We all know cats love their paper bags - but this is something else! Part interpretive dance - part bizarre kitty costume, we dare you try this with your feline! :)

An oldie but a goodie - remember these awesomely happy pooches? Remember to enjoy the appreciate the simple joys in life, like worn tennis balls, double breakfasts and the summer breeze combing back your ears. Happy Thursday!

Move over Food on my Dog - here's Stuff on My Cat, Shironekoshiro, the hit feline sensation from Japan. Shironeko is also known as the 'basket cat' and has been making internet waves for his propensity to sleep in baskets, but it's his steady head-ing that's has our jaws on the floor. But it seems like his whole family is well-trained in the 'paw'-sics of balancing objects on their bodies. Are these guys drugged???   I'm not game enough to try this on my cat (she barely tolerates the collar on her neck as it is) but if any of you are able to duplicate this amazing gravity defying feat - we'd love to know!

1. Urrrggghhh, I hate Mondays. Image credit   2. Seriously next time you can do your own filing!   Image credit   3. Someone's eaten my liver treats again. I labelled them and everything.  Image credit   4. I can't come in today, my paws feel like lead and I've had that many furballs. I just don't want to spread it around the office.  Image credit 5. Really Michael, this has to be the last time I show you how to order stationery and scratching posts.   Image credit 6. Why is Patch always late? I mean, he's the one who called this meeting.   Image credit 8. Why won't these accounts reconcile? For the love of Garfield whhhyyyyy!!   Image credit 9. I just needed a quiet spot to clear my head for 10 minutes.    Image credit   Feature image credit

What started in parts of Asia has quickly caught on and now cat cafes are popping up all over the world. How could a cafe cafe not be a success? Cats and cafes together at the very same time? We think it's a fantastic concept, as it's a nice way for people who cannot have a pet of their own to connect with some furry friends. Likewise, it's also great for the cats who are mostly adopted from shelters and are transported to a lovely life in a warm cafe with constant attention.  Melbourne is the next lucky city to have a cat cafe introduced to it's surrounds and we couldn't be more excited. Anita and Myles Loughran are in the process of setting up the first Australian cat cafe and we were very lucky to speak with Anita about their preparations. She even kindly helped us make some cat cafe themed memes!   We can't wait to visit!  Tell us how you came up with the idea of opening a cat cafe?   Several months after coming back from our honeymoon overseas, where we had visited a cat cafe in Japan, we had settled into our jobs, working towards putting a deposit on a small apartment of our own. It didn't take long before we became bored with our daily routine at work, felt under-appreciated, and unchallenged. In jest Myles suggested we open a cat cafe so we could have a job we actually enjoyed. I couldn't stop thinking about it and the next day began researching small businesses and contacting the Melbourne City Council to see if it would be legal. Once we had been given permission by the council we decided to put our savings towards our dream business rather than an apartment.   You quit your jobs to start this. That's a brave move - was it a tough decision?   I quit my full-time job because I was receiving calls and important emails I could't get back to for several hours. Before taking the leap I did try asking to work longer hours to have one day off each week, but as large corporations tend to be, they weren't interested in negotiations with employees. It was a very tough and scary decision but I don't regret the choice. It takes so much work and time to set up a small business from scratch, but it is also very rewarding. Myles is still working a casual job in hospitality.    Anita helped us put together this fishy-breathed meme.   What have been some of the challenges you've faced so far?   Our first challenge was convincing the Melbourne City Council that we weren't joking! It took three months to receive permission from the council that a cat cafe would be legal as long as we complied with several regulations. Finding premises has also been a challenge. We found several suitable properties, however finding a landlord that would accept cats living in the premises became the real problem.    Cat Cafes are really taking off and grabbing headlines and attention - how do you think that will impact the sucess of your venture?   We are hoping it will be to our benefit! It is amazing seeing other cat cafes open around the world, especially ones that rescue cats from shelters and/or adopt. One impact that we hope it has on our venture here in Australia is making the concept more popular. Unless you have been to a cat cafe yourself or know someone who has, it can take a few minutes every time to explain the concept to someone.    Hopefully the cats at Anita and Myles' cafe won't be as demanding!    How do you choose the animals? Are there particular characteristics/qualities that make a cat 'cafe friendly'?   We will be working closely with the Lost Dogs Home at North Melbourne and GAWS at Geelong. These two rescue shelters have amazing facilities and have agreed to help us find several cats with the perfect personalities for the cat cafe. The cats and kittens will be chosen depending on their characteristics and backgrounds. They will need to have always been indoor cats and they will need to get along with other cats, people, children, and like physical affection. Young cats will get used to their new environment quickly and we hope to find some older cats that just want to be lap cats.     Any updates and news that you can share?    The location will be within the Melbourne CBD area. We are currently negotiating terms for a premise, which is taking much longer than we were hoping it would. Hopefully we will have some news shortly. When we began negotiations we were hoping to be open to the general public by July and we will do our best to open as close to July as possible.     Anita came up with the clever term 'catffeine'   Follow all the latest developements by checking out their Facebook page. Feature image credit

Doga is on the rise. What is doga you ask? Pretty much what it sounds like: yoga you can do with your dog.   What started as something people would tilt their heads at the idea of and laugh has become the du jour activity for the upwardly mobile in exclusive New York neighbourhoods. It has also become quite the thing in Japan.   Doga incorporates dogs into simple yoga poses. Stretching and gentle massage is provided for both pet and owner. Sometimes human and dog interact directly, or the dog lies on the floor.   In sun salutation, or ‘Upward Paw Pose’, owners lift their dogs onto their hind legs. In ‘Resting Pose’, a person lays back, legs bent over their dog’s body to relax their spine. In ‘Chaturanga’ dogs raise their front paws in the air whilst their humans provide support.   Image credit  As you might imagine, not all dogs are perfectly behaved in a room full of other dogs and new people. But the antics of the dogs learning doga is all part of the fun and relaxation. Laughing is after all, good for the soul. New Yorker Suzi Teitelman has been cited as one of the forerunners of the doga trend. She was inspired to start classes after she found her Cocker Spaniel Coali continually liked to lie beneath her and interfere when she did yoga around the house. Doga instructors do not have to complete a formalized course to practice, but such is its growing popularity, training seminars now exist in America.   Image credit  Doga is cited as another way aside from ‘walkies’ that dogs are encouraging their owners to exercise. Practitioners often say they enjoy the lighter atmosphere of yoga classes. Traditional yoga classes, whilst rewarding, can sometimes feel too serious for some. Doga is a lighthearted take on the discipline.   Dogs benefit most from the time spent with their owners, say vets. The classes spent up close and personal their masters is often a relaxing and rewarding experience for inner-city dogs, who are the most frequent attendees, who generally spend a lot of time alone while their owners are at work.     Image credit  Feature image credit

Joanna Muir and Sally Osborne had an idea. Dog lovers and knitting aficionados, they decided to see if they could combine their passions. The result – the resoundingly popular ‘Best in Show: Knit Your Dog’ book.   Between them, Sally and Joanna have owned eight poodles, two Afghan hounds, two mongrels, two Lurchers, one Dalmatian, one Whippet, one Greyhound and one Spaniel. They made sure to include a variety of dogs in their much-loved book so it was accessible to all sorts of dog lovers.    Image credit   Image credit   Image credit The book shares twenty-five patterns to bring to life twenty-five different dog breeds in woolly form, including, but not limited to, the Red Setter, Portuguese Water Dog, Siberian Husky, English Bull Terrier, Basset Hound, Pug, Miniature Schnauzer and Cocker Spaniel.   What's more, Sally and Joanna encourage readers to play around with the patterns to create different kinds of dogs or truly mirror their own beloved pet. By combining pedigree dog parts, such as the legs and tail of the Poodle and the Labrador body and head, a fine Labradoodle might be produced. If your pug is pure black rather than black and tan, simply exchange wool colours. If your dog is fatter than average, add more stuffing.    Image credit   Image credit The patterns are designed for inexpert knitters. Using simple purl and loopy stitches all twenty-five dogs can be made.   To get knitters started the Corgi pattern is offered for free download on the Best In Show site.   After the success of their first book Joanna and Sally have followed up with ‘Best In Show: Knit Your Own Cat’, featuring patterns for feline fans. This edition describes how to create cat patterns from tabby to tortoiseshell and fashion breeds as diverse as the Abyssinian, Devon Rex and Turkish Van.    Image credit   Image credit  They recently also penned ‘Best in Show: 25 More Dogs To Knit’ and ‘Knit Your Own Zoo’, so knitters can expand their stuffed animal collection to include bats, giraffes and penguins.   The Best in Show website has an ‘Online Show’ section for proud knitters to display their new knitted pets (and their real life models) to the world. Joanna and Sally enjoy seeing their designs being crafted with love around the world.   They have had the honour of several pieces of their knitwear being included in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and export their knitted products and books internationally.    Image credit Feature image credit

Little explanation is required as to why the Cornish Rex is classified as an ‘unusual breed’. Most cats have three different layers to their coats. The outer fur, or guard hairs, the middle layer of awn hair and the undercoat. Through a unique mutation, the Cornish Rex has only the fine hairs of the downy undercoat. Their extremely fine and sometimes curly fur is considered the softest of any cat breed.   Image credit The breed came into being with a litter of kittens born on July 21, 1950 to a tortoiseshell farm-cat called Serena in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. A red-and-cream-coloured male stood out at once from his siblings with his fine and curly coat. He was named ‘Kallibunker’ and upon the recommendation of the geneticist A. C. Jude to their owner Mrs. Ennismore he was backcrossed to his mother to produce two other downy-furred kittens. These cats became the foundation of the breed. Overtime, blood was added from Siamese, Russian Blue, American Shorthair, British Shorthair and Havana Brown breeds to add genetic diversity. Life Magazine published at article in 1956 that focused worldwide attention on the new breed and ensured its survival. Image credit    Cornish Rexes are famed for their enthusiastic and highly sociable personalities. They are the ‘clowns’ of the cat world, known for being intelligent, acrobatic and kittenish throughout all their adult lives. They enjoy playing fetch and are known for throwing toys with their paws to chase when there is no one around to play with them. They are known to be affable towards other animals and cats. They are an excellent choice for children, as they are friendly as well as delicate and gentle. They are not a good idea to bring into families that work long hours however, as they require a great deal of companionship and attention. Due to their coats, Cornish Rexes are also best suited to indoor living, as they may easily get hypothermia if left outside during colder weather.  Inexplicably, the Cornish Rex’s body temperature is naturally higher than that of other cats.   Image credit The word ‘Rex’ in the breed’s name is a term used to describe animals with unusual or curly fur. Its origin rests with King Albert I of Belgium (1875-1934) who entered some of his rabbits in a show. Having strange, curly-hair, the rabbits, much to the show officials distress, did not meet any breed standards. In order to avoid offending the king, they decided to accept them and wrote ‘Rex’, which is Latin for ‘king’ beside their names. Image credit  It is sometimes mistakenly believed the Cornish Rex’s unusual coat makes in hypo-allergenic. This is untrue, as allergies to cats are not as a result of cat fur and its qualities, but a glycol-protein produced by feline sebaceous glands that are present in the skin and saliva. When cats groom themselves, they distribute this protein on their fur, which sufferers breath in. Since Cornish Rex’s groom themselves as much as other varieties of cat, they are just as able to produce reactions in the sensitive.    Image credit   However, since Cornish Rexes shed less than other cats due to the fact they only have a small amount of fur to begin with, they deposit less protein-laced hair around the house, which can make aggravation less for allergy sufferers. They can also be easily washed, which has been proven to reduce the amount of protein coating cat hair.  Feature image credit

1. "TGIF" image credit   2. "Did someone say, Friday!?"   image credit   3. "I'm going to stay in bed all day!"   image credit   4. This guy is just psyched to spend all day Saturday and all day Sunday with you! image credit   5. "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!"   image credit   6. This Corgi is so excited, he can't sit still!     image credit   7. "You mean, I get to sleep in!?" image credit 8. Someone's ready to hit the clubs!   image credit   9. "Smile it's the weekend!"     image credit 10. "Time to kick back and relax!"     image credit   ?12. Or get outside like this pup!   image credit 12. Celebratory weekend dance.     image credit ? 13. "It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!" image credit   14. This pooch is literally jumping for joy! image credit

A recent study by the University of Tokyo has found dogs can ‘catch’ human yawns. This has major implications for the human-dog bond, as it suggests what owners have long expected – that dogs can feel what they feel.        Scientists are fascinated by yawning. The function and reason behind the development of the humble yawn is still fiercely debated. It is however likely linked to social cohesion, synchronizing sleeping patterns in ancient human groups, thus facilitating communal behavior. It is known yawning springs from the same part of the brain responsible for understanding and identification with the feelings of others.    Image credit ‘Contagious yawning’ as it is known, is when one person yawns after seeing, or hearing, another person yawning. It has been proven to be associated with our ability to understand and interpret other’s emotions and is therefore of considerable interest to scientist’s studying empathic responses in humans and animals. Contagious yawning has been recorded in humans, chimpanzees, bonobos and baboons – all social primates – but it has never been substantially recorded crossing the species barrier. That is, until now.   Scientists were aware previously dogs occasionally yawned in apparent response to humans yawning, but they weren’t sure why or if it was just coincidence. It may have been a sign of emotional connection, or a stress response, as dogs often yawn when they are anxious.   In order to study the behavior, researchers from the University of Tokyo gathered together 25 dogs, their owners, and a number of randomly collected volunteers. Each dog was observed whilst the scientists had their owner yawn at them, then a stranger. These yawns were both fake and genuine.   Image credit The results were surprising. Not only did the dogs respond to the yawning humans by doing so themselves, they also yawned far more when their owners were yawning than strangers. This suggests the yawning behavior was indeed mediated by emotional connection. The pets were also able to tell if a yawn was genuine or not, being more likely to react to the former, further supporting the theory dogs are ‘contagious yawners’.   In an interesting parallel, scientists discovered recently people are more likely to respond to the yawns of loved ones than other people.   Image credit Telemetric measures were taken of the dogs’ heart rate throughout the course of the experiment to determine if anxiety was at all at play. The idea was ruled out by the test. Their heart rates remained stable, proving it was empathy, not nervous arousal, which caused the dogs to pull sleepy faces.   The effect could possibly be linked to the domestication process where dogs who developed mental processes to better connect to their human masters were selectively bred.  Feature image credit