Catymology

Artist and writer Sarah Hartwell maintains a web site that is a treasure trove for ailurophiles. At the Messybeast Cat Resource Archive, you'll find lots of articles about cat care, cat rescue, and various breeds of cats. At Moggycat, Hartwell focuses on feline legends, cat humor, wild cats, mythical cats. Hartwell also makes available a number of free images, like the two accompanying this post.

Have you ever heard of winged cats? Hartwell provides a historical overview of fanciful and verified winged cats, including a scientific explanation of why some cats appear to have wings. The main cause, it turns out, is felted mats of fur that can form on long-haired cats.

Cat trivia is Hartwell's forte. An article about "politically incorrect cats" investigates a rumor about the Siamese cats depicted in the classic Disney movie, "Lady and the Tramp." You, know, the ones who caused all the ruckus and sang, annoyingly,
Apparently there was a rumor in Britain that the Disney company was going to bowdlerize the movie to remove "racial stereotypes." Being a Brit, Hartwell wonders whether this is possibly true. Don't tell Darcy!

Update 11/28/2007: Unfortunately, the Messybeast site appears to have been taken down. I'm purring for it to return!

--Aloysius

UPDATE: 1/3/2007

Messybeast is back! Sarah wrote that their web host was afflicted with a beastly server, but everything's fixed now! Hurrah!