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A meteorologist's cat bombed his at-home forecast. Now Betty is his beloved co-host.

Fans have been tuning in from around the world to see Betty just being Betty.

Jeff Lyons 14 News/Facebook

During the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Indiana's 14 First Alert Chief Meteorologist Jeff Lyons set up a green screen in his living room and has been giving weather forecasts from home during the lockdown. And though he usually broadcasts alone, he's gotten a new partner to share the weather with—his cat, Betty.

Betty made her debut when she wanted some attention during a weather broadcast. Lyons picked up the fluffy feline and cradled her in his arms while he talked about the weather. The response was so great, the station shared a little behind-the-scenes green screen fun with Betty and the clip that ended up airing on television.



Sometimes Betty just hangs out watching her human do his professional human thing.

However, like all cats, Betty doesn't like to perform when requested. (Like how they only want to sit on your lap when you're trying to work. Cats gonna be cats.)

People are loving Betty's cameos in Lyons' from-home forecasts, though. Viewers have even been sharing photos of their own cats on Lyons' Facebook page, and fans have begun tuning in from around the world to see Betty being Betty.

Pets have become even more beloved companions as everyone's lives during the pandemic, as people find themselves spending more time at home and less time with other living, breathing beings. At this point, anything sentient that we're allowed to get close to feels like a best friend.

Thanks for bringing an extra measure of joy to people right now, Betty, and enjoy your newfound fame. (We'd warn you not to let it go to your head, but you're a cat—the diva is already built in.)


This article originally appeared four years ago.

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Kitten named Duck, learns run on two feet and she looks like an adorable velociraptor

It hasn't slowed her down one bit.

Purrasic Duck|Instagram

Cat learns to run on two feet after front leg amputations

Babies are really adaptable. The same can be said for baby animals and it's likely because they just don't know any other way of life so they just go with it. But even knowing that, it's still hard to imagine a kitten getting around with no front legs.

Cats essentially use everything from their whiskers to their tails to balance, so how would one walk without two of it's four legs? The answer is, carefully at first. Duck is a kitten that had to have both of her front legs completely amputated after she was rescued and while she was wobbly at first, she quickly adapted.

Duck's human, Cody shares her daily shenanigans on his Instagram page aptly named Purrasic Duck. But recently he told Duck's story to The Dodo revealing her rescue story and the kitten's quick moves. If you're having a hard time picturing a two-legged cat on the run, it looks a lot like a furry velociraptor chasing a laser pointer.

"I ended up naming her Duck because she kinda waddled. She'd kinda take it slow, she waddled trying to figure out her balance," Cody tells The Dodo.

Before long though, Duck was off to play with her much larger dog brothers. Her pug brother even offers her a little assistance in the face cleaning area since Duck doesn't have paws to do it herself. No worries, she returns the favor by cleaning his face too. It's an adorable relationship but if you want to see a furry velociraptor chase after cat toys, you'll need to watch the video below.

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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How Harry Styles' mom miraculously reunited with her cat who went missing for two years

"I have no idea where she has been for the past two years."

Representative photo credit: Canva

Microchipping your cat is one of the best ways to ensure you can find each other if they get lost.

When a pet goes missing, it's a worrisome time for any pet owner. Having no idea where they are, if they're okay, if they're even alive—so many worst case scenarios can cross your mind on top of simply missing them. Many animals are found fairly quickly, as neighbors discover a stray cat or dog at their door, but on rare occasions pets are found after being missing for months or even years.

That's what happened to children's author Anne Twist—who also happens to be the mother of pop star Harry Styles—when a shelter contacted her saying they had her cat. Her black-and-white floof Evie had been missing for two years, but someone had taken her in a few days before.

Twist wrote:

"The most incredible thing happened today .. I got my little Evie back! Two years ago she went out and never came back. After months spent searching I was resigned to having lost her. 😞

"Last night I got a phone call .. a little rescue centre @willowsway_cat_rescue had her! She’d been taken in by a lovely lady who had fed her for a couple of days in her greenhouse. Although I have no idea where she has been for the past two years I am immensely grateful to have her home🙏 From June last year it became the law to have your cats microchipped .. something I have always done since I started having them in my life … keep your details updated, miracles can happen. 🥰"

Surely Evie was happy to be back home after her two year adventure, wherever she was, as well.

The law Twist is referring to is in the U.K. "With more than 9 million pet cats in England, the introduction of mandatory microchipping will make it easier for lost or stray pet cats to be reunited with their owners and returned home safely," says the U.K. government website. "Microchipping is already compulsory for dogs and is proven to be the most effective method for identifying lost pets, with microchipped dogs more than twice as likely to be reunited with their owner."

What does microchipping a cat mean?

Vets can insert a microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, under the skin of a cat or dog on the back of its neck. The microchip contains a unique identification number that matches up with the owner's contact information in a database. It's not a GPS tracker and doesn't actively transmit any information, but the ID number can be read from the chip with a special scanner. Microchips are painless for the animal but super helpful for rescues and shelters to find owners when they find a pet that has one.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Aren't cats good at finding their way home?

Cats are actually quite adept at getting themselves home after they've wandered. We don't fully know how they do it, but there is some evidence that cats use a combination of scent cues and the earth’s geomagnetic fields to locate their homes. It's called a homing instinct, and scientists figured out the geomagnetic field element in 1954 when they put magnets on cats, which seemed to make it harder for them to find their way home.

Cats have been known to even find their way home from dozens of miles away, though most missing cats are found within a few miles of home. When a cat comes back after going missing for years, it's likely someone took them in during that time, though who knows for sure? It's not like Evie can tell Anne Twist what she's been doing for the past two years, and its unlikely she was on tour like her big brother (wouldn't that be quite a show). But Twist is happy to have her back, regardless of what she's been up to.

Congrats on your reunion, you two. And thanks for the example of why microchipping our beloved pets is so important.

reunion
Joy

Woman inadvertently captures the moment her cat realizes she's pregnant

"I'm literally crying."

@melkapetani/TikTok

Cat discovering owner's pregnant belly.

Can animals tell if you're pregnant? That question has been asked countless times without a scientifically proven answer, but some people swear their pets started behave differently around them when they're expecting. Some cats or dogs get more snuggly, some get more protective, some get more territorial, but it's not uncommon for people to report their pets acting notably differently when there's a human baby on the way.

A woman captured a sweet moment of her cat interacting with her pregnant belly, almost as if it just realized she had a baby inside it. At first, the kitty looks over at her rubbing her belly with its curiosity clearly piqued. Gently moving towards her, it starts sniffing her belly button, peering into it, then oh-so-gently touching it with its paw.

"Oh my god," the woman whispers. "I'm literally crying."

People loved seeing the cat's "discovery" and shared some of their own experiences with pets and pregnancy.

"My old boy Leon knew ❤️ he laid on my belly every night. He waited to meet his baby brother and then crossed the rainbow bridge 🌈"

"My cat would sleep on or against my pregnant belly, but as soon as the baby kicked she’d wake up and look at my belly in annoyance. 😂"

"My Eddie used to sit on my belly every night -- until I became pregnant, and then he sat close by , but never on my belly. He knew before I did!"

"My cat wouldn't leave my side after my csection. He was stuck to me and baby LIKE GLUE. He never cuddles so much. He was ON ME. Turns out, I had complications, and needed to be rehospitalized. I feel like he knew something wasn't right🥹 I am forever grateful!"

"My cat Minou used to always cuddle me while I was pregnant. He had never been a cuddle before or after."

"My "soul cat" Isabelle would curl up and sleep on my pregnant belly. She only got mad once because she was kicked and acted like I did it 😊"

"Cats know. They know when someone is pregnant and even when someone is ill or about to die. We underestimate them."

Do they really know? The verdict is out on that question in terms of definitive research, but there are some indications that they could. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may result in slight changes in your smell, which cats' incredibly strong olfactory senses might pick up. Cats are also super sensitive to changes in their environment, so their human's growing belly and behavioral changes as they prepare for a baby's arrival may also signal to them that something new is afoot. Whether that means they actually understand that a new human is on the way is an entirely different question, and unfortunately we can't get into the mind of our feline friends.


In Love Cat GIFGiphy

As far as when someone is ill or about to die, we've seen at least one cat who seemed to have a sense for when people were close to death. Oscar "the Hospice cat" lived in the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, as a therapy cat, but caregivers began to notice a pattern. Once in a while, Oscar would start spending a lot of time in a specific resident's room.

"We would eventually find out after he did this several times that the people he was staying with were usually the next ones to go," Dr. David Dosa shared with Crossroad Hospice. "One death occurred, then two deaths and ultimately he hit about 20 or 30 deaths in a row at which point everybody started to say, ‘Wow, this is something quite unique.’”

In fact, workers at the center began calling people's families if Oscar started spending a lot of time with them, as it was so often a sign that the person would pass soon.

There's a lot we don't know about what animals can and cannot sense, but that doesn't change the sweetness of seeing a cat peer into and paw at the belly button of a pregnant woman. What a lucky baby.

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