Welcome to the 228th Carnival of the Cats!

So follow Luna’s lead and find a comfy spot to enjoy the round-up of cat articles from around the blogopshere…

We begin with a moving tribute in photos and poetry to to Spike at Watermark. His “contributes” both funny and touching are explored in verse. He was to be helped to the rainbow bridge, but he rallied on Friday, with purrs and lap time. We all hope for the best.

It’s the Battle of the Cutest over at the House of Chaos, with images of “fractional cats” and the adventures of the house’s only female feline denizen, Frankette. “Oh sweet little kitty-cat…right ?”

We of course love black cats. But what is even better? Black on black! Blog d’Elisson presents this black neighbor blending into the kitchen table. Also, the Mistress of Sarcasm visits the barn and says hello to a cute feline resident.

Over at Conservative Cat, Lucky the fearless cat does battle with a remote-controlled helicopter. I don’t think it went all that well for the helicopter.

It doesn’t look like things are going too well for this cricket either. Kismet is the mighty bug hunter at TacJammer. There is know evidence that he ate the cricket, but one can only speculate from the circumstantial evidence…

Photographing cats can be quite a challenge. But once in a while a photo comes together perfectly, as in the case of this Abby from Manx Mnews.

Photos like this (and of course some of Luna’s many portraits here at CatSynth) remind us of animals’ natural beauty, which Debra contrasts to human vanity.

More expressive photos of a different sort at Lab Kat, where the feral kittens are displaying some serious ‘tude.

Dude, s’up?

Smokey does his impersonation of Monorail Cat at composite drawings. We’ll leave the interpretation of his other photo as an exercise to the reader…

Chance displays a little bit of tummy, but “a hole lotta Man-Cat cyuteness.” [sic]

Gree displays a little bit more at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats.

Aloysius enjoys some patio time while the painters take the weekend off at Catymology. Looks like fine way to enjoy the afternoon.

Meanwhile, we have the relaxing symmetricats at Elms in the Yard.

While the cats at Mind of Mog may not be as symmetric, they do know how to share. And we have another tummy shot from Meowza as well.

Snow, Leo and Fairy have a new home at Purrrrs.com. That’s with four R’s. If you miss one of the R’s, no fluffy white kitties for you! Yes, the internet can be a very unforgiving place sometimes.

Contrasts in activity are the topic at StrangeRanger, While Maddie “goes to town on her catnip squirrel”, a nap is about as much action as one gets out of Ivy.

Want more action? Check out the Cat Attack at The Scratching Post.

Willow and China Cat show off their expressive eyes for the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos. You can see black-and-white versions of each photo as well.

Samantha and Tigger are having a BBQ on the beach today. Looks like fun (and that BBQ is looking tasty).

More weekend fun. Tiny relaxes surrounded by English Ivy, while Babe inspects the detritus of a recent fence and stone-wall project. Visit them both at sisu.

The “Cat Boys” Kashim and Othello are tired out from helping Astrid host yesterday’s Weekend Cat Blogging. So they are taking it easy on the balcony today.

Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I’m going to go take my coffee out to the balcony and relax for a bit, as it seems we have reached the end of this week’s Carnival of the Cats. Thanks to all who participated!