For many tourists, a trip to Bermuda isn’t complete until they’ve sighted Flea, St George’s resident celebrity feline. Skittering from shop to shop, they ask, “Have you seen Flea?” until their queries are rewarded by an appearance by the big orange and white tabby.
“He is so well liked among the tourists,” said Belinda Tartaglia who runs her own gallery on Water Street. “He has repeat guests that stay at the St. George’s Club and go looking for him.
“One of the cruise ships actually tells their passengers about Flea so they can look for him.”
Six-year-old Flea hits all the hot spots each day, wandering from Ms Tartaglia’s art gallery to Vera P. Cards and finally to the Island Shop where he curls up in his purrsonal cat bed to nap.
During balmy summer evenings, he can be spotted on one of the island’s glass-bottom boats, gazing longingly at the fish.
“He’s the official town cat,” Ms Tartaglia added. “He has us all wrapped around his little paw. I tell the tourists he should be the next mayor.”
It’s not just the tourists who flock to see the orange tabby. He’s also popular with the local children who seek him out after school and on weekends.
Four-year-old fan Bailey Boyd visits Flea with her mom as often as she can.
“I like Flea,” Bailey said as she stroked his head. “He’s a happy cat and feels really soft.”
One of the perqs of the job for hard-working Flea is an open invitation to sample St George’s finest cuisine from restaurants that include Café Gio and Tavern by the Sea.
Flea wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, however. When he was only a few days old, Suzanne Hollis found him and a sibling clinging to life, starved and “eaten alive by fleas” at the site of the old Club Med. His sibling didn’t make it, but Flea was nursed back to health.
“He was so small he used to fit in the palm of my hand!”
Four years ago, the Hollises brought home a rescue dog from the SPCA, and Flea said “Adios!” to the family, unwilling to share accommodations with a lesser species. The Hollis family continues to provide Flea with medical care; he returns home if he’s not feeling well. A few months ago, he was hospitalized with a bacterial infection, the consequence of too many raw shrimp handouts.
Ms Hollis describes her pet as “street smart” and “independent.” He’s also well-traveled, hopping into cars before people drive away from St George’s and ending up elsewhere on the island.
Ms Hollis added: “When we bring him back to St. George’s he is so excited to be home – back on his turf.”
Calvin the King of Hearts (need to grab a hankie??)
Jacob as a Hairdresser
Baker the Beach Cat
Bonnie the Jester
Jack Kayden the Groom
King Louis the Sun King
You have until 11:59 pm on Halloween to enter. Grand prize includes a $25 gift card (to Petco, PetSmart, Amazon or Shutterfly), 50 zealies and a trophy (trophy for US and Canadian cats only).
There is a gaping black hole in the Catster universe today as everyone’s best friend, Calvin, made his journey to the Rainbow Bridge this morning after a six-week fight with stomach cancer.
His arresting green eyes suggested an old soul of a cat, wise beyond our knowing and as loving, cuddly and affectionate a cat as you could ever hope to meet. He was the heart and soul of Catster, always there to help, to comfort, to make your day with his gentle good humor. We will long remember his pawmails which always closed with his signature “Knead On.”
His mom, Laura, was his second caretaker. His first was Laura’s aunt. She passed away, and the day after her funeral her husband loaded all of her cats in the car and took them to the pound. Hearing this, Laura went to the pound and “bought back” the four cats, one of whom was Calvin. Laura found homes for the other three and kept Calvin. She’s had him for the last seven years.
Calvin was 18, and leaves behind Samoa, Violet, Gleek, Sugar, and Newman. He joins Spunky, Autumn and Rocky at the Bridge. Please drop by his Catster page and leave a big hug for his family, especially his mom and pop, Laura and Ted.
One lucky orange tabby expended a few of his nine lives this week when he was trapped inside an SUVs engine compartment while the SUV traveled across town.
The driver, Wilfred Rodriguez, heard a strage rattling sound when he was driving in the Bronx. When he stopped, he got out to investigate, only to see a floofy tail and paw poking out from beneath the hood.
His first reaction was, “Oh my God! I killed a cat.” He was relieved when the paw moved.
The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit responded and freed the oil-covered cat by removing the SUV’s battery and a few other vehicle parts.
Richard Gentles of New York City Animal Care & Control reported that the stray cat appeared to be in good physical shape However, the cat was suffering from fleas and severe fur-matting.
David Ziegler of the Center for Animal Care and Control told the New York Daily News, “He seems pretty calm, like he’s not in any pain,” Mr Ziegler said. “But he’s mean. He has been growling.”
Animal Care and Control said it would hold onto the cat for three days, although hope seemed dim that an owner would come forward to claim him.
George the Cat, a clever orange and white tabby in the U.K., has figured out that the best way to get all the tuna juice and Tempations he wants is through hypnosis, and thanks to his owner, he’s accredited as a hypnotherapist.
George’s owner, Chris Jackson, registered George with the British Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming (BBNLP), the United Fellowship of Hypnotherapists (UFH) and the Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association (PHPA). Each accepted a certificate from the non-existent Society of Certified Advanced Mind Therapists as proof of George’s credentials.
The UFH later admitted the mistake, which it said has since been corrected.
A PHPA spokesman said the organization makes great effort to ensure every applicant is a fully-qualified hypnotherapist.
The BBNLP said it exists only to provide benefits to its members, not to check or certify credentials.
Tom Cox, author of ‘Under the Paw: Confessions of a Cat Man,’ recently wrote a piece in the Financial Times about walking with cats in Pembrokeshire, Wales. He visited Jackie Morris, a writer and children’s book illustrator, who regularly takes her ginger cats over hill and dale on walks of up to five miles.
Of course, in this wild rural landscape, there is no danger of speeding cars, just hillocks and heather and a path to the sea. Cox and Morris stroll with the orange tabbies Maurice, Kiffer, Martha, Elmo and Pixie following at a cat-like pace. These orange tabbies and the bucolic countryside are frequent subjects for Morris’ children’s book illustrations.
When they head back to Morris’ home, Cox carries Pixie across his shoulders like a scarf for more than a mile. Morris demonstrates how she has more or less trained Pixie and Elmo to jump atop standing stones or footpath signs just by tapping them. Cats run ahead, lag behind, or disappear altogether. That’s just the way cat-walking is.
Tom is no stranger to cat walking:
As surreal as it is to stroll along a coastal path with small felines at my heels, I am not a newcomer to cat-walking. In my teens, I would walk through miles of Forestry Commission land in north Nottinghamshire with my paragon of childhood cats, Monty. “It’s an activity that’s always felt very natural to me,” says Morris. “The first time was about 20 years ago, with my old cat Comfrey. I just walked up the hill behind my house near Bath one day, and he followed me. He would come to the shops with me.”
I’m no stranger to cat-walking, myself. My gregarious tabby, Tripper, follows us like a dog anytime we take Skeezix for a stroll or a walk. Unless we’re staying within the confines of our quiet neighborhood, this usually requires that we return home at some point and lock Tripper in the house. But if I, like Morris, lived in Pembrokeshire, I could see myself walking to the sea each morning with Trip shadowing me… a purrfect way to start a day.
George the Cat, a clever orange and white tabby in the U.K., has figured out that the best way to get all the tuna juice and Tempations he wants is through hypnosis, and thanks to his owner, he’s accredited as a hypnotherapist.
