The Fluffington Post

A court date has been set for local pup named Snickers accused of illegally damming a river at Baxter State Park. Read the full story >>

Though we are less than two weeks into 2023, an area cat named Artemis is already considering abandoning her New Year's resolution to complete a single pull up. Read the full story >>

“It’s incredible, really, how often he picks the wrong lane,” says coworker Stephanie Sabatini. Read the full story >>

A new paper published in The European Journal of Feline Science puts forth something new and interesting about the nature of cats. Under certain conditions, cats undergo a curious phase change and become liquid. Read the full story >>

Crowley, a kitten from Burlington, VT, is constantly coming up with nefarious plans, sources tell The Fluffington Post. But recently he’s become convinced that no one takes his scheming seriously. Read full story >>

A dog in Cedar Falls, IA has doubts that her brothers and sisters are biological, reports local news station KQVN. Read the full post >>

The pandemic has been a boon for Bruce, a cat from Bryn Mawr, PA whose socially distanced walking tour company has taken off. Read the full story >>

The wind blows a little cooler and the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air, but that won’t deter one little pig from catching a few more rays. Read the full story >>

“It sounds like Weird Al is being mauled by cougars!!” wrote one concerned citizen on NextDoor. Read the full story here >>

Psychologists will tell you, most New Year’s resolutions start to fade around February or March. But not for one steadfast feline. Read the full article. >>>

The CIA has a mind control program that uses high powered microwaves to peer into your brain and steal your thoughts. At least, that’s what one local squirrel believes.

According to a series of posts the squirrel made on Reddit, the CIA has been running this program since the mid-seventies, and in addition to mind reading, the government is also using it to control people’s thoughts. The squirrel claims that the CIA’s microwave antennas can be used to inject ideas directly into anyone’s head, causing them to believe things they wouldn’t normally believe.

But he has an ingenious and low-cost solution: microwave-blocking leaf hats. 

When asked to comment on the squirrel’s theory, area park ranger Gerry Collins said, “Yeah, that’s just a leaf. It doesn’t do anything. That squirrel is crazy, man.”

The Fluffington Post has reached out to the squirrel for more details about the CIA program, as well as the source of his information. We’ll update this post if and when we hear back.

It happened late on Friday evening. Ned the dog was minding his own business, chewing on some Dentastix, when he heard a sudden, loud creaking noise coming from upstairs.

Sources close to the situation tell The Fluffington Post that Ned immediately jumped up and began barking hysterically. 

“He was going for near on 30 minutes,” said neighbor Connor Pilcher. “I didn’t hear what set him off, on account of I live next door, but boy did I hear him bark. Just barked bloody murder for a good long time. 30 minutes at least, like I said.”

Family members were eventually able to quiet Ned, and a subsequent investigation found that the noise he heard was just the house settling. Ned isn’t convinced of that assessment.

“He’s not buying that for one minute,” said Sarah Fleuger, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the dog. “Houses don’t just ‘settle’ ... this was clearly a provocation and we’re looking into our legal options. Ned suffered a significant trauma and he hasn’t be able to get comfortable on his doggie bed since.”

There’s only one thing Millie the cat hates more than the vacuum, and that’s Monday morning. 

After a long weekend spent sleeping, napping, grooming, preening, sleeping, and napping, the last thing Millie wants to do is drag herself out of bed.

“I mean, I get it, none of us like getting out of a warm bed and trudging off to work,” said roommate Carly Hutchison. “But that’s the thing: Mille is a cat. She doesn’t go to work.”

Hutchison said an average Monday for the kitty is a lot like any other day: lots of sleeping and napping packed around eating and stretching.

Still... this cat is clearly ready to go back to bed.

Fresh off his Oscar win for “The Shape of Water,” writer/director Guillermo del Toro has reportedly secured funding for a sequel called, “The Shape of Cats.”

According to Deadline.com, del Toro has began writing the movie while making “Pacific Rim,” but decided to hold off until he felt special effects technology was up to the task of matching his vision. “The Shape of Cats” will begin shooting this summer in Georgia and distributors are already lining up to bid for it.

“Once you have an Academy Award you can pretty much do what you want,” said film critic Layla Vega. “Del Toro is hot right now, and when you marry his name to a subject as timeless as cats... lookout. This could be the biggest film of 2019.”

Waffles the cat, who joined the White House as senior national security kitten in October, has resigned. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times broke the story overnight. This is the fourth major pet departure from the White House in just over a year. A few months ago, Waffles replaced Whiskers, who left abruptly after reports surfaced that she had spent $24,000 on a new litter box for her office.

“Waffles was supposed to be a steadying force in the White House,” said Alan Cockrell, a senior policy fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Where Whiskers had a reputation as a no-holds-barred, chase-every-laser-pointer-she-sees kind of kitty, Waffles was known to have a more of a ‘find a good sun spot an take a nap’ kind of disposition.”

His departure from the administration is unexpected, but not totally surprising. 

“Pets just haven’t lasted long in this administration,” said Cockrell. “It’s a fairly chaotic place and these cats can find better opportunities in the private sector.”

Simon & Schuster has reportedly offered Waffles a seven-figure book deal.

A local cat is reportedly experiencing a sense of deep ennui over the lack of new articles in The Fluffington Post. Friends say the cat, Honey, has been moping around the house, mewling plaintively since the website stopped putting up regular updates.

“It was her favorite website,” said the cat’s friend and confidant Millicent Darby. “She subscribed to their Facebook, their Twitter, she had the t-shirt, and her litter box was decorated with printouts of her favorite stories. But a few months ago they seemed to just stop publishing abruptly.”

Industry insiders said the abrupt end to new The Fluffington Post content was a mystery. 

“No one’s really sure what’s going on,” said Poynter news analyst Walter Thibodeau. “They appeared to be well capitalized and they pretty much owned the pet satire beat, but then they disappeared.”

Editors at The Fluffington Post could not be reached for comment.

Caroline the dog finds herself in the midst of a heated zoning dispute with roommates who argue the pup’s new box fort violates several city ordinances.

According to representatives for the dog, Caroline will seek a variance from schedule of intensity requirements that mandate a two foot buffer for all units built near a stove. Roommates argue that’s not the only issue facing the dog’s oddly sited construction.

“I mean, leaving aside the fact that she doesn’t actually own the property in the kitchen that she built on -- she’s a renter,” said Stella Feingold, lawyer for the roommates, “and that she didn’t pull any of the required building permits, she’s also in violation of accessory dwelling unit codes.”

According to the city’s zoning ordinance, accessory dwelling units must include a stove and bathroom inside the unit, not adjacent. 

“Also,” continued Feingold, “it’s a cardboard box. That’s not a proper building material for this sort of structure. The whole thing is a safety hazard.”

The city’s zoning board meets on Tuesday and Caroline’s case is a docketed item.