It's the true, titillating, twisted tale of how the actress' beloved black cat went missing while in the care of a clueless cat sitter -- and how Gershon spent two months tirelessly following up on every lead from every crackpot (each more convincingly film-noirish than the last), going to impressive lengths to retrieve him. (It's not a spoiler to say Cleo makes it home, especially when that info is proudly placed right there in the subtitle.)

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But to call this simply a book isn't entirely accurate. Sure, In Search of Cleo is full of pages, 162 of them, covered in paragraphs of type as well as photographs and illustrations. It's more like the transcript of an entertaining one-woman show, in which the narrator talks to the reader one-to-one, telling her hard-to-believe story in a conversational style like one friend giving another juicy gossip on the phone.

And that, she tells Catster, was her goal.

"I really wanted to keep it like I was telling a story, to make it seem like you're right there, but I didn't want to depend on some fancy ghost writer," Gershon says. "It was a strange balance." By the end of the book's last chapter, one wishes there were a few more to laugh through. "I'm so glad you weren't my editor!" the author says with a laugh, adding, "I didn't want to stretch it too much."

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Photo by Deborah Anderson

Throughout, memorable characters, from psychics to psychotics (including, memorably, an obsessed fan who poses as a dental technician), drop in to give Gershon leads. Some are quite helpful, others less-so, but the sum total yields an eye-opening life lesson about love, trust, and letting go -- whether you're a cat person in search of a lost feline companion or you're just missing someone dear to you.

In fact, In Search of Cleo is less a literary book than a tour-de-force multimedia monologue, in which Gershon -- whose own persona is perhaps even bigger than any of the larger-than-life roles she's played in such cult films as Showgirls and Bound -- reveals a raw, engaging dramatic voice. Plus, she plays a mean Jew's harp. This singular talent, first displayed during her childhood in L.A., is featured in the audio version of the book, which features her musical collaboration with jazz bassist Christian McBride. "I love the book, but the audio is really fun," Gershon says.

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Self-portrait by Gina Gershon

Gershon notes at the end of the book that a portion of In Search of Cleo's proceeds "will be given to these excellent animal organizations that are close to my heart: Green Chimneys, The Lange Foundation, Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary, and North Shore Animal League." What made her select those particular groups? "There are a zillion I could've listed, and they all do great work," she says. "But these are ones that friends of mine are working really hard with. Green Chimneys is amazing," she adds. "It's so incredible what they do with animals and kids."

In Search of Cleo also reveals another of Gershon's talents: Drawing. Several of her line drawings are reproduced in the book, and her self portrait with Cleo might remind modern-art mavens of Modigliani. "I'm, like, a doodler," she says, adding that she plans to explore painting in the future. Asked whether she's ever donated one of her artworks to a cat charity for auction, she said, "No, but that's a great idea!"

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In the department of happy endings, In Search of Cleo does not disappoint -- kitty comes home in the end, mysteriously, almost magically. What does Gershon suspect Cleo was doing for the excruciating two months of their separation? "I think he was in survival mode, waiting for me to come get him," she says. "He never really told me!"

Throughout the book, we hear of Cleo's predilection for canned tuna. These days, however, Gershon reports, "He's getting older -- he's 15 now -- so we had to change his diet. No more tuna!" But don't feel too sorry for this pampered puss: He still gets his choice of Chinese takeout: "Chicken with broccoli, his favorite."

Ellen hosted a week devoted to the celebration of cats, presented in part by Litter Genie (which has also captured our imaginations ... though not in quite the same way Ellen has). To culminate her week, Ellen put together a little montage of cats just doing what they do best -- catting around and being awww-dorable.

The montage includes some of the Internet's most beloved cat moments, ranging from kittens stalking the camera, kittens playing with sparkly fuzzy things, kittens pouncing bed monsters, kittens attacking their own reflections, kittens trying to help with the laundry, kittens chasing a laser pointer, and kittens trying to make a clown car out of an empty soda box. You know, just general kitten stuff -- goofing around, getting into lighthearted trouble, and making us giggle.

The kitten is a natural comedian. Not yet grown into a lofty, snobby cat, kittens are free to pursue silliness with reckless abandon. And thank catness for it, too -- who needs TV when a kitten can provide hours of unpredictable entertainment and a lifetime of love and devotion.

Photo: British kitten on blue background by Shutterstock

Before I heard about Kardashian’s new fashion accessory, I had no idea teacup cats even existed. (In case you’re wondering why I referred to her kitten as a fashion accessory, all you have to do is look here for proof.)

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A Persian kitten in a teacup? So cute! A teacup Persian produced by a kitten mill? Not so much. Persian kitten by Shutterstock

If you're wondering what a teacup cat is, it’s not a cat in a teacup, it’s a cat that’s bred to be much smaller than the breed from which it originates. Much like the teacup Chihuahua, the teacup Persian seems to have its origins in breeding cats who have a gene that makes them smaller than average. As a result of generations of breeding, the average teacup cat weighs about half as much as the breed standard. One Persian breeder's website says a full-grown teacup cat is about the same size as a typical five-month-old kitten.

Several breeds, including the Persian, have successfully been bred to teacup size and retained their health. This requires a lot of work and a lot of knowledge of the breed, and the people who are going to do it right are the responsible breeders. Naturally, this means teacup Persians are very rare and expensive.

Of course, when celebrities get designer pets, unethical breeders start seeing dollar signs and then do everything in their power to produce mass quantities of the latest fashionable pet. In case you didn’t know, there are plenty of kitten mills out there, too, and chances are the purebred kitten you see in a pet store is cranked out of a facility just as delightful and healthy as a puppy mill.

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Mr. Grumpypants sees what you did there, and he's not impressed. Persian cat face by Shutterstock

The easiest way to produce teacup cats is through inbreeding. And if a cat’s family tree has no branches (as Jeff Foxworthy might say), it’s likely to suffer from a lot of other health issues that manifest when closely related animals are bred together. Kitten-mill operators don’t give a crap about potential health problems, the integrity of the breed, or the dangers of inbreeding. All they care about is making money.

There’s another kind of unscrupulous breeder who is capitalizing on the teacup fad. They sell runts or even deliberately deprive kittens of food in order to keep them small, and then pass them off as teacup cats.

So now that Kim Kardashian has her little teacup Persian, what are the odds that people are going to run out and get the first teacup Persian they can lay their hands on? And are they going to be willing to be put on breeder’s waiting list -- possibly waiting years for their kitten -- and pay thousands of dollars for their new cat? As my old Magic 8-Ball used to say, “Signs point to no.” It seems to me that a true fad-follower is going to want is to get their latest toy fast and cheap.

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Awwwww! Silver chinchilla Persian kitten by Shutterstock

The cat fancy has managed to dodge the bullet of crazy overbreeding that plagues the dog fancy, but if celebrity-spawned fads like teacup cats continue to come along, I worry that purebred cats are only going to suffer, not only in terms of health and quality of life but also in terms of the consequences when the breed goes out of style. How many of these teacup Persians will find themselves in shelters when their so-called caretakers want to move on to the next designer pet trend?

So hey, if you think Kim Kardashian is really someone you should aspire to emulate, go ahead and get your fashionable little mini-kitty, but be prepared to face neurological and cardiovascular problems and probably a shortened lifespan as well. Oh, and don’t forget, that Persian fur does require daily brushing, and you’re the one who’s going to have to do it. After all, you (probably) don’t have millions of dollars and an army of peons to do the dirty work for you.

If you want a tiny purebred cat, get a Singapura. They’re naturally small, they have short hair, and they’re ridiculously cute!

What do you think about Kim Kardashian getting a teacup cat? Let us know in the comments.

As you can imagine, it was a little bit easier to dig up photos of dogs in Elvis costumes, but here at Catster, we make even the most unlikely possible!

So to commemorate the life of the man who changed the face of music forever, here are some cool cats who have got us all shook up with giggles! And now for a little less conversation and a lot more cuteness. 

This cat is the King for his incredible patience!

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Photo by Carolinadoug.

With his shades and white suit, this cat is a hunka-hunka burning love!

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Photo by ljcybergal.

Maybe we've got suspicious minds, but we think this kitty might exact revenge for this by pooping outside the litter box for a week. First he was bred to be hairless and then he was dressed in a silly Elvis costume!

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Via SkeezyVille.

And while we know it's still August, it's never too early to begin dreaming of a white Christmas, especially when it's sung by the King's sultry voice. Elvis may be dead, but he still charms the kitties ... just check out this cat's response to the song.

 Elvis has left the building! Thank you -- thankyouverymuch! 

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“I had no idea what ‘feral’ meant,” says comedian Marc Maron from his home in Los Angeles’ Highland Park neighborhood. We aren’t discussing his stand-up act, or his wildly successful podcast. We’re talking about Maron’s five cats and how he got them. Maron, who records each episode of his show in a renovated garage adjacent to his house, is a notorious cat herder. In fact, fans know Maron’s house as The Cat Ranch.

Maron enumerates his pets thusly: “Monkey and LaFonda live in the house. Boomer used to live in the house but now lives outside. And then there’s a stray cat that, as of recently, who seems to live here. We call him Scaredy-Cat. And then there’s this black death cat -- we don’t have a name for him. He’s a stray, too, and you can’t touch him or Scaredy-Cat.”

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When Marc Maron went to the shelter, "There was this one lunatic cat ... jumping all over the place, just crazy. And I said, ‘Well, that one seems interesting.’” That cat was Boomer. Photo by Dimitri von Klein

He has accumulated the cats over a decade, beginning in New York during his stint as the host of a morning radio program. During that period, he says, he would get up “at 2:30 or 3 in the morning to get to work at 3:30. I would take my garbage out, and there was this huge family of cats out there, eating out of the garbage. They were probably three or four months old -- five kittens and a mother. They were clearly eating on their own.

”I had no idea about cats. But they were adorable. I started to realize that no one was going to deal with it, and that they were going to continue making cats out there. I got ambitious one night. My neighbor and I took a shoebox, cut a hole in it, and put food in it. One by one, we trapped four of those kittens, brought them up a four-flight walk-up to my apartment, and released them there.”

At that point, things stopped going well.

“It was just insane,” Maron says. “Two of them wedged themselves behind the stove. One of them tried to jump out the window -- kind of climbed up the screen and wedged itself between the screen and the window. And another one got stuck on a glue trap. That cat was flopping all over the place and I had to rip her off the glue trap. And I got all ripped up.”

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The logo of Marc Maron's podcast includes Monkey, LaFonda, and Boomer.

The drama of getting the kittens into the house was followed by the struggle to acculturate them to living with a human. (“I just wanted friends,” Maron says, “and none of them wanted anything to do with me.”) He wound up keeping two of the cats he trapped and finding homes for the others. Beforehand, he had them all checked out by a vet and fixed.

”The one that got stuck on the glue trap [LaFonda], I still have -- and I think that sort of permanently damaged her. That was her Vietnam. And the one that tried to jump out the window, I still have -- that’s Monkey,” Maron explains.

A couple of years later, Maron relocated to Los Angeles -- and found himself faced with the task of traveling with feral cats.

“Initially, my ex-wife took Monkey across the country from New York. Then, I took LaFonda, and that was just a travesty,” Maron recalls. “Just to get her in the cage, I had to wear leather work gloves, and she still bit through them. I had never traveled with a cat before. I finally got her in the cage -- and I was bloody.”

Then came the great meeting of the minds: caged feral cats and TSA officials.

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LaFonda dined at a garbage can as a kitten until Maron provided a better life. Photo by Dimitri von Klein.

“I get to [airport] security, and I was about to walk her through and they’re like, ‘You gotta take the cat out and walk her through.’ And I said, ‘Are you [bleep] kidding me?’ I threw this weird … fit. They’re like, ‘Then, you can’t travel.’ I said, ‘You don’t understand! Look at my hands!’ I made such a production about taking LaFonda out of the cage that the TSA guys were startled. By the time I went to try to take her out of the cage, there was panic on everyone’s faces -- like this tiny little cat was going to start ripping people apart. Then I got her out, and I walked her through, and she just wanted to get right back into the cage.”

Since settling in Los Angeles, the cats have become well-known as a part of Maron’s life and work. Cat stories sometimes feature in his introductions to episodes of his podcast , and LaFonda appears in the show’s logo. And both of the ferals have become decidedly indoor animals.

Maron added Boomer to the brood shortly after arriving in L.A. “I went to a shelter,” he says. “They had all these tired old fat cats, and there was this one lunatic cat, this gold cat that was jumping all over the place, just crazy. And I said, ‘Well, that one seems interesting.’”

In retrospect, Maron suspects that Boomer was feral as well at the time he adopted him. Unlike Monkey and LaFonda, Boomer stays outside. “He pees on things, and I just couldn’t have it anymore. And I couldn’t stop him. It’s sad, because he’s a sweet guy.”

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Marc Maron caricature by DonkeyHotey.

The past two years have been the busiest of Maron’s career. The podcast, which features lengthy one-on-one interviews with fellow comedians and other artists he knows or admires, has vaulted him to a new level of fame and fandom. He tours constantly, is writing a book of essays due out next year from Spiegel & Grau, and is preparing a half-hour semi-autobiographical comedy series for IFC. But the cats have been with him through thick and thin, and he has turned several of their stories into stand-up bits, including the tales of trapping and traveling with the feral kittens.

In addition, Maron is known for performing at animal-related benefit concerts. On Wednesday, Aug. 8, he will be at Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco, doing a benefit show with Arj Barker for the city’s Animal Care & Control shelter.

“It’s so ridiculous how attached I get and how stupid I am with cats,” Maron says.

He tells a story that demonstrates that even though he's known for being a little pointed as a comedian, caring about the kitties has become part of his everyday life.

“My first cat was called Butch. And when I moved out [to Los Angeles] in 2002, we drove Butch cross-country," he says. "Butch had this potted plant that she liked, so I put that in the car. We had a U-Haul and a car, and we thought she would want this plant, so we brought this horrible plant so she could be comfortable in the car.”

As it should be.

So when deadmau5 brought home a new kitty -- dubbed Miss Nyancat (natch!) -- he posted a previously unreleased version of his track "Sometimes Things Get Complicated" accompanied by a video of Miss Nyancat and Professor Meowingtons playing together in slow motion. If you need a little music and cuteness to get you through to Friday, then sit back and enjoy this on your lunch break. Friday is almost here!

We love the part where the older, less amused Professor Meowingtons lazily bats at a mischievous Miss Nyancat, like he's saying, "Hey, get off my catnip, you and your techno music ... I don't get this noise that you listen to. The music is too loud!"

And just remember, that when things get complicated, just turn on a cat video. There, life seems so much simpler now, doesn't it?

Via EDM Sauce

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The purrple stuff is magical!!

Since I was feeling sooo good that day I wore one of my tutu creations. As many of you know, I have been thinking A LOT on what to do fur sell many tutus.

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Lunatoon - Marketing Guru

I haven’t figured out the marketing formula yet, but I’m pretty happy that my clothing line is already being used fur everyPAWDY! 

Meet Kitty Katina. Isn’t she SUPERFAB.com in my Heavenly tutu design?

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The tutu color complements her eyes purrfectly!

And as I ALWAYS say in my interviews, if I ever have a fashion line, I WON'T DISCRIMINATE, because discrimination is fur losers FUR REALS! That being said, meet Mattie looking ULTRACUTE in a heavenly tutu.

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Mattie have the sweetest face FUR REALS!

Thanks so much fur the support, guys, I really appreciate it!

In another very unrelated topic, GUESS WHAT? As you know, since I moved back to Mexico I have been suffering so much fur the lack of Bravo TV. Honestly, I almost got a panic attack when I couldn’t watch the episodes online (the IP addresses are blocked) … so after A LOT of research we finally found a guy that uploaded the episodes on YouTube! God bless you “parkerparkertravis.”

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I don't have to say that I spend days catching up!

I also went to the USA! I went to check my love box and ship stuffs, and O-M-G the post office girl went BANANAS when she saw me and screamed to everypawdy, “Come to see is a kitty in the bag, it’s a kitty! Not a doggie!”

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Everypawdy loves me there!

Then another post office person came and told her, “That’s Luna the Fashion Kitty, you should check her page.” SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, guys, the girl started screaming, “We have a celebrity here!” She was a super nice girl.

I was all dressed up fur impress like always in a dress that my admirer Seamus sent me. I want to show you a pic that he sent me recently, he is such a flirt!

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Seamus is the best admirer in the world!

I love that dress so much, it’s super fancy … I had to make a video showing it off.

Let's do some tricks! from Luna the Fashion Kitty on Vimeo.

I also want to thank my furriend Sherris Peg who sent me a superCOMFY and FAB cone -- well, is not a cone, is called a BOOBOOLOON. Such a purrfect name! I'm still using a cone at nights. Thanks soooo much, girl! You guys are soooo thoughtful!

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BooBooloon purrfuct purrsent!

And I want to thank my girlfurriend Savanah, who sent me the cutest crown in the world! I had sooo much fun wearing my crown, fur reals I want to wear it every day.

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Lunatoon - types of beauty queens

She also sent me beautiful cards, but I was too distracted by my hotness. FUR REALS! I look to DIE FUR!

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Thanks so much fur the cards girl, We love them!

Fur last I want to show you my last design that I'm calling CowChic!

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Would you dare to wear cow print?

Want to thank my furriend Angie fur sending me the pink cow hat -- it's purrfect fur my outfit!!

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zzz

And we are done, guys! Don't furget to follow me in Facebook, Twitter, or here in Catster! Don't furget to check my website fur Purrsians in need.

Thanks fur reading my column, guys, see you soon!!

xoxo,

Luna

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Who hands someone a kitten through their car window? Only in Hollywood!

Either way, we're glad the precious kitten has a new, stable home with the "TiK-ToK" singer (who also goes by the more stylized Ke$ha), and it looks like Kesha is just as excited about her new friend as we are that she rescued him -- she's been tweeting a bunch of Instagrams of the little guy. She even asked her fans to help name him by choosing from a list of possible meow-nikers. She ended up going with Mr. Peep$ -- like mama, like kitty, dollar sign and all.

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Attentive kitten in attack mode!

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Hmmm, tough choice.

Will Mr. Peep$ appear on a future Kesha track? Maybe! Posing with the kitty, she Tweeted that she was about to hit the studio to record some more chart-topping party anthems.

Maybe she could write a cat version of "TiK-ToK" about a kitten "waking up feeling like P. Kitty" and then going out to cause mischief such as begging his human servant for food, attacking her toes until she does, and then spending the rest of the day napping in migrating sunspots.

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Ke$ha featuring Mr. Peep$?

Images via Kesha's Twitter

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Julie Newmar as Catwoman.

Newmar has recently distilled her wisdom in a book of aphorisms and biographical sketches, The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth, though she remains best known for possessing a beauty that, when put into a catsuit, can accelerate the speed at which boys hit puberty -- a fact many of these boys, as strange men, are still in habit of confessing to her.  

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Photograph by Harry Langdon

If only these boy-men approached Newmar with something less obvious to tell her. They’d immediately find a fascinating conversationalist, a deft thinker who cuts to the quick. We talk of Ronald Reagan, Paul Krugman, the Great Recession, and her upcoming keynote address at the California Women’s Conference (September 24 in Long Beach).

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Even a quip from her about the virtues of cats versus dogs hits a sharp bell that continues to ring long after it’s struck. (On why men prefer dogs: “Men like others to obey. They like followers. They need others to bow and carry on and think they’re great. We women know that. That’s why we act like cats.”) 

Newmar is both witty and earnest, forceful and kind. She’s quietly vulnerable, but not in the naked way we expect of performers. Her vulnerability is buried in her fierce independence and comes out, ironically, in her most self-assured statements. “I don’t work for anyone but me,” she interjects, when I start to suggest she would make an ideal columnist for a newspaper or magazine.

As I sink deeper into conversation with her, I see the vivifying portrait of a woman who must wake up every day and wonder whether maybe, just maybe, she should’ve compromised a little more at various times in her life, here or there — with agents and directors and intimates — before resolutely shaking the morning cobwebs off and remembering such thinking is absurd because: she’s Julie Newmar.

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Newmar as Catwoman, with Adam West as Batman.

She was born Julia Newmeyer in Hollywood in 1933. Her childhood was mainly organized around dancing and at her first opportunity, while still in college, she joined Universal Studios as a choreographer. Soon after, Broadway beckoned; television, too. The 1950s saw Newmar’s steady rise as an actor, in skill and notoriety, culminating in 1959 with a Best Supporting Actress Tony for The Marriage-Go-Round. By decade’s end, she was a star with a devout following. And she hadn’t even tried on the catsuit yet.

Ah, yes. Catwoman.

In spring 1940, Catwoman entered the DC Comics universe with the very first issue of a new comic called Batman, itself centering upon a character spun off from a monthly anthology the previous summer. Catwoman’s creator, Bob Kane, later said in his female villain he aimed “to personify feminine pulchritude at its most sensuous.” He hit his mark so squarely that by the mid-1950s, Catwoman was forced out of the comic to ensure Batman complied with the Comics Code Authority, a newly formed self-governing body. 

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Looking purr-fect.

Catwoman entered Newmar’s life in 1965, when she was cast to play the role for the television series that, even during its syndication run twenty years later, struck this writer as fantastically odd TV. When Newmar made her first appearance on the show, it had been twelve years since Catwoman last appeared in the Batman universe. And while the self-consciously camp TV series picked up little continuity from the comic book, through Newmar, Kane’s agitated vision of feminine comeliness took on dimensions that continue to resonate throughout pop culture.

Take Catwoman’s wardrobe. When we announced that Newmar was to speak with Catster, many reader responses centered upon the famous black Lurex catsuit she wore on the show. How did she manage to fit into the costume? How long did it take her to get into it? It’s a subject Newmar is happy to discuss — with a pride that teases as it swells.

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Julie in her garden. Photo by Phillip Cohen.

“It’s so simple that people don’t often get it,” she says. “But then again, you have to have the body to fit it on. So I had both. I knew how to get the fit and I had the body — you can’t have one without the other. Then the third element is how the body moves.”

Another interest of several Catster readers was how Newmar perfected those movements. The proprietor of the Facebook page for San Francisco nonprofit Fix Our Ferals astutely asked, "What did she do or study to prepare for the role?"

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Another look at the cat suit that made her famous.

Newmar didn’t merely rely on her lifelong training as a dancer. After walking away from the first episode feeling unsatisfied with her performance, she adopted two cats and studied them closely. “I became a cat,” she says. “I observed their manners, their behavior, their sounds — their catlikeness.” 

Such willful belief in metamorphosis — to become, not merely to be — is the crux of Newmar’s worldview as she's elaborated it in The Conscious Catwoman. The end of Newmar’s dancing days (she says she finally gave it up for good after she turned 70) left a void in her life. “Dance was everything,” Newmar says. In a 2008 essay on her website, she tells how she made the transition from dancing to writing.

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Photo by Alan Mercer.

“I learned to use the pen to remotivate myself, find the wealth within, the untapped knowledge," she writes. "Isn’t that why meditation is so beneficial, you have to listen inwards, not outwards? The old adage is true, the gold fields are in our backyard, and we don’t have to compete with someone else for them. All you have to do is listen, within.”

Julie Newmar is 78 now. She seems a beat or two ahead of life. So whether it’s to teach me the origins of the word “voyeur” or to chasten me for my habit of apologizing too much, I was happy to accept the truth of our encounter, which became increasingly obvious with each shard of wisdom she imparted: Newmar was here to straighten me out and promote her new book — exactly in that order. And I expected to leave our appointment a much more together person than the heap of excuses who dialed her Los Angeles home. But before she made me a little more fabulous, she wanted to know whether I had read her book, The Conscious Catwoman—

“No,” she says, emphasizing the part of the title I left out. “The book is called The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth. Cats are prone to doing that, you know. They want it more or less their way. They have their way of seeing it and if you disagree you are more or less ignored.” 

Point taken. And I was happy to oblige. While accepting her direction I couldn’t help but wonder about the brave soul who has the gumption to correct Ms. Newmar. Surely, there’s one out there. As all cats know, there’s something nice about finding someone who can keep you in line.  

In his latest series, Hanksy creates a play on words and images, taking the likenesses of actors Will Ferrell and Colin Farrell, as well as rapper and producer Pharrell Williams, and mixing them with cats. They're Ferrell cats. Get it? Like feral cats? (Ah yes -- the puns! We love them!)

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The debate continues over whether graffiti should be considered art (on the one paw, it's often vandalism, but on the other paw, Banksy's art is amazing, and he has been shown in legitimate galleries), but hey, we appreciate the joke. And maybe the images will help raise awareness about controlling feral cat populations through spaying and neutering. Who knows? Maybe it's a way to reach a younger generation of cat owners. That could be a really effective campaign.

Have any of our New York Catster readers seen these around town? What are your thoughts?

Via the Huffington Post 

Created by Claire Belton and Andrew Duff, Pusheen was the breakout star of their Everyday Cute comic. Tubby and tabby, Pusheen isn't afraid to voice her feelings on a broad range of matters including laziness and cat etiquette. So happiest birthday, Pusheen! May your days be filled with bouncing and brashness and Internet adoration!

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As lazy as you want to be.

And to celebrate Pusheen's birthday, we'd like to highlight some of her best birthday advice, including the fine art of being lazy, because everyone is allowed to be lazy on her birthday!

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Happy birthday!!!

Just in case you need some pointers on the refined gestures of catiquette, Pusheen has generously created an illustrated guide. So pay attention! We're sure your cat at home will give you a test on cat manners.

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Shall no fur-paw be committed!

And the biggest fur-paw? Forgetting Pusheen's birthday! Please forgive us! It won't happen again!

Images via Pusheen.com

But even these courageous men owe a debt of gratitude to the cool cat guys who came before them. Here are nine of my favorite cat daddies -- including a few that might surprise you.

Marlon Brando

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Marlon Brando and cat. Source: EauMG's Celebs & Pets blog

Yes, that’s right: A 20th century symbol of everything rebellious and macho, whose sex appeal wafted off the silver screen in movies including The Wild One, had a very big -- and very soft -- spot in his heart for cats, judging from all the photos of Brando with felines of various sizes.

Raymond Chandler

Chandler, the author of dozens of hardboiled detective novels, including three that are often considered to be masterpieces, and the man widely considered to be the father of detective fiction as it’s written today, also loved his feline companions. There are lots of great photos of the man and his cat; unfortunately, all of them I could find are copyright-protected so I can't share one here. Do a web search for "Raymond Chandler and cat" and see for yourself.

James Dean

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James Dean and his cat, Marcus. Source: Model's Own

An original teenage heartthrob, James Dean graced the screen in movies including Rebel Without a Cause and East of Eden. Back in my college days, I had a soft spot for Dean and his angst-ridden expressions. It’s great to find out so many years later that Dean’s sensitive heart also had space for Marcus, a Siamese cat given to him by Elizabeth Taylor.

“Only the gentle are ever really strong.” -- James Dean

Albert Einstein

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a genius would love cats. In fact, he kept a beloved housecat who apparently sank into a state of deep melancholia whenever it rained. His friend, co-author, and fellow mathematician Ernst Straus recalls Einstein telling the poor creature, “I know what's wrong, dear fellow, but I don't know how to turn it off.”

Jack Kerouac

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Morrissey

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Morrissey. Photo by xakaxunknownx @ flickr (CC-BY-SA-2.0 licensed)

Morrissey began his musical career as the lyricist and vocalist for the British mope-rock group The Smiths -- who were, incidentally, one of my very favorite bands back in the day. Now, Moz is enjoying a solo career that’s still going strong 25 years after the members of the Smiths went their separate ways. Morrissey is a devoted cat lover and animal rights activist.

Isaac Newton

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Isaac Newton

It’s hard to tell whether Newton was a cat lover, but he is credited with the creation of the cat door. A story by “a county parson” says Newton made two holes in a door -- a large one for the mother cat and a small one for her kittens -- but apparently didn’t realize that the kittens would follow their mother through the larger hole. Regardless of whether the story is true, apparently there are two plugged holes in Newton’s door, one sized for a cat and the other for a kitten.

Edgar Allan Poe

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Edgar Allan Poe

Although Poe is famous for writing some of the creepiest short stories ever, including “The Black Cat,” the tale of a cat who brings vengeance upon his murderous owner, Poe himself was quite a fan of the feline family. He and his wife, Virginia, were the caretakers of a cat named Catterina.

Mark Twain

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Mark Twain enjoying the company of his feline friends.

The libraries of the world are full of photos of author and humorist Mark Twain enjoying the company of his cats. Artists have painted the man sitting with a contented cat next to him. And, of course, the volumes of Twain quotes are filled with words in praise of cats.

“I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course.” -- Mark Twain