Epic The Cat versus the Winged Intruder (official trailer)

Cats and kittens... and other anipals... I invite you to watch the action-packed trailer for my upcoming movie: Epic The Cat versus the Winged Intruder.

 

OK, I admit. I don't have a contract with a big studio yet, and the whole project is still pretty low budget... But perhaps some Hollywood directors will recognize my potential and make me the star of their next big blockbuster.

What do you think, do I have what it takes to be a movie star?

No such thing as a box too small

Epic's First Law of Cat Physics:

There is no such thing as a box too small.

What a busy summer!

Howdy friends! Missed me? I'm sorry for not posting any updates recently, but I decided to take a little break from blogging during the summer. After all, I had quite a busy schedule! Let me show you what I mean by that.

As you probably know, I'm an avid fly hunter. Now, that might sound easy, but if you want to catch flies, you have to put aside a lot of time for subtle observations of your surroundings. Here's one of the ways of doing it:

Now, it might seem like I'm just casually sitting on my cat tree, but let not my gentle looks deceive you! As soon as I spot anything flying around, I can switch to hunter mode in split of a second. And when that happens, no insect is safe!

See? Even the photo is blurry from all the fast action! Now, let me catch my breath for a little while...

Of course, after such a busy day you have to relax a bit to recharge your batteries. My favorite summer pose for that is flat on the back, belly up, ready for rubs.

And to keep in shape I also have to exercise regularly. Lately, I started doing yoga, and I can already do some pretty cool poses like this one:

So. I hope you enjoyed my summer update! I'll try to post more regularly now that I'm not that busy with air traffic control and fly hunting anymore (it seems that insect don't like flying in the rain...).

Tips for staying cool in the summer

Summer is in full swing over here and while I enjoy the variety of insects in the air, I must say I'm not such a big fan of the summer heat. The temperatures in the past week have reached and passed 33 °C (over 90 °F), which isn't easy to deal with if you're covered in multiple layers of fur like I am.

So, here are some of my favorite stategies for coping with the heat:

Find a nice windy spot: Laying down close to the fan will make wind flow through your fur and keep you both fresh and super cute. Bonus points: humans won't be able to resist giving you a belly rub if you lay on your back and get your fur ruffled by the wind.

Save your energy: Plan your physical activity more carefully during the day. Early mornings and late evening are the best times to hunt flies, so just take it easy during the day, and find a cool spot for your afternoon nap.

Napping should become your full time job when it's hot

Water is your friend: Well, we all know cats and water don't mix well, but be prepared to make some exceptions during the summer. First, make sure to drink plenty of fresh water throughout the day. Next, (and I can't believe I'm going to say this...) allow your humans to help you out; let them pet you with a damp towel or wet hands. This will keep you fresh for a while, but don't show your humans you're enjoying the effects of water on your body, otherwise they might get some strange ideas. And oh, I also like to play with plastic bottle caps that float in a few centimeters of water. It's fun, and you don't even realize that you get wet while playing.

Get a good brush: Another thing your humans can help you with - it really helps to shed some extra fur! Look at how much fur I got rid of during my last session with the Furminator.

Wait... all that fur was on me?!?

Enjoy any cloudy or rainy weather: And my final tip is to be ready to seize up any cloudy or rainy periods that may come along between heat waves. With any luck, you might even be able to get some real wind in your fur, and if it doesn't rain too much, it's actually nice to sit on the window and get damp from the rain (but don't ever tell your humans you enjoy that!).

Aaah, getting some real wind in my fur during a cloudy day

I hope you find some of these tips useful; and please let me know if I'm missing anything important in the comments! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a nice, cool spot waiting for me underneath the fan...

Epic's Water Quality Ranking

I sometimes hear humans on TV or interwebs discussing whether it is better drink tap or bottled water. They seem pretty confused about this matter, so I hope I can shed some light on the subject based on my empirical evidence. So, here's my official water quality ranking:

1. Tap water somebody opens when you demand it: in other words, get in the bathtub, look cute, meow/chirp if necessary and voila! humans make the water flow. Easy, fresh and tasty!
2. Water in human glasses: just wait for the right moment when your humans walk out from the kitchen with a glass full of water and pretend to be super thirsty. Or, if they ignore you, just help yourself to a sip when they live the glass unattended. (Note: water in people's glasses often tastes better than on-demand tap water, but I just haven't figured out how to ask for water in human glasses whenever I want to, so I placed on-demand water in 1st place due to its accessibility)
3. Water in your bowl: yeah, I know it's fresh from the tap, but it just doesn't taste as good as the other two kinds. Although bowl water is perfectly acceptable if you want to get a drink while lying on the floor.

Bottled water? Forget it, my tongue just isn't that long. So, if you ask me, tap water always wins over bottled water; I don't know why humans can't appreciate the awesomeness of fresh tap water.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Cats are well known for our cleanliness, as keeping our coats nice and clean is always one of the top priorities in our lives. But I think it's also important to keep your home clean. And as my humans sometimes forget to clean glass surfaces in our home,  I like to give them a paw whenever I can spare a minute or two. Have a look!

The art of fly hunting

A while back I shared a short video of my first attempts at catching flying insects. Thanks to all your helpful tips and a lot of practice, I think I now perfected my own technique of catching little flying prey. Here are my 3 basic steps:

• Step 1: Acquire target: You always have to be ready to spot your prey. Don't really on humans for that, their eyesight is quite poor.
• Step 2: Warming up: I like to warm up before getting to serious business with some vocal exercises. While warming up, keep your eyes locked on the target, plan ahead.
• Step 3: The hunt: When you've studied your target and are all warmed up, it's time to jump into action! And I mean that literally. Don't be afraid to use your claws, and don't forget to use your tail for balance.

And as usually, here's a short clip of me demonstrating this technique:

I hope you find my tips useful - and if you've got any advice on how I could improve my technique, be sure to let me know in the comments!