Always, always, always CYA in the workplace…

If you're not privy to what "CYA" means, in other words: Cover for yourself, and for nobody else. The only person who truly has your back is you.

Cats don't really ask for attention. They decide it's happening.

It usually starts with a light tap of the paw while you're trying to do something important, like work or eat or exist. If that doesn't get the job done, they'll move directly onto whatever you're using. Laptop, book, notebook, your own arm, it doesn't matter. Suddenly there's a cat there and now you can't do anything until further notice.

Sometimes it's a headbutt. Sometimes it's pacing back and forth across your lap like they're testing it for comfort. Other times they'll just sit next to you and stare until you feel guilty enough to stop what you're doing and start petting them.

And once you finally give in, they settle in like this was always the plan.

Of course, the second you stop, they notice immediately. That's when the paw comes back. Or the slow walk across your keyboard again. Or they just move closer until they're fully in your purrsonal space.

They don't need much. Just a few pets. And your full attention for the foreseeable future. After all, you weren't using that time for anything important anyway.

If you witness workplace hypocrisy, it's best to address it intelligently.

By "intelligently", we mean sneakily…

Scroll below to read about the perfect revenge plot featuring a bartender, their micromanager, and a whole lot of lying to get the job done. Have you experienced this before in the workplace?

If you have to make something mandatory, then there is a very high chance that the something you are trying to make happen is not actually fun. Take, for example, when your job requires you to attend an after-work party. Making it required doesn't make it any less agonizing. Especially if you make that "party" on a Friday, right before your employees are free to go enjoy their weekends and live their lives. 

They weren't planning on adding another cat to the house, but fate had other plans.

The past few years have been busy for this pawrent, including taking in two mama cats and their kittens, which eventually turned into a full house of five resident cats who are all sweet but still a little wild. After moving to a new city and settling into a rental while waiting to sell their old home, a group of six outdoor cats started showing up regularly for food, and of course they couldn't say no.

About a month ago, a new gray cat joined the group. He seemed healthy and friendly during feedings, but didn't get along well with the other outside cats and usually kept to himself.

One cold evening while being fed, he kept rubbing up against them between bites and even gave a playful little love nip. A carrier was set down with food inside, and he walked right in without much hesitation. After a vet visit to get him checked out, he finally had somewhere safe to rest.

Now he's set up in his own room away from the other cats, leaning in for pets whenever he gets the chance, and settling in like he's meant to be there.

After saving up for months to buy the perfect stroller, this woman's husband just gave it away!

This Mom-to-be is having her baby in 2 or 3 months, and now, thanks to her husband's actions, she's stroller-less. She should probably consider how it'll feel to have this husband of hers around once the baby actually arrives… and then consider becoming husband-less, too.

Oh, you find that to be dramatic? Well just read the story, then we'll talk. Because the way this husband acted is both suspicious and unkind, leading a lot of people to ask that this woman strongly consider who she's actually married to. 

Love takes many forms and shapes. It's not always a straight and narrow line, and it can surprise you in ways you never realized were possible. 

The woman in the story here decides to do the improbable. It's not easy to care for a senior animal, and you have to know that the love and care you give him will be more or less ephemeral, but this good-hearted woman decides to adopt a senior cat anyway. She adopts a tortie cat who is toothless and deaf, so she's got her work cut out for her in terms of responsibilities. She's a saint for taking in such an old and demanding cat, but she loves her all the same. 

Have you ever thought to adopt such an elderly animal? If you do decide to, just know that there are pros and cons. Read the full story below for all the details. 

When you are feeling low on your reserves of love and are unable to get more from hooman sources, then cats are the next best thing. Which is why we collected this concentrated collection of sweet feline funnies packed full of feline love to fill up your reserves.

So rest easy you love seeking hoomans, for your journey has come to its end. You have reached the mythical moment you have searched for and will soon find your mind filled with fluffy feline frivolity and your soul satiated by their sweet looks and pawdorable paws. We are sure that your journey has been a long and drawn out one that demanded much energy from you, and that you must be feeling weary from your travels, but you need not worry anymore.

These cats will now take over, and with each scroll and swipe you will get one step closer to feeling full of awwdorable catto energy and love. So find yourself a quiet spot to enjoy these cute cattos and their healing powers as you step into the world of sweet felines. 
 

It takes a really big mistake to get fired on Day 1. 

Orientation day is probably the easiest day of any job, so I know you're thinking, "How could someone possibly get fired from that?"

Well, some people show up wildly unprepared, or make it clear that they're simply not a good fit for employment at that line of work. Like, if you show up on your first day wearing shorts when you can see all the employees have to wear pants, you'll get fired. Yep, that actually did happen to one person! 

If you thought picking up your cats when coming back from vacation is as easy as popping them in the carrier, then this story will make you think twice and hatch a backup plan in case your cats decided to pull a runner just as you come to carry them home.

It is a heartbreaking scene to hear about. A pawrent comes back from a much needed vacation, missing their cats deeply. Only to have one of them bolt the moment their pawrent approaches. Not only making their pawrent's longing go unquashed, but also making them feel deeply unwanted. Of course no pawrent comes prepared for such a pick up situation, which makes the event even more stressful and you are left with a pawrent whose rest and relaxation has gone out the window never to be seen again, a holiday wasted if you ask us.

But being the diligent cat mom that this hooman is, she did not give up and persisted in the purrsuit of her cat child until they were reunited. One thing is for sure, this pawrent will come prepared for madness upon pick up the next time they leave their cat in the care of someone else. 
 

It's no secret that the cold, harsh months of winter can affect one's mood, but these entitled folks took that negativity to the next level.

From shoveling drama after a snowstorm to neighborhood complaints over basketball hoops and photography, these Karens did not fail to make mountains out of molehills. Sometimes, the behavior was intentional, while other times, people were acting like Karens without even knowing they were acting like Karens. Yes, apparently, morphing into a Karen can be just like Bruce Banner "hulking" out.

Keep scrolling below for this collection of the top five most amusing Karen stories we came across this winter, along with commentary from yours truly.

Have you ever sat down with a delicious sandwich only to realize you're being watched by a pair of unblinking, judgmental eyes?

If you live with a foodie feline, you know that "personal space" is just a myth and "your" dinner is actually "our" dinner. It's a full-time job defending your plate from a tiny predator who thinks a crust of bread is a trophy worth fighting for.

These cat connoisseurs have a special talent for appearing out of thin air the exact microsecond a tuna can click open. They might be snoring in a sunbeam, but as soon as food is involved, they're launching a tactical strike on your charcuterie board with zero shame and even less table manners. Whether they're sporting a "yogurt mustache" or trying to stick their entire head into a cereal bowl, their dedication to the crunch is honestly aspirational.

It's a chaotic lifestyle, but sharing your home with a snack-obsessed furball means every meal is an adventure. From the dramatic "starving" meows to the silent paw-reach for your pizza, these deliciously derpy moments are the secret ingredient to a purrfect weekend.

Don't mess with your local blue-collar staff! This office worker learned that the hard way, and now her workday is made way more complicated. 

We think that "don't do to your pet what you wouldn't do to your kid" is a rule of thumb that every pet pawrent should adhere to, no exceptions.

Think about it: As you wouldn't prevent your kid from having a meal, you shouldn't prevent your pet from having a meal. As you wouldn't raise your hand on your kid, you should definitely never raise your hand on your pet. As you wouldn't abandon your kid in a stranger's house to never be heard from again, you should never abandon your pet like that. But this one woman abandoned her cat just like that. And we'll never understand why anyone would think this is an acceptable behavior.

What in the world could make a person abandon their cat, their pet that they adopted? Sure, she might've thought she was leaving her with a friend, in a safe space, but the friend wasn't the one adopting, committing, or wanting a cat. When you adopt, you adopt the responsibility for the cat, period. You are the one in charge of their well-being, their health, and their life. How could someone just… leave a cat?

Despite this being beyond our understanding, we love that the wholesome online feline family comes to the aid each and every time - with good advice, with listening ears, and with a worldwide shared love for cats.

Karenish behavior rarely comes from a good place, but when this woman became a watchdog against predatory solicitors, her elderly neighbors were grateful for her tenacity.

AI can do some pretty cool stuff, but it will never outpurr a classic feline photo full of all-natural cat comedy.

Like the rest of the world, you've probably had to deal with some level of AI integration in your daily life by now. Whether it's being used to assist you at work, it's replaced your coworkers entirely, or you're using it to generate silly pictures of you and your cat in the Bahamas, AI is here to stay, and there's not much we can do about it.

There are two camps of thought about AI: pro, or against. The ones who are against have very valid claims - that all of its "art" is generated by stealing the work of millions of artists online and creating pale imitations of their works without giving any credit to the artists who were used to train it. Another purrfectly important point is that every use of AI uses a lot of energy and water, so much so that it's literally clearing out whole towns to put large data centers in their place and using gallons of fresh water to generate a single image. 

Others are pro AI: they know that it's here to stay, and it's all about how we use it. Your purrsonal decision to avoid AI won't stop the whole world from using it, so they educate themselves and use it in a smart way. 

But us though? We're pro cat. As cool as AI is, it will never beat the classic comedy of a candid cat photo. That's because cats are purrfeclty unpredictable in a way that AI could never imagine. It doesn't matter whether you're pro or against AI here, all that matters is you believe that cats will always and furrever leave AI behind in the litter box.

Parents are expected to work full-time jobs, but as every Mom and Dad knows, raising the kids is a full-time job in itself. 

Quite the impossible choice, isn't it? 

Bosses always expect their workers to deliver pristine results. Nevermind if they're having an off day, not feeling 100%, or have a child who needs their attention. Kids need constant attention, and that doesn't just stop when Mom and Dad head into the office. Just think about all the times you called your parents while they were at work to ask them important questions like, "Can I watch TV?" or "Can I eat some chicken nuggets from the freezer?" And that's not even accounting for the times your child actually needs you — every parent groans aloud when they see that the school's nurse has left them a voicemail. 

If you're cold, they're probably not cold because they're pallas' cats. They were built for the snow and have adopted the most awwdorable habit to survive in freezing temperatures.

In general, cats are not built for the cold. They like warm things, like space heaters, blankets, and body heat from their hoomans. If you live in a place where it snows and you've tried to let your cat investigate the snow, most of them will take one tiny step and then immediately retreat back inside. And we relate to that. We're not cold-weather people. Give us a beach and a cloudless day over a snowy winter with frigid temperatures any day. 

But there is one cat that actually enjoys the snow, and that cat is none other than the furbulously floofy pallas' cat. These fearless floofballs can stand the cold because they have ultra-dense fur coats with twice the thickness of a normal cat's coat. They also have small, rounded ears that prevent heat loss, as opposed to your average house cat with cutesy triangle ears.

That's not even the best part though. Pallas' cats will stand on their fluffy tails to keep their purrfect paws warm in wet snow. It's quite pawssibly the cutest thing we've ever seen, and believe us, we've seen a lot of cute things here at the I Can Has Cheezburger offices. 

If you're needing some inspawration to brave the bitter winter cold outside, look no further than these meowrvelous manuls, AKA pallas' cats. May the floof be with you!

Should you really be grateful for a job that doesn't allow you to take ONE day off?

There are many things we should be grateful for in life. We are grateful for our friends, our family, being healthy, and having a roof over our heads.

Obviously, we are also immensely grateful for having a job, which is not a given for anyone these days. That being said, just because we are grateful doesn't mean we shouldn't fight for our rights or stand up for ourselves when we feel like we're being wronged.

You can be grateful and still feel like you deserve better.

When the manager in the story below told their employee they should be grateful they even have a job, after this employee asked for one day off to attend their sister's wedding, we knew it was time for this employee to stand up for themselves. Not only is it just one day, which the employee is asking for weeks in advance, after following HR protocol precisely, but it is one day after weeks of being overworked with no retribution.

This led the employee not only to not feel grateful, but also feel like they deserve so much better, especially from a workplace they have given so much to.

Whether or not this employee will get their day off approved remains to be seen, but it doesn't seem like that matters as much, since the employee is not planning on sticking around in a job that doesn't appreciate hard work. And when this employee turns in their letter of resignation, we hope they tell their manager they should have been grateful for having such a great employee, and they should have shown it.

The sooner you find out whether you are compatible or not for the long-term, the better. And pets are part of that. 

Our one piece of advice for every cat owner - or pet owner in general - when we speak to about relationships is to check whether you are compatible as soon as you possibly can. There are always going to be surprises and challenges down the line, but at the very least, the things that you know you might have an issue with should be discussed. Listen, we, as people who write about cats every single day, have seen way too many stories about people breaking up over pets, and that is not a situation that we want anyone to be in. 

We've seen couples break up because on of them couldn't handle living with the cat. We've seen people be jealous of their partner's cats and the love that their partners show their cats and break up over that. We have seen people who have been together for a long time give their partners an ultimatum about their cat - it's either them or the cat. And all of that could have been avoided if only a proper discussion had been had right from the beginning. Do it like the two women in this story did.