Cat Insists on Riding Up Front in Taxi

Sheila the cat has been living in New York City for seven years, yet it wasn’t until yesterday that she hailed her first cab.

“Mostly she just stuck to the three or four block radius around her house,” explained Meredith Tamlu, a neighbor. But when Sheila’s podiatrist moved his practice way up town, she decided that taking a taxi was preferable finding a new doctor.

Unfortunately for the driver of the cab, Sheila insisted on riding up front … in his lap.

“It was a little weird,” said Tony Peres, the driver, “but it wasn’t so bad. I mean, I don’t think I’d like it if all my fares did that – that’s not the kind of taxi I run. But I was okay with having a kitty in my lap for a few blocks.”

Via naataleeya.

Cat Becomes First Feline Ball Boy at U.S. Open

Lost amidst all the great on-the-court drama is a storyline of feline interest at this year’s U.S. Open, which concludes this weekend at Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY. This year’s tournament contains an amazing first: Stanley, the very first cat ball boy.

Stanley, who has been a life long chaser of balls, got his crack at the big time last week when a human ball girl – Monica Verandez – pulled out with flu like symptoms.

“We decided to give the cat a shot,” said Candace Randazzo, VP of Ball Retrieval Operations for the USTA. “We’d been monitoring his career for awhile, and liked what we saw at an amateur tournament earlier this year at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI.”

Randazzo has to feel good now about making that call. Stanley has been off-the-charts good, with a 99.4% retrieval success rate – unheard of among rookies.

“We’re pleased,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Stanley. He’s a natural.”

Via No_Water.