Category Archives: Odd News

Toxoplasmosis Research: No Kittens Were Harmed in the Making of This Protozoa

New scientific research means kittens may longer have to be sacrificed to study Toxoplasmosis gondii (Art by Dusty Rainbolt from Shutterstock photos.)

VETERINARY MEDICINE (Grenoble, France) Toxoplasmosis gondii is an indiscriminant single cell organism that can infect most warm-blooded animals worldwide (including humans and even birds). While it’s not picky about whose muscle tissue it inhabits, it’s very shy where it does the nasty. Out of all the living organisms in the entire universe, within the privacy of a cat’s intestines is the only place where the magic happens.  (That’s big cats, domestic cats, Cat in the Hat, any cat.)

Inside a cat it’s too dark to see

Scientists haven’t been able to observe toxoplasmosis hanky panky because (to rephrase Groucho Marx) inside a cat it’s too dark.

Until 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) used artificially infected kittens to incubate the protozoa for research purposes. But it was a short tenure for Fluffy.

According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, “Newly exposed cats usually begin shedding oocysts (eggs) three to 10 days after consuming infected tissue, and continue shedding for around 10 to 14 days.” 

The intestinal tract of a cat is only place in the entire universe that Toxoplasmosis gondii can do the nasty. (Photo by Shutterstock)

The poor research kitties’ usefulness spanned only two weeks. Once they stopped dropping magic turds, it was curtains. Typical government waste mentality. The USDA didn’t want to rehome infected kitties (even if they weren’t contagious!) They decided they should kill their furry incubators rather than the parasite. Treatment is no big deal—just a course of clindamycin and, sometimes steroids should take care of toxo. Even if the cat isn’t treated, it can’t transmit/pass on the parasite because he no longer sheds eggs.

USDA Idiocy

Finally in April 2019 the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (appropriate acronym ARS) stopped researching the parasite on kittens because U.S. citizens didn’t like their tax money going to kill kitties unnecessarily.

In the USDA announcement, I noticed sneaky wording. It said, “…the use of cats as part of any research protocol IN ANY ARS LABORATORY has been discontinued and will not be reinstated.” Notice the phrase “in any ARS laboratory.”  It didn’t say research on cats had stopped. Research in their own laboratories stopped. Just saying. What about contracted laboratories like Wuhan? Huh?

The USDA says they’ve stopped killing kittens when they stop pooping Toxoplasmosis, but have they really? (Photo by Shutterstock)

Stopping research on toxoplasmosis is unfortunate, because the parasite can harm fetuses of women who were infected while they are pregnant. So research is important, but they didn’t need to off the kitties once they cease to produce the eggs.

Toxoplasmosis and pregnancy

Don’t freak out, pregnant ladies. Remember, cats can only shed the parasite for the first two weeks. Even during that communicable 2 week period, the oocysts aren’t immediately infectious to humans or other animals.

According to Cornell, “Before becoming infectious, they [oocysts] must go through a process called sporulation, which takes one to five days depending on environmental conditions.” 

Have someone else scoop the box for you every day and wash your hands and you and your little bun will be just fine. (Don’t take my word. Read the sources below.)

Although cats are needed to complete the Toxoplasmosis gondii reproduction cycle, most people become infected from eating or handling raw meat. (Photo by Shutterstock)

Most common ways of being infected

By the way, toxo may only be able to make little protozoa inside a cat, but according to the Centers for Disease Control, humans become infected by:

  • Eating undercooked, contaminated meat (especially pork, lamb, and venison) or shellfish.
  • Accidentally ingesting eggs after handling contaminated meat or shellfish and not thoroughly washing hands.
  • Cutting raw meat and then slicing veggies with the same unwashed knife.
  • Not thoroughly washing your hands after gardening.

There’s good news, research is back on and no kittens will be harmed in the pooping of these protozoa.

Although biologists haven’t been able to fully reproduce (pun intended) the entire love-making cycle of toxo, they’re getting there. Recently, research out of  Grenoble Alpes University in France came up with a gene editing technique that pushes the parasite toward sexual congress in the laboratory.  The new technique can only replicate the toxo foreplay. No big bang yet. Maybe try some protozoa porn to get them in the mood.

Something’s Missing

The missing piece could be some ingredient or compound inside the cat’s intestines that triggers reproduction. Maybe they’re just too shy to shag with the lights on. Maybe the sound of gurgling cat guts is the toxo equivalent of Barry White singing, “Let’s Get It On” or “Earned It” from 50 Shades of Amoeba.” Scientists are still working on it.

In addition to saving kittens, the new research could help researchers identify drugs that halt or accelerate different stages of the parasite’s life cycle, and perhaps even make it sterile. 

Sources:

https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2019/04/02/ars-announces-toxoplasmosis-research-review-discontinues-research

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/toxoplasmosis-cats

https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/petcare/toxoplasmosis https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/toxoplasmosis_catowners.html

St. Gertrude, Patron Saint of Cats and Cat Lovers

Talk to St. Gertrude if you’re having problems with your cats.

PicMonkey CollageDear Einstein,

My humans tell me that St. Patrick’s Day is a big celebration because some guy chased the snakes out of Ireland. That’s nothing. Thanks to me, there’s not a snake or a lizard or rat in my neighborhood. They don’t dare come out. We need a cat saint day. Instead of drinking green beer, kitties can hold catnip parties in my honor. It can be the day of St. Fluffy.

Just remember, I’m not fat, I’m…

Fluffy

 

Greatest respect to Fluffy, hunter among hunters.

While I’m all for having a special cat saint, becoming a saint is a lengthy process that requires a lot of paperwork, and most of them die horrible early deaths. Being an energy efficient creature, I bet you’re not interested in reinventing the hamster wheel. Besides, there’s already a two-legged saint for we kitties and cat-lovers, St. Gertrude of Nivelles.

Her special day happens to be on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. She’s the patron saint of gardeners, travelers, widows, recently deceased people, the sick, the poor and the mentally ill. People call upon Gertrude for protection from mice and rats, fever, insanity and mental illness.

When humans paint pictures of St. Gertrude, she’s usually holding a staff with a mouse on it. Maybe that was her way of always having snack food around. A lot of icons show her holding one our feline brothers.

gertrudeSt. Gertrude, who was born in 626 A.D. in Landen, Belgium, was never known to be a crazy cat lady, but her writings confirm that, as the abbess at the Benedictine Monastery at Nivelles, she kept kitties to control the four-legged rodent population.

Don’t most Mickeys have four legs, you ask? Not in Gertrude’s book. She looked at lost human souls as mice, and made it her mission to pray for them to get them out of Purgatory.

One the other paw, bread baked in her ovens and made with the water from her special well was said to repel mice and rats. Other contemporary accounts said she prayed for the mice to go away and they did. So Gertrude was known for her association with mice, although she wasn’t a fan of them overrunning her place. And cats and mice go together like saints and Heaven. So she became the patroness of cats and cat lovers.

Humans also call upon Gertrude for safe travel. One legend said a large sea monster threatened to capsize some pilgrims’ ship. When they called upon St. Gertrude for protection, the creature fled. So next time you end up in the carrier on the way to the vet’s office, you can meow to Gertrude for safe passage. (In the sense of full disclosure, she’s never been much help once I actually arrive at the clinic.)

Her patronage of gardeners and herbalists would also extend to growers of catnip and catmint. Nothing makes a kitty happier than to dig in freshly tilled soil, so, in the spirit of sharing the labor, we kitties honor St. Gertrude by fertilizing the neighbor’s flower bed.

Gertrude of Nivelles is also the patron of the insane and people who are unhinged, so she’s the perfect intercessor for our brothers and sister who are stuck in hoarder homes, and a protector of merely eccentric crazy cat ladies (and dudes.)

Next time your human pulls out the carrier, and you cry out in protest, make it count by yelling for St. Gertrude. She might be able to postpone your trip with a well-placed sea monster on the hood of your humans’ car.

The Poe Toaster; Newer isn’t Always Better

The Poe Toaster was as mysterious at the poet’s death

January 19 is the 208th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth. The revered American suspense author, poet and cat lover is best remembered for “The Black Cat” and “The Raven.” Poe was born in 1809 and died in 1849 at the still-young age of 40. For seven decades, usually sometime between midnight and 6 a.m. on Poe’s birthday, a mysterious man known as the Poe Toaster paid tribute to the author next to Poe’s headstone at Baltimore’s Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. The black-clad gentleman, a character as mysterious as the poet himself, always wore a wide-brimmed hat and white scarf to hide his face, and carried a cane.

The Poe Toaster was first noticed in 1949 (in year of the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death). The morning of January 19 the stranger entered the cemetery and raised a toast of Martell cognac to Poe. At the grave he left the unfinished bottle along with three red roses placed in a distinctive pattern. The Poe Society of Baltimore admits that some details have been kept private so they’ll recognize the real Toaster from the copycats.

A cryptic note left behind in 1993 stated, “The torch will be passed.” That apparently happened. A message left in 1999 announced that the original Toaster had died the previous year and a son had taken over the tradition. Watchers agreed that the Toaster appeared younger. Hopefully the elder Toaster is now sharing Martell with Poe face-to-face.

Then it got weird.

A 2001 note ranted about the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl chances. A note left in 2004 included a diatribe about France’s opposition to the Iraq war. Obviously not the same dignified old Toaster. The son of the Poe Toaster last appeared in January 2009 marking the end of an era.

In 2010, he failed to show. In 2011 four impostors showed up, but unlike the real Poe Toasters, they made no effort to conceal their presence They didn’t give the secret gesture and failed to place the roses in the Toaster’s particular arrangement.

And while the Poe Toaster is to “Quoth the Raven, “’Nevermore,” the Maryland Historical Society could not let the mystery man die with dignity. Last year, they sent out a cattle call for “Baltimore’s Next Poe Toaster.” Competitors auditioned in a public America’s Got Talent–style audition performance. Even though his selection was very public, organizers are keeping his name a secret.

The NextGen Toaster, made his first debut after sunrise on January 16, 2016, three days before Poe’s actual birthday. (Sadly, like national holidays, Poe’s tribute has been moved to the weekend. The dignified expression of respect has evolved into a spectical. Worse still, a tourist trap.) While the new Toaster wore the traditional apparel, he added his own twist by playing Saint Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” on the violin. After he raised the cognac toast and laid the roses, he quoted the Roman poet Martial, “Cineri gloria sera venit”, which means “Glory paid to one’s ashes comes too late.” Then he left.

In a break with the early morning tradition of the original, this year the new faux Poe Toaster will appear at Westminster Hall between 6 and 7 p.m. tonight.

At the time of Poe’s passing, newspapers attributed his death to “congestion of the brain” or “cerebral inflammation”. Today’s doctors speculate he could have succumbed to alcohol poisoning, epilepsy, syphilis, cholera, rabies, brain tumor, carbon monoxide poisoning, mercury poisoning or even murder.

What do you think of the revival of the Poe Toaster?

About Dusty Rainbolt

Author Dusty Rainbolt is an award-winning veterinary journalist according to her answering machine. She is an associate certified cat behavior consultant and member of International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, as well as past president of the Cat Writers’ Association. Her books, columns, reviews and articles have been honored with more than 50 writing awards including three-time recipient of Friskies Writer of the Year. Her just-released cat behavior book, Cat Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, is the consummate guide for dealing with a cat who sidesteps his/her appointed toilet. CSI, which provides science-based methods for determining the medical or behavioral causes of feline inappropriate elimination, teaches cat parents to view their cat’s litter box avoidance through the eyes of a detective to determine the cause and, ultimately, the remedy.

 

Notable Animal Deaths in 2016

We lost many celebrity animals this year.

 

A couple of weeks ago I listed the celebrities, scientists and cool people who died in 2016.We lost not only human celebrities, we also said goodbye to numerous animal superstars. From lonely  tropical frogs to wetsuit-clad penguins, here’s the list of last year’s notable animal deaths.

  • January 22. Sarah, the world’s fastest land mammal according to National Geographic Magazine, was euthanized at the age of 15 “due to a diminishing quality of life.” Sarah lived at the Cincinnati Zoo.
  • March 29. Baxter was the former first dog of Maine. He died from cancer at age 11. In 2008 the Jack Russell terrier was adopted by Lauren LePage, the daughter of future Maine governor Paul LePage.

Scooter’s record of the World’s Oldest Living Cat never made it to the record book. He died at the age of 30.

  • April 8. Scooter held the title “The World’s Oldest Living Cat: according to Guinness World Records, for a very brief time. Born March 26, 1986, during the Reagan administration, the 30-year-old Siamese owned by Gail Floyd of Mansfield, TX, was confirmed Oldest Kitty by Guinness on April 8, 2016. However, Scooter lost his title even before Guinness made it official. A Guinness record holder must be confirmed with a veterinarian’s letter and the paperwork processed before they formalize the title. The process usually takes around 12 weeks. By the time Guinness completed the formalities, poor Scooter had passed away. Thirty cat years equals around 136 human years. Prior to Scooter’s short reign, Corduroy, a 27-year-old Maine Coon from Sisters, Oregon held the record. With Scooter’s passing, the crown returned to Corduroy.
  • May 6. Pierre was known as the penguin who sported a miniature wetsuit. The quirky African penguin had a lot in common with American Idol hottie, Chris Daughtry. Pierre was bald; more accurately, he had bald spots. Pierre, who lived at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco, lost patches of feathers. Keepers tried warming him with a heat lamp and treating him for hypothyroidism. Finally biologist Pam Schalle helped design a vest-shaped neoprene wetsuit to protect him from the bitter cold. Like the sexy bald guys, Sean Connery, Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, being follically challenged didn’t interfere with his love life. Pierre shared a nest with his girlfriend, Homey. They made a dozen little ones together.  In mid-2016, vets diagnosed Pierre with kidney failure. He died at 33.

Naked Pierre looked dapper in his neoprene wetsuit.

  • May 28. Harambe was a 17-year-old Western lowland silverback gorilla living at the Cincinnati Zoo. Zookeepers shot and killed him after a three-year-old boy snuck past fences and barricades before falling 15 feet into the gorilla enclosure. Fearing for the boy’s life, zoo officials dispatched Harambe the day after his 17th birthday. The parents were not charged.
  • June 7. Bretagne, was a search dog who hunted for survivors at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks brought down the World Trade Center Twin Towers. She also looked for victims in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. The Golden Retriever was the longest surviving 9/11 search dog. She was euthanized at the age of 16 due to kidney failure.
  • July 3. Arturo, a polar bear who lived in the Medoza Zoological Park in Argentina died at the age of 31.
  • August 18. Machali, a Bengal tiger, was known as the Queen Mother of Tigers. At the time of her passing wild life experts believed she was the world’s oldest tigress surviving in the wild. She lived in India’s Ranthambore National Park. In August 2016, she became critically ill and died at the age of 20.
  • August 27. Big Lobi, a 22-pound Massachusetts lobster, appeared destined for someone’s dinner plate. When Chris and David Schmidt saw the 50-year-old lobster for sale at the Chatham Fish Pier Market in Chatham, MA, they bought his freedom for $210. Sadly, two days after the brothers released Big Lobi, a fisherman found him dead. By the size of Big Lobi, experts estimated the giant crustacean survived 50 trips around the sun.

Toughie was the World’s Loneliest Frog

  • September 26. Toughie was the last known surviving Rabb’s fringe-limbed tree frog. Scientists believe that with Toughie’s passing, Rabb’s frogs officially moved to the extinct column. Known as the “Loneliest Frog on Earth,” conservationists captured Toughie in 2005 during a Panamanian expedition to rescue endangered amphibian species from a deadly chytrid fungus. They transported Toughie and “several dozen” Rabb’s frogs and tadpoles” to the Atlanta Botantical Garden in Georgia. Toughie made tadpoles with one of the rescued females, but none of the little ones survived. After Toughie’s girlfriend croaked, that left only Toughie and another male at Zoo Atlanta. Veterinarians euthanized the second to the last Rabb’s frog on February 17, 2012, due to illness. Toughie died quietly in his enclosure at the estimated age of 12.
  • October. Granny (also known as J2 to marine biologists), went missing after October 12. Whale researchers believe she was 105 years old. In January 2017, the Center for Whale Research announced the likely demise of the longest living known orca.
  • October 16. Jia Jia, a female giant panda, was the world’s oldest captive panda. A resident of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, caretakers made the difficult choice to euthanize Jia Jia because she had become lethargic and stopped eating. She suffered from arthritis, high blood pressure and cataracts. Jai Jai’s 38 years translated into about 114 in human years.
  • October 17. Pedals was a New Jersey black bear who became a sensation after videos of him walking upright like a human appeared on the internet. Pedals was killed by a hunter.
  • November 14. Mahpiya Ska, also known as White Cloud, was a rare albino American bison who lived at the National Buffalo and Cultural Center in Jamestown, ND. Native Americans believed the 19-year-old animal was sacred.
  • December 28. 2016 was a bad year for pandas. Pan Pan was a male giant panda who lived at the Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre in Chengdu, China. After Jia Jia’s death in October, 31-year-old Pan Pan became the oldest giant panda in captivity, at least for a couple of months. He died six months after being diagnosed with cancer.
  • December 30. Sutter Brown, California Governor’s Pembroke Welsh Corgi, died from cancer at the age of 13.

Did I leave any significant 2016 animal deaths off of the list? Please tell me in the comments below.

Cat Takes “Back the Blue” Literally #BacktheBlue

 

(Taylor, TX) A traffic stop is a dangerous procedure for anyone in law enforcement. Whenever an officer pulls a car over, he or she has no clue of what hazards await. While every police officer knows to expect the unexpected, no amount of training and no procedural manual could have prepared a Taylor police officer for the infamous Columbus Day traffic stop.

On October 12, 2009 Officer Keith Urban  (no relation to the dead rocker, as far as I know), was running radar patrol on County Road 112 in the town of Taylor, Texas (just northeast of Austin), when he pulled over a black SUV. A run-down barn provided a quaint backdrop for the routine traffic stop.

As Officer Urban interviewed the driver, a kitten trotted from the barn and approached the two parked vehicles. The kitty, a nameless stray recently dumped at the farm, began rubbing against the officer’s leg. Unperturbed, Officer Urban moved the kitty away with his foot and continued writing the ticket. When weaving around the officer’s leg didn’t earn an ear scratch, the kitten ramped up his advances. The black kitty scaled Urban’s leg, ascended his chest, and finally perched atop the officer’s head. All the while, the deadpan officer continued to speak calmly to the SUV driver and scribble on his clipboard.

Fortunately, the squad car dashcam caught it all. Equally as fortunate, Urban told the Taylor Daily Press, the year-old kitty didn’t dig in with his claws, so no officers were hurt filming this video.

Word spread around town about the infamous recording and the Taylor Police Department made the video public after a request through the open records act. According to Taylor PD public information officer Don Georgens, the video was released without sound to protect the privacy of the SUV driver. What a pity, because apparently the conversation was hilarious.

Urban’s manner was so matter-of-fact that the SUV driver asked him, “Did you know there’s a cat on your head? Is that your cat?”

Indeed, Officer Urban knew a black kitten had taken up residence atop his head, and no, it wasn’t his cat. Officer Urban told the Taylor Daily Press “I think the driver of that vehicle was laughing a little bit.” Despite the ticket for speeding, the concerned SUV driver offered to get out of his vehicle and extricate the cat from the officer’s head.

According to Georgens, in 2011, Carl Bittner, the owner of the farm passed. The property was sold and the barn razed. Don’t worry. The barn cats were relocated, and shortly after the release of the video, the friendly black kitten went to a loving forever home.

Georgens said Taylor has a no-kill shelter, and they use Trap-Neuter-Return program to control the stray/feral cat population.  They never put an animal down for lack of home,” he told me proudly. “We have a lot of volunteers.”

Yea, Taylor, Texas!

Thank you to Officers Urban, Georgens, Dallas PD and all brave law enforcement officers around the country who keep us safe.  You have my gratitude and my prayers.

 

Corduroy Crowned World’s Oldest Cat

Corduroy
Corduroy, the World’s Oldest Cat (Photo: Courtesy of Guinness World Records)

Yesterday (Thursday, August 14), Guinness World Records named a 26-year-young golden oldie named Corduroy  the world’s oldest cat.

According to owner, Ashley Reed Okura, Corduroy was born on Aug. 1, 1989. When Okura was only seven years old herself, she picked the longhaired brown tabby boy from a litter of kittens. The now-elderly kitty grew up roaming and hunting the family’s 160-acre ranch in Oregon. Okura attributes Corduroy’s longevity to getting plenty of exercise.

“The secret has been allowing him to be a cat, hunting and getting plenty of love,” Okura said in a statement released by Guinness World Records.

A gourmet at heart, Corduroy enjoys sharp cheddar and mice, according to the statement.

Corduroy claimed the Oldest Cat title after the passing of the previous record holder, Tiffany Two. Tiffany two, a tortoiseshell from San Diego, passed away May 22, 2015 at the age of 27 years, two months and 20 days. The oldest cat ever verified was Creme Puff, who died in 2005 at the age of 38 years, 3 days.

National Pet Fire Safety Day

stove 2
Courtesy of www.icanhascheezburger.com

Today is July 15, National Pet Fire Safety Day.

Many years ago I was spending Christmas day at my Aunt Beverly’s home. Beverly was a first-time cat owner and, as often happens to compassionate people, Puddy had recently wandered up to her home and moved in. The Russian Blue wannabe worked the crowd as Bev passed loaded plates to the dining room through a convenient service window. Faux fir boughs and a votive candle adorned the window ledge.

Assuming a supervisory position, Puddy lept up on the ledge and paused over the candle. Everyone in the room noticed the kitty straddling the flame. A chorus of, “Oh no!” and “Move Puddy” filled the air. With all the screaming and panic, Puddy didn’t move a whisker. Before anyone could grab him, his pewter fur began smoldering. More human hysteria, more freezing. Well-intentioned rescuers reached him; and chased the terrified cat around the house.

Fortunately, only his fur and his pride were singed. It could have been much worse: Puddy could have died a horrible death and the house could have caught fire.

That night I went home and threw out all of my candles. That Christmas day I learned: if pets can get into trouble, they will, a fact backed up by National Fire Protection Association statistics. The organization estimates that 1,000 house fires are started annually by pets.

Since today is National Pet Fire Safety Day, I thought I’d share some suggestions for keeping your

pets safe in the event of a fire.

Be prepared and include your pets in your family fire evacuation plan.

When you hold family fire drills (and if you don’t, you should) or practice escape routes, do it with your pets. Keep leashes and carriers in a handy place. (Don’t try to carry your dog or cat in your arms. A panicky pet could injure you or wiggle out of your gasp and become lost.)

  • Place a Pet Alert sticker on a front window or door and keep the information current. Update it whenever you get a new pet or say goodbye to a companion.
  • Use flameless candles. (Remember Puddy.)
  • Don’t leave your pets unattended around an open flames. Extinguish candles, stoves and fireplaces before leaving home.
  • Pet proof your home. Can the puppy or kitten chew computer wires? If you have cats, consider fire hazards in 3-D.
  • Keep young pets confined when you are away from home.
  • Get a stove knob shield or remove the knobs when you aren’t around. (You can get the stove guards in the baby section of any store including Lowes.) This is where most pet-associated fires begin.

Cat Translator App Angers Kitty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER_FIen8Jjo

You know the proverb, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Penny Adams obviously made the wrong impression when she used a cat translator app to communicate with Flam the cat. Judging from his reaction, instead of telling Flam, “You are such a handsome boy,” Penny Adams’ cat translator must have said something more like, “You mom barks like a dog.”

When I was a little kid I loved the TV show McHale’s Navy starring Ernest Borgnine. During any given episode, in the midst of a crisis, the Japanese POW, Fuji, would cry out, “Oy vey!” I always giggled, but I have to admit, I didn’t know why.

Years later, one of my high school friends always exclaimed, “Oy vey!” when something unexpected happened. Translate2Finally I asked her what it meant. She answered, “It’s Japanese. The guy on McHale’s Navy used to say it.” I took her word for it.

Only after I met Debbie Waller did I learn that ‘oy vey’ was a Yiddish exclamation meaning, “Woe is me.” Which, of course, was the joke all along.

My point is, my Yiddish-spouting friend could have been repeating nonsense or even some truly offensive without intending to.

So how do I transition from McHale’s Navy to cat translator apps? Recently there have been a number of translation cell phone apps. I invested $6.95 to learn Spanish from a cat. (I kid you not. Cat Spanish. I can now say, “Donde esta el pescado?” “Where is the fish?”)

 

But other apps claim to translate English into Cat. A photographer named Penny Adams from Nashville was trying to photograph a friend’s brown tabby named Flam. In typical cat fashion, Flam wasn’t cooperating. So Penny activated her cat translator. Flam approached with interested before lashing out at Penny. We can only assume the app didn’t say, “Oy vey.” Whatever she said to Flam, obviously shouldn’t have been repeated in polite feline company.

Penny, you might have gotten a better reaction if you use the Cat Spanish app and to say, “Tengo pescado.” (I have fish.)

Translate

 

 

Texas Independence Day

Texas Independence Day Cat
On Texas Independence Day, consider adopting a pet worthy of being called a Texan.

Today is Texas Independence Day, the 179th anniversary of the day the fledgling country adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos. I’m a fifth generation Texan, and March 2 has great meaning to our family.

So while I was pondering the enormity of what the Texas founding fathers and defenders risked and sacrificed, I drew a couple of parallels to cats. Texans are known for our fierce independence; so are cats. Texans are proud, so are cats. Texans a reputation for take-no-crap. Kitties too.

Cats go back to our earliest Texas roots. A black cat even died with the defenders of the Alamo. More about the Alamo and her cats on March 6, the day the Alamo fell.

So Come on people of Texas, open your homes to an independent creature worthy to be called Texan!

And just for fun, here are some Texas truisms. And believe me, they ARE true. When you’re from Texas:

  • You understand that frozen precipitation seldom means snow. It usually means freezing rain, sleet, cobblestone ice and hail, but not snow.)

    snow cats copyright small
    Last week we actually had bona fide snow. The Texas tradition of sleet and freezing rain returned the following day
  • You use the word “y’all” not because you have a Texas accent, but because it’s a practical contraction.
  • You no longer associate bridges with water.
  • You no longer associate rivers with water.
  • You can say 110 degrees without fainting.
  • You realize asphalt has a liquid state.
  • You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.(Especially the old fashioned metal ones.)
  • You know that in July it takes only two fingers to drive your car.
  • You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.(Yup.)
  • Hot water comes out of both taps.
  • The mosquitoes have landing lights and can pick up small dogs.
  • You’ve ridden your brand new Christmas bicycle in shorts.
  • People grumble about Noah letting coyotes on the ark.
  • It’s a common misconception that JR Ewing lived here. That was a TV show people! Chuck Norris, on the other hand, is a real, karate-choppin’ Texas Ranger.
  • It’s a common misconception that we have killer bees, fire ants, gigantic roaches and mosquitoes and other awful insects, tornadoes, hurricanes, and damaging hailstorms. We tend to think of them as a few bitty bugs and a bad hair day.

Researchers Determine Boxes Reduce Feline Stress

Boxes Reduce Feline StressGroucho box cute meme IMG_3069Are you one of the 58% of cat owners who give your cats Christmas or birthday presents? Were you disappointed when Fluffy ignored the wildly expensive cat toy in favor of sitting in the container came in?

It’s no surprise that cats love boxes and sacks. It’s long been suspected that kitties’ magnetic attraction to boxes is because they’re ambush predators. But cats are also prey, and boxes (or other cranny) offer a great place from which to bushwhack dinner and a safe place to get away from larger carnivores. But recently researchers have determined that boxes reduce feline stress.

_IMG_7395 fluffy amazon boxIn a 2014, behavioral biologist Claudia M. Vinke, Ph.D. headed a Dutch study about reducing stress in shelter cats. Vinke’s team gave boxes to some new cats being admitted to a shelter. A control group received no boxes. The study found that cats who received a hiding box recovered faster in a new stressful environment than cats without boxes.

In an email interview, Dr. Vinke said, “As behavioral biologists we are always eager to explain questions from the perspective of the biology of the species.”

She said in a stressful situation a cat’s first reaction is “to withdraw and hide. So quite probably, hiding is a behavioral strategy to cope with environmental, challenges and stressors.”

Groucho Fluffy box copyright  IMG_3062According to Dr. Vinke, as with many other species, fight is another coping option, but for the cat, fighting is a risky strategy. A cat risks becoming injured during combat. Dr. Vinke says, “The size of box doesn’t matter; it’s perceived as a safe hiding place.”

The study concluded that “the hiding box appears to be important enrichment for the cat to cope effectively with stressors in a new shelter environment the first weeks after arrival.”

Rescuers, shelters and vet offices, please take note: Your best feline enrichment and stress relief tool will be arriving at no charge with your next Amazon order.