If you're looking for a cuter, more relaxing alternative to tonight's big Super Bowl matchup,  we humbly suggest the annual "Puppy Bowl" on Animal Planet.

This is the eighth year Animal Planet has aired the Puppy Bowl (sponsored by Petfinder.com) and it gets a little grander each year. Kitten cheerleaders were introduced for a Bissell Kitty Half-Time Show two years ago, and this year we get for the first time, pig pep squad antics before the game.

If you're a social media hound, Meep the Bird (aka @meepthebird) will be tweeting updates throughout the event.

All of the animals featured come from animal shelters and rescues across the country. If you're interested in adopting these or other adorable pets, check out petfinder.com.

"Puppy Bowl VIII" begins at 3 p.m. on Animal Planet and runs till 5. But it will repeat on a loop all day long.

Check out more adorable photos below.

A team of scientists genetically modified cats resulting in felines that glow in the dark.

Researches inserted a feline AIDS resistant gene. So the cats with the AIDS resistant trait could be more easily identified, they also inserted the gene for the fluorescent effect. Both genes were injected into feline eggs.

The research may raise the hair on the backs of some animal advocates, but it seems glow-in-the-dark cats have an even more endearing effect online.

From the BBC to HuffPo, this story has gone viral.

These two Jedi warriors were rescued and nursed from near death a few weeks ago by their master. In them, the force is strong.

YouTube link

Friskies has developed three games for cats for the iPad and Android tablets. This will not doubt lead to bandwidth choking and sluggish performance on video sharing sites.

Are you ready to test your tablet's scratch resistance? You can check out the apps at gamesforcats.com.
 

Here is an advance look at a guest column by Robin Cutson running in tomorrow's Chapel Hill News:

The new Orange County Animal Shelter off Eubanks Road cost $9 million and just opened in 2009. Unfortunately the single cages for cats don’t meet the space requirements for humane sheltering even for a shelter planning to hold cats only two to three weeks before euthanizing. (See the Association of Shelter Veterinarians “Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters” and the Cat Housing Recommendations from the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program).

The new facility has a huge lobby with skylights, a cathedral ceiling, a sitting area, art sculptures, and lots of pretty blond wood for people to enjoy. But the massive lobby is merely wasted space because people don’t congregate in the lobby; they congregate in the rooms where the animals are. Meanwhile the majority of cats are in horribly small cages with no toys or enrichment items.

The only time adult cats in these single cages get to walk more than a few inches is if a volunteer or someone interested in adopting them takes them to a “meet and greet” room. Most of the time the adult cats stay in their small wood and glass cages, alone, slowly losing their minds from misery and boredom until they are either adopted or euthanized.  Cats left in tiny cages tend to become unadoptable due to “behavior” issues.  In 2010 in the month of September alone, 123 cats were euthanized.

See photos from the International Cat Association's Southeast Regional Cat Show, held at the N.C. State Fairgrounds on Sunday, July 12, 2009. ... more