Author: Pudgy Cat

Hemingway’s Polydactyl Cats: The Colony, the Genetics and the Court Case

What the museum, genetic studies and a federal court opinion tell us about Hemingway’s cats—and where their accounts need careful attribution.

Why Cats Cannot Taste Sweet: Genes, Umami and Feline Taste

The missing sweet receptor is only part of feline taste. What genetics and taste studies show about sugar, umami and bitter compounds.

The Cat Lady Stereotype: What the Historical Record Shows

Witchcraft records, satirical prints and suffrage imagery reveal several histories behind the cat-lady stereotype, rather than one simple origin.

Cats in AI Training Data: From Shelter Photos to Neural Networks

How cats became CAPTCHA subjects, benchmark categories and learned visual features—and what those examples do not prove about image generators.

Microchip Cat Flaps and Cameras: The Engineering of Selective Pet Doors

How microchip cat flaps identify pets, why readers can struggle, and what prey-detecting cameras can—and cannot—tell you about a cat at the door.

Cats in Opera and Classical Music: From Rossini’s Cat Duet to Prokofiev’s Clarinet

From Rossini’s borrowed cat duet to Prokofiev’s clarinet: feline music, ballet and opera, with the keyboard legends separated from documented history.

Neko Atsume and the Idle Game Boom: Why Leaving Is Part of Playing

How Neko Atsume made waiting part of the fun: its modest download target, cat-collecting design, idle-game roots and the changes introduced by its sequel.

I Can Has Cheezburger and the Rise of LOLspeak

How I Can Has Cheezburger helped spread LOLspeak: cat-caption grammar, community language play, LOLCODE and the contrast with DoggoLingo.

Grumpy Cat: The Business Empire Built on a Single Photograph

How Grumpy Cat became a licensing business, why the $100 million earnings claim is disputed, and what the documented $710,001 court award actually meant.

The Aristocats and Disney’s Feline Problem: Jazz, Animation, and a Complicated Legacy

The Aristocats revisited: Disney’s post-Walt transition, xerography, jazz, feline heroes, Marie merchandise and the film’s complicated legacy.