camera trap snapped the first-ever pictures of the elusive snow leopard in Uzbekistan. Even better, it caught not one, but two of the endangered cats on camera. The new images of the cats released by conservation groups Panthera and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) confirm that there are at least two individual snow leopards in the Gissar Nature Reserve, a protected part of the Pamir Mountains that can be visited only for scientific research. Uzbekistan, which is about the size of California, is one of 12 countries in Asia where snow leopards still roam through rugged mountainous terrain. It's estimated...

Adorable video of a one-year-old girl from California being given a bath by her favorite family cat has caused the Internet to let out a collective 'ahhh'. Little Hazel was caught snuggling up to Hoover the cat in her crib by mom and dad, Dennis and Jen Wijnker and they couldn't help but film the tender treatment the cat gave to his favorite human. Originally sent to Hazel's grandparents, the video was uploaded to YouTube where it has quickly racked up almost 50,000 views since it was posted on Monday.

Items made of cat fur have been found in two leading German high street chains, it emerged on Monday. Berlin doggy deli sparks howls of 'decadence' (03 Jan 14) Rare white stag shot and beheaded (02 Jan 14) Zoo gives apes choice of action or romance films (25 Nov 13) Animal protection group Animals' Liberty found clothes shop Tom Tailor was selling cat fur hats and drugstore chain Müller cat fur pompoms. Experts confirmed to the group that the fur was indeed cat in reports which can be seen on the Animals' Liberty Facebook page. The fur likely came from...

The rule of law is a matter of much concern lately, thanks to President Obama’s extraordinary use, and often flagrant abuse, of executive power. Congress held hearings on the subject in December, with some of the most damning testimony coming from leading liberal intellectuals. For the past five years, no one has worked more diligently to hold this Administration accountable than Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who represents northern San Diego County, and chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. After serving in the Army and reaching the rank of captain, Issa built an impressive private-sector business resume, founding Directed...

Two professional engineers update an earlier video tutorial about cats. This is a sequel to the original video "An Engineer's Guide to Cats" released in 2008:

Italian politicians are set to debate the case of an Italian army officer, who is facing at least one year in jail after being prosecuted for saving the life of a pregnant cat while on duty in Kosovo. Lieutenant Barbara Balanzoni, a medical officer who served at the Nato base in Kosovo, is accused of "gross insubordination" after violating a written order not to "approach or be approached by wild, stray or unaccompanied animals". Lt Balanzoni, who has since returned to her home in Tuscany, rushed to the rescue of the stray cat in May 2012 after army staff raised...

Most dog owners come into the veterinary office with their canine companions devotedly following them. Tails wagging, the dogs look up at their people with adoring eyes. Most cat owners, on the other hand, wrestle a cardboard box into the exam room, reach in like a magician and pull out not a rabbit, but an angry feline. For their efforts they get covered with furry shrapnel and sometimes raked with claws until their face and arms look like so many tic-tac-toe games. (It doesn't have to be like that, by the way.) As a lifetime pet lover and practicing veterinarian...