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The fluffy-eared, big-eyed felines are adorable, and they don’t seem to age. They are forever kittens. And while photos of the wild cats have been widely shared online, the cats have been surprisingly hard to find in the wild. Until now. ... Add to that, sand cats tend to live in tough wilderness, places where researchers must endure high temperatures and the occasional sandstorm. Because the animal is so hard to track, assessing populations has been difficult, according to Mother Nature Network. The species is believed to be extinct in Israel, for example, though a litter was born at the...

An incredible video from northern Sweden has captured the moment a lonely reindeer met a cocky cat – but the latter decided it wasn't in the mood to play. Sylvia Hedenström filmed the encounter at her Burträsk summer house in August when the reindeer wandered into her garden and was met by her pet Spiffan. "I didn't believe it. I stood there and thought the cat doesn't understand what's going on, that there's a reindeer in front of it. Then she tried to scare it away and mark her territory," the cat’s owner laughed. "Spiffan doesn't like any other animals....

The fed-up feline was photographed swimming through dirty floodwaters in Houston, Texas, by Getty photographer Scott Olson, and he’s giving better side-eye than most humans. The image, which was captured on Aug. 30, has since gone viral, with many commenting on the cat’s resilience in the face of the storm. It’s been shared more than 65,000 times. “All the photos I've seen of dogs and horses escaping the flooding, they look terrified. This cat just looks pissed — like he's going to write a sternly worded letter to his city councilor when he gets home,” wrote Laura Mullane, who posted...

Yes. A freaking tiger. Photo courtesy of Twitter user Dispatch Demon. What the . . . ? I've driven through Atlanta at rush hour. It was bad. If I'd seen this, I'd probably have assumed I'd fallen asleep behind the wheel and was dreaming. But it was no dream:

FULL TITLE: EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Texas animal shelter for the hundreds of cats and dogs abandoned during Hurricane Harvey Thousands of Texans may finally be able to return to their flood-ravaged properties in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. But for the more than 1,500 four-legged evacuees crammed into the state's largest animal rescue center there are simply no homes for them to go back to. Austin Pets Alive! has become the last refuge for hundreds of stray or abandoned cats and dogs that were plucked from danger from flooded neighborhoods and animal shelters across southeast Texas. Their staff have toiled...

The seven cats living at the flooded Dickinson nursing home that sparked a viral image over the weekend are now dry and happily rescued, just like their owners. "They're all safe and sound," said Timothy McIntosh, whose mother-in-law owns the waterlogged La Vita Bella facility. On Sunday, as rains pounded the small Galveston County town, the low-lying facility that was home to 15 elderly patients battling dementia flooded, leaving the residents inundated. A picture of the patients - and one of their cats - sitting in shoulder-deep water started making rounds on the Twitter after owner Trudy Lampson sent it...

An adventurous kitty exacerbated the Summer of Hell on Monday morning, snarling service for thousands of commuters The plucky feline was spotted ambling along the tracks at the Rockaway Avenue station in Brooklyn on the A and C lines at around 7:20 a.m. It took MTA workers about half an hour to wrangle the elusive kitty. And in the meantime, officials shut down local service on the C line, forcing riders onto the A line. Someone finally caught the cat, and service resumed at about 7:53 a.m.

Like they say, when it rains it pours. Had to retire this year because of a recurring injury. Now I've had to spend over $1200 in the last week for surgeries on both my cats. Louie had to have 5 rotten teeth extracted and Snooki developed a wound abscess after Louie bit her. Looks likes it time to take out health insurance for my furbabies. Mom has to rely on Cobra til Medicare kicks in. Another headache but oh, well:)

To honor cats on the International Cat Day, DW encourages their human companions to protect the planet we all share. From carbon pawprint to waste to wildlife, it is in our hands to take up better practices. Your cat’s sweet purring and loving, contented looks won’t change the fact that it’s guilty for the planet’s suffering — just like we are. A recent study confirms that pets’ meat-based diet has a fatal impact on the climate, due mainly to high carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, our loyal friends are big resource consumers and waste creators. The situation is particularly worrisome...

A dog's keen sense of smell reunited a long-lost cat with his owner. Shelly Colette was out for a walk with her dog, a border collie Labrador mix named Cash, in New Brunswick, Canada. When Colette and Cash passed by a storm drain, Cash stopped and "refused to move," The Star reported. When Colette peered down the grate, she spotted a cat. It turns out his name was Ghost, and he had been missing for six weeks.

Sometime around the invention of agriculture, the cats came crawling. It was mice and rats, probably, that attracted the wild felines. The rats came because of stores of grain, made possible by human agriculture. And so cats and humans began their millennia-long coexistence. This relationship has been good for us of course—formerly because cats caught the disease-carrying pests stealing our food and presently because cleaning up their hairballs somehow gives purpose to our modern lives. But this relationship has been great for cats as species, too. From their native home in the Middle East, the first tamed cats followed humans...

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis woman is calling her house cat a hero for protecting her family from a man trying to break into her home on the city’s southeast side. The woman told police she was watching television in her living room when she heard someone at her front door. It happened early Wednesday morning on Finley Avenue near Walker Avenue. Cynthia Kootz told 24-Hour News 8 she got Binky about six years ago. She described him as loyal — her best friend and protector. She said the man pushed open the screen window, and that’s when Binky came...

Then there’s Cat People of Melbourne, an Australian rescue group that recently decided to turn the adorable approach on its head. Instead of emphasizing the cuddly or intelligent nature of one slender black feline in its custody, director Gina Brett wrote an adoption profile that made him sound downright nasty. “Mr. Biggles (also known as Lord Bigglesworth) is an utter utter utter bastard,” Brett wrote. “Mr. Biggles is a despot and dictator, he will let you know he is not happy, which is often because things are often just not up to his high standards.” She went on: “Mr. Biggles...

The four-week-old has been named Sky by her rescuersA tiny kitten was snatched by a seagull from a Welsh holiday park and then dropped from the sky. The four-week-old has now been named Sky by the RSPCA Cymru officers who rescued her. The horror attack happened at the Golden Sands Holiday Camp, at Sandy Cove, Rhyl. She was spotted by members of the public after being attacked by gulls and then dropped from the sky by one of the birds. It is believed the kitten came from a colony of feral cats living close to the holiday park. Sky...

Police in Oregon issued a "verbal warning" to a cat reportedly seen armed with a gun-shaped stick. Newport Oregon Police Department shared a photo of a black and white cat perched in a tree with its paw draped over a stick that appeared to resemble an automatic rifle. Officers responded to the scene and were ultimately able to determine the cat did not pose any real threat. "Reports of an armed cat this morning were unfounded," police said. "The feline was contacted by our canine and was determined to be in possession of a non-lethal branch." The officers ended the...

LOS ANGELES (WCMH) — Pet food manufacturer Party Animal is recalling several lots of its Cocolicious dog food after a sample tested positive for penobarbital. According to the company, a retailer in Texas reported a customer had presented samples of Cocolicious Beef & Turkey and Chicken & Beef dog food to a testing lab. The samples came back positive for penobarbital, a drug used in euthanasia.

The horror!

More people are keeping an eye on the actions of United Airlines after a disturbing video of a United Airlines passenger being forcibly and violently removed from a plane went viral. Most recently, several people took to Twitter to post statistical information from the Department of Transportation that showed more pets died while being transported by United than any other major airline in 2016. The data, which surfaced on Monday, showed that United reported 9 pet deaths and 14 injuries for last year alone. Some of the pet deaths include a Yorkshire Terrier named Diamond, a Belgian Malinois named Bakry...

Taiwan has outlawed the consumption of dog and cat meat, as the island’s legislature on Tuesday passed a landmark amendment to its animal protection laws. The island’s official Central News Agency (CNA) said the revision showed the transition “from a society in which dog meat was regularly consumed” to where “many people treat pet cats and dogs as valued members of their families.” Previously, the Animal Protection Act only covered the slaughter and sale of dog and cat meat. Individuals who eat or trade dog or cat meat can now be fined between $1,640 to $8,200. The amendment also bans...