“Well, first of all, I love my cat. I take care of her,” the rapper says of his Thunder Cat.
Some of you may remember Xzibit (pronounced exhibit), if not from his music then his stint as the host of Pimp My Ride, a show in which X and a custom car garage would take people’s junkers and turn them into extravagant moving art pieces with unique and over-the-top features.
One memorable episode, for example, had the crew transform the interior of one car into an aquarium, with fish tanks built into the backs of seats and door panels, while others featured innovations like trunks that folded out to become fully-functional kitchens.
What people may not know is that Xzibit is also a dedicated cat dad, and we mean dedicated. He keeps Thunder Cat on a diet of healthy food, brings her for regular check-ups and IV infusions at the vet due to previous problems with dehydration-related illnesses, and gives her the attention she deserves as a living being.
“She’s seen it all,” he added. “And everybody’s asking how I’ve kept her alive for this long. Well first of all, I love my cat. I take care of her, and I look out.”
The 51-year-old emcee, real name Alvin Nathaniel Joiner, said he was initially surprised when people expressed so much interest in Thunder Cat. He said he constantly gets correspondence from fans who love his cat. In an Instagram video, he held up a shirt with images of Thunder Cat sent to him by a fan.
“And yes,” he said, “I’ve worn this.”
Los Gatos bungles a delivery
The cat used to smuggle drugs into a maximum-security labor camp prison in Russia. Credit: FSIN/Russian government
A cat has been released and is free to go without charges after inmates tried to use the feline to smuggle drugs into their Russian prison, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN in Russian) said.
The unimaginatively-named Penal Colony No. 17 is in Krasnoyarsk, a city of about 1.2 million, and it’s brutal. It’s a maximum-security labor camp mostly for foreign prisoners in a region of Siberia where the average temperature in winter is below zero.
Not the kind of place you ever want to find yourself, which is certainly one reason why the inmates are trying to dull their existence with drugs. Their courier was a black and white cat who caught the eye of a prison officer because it was wearing two home made collars.
Prison security called for a K9 unit to sniff at the white powder found inside the collars, and you know the rest. There’s no word on whether anyone inside or outside the prison has been hit with charges, but thankfully the cat was unharmed, deemed healthy and set free.
Now the cat’s caretaker is suing to get her pet back and says she’s worried the authorities will have the tuxedo shorthair euthanized. The RSPCA says it responded to serious concerns about the cat’s health.
Usually when complaints about UK police hit the headlines, it involves sheepish constables knocking to talk to a “suspect” about a social media post that offended someone.
This seems to be a whole different level of crazy, and neither the police nor prosecutors are denying that six police officers and an official from the RSPCA showed up at the North London home of Katherine Theodotou, chopped up the front door with an axe and charged in.
The 79-year-old Theodotu, through her attorney, said she was recovering from breast cancer surgery and couldn’t make it to the door quickly. The police, she said, came through the door just as she was reaching it and knocked her over.
They also provided images of the door after the May 27 “raid” on Theodotu’s home:
Theodotu says the police searched her entire home and an adjoining Greek school, which she founded.
The RSPCA and Metropolitan police tell a different version of the story, although they do not dispute the urgency and violence with which they entered Theodotu’s home. They say veterinarians who examined and treated Rita the cat had serious concerns about her health. Rita, who had a congenital condition, cannot use her back legs and requires special care. Theodotu’s attorney said the former human rights lawyer turned educator can prove she’s paid significant sums for Rita’s rehabilitation and care, including a recent veterinary surgery.
But veterinarians who examined Rita after the RSPCA took her found her condition “extremely concerning and consistent with a significant deterioration since discharge, alongside evidence suggestive of prolonged inadequate hygiene, nursing care, and monitoring within the home environment,” said Mark Townsend, an attorney for the RSPCA.
Theodotu is suing the RSPCA and the police for taking her cat and asking the court to prevent the RSPCA from potentially euthanizing Rita. Let’s hope the courts are able to sort out if the cat was receiving proper care and rule in the animal’s best interests.
In the meantime, the London Metropolitan Police should probably review whichever policy allows its officers to break into homes as if they’re ending a hostage situation, not collecting a cat. Unless a real life Jason Stathamesque character is barricaded in his home and making violent threats, it feels like one cop just to make sure everything stays civil and the temperature remains low would be the appropriate response. Two is overkill. Four is almost comical. But six? With an axe? Chopping the door down? Nah. You’ve gotta revisit your protocols, gov.
The suspect’s crime spree was short lived and the kitten has been returned.
Magnolia is back after her meowgnificent caper.
The three-and-a-half month old kitten was conscripted into an attempted bank robbery by a man who stole her from the adoptable cats section of a Maryland pet shop late Tuesday morning, then took her to a nearby bank.
Security camera footage from the pet store shows the suspect cradling Magnolia as he darts out of the shop.
The man, whose name has not been released by police, then asked a teller to hold the kitten while he scribbled out a note demanding cash.
Despite the suspect’s wily and carefully calibrated plan, the attempted robbery went awry when police arrived in force before he could escape with any cash.
Meanwhile the pet store employees across the street, unaware of the attempted robbery, watched the cops converging and thought the local sheriff was very serious about pilfered pets.
“I immediately saw all of these police cars, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a heck of a response for a stolen cat,” Stephanie Stullich of Beltsville Community Cats told a local TV news station.
As for Magnolia, she seems to be a resilient kitten and wasn’t particularly phased by her ordeal. Footage after her return shows her happily batting her paws at a toy. When pet store staff were told by the cops that their cat was in the bank, they found Magnolia cuddling up with the bank manager.
The man who stole her had visited several times and had been fixated on the kitten, store employees told the local NBC affiliate.
Magnolia was back and safe shortly after her ordeal. Now she’s looking for her forever family. Credit: NBC Washington
Surely treats are in order for little Magnolia. We’re glad to hear she’s okay. She’s available for adoption, by the way, and wants to retire from her brief lifeof crime. Stullich says she’s “looking for a law-abiding citizen with a lot of love in their heart.”
Police haven’t offered details besides acknowledging the incident and saying they’re still sorting details out. We’ll update as more information becomes available.
The case of an allegedly stolen feline has taken a strange turn.
Two weeks ago we posted a story about Junie, a tabbie in Bakersfield, Calif., who was grabbed by an Amazon driver making a delivery at her family’s home.
The Ring camera video clearly shows the driver delivering a package, picking Junie up and walking off with her. In the intervening time, the family has released the video, spoken to local media, filed a report with police and implored Amazon to help them get their cat back.
Amazon shifted the blame to a local contractor that employs delivery drivers, saying the driver is actually an employee of that company despite wearing an Amazon uniform. Police say the investigation is ongoing.
But now the driver has come out publicly and said that, actually, Junie is his cat, and actually, he just happened to deliver a package to the home of the family who allegedly took her.
“I was just doing my regular route. I approached the house. I got Brenda’s package, and I took it like a normal day,” Joshua Gonzalez told KGET, the local NBC affiliate in Bakersfield.
Brenda Wilson is Junie’s caretaker who previously spoke to the same news team about the alleged theft.
The document Gonzalez produced says the feline was a stray adopted on Oct. 9 of 2025, but Gonzalez said he never got around to naming her. Referring to the cat variously as “him,” “her” and “it,” he said he was thinking of naming “him” Spartan.
“I heard a meow,” he said of the moment he delivered the package. “I recognized it was my cat because of the distinct design it had on its forehead. It has the ‘M,’ the eyes, and how the body was set. I knew it was my cat. So I just grabbed him and walked off.”
Gonzalez says he adopted the cat for his seven-year-old daughter.
Aside from the incredible coincidence of supposedly finding his cat during a random work delivery, and the odd detail about not naming a cat that he says had been in his home for at least six months — as well as his apparent uncertainty about the feline’s gender — the document Gonzalez produced does not include a photo of the animal.
Then there’s the fact that literally all domestic tabby cats have the “M” marking on their foreheads, which is the most clear sign they’re tabbies. It’s not clear if Gonzalez thinks the mark is unique, and the news team didn’t ask the obvious question.
Wilson’s been in touch with Gonzalez and his family. She says she’s had Junie for five years, says Gonzalez used to live in her neighborhood, and has gotten nowhere with attempts to get Junie back.
“We’ve had some back and forth with them and they really are saying this is their cat, and I don’t know if it’s a cover, [if] they just really wanted her, or if they really do think this is their cat,” she said. But, she noted, “it’s an easy fix,” meaning the police can quickly determine who Junie/Spartan belongs to by looking at photos, timestamps, vet and adoption records.
Junie, whom Gonzalez says might be named Spartan, is pictured here in an image provided to KGET by Gonzalez. He says the cat is in her rightful home and is happy.
Gonzalez told KGET he realizes the video of him taking the cat “looks bad,” but said neighbors should not jump to conclusions.
“I want them to know I didn’t do anything bad but get my cat back, and now it’s in its rightful home, it’s back where it belongs,” he said. “Like anybody else would do, if they lost their cat and they see it on someone else’s porch, they would do the same thing.”
A couple thoughts here: in addition to the unlikely coincidence that someone would randomly discover their missing cat this way, not bestowing a name on a pet he’s allegedly had for seven months, and the inconclusive document, the video does not show surprise on Gonzalez’s face, nor does it show any hesitation or effort on his part to look at the cat closely.
Instead, he goes immediately from scanning the package and placing it down to picking the cat up. Then just walks off. Even when he pauses momentarily, it’s to look at his phone, not the animal.
You’d think that, if he really did serendipitously discover his own missing pet, there’d be visible surprise or a reaction on his face. You’d think he’d take a long look at the cat just to make sure it really is his. You’d think he’d knock on the door or at the very least leave a note instead of just walking off with the cat. And if this really happened the way Gonzalez says it did, wouldn’t he have told his employer so there’s no misunderstanding?
None of that happened, according to the media reports, the video and Gonzalez’s own words. Of course, Gonzalez could be telling the truth. Stranger things have happened. But the burden of proof is on him here.
I have written in the past about people who aren’t sure if they’ve recovered their own cat, and while I’ve said I’d know Bud instantly — and I maintain I absolutely would, because of his behavior and demeanor as well as his appearance — I’d still be shocked at finding him that way.
If he were missing, I would be overjoyed at finding him. Thrilled. Ecstatic. I’d probably act like a complete idiot, pick him up, spin around and kiss his little forehead. And he’d definitely react, trilling out a “Servant! Where have you been?!? This period of separation has been unacceptable and intolerable! Return me immediately to my proper domicile, where I expect you will have my preferred meal and be ready to ply me with snacks and catnip in profound apology for allowing this ghastly ordeal!”
Okay, so maybe people wouldn’t understand that bit of dialog, but I sure as hell would get his meaning, and I am absolutely a thousand percent sure that’s how he’d react. We’d both be ecstatic about being reunited.
Above: One of approximately 716,253 photos of Buddy in my possession.
I’d also have a mountain of proof: literally four cell phones’ worth of camera roll photos, several hundred photos from my Canon, neuter and vaccination records, receipts from the emergency vet, Chewy records listing an obscene amount of turkey orders, poorly Photoshopped images of him committing various heroic deeds with timestamps dating back more than a decade, and an entire blog dedicated to glorifying him as a meowscular, handsome and inimitable little fellow. But that’s just me.
A spokesperson from the local sheriff’s office told KGET they’re still investigating the alleged theft. I hope that’s true, and I hope they take this seriously. Regardless of US law’s archaic view of pets as property worth a fixed, cheap value that does not take sentiment into consideration, serving the public means setting things like this right. If one party doesn’t like what the police decide, they can go to court.
But for the sake of Junie and her family, they need to get this settled, and quickly, before the feline disappears.
“The evidence is overwhelming, your honor. He even has a disturbing number of poorly Photoshopped images of his cat slaying dragons, fighting evil robot armies, landing on the moon and dunking basketballs over NBA players.”
Lauren Carter admitted she poured bleach on cat food on two occasions in April, police say.
The video shows a woman stop her car, get out holding a bottle of what looks like bleach, and pour the substance onto food left for outdoor cats while a tabby looks on, sniffing curiously.
The footage was recorded by a family in Chester, Pa., a town of 32,000 about 25 miles southwest of Philadelpia. The cat, Jumper, belongs to a family on the same street.
The suspect’s name had been floating around on various cat-related social media sites along with the video for weeks, but police and prosecutors had to be sure of the facts before they arrested the woman.
When lab results showed the substance was indeed bleach, officers arrested 35-year-old Lauren Carter, also of Chester.
Cops and the SPCA’s law enforcement division say Carter admitted to pouring bleach on cat food on two occasions in April. It isn’t clear why Carter wanted to harm cats, and so far law enforcement hasn’t made any comments about her motivation.
They did, however, make sure local pets did not eat the poisoned food.
“We do believe based on our investigation that no animals did consume the food,” SPCA spokeswoman Gillian Kocher told KYW, a local news radio station. “Our officers went out through the area to make sure that no animals were sick or deceased, but it is, of course, our intention that this doesn’t happen again, and the animals in the neighborhood are kept safe.”
Carter has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Olivia Oliver, Jumper’s caretaker, said she was satisfied with the outcome of the investigation and Carter’s confession.
“I think it’s enough. I think it’s a good sign; it’s a warning for her,” Oliver told WPVI, the Philadelphia-based ABC news affiliate. “And basically, I’m glad she’s going to pay for what she did. And hopefully nothing like this happens again around here.”
Pain In The Bud 