The Animal Rescue League in Galt is looking for a few good TVs for their cats, but not because cats like to lie on the warm television sets.
As it happens, the cats like to watch TV.
"I know it's weird, but they used to like to watch 'Desperate Housewives,' " said Tami Farley, a volunteer with the group.
"One day we walked in - we had 'Desperate Housewives' on - and saw three or four of them watching," said R.J. Verni, a cofounder of the Animal Rescue League.
The group has a suburban house in Galt where they get rescued felines ready for adoption. About 50 cats live there, all former street cats that had strayed or been abandoned.
The group prefers not to consider them feral, because they are still essentially domesticated animals.
"Cats have been domesticated for 7,000 years," Verni said.
They may be mistrustful of humans, however. It can take from 30 days to a year to get a street cat ready to live with humans again.
The house is part of that training. The Rescue League teaches them not to get up on counters and not to shred wallpaper or furniture. And they watch TV, a normal part of life with people.
"It actually helps us," Verni said. "The sound helps calm them."
As for their choice of shows, it may not have been that they liked the housewives' catty comments.
"They see the movement," Verni said. "I think it's the color and the softness."
Cats and dogs do like TV, said Melissa Bain, a companion animal behavior expert at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
"My dog watches TV," she said. "He waits for a four-legged critter to come on and grabs a toy and 'kills' it," she said.
Not all pets respond, though, because they know the TV is just a representation, she said. And if they do watch, she said, maybe that's a good reason for them to have a TV.
Thus, the Animal Rescue League is looking for a few 19-inch sets in working order, compatible with a VCR or DVD player.
Some will be used in the Galt facility, and one will go to their cat room in Petco in Elk Grove. Because Petco might have kids wandering by, they probably won't be watching "Housewives" there, Verni said.
And though flat-screen sets are nice for people, that's not necessary for cats.
Besides, they're harder to lie on.
To donate a set, call the Animal Rescue League at (916) 714-2894.
Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.
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