Dog cat lovers in big bite embrace

Dog cat lovers in big bite embrace

I think that the title sums up the video quite nicely. These two are "lovers". That is the best description I can give them. The cat is entirely in the mouth of the dog. Of course, the dog is not biting but it's an amazing love bite! And the cat is reciprocating with her version of the love bite as well. Very cute video and another example of how dogs and cats can form incredibly close relationships as good as anything between humans and between cats and other cats.

New Zealand town fractured by the disappearance of 24 cats

NEWS AND COMMENT-COLLINGWOOD, NEW ZEALAND: News media have reported that over the past five years at least two dozen cats have vanished from the back yards and environs of Collingwood.

Many of the residents suspect foul play. Some believe that there is a cat poisoner in the town or perhaps there is more than one of them. Almost all of the cats simply disappeared. The poisoning theory is supported by the death of Gypsy. Gypsy's caregiver, Shannon Mclellan, said that Gypsy had been sick for a few days before she died. She had vomited and eventually ended up under the decking screaming. When she tried to reach her she clawed at her. She eventually got her out and wrapped a towel around her before taking her to the vet but she died on the way. A sure indication of poisoning.

RELATED: New Zealand: man who trapped and drowned eight cats thought he was doing the right thing.

Note: on this page you will see three links to stories about domestic cats being killed by New Zealanders. There appears to be a culture in New Zealand which is similar to that in Australia vis-à-vis their attitude towards outside and feral cats. They don't like them in general. They want them removed from the environment in order to protect New Zealand's native species. There is a bad attitude towards outdoor cats in my view and that can lead to killing.

Image: Stuff.co.nz.

The preferred killing of indoor/outdoor domestic cats by cat haters is by poisoning. This is because it can be done secretively. Simply put down baited food. The cat eats it, the cat becomes ill quite quickly and if there is a fairly loose relationship between cat and owner the cat goes away somewhere in the countryside to quietly die. This makes evidence gathering by law enforcement impossible.

RELATED: New Zealand man boasts he’s buried 170 cats under his vegetable garden.

And this is another problem and perhaps the root problem. The police are disinterested in pursuing the matter in trying to find the perpetrator(s). And the back story is equally pertinent because in New Zealand, as in Australia, the government, including local governments, have consistently stated that outdoor cats and feral cats are a problem to their wildlife. Local and national government in New Zealand have promoted the idea that domestic cats are killing native species

RELATED: Stuff.co.nz journalist demands eradication of all domestic and feral cats in New Zealand to protect wildlife. This is the same online newspaper which is reporting these deaths. On the one hand they promote the idea of killing domestic cats and on the other hand they appear to be supporting residents who have lost cats through killings.

And you gradually engender the idea that domestic cats either need to be confined to their homes or killed. And it doesn't take long for a reckless cat hater to start to take steps to kill them. I am convinced that this is what is happening in this instance.

And because the residents can't get to the bottom of it - because the police won't help and because it has gone on for so long to such devastating effect - it is fracturing the town. It is causing tensions and upset. And frustrations.

Elliot Strange. Image: ANDY MACDONALD/STUFF

One resident of Collingwood,  Elliott Strange, has become the spokesperson for the others who have lost their cats. He is fundraising for a private investigator and he has offered a reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever is killing the town's cats.

When Elliott Strange moved to the town he was asked whether he had a cat. He was told that he needed to be careful. His cat disappeared. Initially he thought that it was just one of those things. Sometimes domestic cats do disappear as we all know. He thought that his cat might have moved off to another home. These things happen as well. This is another reason why it can be difficult to pin down cat killings.

Just before the Covid lockdown in the area he acquired two kittens. Nine months later they've disappeared. He reported the matter to the police but nothing happened. He heard about more disappearances. Reluctantly he felt that he needed to do something as the police wouldn't get involved. This is not untypical of the police forces of any country. They have to prioritise their efforts and cats are well down the priority list. Particularly when it can be almost impossible to find a perpetrator.

Elliott Strange has offered to provide cat owners with tracking collars. Some residents have told him how their lives have been devastated by the loss of their cat companion.

Some residents have even left the town because of it. There's been finger-pointing. The names of four people have been circulated as possible perpetrators. Tensions are boiling over. He said that "Something's going to happen. There's not going to be an official response: somebody's going to teach these guys a lesson."

One of the accused was visibly shaken when interviewed by Stuff (new media website) reporters. He denied any involvement. He said the accusations had made living in the town unbearable and he had called the police about harassment.

Another resident said that the situation in the town had "snowballed [and it was] out of control".

The whole town is involved by it and it's become a bit scary. Two dogs have also died although is not clear that they were killed. There is a witch hunt in the town and something needs to be done about it.

The answer to this problem must be that the police get involved and open a formal investigation. This will ease some of the tensions. I would suggest that residents erect security cameras. If there are enough of them it would deter the cat killer or killers. CCTV cameras are a way of collecting evidence. It is the dearth of evidence which is the problem in this instance.

NYPD violently arrest a beloved busker with toy cats on the subway

NEWS AND COMMENT-NEW NEW YORK CITY, USA: The cats in this story are incidental to it but it caught my eye. A New York City subway saxophone busker, John Ajilo, has been operating on the subway for 5 years. He's been entertaining the millions of people who use this transit system and his act is called "Dancing Is Happiness". He operates out of the Herald Square subway spot.

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The interesting twist to his performances that he has toy cats dancing in front of him. It looks a bit odd but like I said it catches the eye. And he does occupy quite a a lot of space but, that said, he's been there a long time and nobody has complained as far as we know.

 John Ajilo is arrested for allegedly doing nothing wrong. Image: Instagram user ppv_tahoe.

And then suddenly, the NYPD turn up in force and arrest him. Fortunately, a subway user videoed the encounter. And it's pretty brutal and uncomfortable. Initially he talks to the cops and then they suddenly grab hold of him. He shouts "I'm not doing anything wrong". He struggles and then the other cops join in and restrain him.

And it seems that the reason why they arrested this guy for apparently doing nothing wrong is that the New York City Mayor Eric Adams rode the New York City subway system last week for three hours plus and was shocked at what he saw. He saw a lot of unattended crime and decided on a crackdown. 

It seems that the police took it upon themselves to crack down on John Ajilo in a kind of cleanup process. But if he has done nothing wrong in terms of criminality then it is the police who have done something wrong: they have arrested him falsely. They falsely imprisoned him. And technically, the police should be liable for the crime of false imprisonment and assault.

We don't know why John Ajilo uses dancing cats as part of his act. It is probably because he realises that, on the Internet, cats are very popular and have been for ages. He probably saw them somewhere and decided to put them in his act to add a bit of colour and entertainment.

The general public who have seen the video question whether it is a useful use of resources for the police to arrest a busker in this way while serious crime soars in New York City and terrified commuters refuse to take subway trains. A series of high-profile crimes on the subway has left users with the feeling that the subway is unsafe and so they avoid it.

As is the case with the London Underground, there's been a 60% drop in users of the New York City subway since pre-pandemic times with roughly 3.4 million daily commuters using the system. This might be a permanent state of affairs as employees have adopted flexible working practices which means there is no longer the daily commute to work for a large number of people. 

This in turn means that there is going to have to be some fundamental change to the number of employees working on the subway and the number of trains running if it is to breakeven financially. The same problem exists in London.

UK cost of living crisis pushes up cat and dog abandonment sometimes callously and cruelly

The newspapers are reporting on an aspect of the cost of living crisis in the UK which is troubling to me and other animal advocates. People are giving up cats and dogs in greater numbers than normal and the RSPCA as a shelter and sanctuary is running out of space. They are going on waiting lists. I suspect that this problem is compounded by the end of Covid during which people adopted more cats and dogs than usual to keep themselves company. These were arguably irresponsible adoptions without concern for the long-term consequences and responsibilities.

One of 11 puppies thrown away like rubbish in Norfolk, UK. Photo: RSPCA. See story below.

And on their Facebook page, the RSPCA illustrate the callousness with which some British citizens throw away their pets. They don't bother to contact the RSPCA or any other shelter to offer them their companion animal but they simply put them in plastic bags and leave them next to the rubbish.

July 25, 2022

The RSPCA have an appeal for information on a female tabby kitten found by a dog walker. The kitten had been tied up in a plastic bag and dumped like rubbish in Broad Grove, Norfolk. They say that thankfully she was uninjured and is in generally good health. I suspect that is because she was found quickly. But for the person who found her she would have died of suffocation or starvation or perhaps being crushed when thrown into the back of a rubbish lorry.

Kitten thrown away in a plastic bag because of the cost of living crisis in the UK. Image: RSPCA.

13 hours ago

This is a more serious abandonment. It couldn't be more callous, heartless and cruel. Fortunately, once again, a kind person spotted this problem. Somebody had dumped 11 puppies in a rubbish bag in Halifax, UK. They were left to die. The person took the puppies to the RSPCA where their dedicated animal rescuers and animal centre staff are now hand rearing them. At least it produced a wonderful picture as you can see at the head of this page.

Of course it is disgusting to me that someone can do this. I won't be the only person. Margaret commented saying: "Some people have no feelings for animals. It's disgusting the amount of cruelty that goes on in the UK and around the world."

That's true. Of course, there are lots of great people, sensitive and gentle people who want to help animals. It isn't all bad. Although sometimes it looks like that. Sadly, it is the good people who have to tidy up the mess of the bad people. It is a good people who have to rescue and rehabilitate companion animals thrown away like rubbish by the bad people.

Picture of cat tattoo discussion

Here is a nice TikTok video of a charming young woman telling us why she wanted a cat tattoo but not of her cat. She was correctly anxious about the tattoo not being a decent likeness of her cat. That would have been too difficult to bear. So, she took a picture from Messrs Google. This makes a lot of sense to me. I am sure that it is impossible for a tattoo artist to accurately replicate the appearance of your cat. It is always going to be a failure.

To play the video please click on the center play button and then the play button lower left! 😎. Yes, I know it is a very high-tech website.

I wrote the section below in 2008, 14 years ago! The bit above has been added on June 27th 2022. I felt that the page needed to be refreshed.

Part 2

Something completely different for me - picture of a cat tattoo. Cat tattoos are popular it seems. As my site is called "Pictures of Cats" it means any pictures of cats and not just photographs of cats. There is the interesting dimension of why people tattoo at all and why cats? A study of human nature is important in the study of domestic cats as the latter is dependent on the former. Here's a picture of a cat tattoo or three :) with the stories that go with them. 

 

1. This is a picture of a cat tattoo on a women's arm photographed by Tzatziki and her copyright (she is female I think). The woman who has the tattoo is a graphic designer apparently. It is part of a bigger tattoo which the owner called The Debutante. The photograph was taken in the queue to the toilet (bathroom in the USA). It is very simple and elegant the photographer says. I agree. The photographer didn't know the person with the tattoo, but you can get to meet people in queues quite easily as it passes the time nicely. Maybe it was a party? What makes people have tattoos. There is probably a lot going on in the head that is unseen and which we can glimpse at if that person has a tattoo. I think it originates in the desire to decorate ourselves that goes back probably millions of years. Many animals are "decorated" to be more noticeable, to stand out. It is a form of exhibitionism.

 

2. This is a Cheshire cat on a man's leg. You've got to look closely to see that it is a Cheshire Cat. The photograph is by nats . This was taken at Disneyland. The photographer didn't know the subject and while the photograph was being taken Tinkerbell was lighting up the night sky. Tattooing may be a remnant (or a continuing need) to mark events in ones life. Two of the women's tattoos are big cats. This is a marker that they have grown from a girl to womanhood and to beware, perhaps :) Perhaps she is saying she is an individual to be taken notice of. A marker of a rite of passage from one part of her life to another. A Cheshire cat, the subject matter of the tattoo on this person, was created by Lewis Caroll. The cat smiled and asked Alice in Wonderland difficult and philosophical questions. The tattoo may be a statement about this person's character.

 3. This is a photograph of a "bondage kitten", believe it or not. It was taken by the friend of the person with the tattoo, who said he was going to have it done and when the two bumped into each other he showed it off. This photograph was taken by gillicious My guess is that the title "bondage kitten" is just making a picture of a cat playing with string a lot more sexy for the client.

 4. This is a tattoo of a big cat on the left arm of a female pop band member. Yes sir it is that....It looks like a leopard. Big cats are popular for obvious reasons. People like cats; big cats are very impressive and beautiful creatures so are good subjects for body decoration. There may also be an element of female power, women's liberation stuff here. Beauty and strength combined being the message. The photograph was taken by acb and is copyright acb.

5. This is another picture of a cat tattoo. This time a big cat, a panther, on the arm of a woman. It's more woman power stuff I think. Picture is copyright and by mhaithaca Update: Picture of cat tattoo -- 

Here are some more added later (19th January 2009): Photo by graphic.ward - very delicate and tasteful. What do you think?

   

Picture of Cat Tattoo  above-- Photo by chaserpaul. This tattoo is in memory of a beloved cat that has gone over the rainbow bridge. His name was E.D. The cat tattoo was done in 3 2-hour-sittings by Dirk of East Atlanta Tattoo. 

 Picture of Cat Tattoo -- Risks involved in tattooing 

I think a bit of information on the risks is useful to people considering a cat tattoo. As we know, a tattoo is made by piercing the skin and injecting colored ink into the skin. It can be quite painful understandably. The skin is the body's main protection against infection. Once damaged by the tattoo machine, at least potentially, there is a risk of infection. Also, the long-term effects of the dyes placed in the skin are unknown as they are unregulated. Some possible illnesses that can occur on being tattooed (these it would seem are relatively rare considering the number of tattoos carried out) are:

• if the machinery making the tattoo is contaminated by hepatitis C, hepatitis B, tetanus, tuberculosis and HIV (AIDS), then these diseases could infect the person being tattooed.
• either bumps (granulomas) or scarring (keloids) can occur around the area of the tattoo.
• bacterial infections that can lead to blood infections, pneumonia and/or painful, flesh-destroying condition that is called necrotizing fasciitis.
• the dyes can cause an allergic reaction, which may happen years later.
• if you have to go to hospital for an MRI scan, sometimes (rarely) the tattooed area may burn or swell.

As I said these are relatively rare but precautions including choosing a top-notch tattoo artist, I would have thought were essential as one's health is involved for the sake of decoration.

 

Murderous moggies: should we be locking up our cats at night?

From time to time, on a regular basis, there are calls to restrict the movements of domestic cats in order to protect wildlife specifically birds and in this instance bats. So, the call is for a night-time curfew for domestic cats. The first point to make is that we don't know how many bats are killed by domestic cats at night. I strongly suspect that it is very few indeed. But it might depend where the cat lives. In the UK we just don't see bats flying around at night but perhaps I'm being too casual about it. On a more important point, bats are more likely to be carriers of rabies in the US, for example. This is not an issue in the UK. However, this must be a factor for keeping cats inside at night. 

Where a cat wants to be at night despite the rain. Image in the public domain.

And with respect to birds, I recently wrote about an RSPB statement that there is no scientific support that domestic cats threaten bird populations in the UK and I would suspect the same applies to other countries. Of course, domestic cats attack, kill and sometimes eat birds but the RSPB states that most often these are injured, infirm, and elderly and dying birds in any case. And therefore, the cat's impact on the bird population is lessened.

Impracticality

But here's the deal: the biggest factor in my view for the failure of a night-time curfew is that I don't think it is practical. This is the scenario: you let your cat go outside for 10 years as an indoor/outdoor cat. His behaviour is deeply entrenched. He goes out at night, every night and he sleeps throughout a part of the day.

You're going to have to put a barrier across the cat flap. Suddenly your beloved cat will be confronted with a barrier across his exit to the outside where all that excitement lies. And he's going to be thoroughly confused, bemused and ultimately pissed off. The problem is that he is going to be bashing at that closed cat flap. He is going to be head-butting it, clawing at it and bashing it with all his might in order to get outside.

He is going to be creating a lot of noise and quite possibly damage to the cat flap. And if he doesn't damage the cat flap the noise will wake you up. Then he'll start wandering around the house meowing and howling. He may well jump up onto your bed and wake you up. He wants attention. He is asking you why he has been kept inside.

You try and get back to sleep. He wanders around the house some more and head-butts the cat flap again. He settles down by the cat flap and snoozes because he has failed to get out. He stays there in the expectation that things might change.

Because he hasn't got outside during the night, he is more restless during the day and he tries to get outside again and finds the cat flap open. But he has to snooze and therefore, exhausted from the previous night's escapades he goes to sleep.

The next night he does the same thing all over again. Any persistently does this but day after day. This is because of his deeply ingrained habit of going outside at night. It is also because his natural body clock, his circadian rhythm, and his instincts drive him to hunt at night. It is almost impossible to train out of a cat's psyche these basic instincts. Domestic cats as you know are crepuscular: dusk and dawn hunters.

Eventually, though, he will admit defeat but I don't think there are many cat owners who could put up with the hassle of it all.

If you have a young cat who has always been a full-time indoor cat, it is obviously a different matter. They don't expect to go outside. There are no routines. However, for these cats there is a problem because very few cat owners enrich their cat's environment. It remains a human environment and therefore, in my honest opinion, they are doing their cat a disservice.

I know for a fact that if I tried to keep my cat inside at night, there would be mayhem. I know for a fact that it would simply prove to be impossible. He would make me miserable. So, I wouldn't try to do it.

And let's be honest again; your typical cat owner keeps their cat inside to protect their cat. They do not keep their cat inside to protect wildlife. People who allow their cat to go outside believe that they have to accept the predation of wildlife by their companion animal. They believe that it is part of the natural world. They don't like it but they feel that they have to accept it because to confine their cat is to prevent their natural instincts and desires flourishing which in turn will lead to a less than content companion animal. Good cat owners want to do all they can to ensure that their companion is content.

Enforceability?

Nighttime curfews are an idea that is probably impractical for the reaons stated and in any case how the hell can you enforce it?! Impossible. You'd need a hugely enlarged police force or some sort of animal control task force. It is just not going to work.

Cat video entertains at the expense of the cat's welfare

This is a mildly abusive cat video as far as I am concerned. Why was it made? Was it made to illustrate good cat caregiving and a way of improving a cat's health and welfare or was the video made to try and achieve a high hitting TikTok video? I think it is the latter and if I am correct, I am tired of seeing these sorts of videos where domestic cats are ostensibly abused by putting them through something which they don't need to go through in order to try and make a high-hitting and successful video on TikTok. 

TikTok - supporting animal cruelty.

Mildly abusive cat video.

In any case, this is an incredibly boring video except that the cat looks very cute and attractive. But the owner is putting their cat through an unpleasant experience in the interest of trying to be a successful TikTok creator. Why is she is bathing her cat who looks in rude health? Cats should not be bathed unless for a specific health reason.

I am being boring but I don't think cats should have to be mildly abused to entertain people. It's remarkable that so many videos on social media involving cats concern the mild abuse of the cat to entertain. Something is wrong.

I will tell you what is wrong. It is cat owners prioritising making money or their success in other ways over the welfare of their cat. They are prepared to mildly undermine the welfare of the cat to promote their personal interest. This is the exact opposite to what a cat caregiver should be doing. Cat caregiving should be an altruistic activity. They should be giving to their cat unconditionally because it provides them with pleasure. And in return they have the wonderful companionship of their cat.

Note: You'll have to click on the play button twice (maybe) to get it to play😎.

It is disappointing that social media administrators and owners disregard entirely videos which are mildly abusive of animals. And it is almost impossible these days to get administrators to remove videos which demonstrate clear animal abuse. 

The video on this page is not animal abuse in the normal way. It's just mild abuse because it goes against their welfare but there are far worse videos on social media which are never removed. 

Social media has a lot to answer for. They are often unaccountable. They are irresponsible. I am gradually losing interest in social media. The truth is they are unable to manage these large websites such as YouTube and Facebook because there is so much material uploaded that it is impossible to monitor it.

 

Why are a cat's eyes always dilated?

The first important point to note is that the question asks why a cat's eyes are ALWAYS dilated. In other words, this is a permanent state of affairs. In this state of affairs, the irises do not contract to a narrow pupil but there are always wide open with a big circular black orb for the eye and almost no visible iris.

Dilated pupils of a cat.

The second point to note is that the muscles of the iris contract to allow much less light through the pupil on a bright day. And they relax to let in more light when the conditions are dark. There is a 135 times difference in the amount of light that the iris allows to pass into the eye between wide open and closed to a slit.

The nerves of the retina send a signal to the brain which sends another signal to the irises to relax or contract depending upon the light conditions.

If the retina is malfunctioning and not able to convert light into an image the brain receives a signal that the light conditions are dim and then directs the iris to open up to allow more light in to the eye.

And if the retina no longer works at all due to a disease such as progressive retinal atrophy or retinitis, then there will be a permanent signal to the brain to say that no light is being received and therefore the brain tells the iris to remain permanently wide open; the muscles of the iris are completely relaxed. Like a camera lens the iris is not going to be 'stopped down'. This, as stated, is a permanent state of affairs.

And behind this situation is a retina which is either malfunctioning or is no longer functioning. And therefore, if they cat's eyes are always dilated, in my view, it means that the cat's retina is malfunctioning and the cat is functionally either going blind or blind.

Progressive retinal atrophy is a gradual degeneration of the retinal cells. This is a disease that is inherited in certain breeds such as Persians, Abyssinians and possibly Siamese. It is caused by an autosomal recessive mutated gene as I understand it. There is no treatment.

Retinitis is a disease in which inflammation of the retina leads to degeneration and destruction of the light respecting cells in the retina. It may occur because of hypertension or perhaps an eye injury or for unknown reasons. High blood pressure or hypertension is one of the most common causes of retinitis. And hypertension is usually associated with hyperthyroidism and/or renal failure.

RELATED: Different pupil size in a cat's eyes - time to visit a vet.

Retinitis is also associated with feline infectious peritonitis, lymphoma, cryptococcosis, feline infectious peritonitis and toxoplasmosis. These are the underlying diseases which can lead to damage to the retina which in turn these to the eyes always being dilated.

It is normal for the eyes of a person or a cat to dilate from time to time when conditions are dark but in my view, they should not be dilated all the time. Something is wrong and a veterinarian needs to be consulted.

Girls are like cats and boys are like dogs!

What do you think? Are these the wise words of a young man on TikTok or just a nice, convenient analogy? I don't think it is as straightforward as he makes out. It get the message but you can't pigeon hole all females in the same group in terms of their attitude towards dating and the same goes for males. 

It is all depends on many things. Today in particular with the woke movement, you cannot pigeonhole all females and all males as separate groups. There is an entirely fluid group in the middle made up of members of the LGBTQIA+ community and so on. 

The sexual preferences and gender of all humanity is a spectrum. You cannot compartmentalise it in the little boxes. It is far better to visualise it as a continuous spectrum. Nonetheless, I quite like this bloke's analogy which he delivers with confidence and clearly with first hand experience.

Note: to run this video, click on the center play button followed by the play button bottom-left 😎. High tech.

Although there is another error in his analogy. He says that when you pick up a cat the cat becomes pissed off. This is not necessarily correct. 

If a stranger picks up a cat, she/he will likely be frightened, be pissed off and jump out of the person's hands. The person may get scratched if they resist. But often a cat will want to be picked up by their human caregiver and be given a nice cuddle.  Cats often ask for this. Mine does in the garden.

RELATED: The wild cat within the domestic cat which holds them back.

It just depends upon the circumstances and who is picking the cat up. I know I am stating common sense but it is wrong to paint all domestic cat with this behavioural trait. It ain't true. There is a general truth here about not forcing a cat to do something. That never works. It is far better to use one's intelligence and trick a cat to do something or you train them! The same applies to women 😎. The cat's 'independence' comes out when you try and force them to do things. That said the same also applies to men, don't you think?

Dr Fogle DVM says that some cat owners treat their cat as a dog (or as babies) which is not going to work very well. Dogs are far more obedient than cats.

RELATED: Idiotic study tries to equate cat behaviour with psychopathic human behaviour.

Ukrainian mother refugee in UK misses her cat in Ukraine and will return

Olga Pavolvska and her daughter, Masha are refugees from Ukraine who were welcomed in the UK as a consequence of Putin's invasion of their country. They are among more than 82,000 others from Ukraine in the UK. Olga found settling in the UK difficult. Her daughter, Masha, has found it easier because her English is better and being younger she is arguably more adaptable. She has made friends.

Masha and her mother Olga. She will remain in the UK while her mother will return to Ukraine. Photo: Vicki Couchman.

While her mother will return to Ukraine shortly, Masha, 15, will stay and has been offered a free place at a private school in September. She plans to go to university in the UK afterwards. Of course she misses her home in Ukraine and her friends the but it appears that she is settling well in the UK.

In an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper, Olga said: "It has been difficult and sad. I miss my dog Bekky, my cat Dafne my home and all my plants."

And of course she misses her husband. She has been married for 26 years. And she is worried that her flower business in Lviv, where she and her husband own two shops with three employees, might fold without her presence.

As I understand it, her home is in Kyiv, the capital, from which millions of residents departed and became refugees travelling towards the West and thence to Poland and thence some to other European countries. 

But Putin stopped his assault on the capital a couple of months ago and there is therefore relative calm in Kyiv while all the fighting now takes place in the east. The capital's mayor, Vitaly Klitschko, said that nearly two-thirds of the city's 3.5 million pre-war population had returned.

Olga says that Kyiv is safer that it was and the cost of living in the UK plus her home sickness and the fact that she misses her cat and dog and husband so much means that she is going back together with 2.8 million return crossings at the Ukraine border according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The cost of living in the UK is forcing many Ukrainian refugees to return. With inflation running at near 10% the cost of living is rapidly becoming more expensive than ever.

Yes, Olga is joining 2.8 million other Ukrainians returning to their country. I hope, for their sake, that Putin continues to leave Kyiv alone and that the war can be confined to the east only. This now seems to be the sole target because he wants a corridor from Russia to the eastern part of Ukraine to the Black Sea for trade purposes. And of course because he found out that he can't win a broader war and annex the whole of Ukraine.

My thanks to Hugo Daniel for his article in The Sunday Times June 26th, 2022. My apologies for stealing the photo.

Holding your cat to kill a mosquito is not a good idea

There is a video called: "Cats go bug-hunting after spotting mosquito in the house". The description is misleading. The owner is holding up his cat above his head in the hope and expectation that the cat catches a mosquito. It seems horribly contrived and it looks like they decided to make a funny video but actually it's very boring.

cat held up to catch a mosquito. Silly idea and it might cause a health problem for the cat. Screenshot from video,

It happened in the UK. One of the cats is a Siamese called Pixie and the other cat is a tabby called Wrex.

Not only is the video badly contrived, I do not think that it is a good idea either. It seems possible to me that a mosquito could bite the inside of a cat's mouth if they are held up to a mosquito like this. Or they might bite the ear flaps where the fur and skin is thin.

Although the possibility of disease transmission from mosquito the cat is slight, it must exist. In the UK I would have thought there is little risk of transmission of disease but nonetheless a mosquito bite on the ear flat would be very irritating. Or a bite just inside the mouth, on the lip for example, might be possible and I just don't see this as being practical. I am told that mosquitoes can transmit heartworm disease to cats.

This is different to allowing your cat to catch a fly and kill it or perhaps even eat it. I don't see a great problem in that. To my knowledge, cats occasionally catch flies but they don't eat them. They might occasionally but I don't think they are bothered about eating them.

The Independent newspaper reported on this silly video but the journalist made no mention of the possible health implications to the cat. They regard the video as funny and entertaining. I don't see it as entertaining at all but silly.

Of course, domestic cats treat insects as prey animals because they are part of their diet. I just see a slight risk element which is unnecessary considering this method of catching mosquito it is idiotic in the first place.

All I can do on this page is present a screenshot from the video because I can't embed it.

Sofia from Bucha, Ukraine lost her arm, her mother and her cat.

Sofia from Bucha, Ukraine lost her arm, her mother and her cat.

Sofia from #Bucha lost her arm, her mother and her cat.
Now she is in safe, but thousands of Ukrainian children continue to suffer because of russian aggression.#ArmUkraine now to save human lives and stop the killer state!
Photo by alenglish_ Sofia’s sister. pic.twitter.com/MMvEm3w1p3

— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 24, 2022

Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Please don't forget Ukraine. Don't let the war tire you to the point where you forget about it. All of us in the free West should support Ukraine's defence against the tyrant Putin until Ukraine pushes the invading hordes out of their country. Then we should force Russia to pay hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild Ukraine while bankrupting bloody Russia. This is part of the price Putin must pay for his mass murder and torture of innocent women and children and criminal destruction of hundreds of thousands of homes. Plus we must not forget the cats, dogs and other pets injured, starved, terrified, killed and so on. F**k Putin.

RELATED: Putin’s troops force disabled woman in wheelchair clutching tortoiseshell cat to flee her home.

Sofia. Photo by her sister.

Improving the olfactory and visual environment of full-time indoor cats

I have just bumped into something that I think is interesting and which is particularly pertinent today with so many full-time indoor cats. I believe that often these cats are under-stimulated. I'm not apportioning blame. I just think that you can't bring cats in from the outside and confine them to the inside and leave it at that. The human caregiver has more to do and here are two examples.

RELATED: The big flaw that is never admitted in keeping cats indoors full-time.

Olfactory

This tip applies more to shelter cats than to full-time indoor domestic cats in homes but I think it is relevant. It is called "olfactory enrichment". The experts believe that it is relatively underused in animal housing perhaps because humans have a relatively poor sense of smell compared to cats and other animals.

Catnip gives your cat pleasure. Image: Johnsons veterinary products.

We know that you can buy catnip spray. I think that if you use catnip spray from time to time to spray into the environment you will find that there will be an increasing amount of time that the cat in that home is active because they will be stimulated by the chemical, nepetalactone, which we know excites and stimulates domestic cats.

A study examined the effect of introducing four odours on the behaviour of six zoo-housed black-footed cats. These are small wild cats are known to be the most prolific hunters of all the cats as it happens. The odours that were introduced were nutmeg, catnip, body odour of prey (quail) and no artificial odour and control. They found that there was an increase in their activity with all of the genuine odours with nutmeg causing less of an effect than catnip or odour of prey. As mentioned, catnip is a known stimulant for cats. Although not all cats are affected similarly.

Visual

In a cat's life there are two forms of cat television. There is the human television or perhaps iPad through which you can show images which may help to stimulate your cat. I've seen many videos of cats watching television with great interest. I am sure that you can buy programs for a television designed for cats. You'll need a CD player attached to the TV if you can't access programs provided in the usual way.

Window box for indoor cats. Image in public domain.

Perhaps a better form of cat television is the humble window. Full-time indoor cats spend a lot of time at windows looking out. They can get an awful lot of enjoyment doing that. There should be access to a window or windows in the home of a full-time indoor cat. 

To improve the arrangement you can build or buy window boxes which are inserted into the window and which overhang on the outside of the house. The front of the window box should not be glazed but should be open to the elements with a grill. In this way the cat can both see and smell the outside.

Window box is a firm favorite. Image in the public domain.

I would have thought that such a construction would be a fundamental necessity for any full-time indoor cat or cats. I would have thought where there are more than one indoor cat you could build more than one window box arrangement. They are like mini-catios and you see a whole range of designs. How many households have them? I would say very few relative to the number of indoor cats.

They are actually decorative as well and improve the appearance and ambience of a house.

Cats prefer to go under rather than over obstacles when possible!

Domestic cats prefer to go under than over obstacles. Screenshot.

If this white traditional Persian (much better than the 'ultra-Persian') is typical of all domestic cats, and I believe that she probably is, domestic cats prefer to go under rather than over obstacles because it requires less effort. This can only be the logical reason. And what is extraordinary if the tiny space that adult cats can squeeze through. Domestic cats really do have very squidgy bodies. Perhaps one reason is the floating clavicle (collar bone). The video is by mmeowmmia - Mia & Jerrie on TikTok.

 

@mmeowmmia Mia VS descending gate #catchallenge #cat ♬ original sound - Mia & Jerrie

 

You might have thought that as cats are such good jumpers they'd jump over as a choice when the space to crawl through is tiny. But no. I believe that this about conserving energy. Conserving energy aids in survival as less calories are bunt. That might be important if food was scarce. Just a guess.

Polio is back in the UK but it cannot be transmitted to animals

Polio is not zoonotic meaning that it cannot be transmitted from person to animal and vice versa. However, that a report today in the online news media saying that polio is back in the UK and it has been declared a national incident because it is the first time it has been found to exist in the UK for nearly 40 years. 

Girl has polio. Photo: Courtesy of the Boston Children's Hospital

They believe that the poliovirus came from a live vaccine given to a person living abroad. They came to this country and the poliovirus was in their faeces. This latest virus apparently has mutated over time and is now classified as a "vaccine-derived" poliovirus type II which behaves more like a wild polio. 

They picked up the virus in sewage I understand. Most people in the UK are vaccinated against polio as I understand it. I certainly am out but I am 73 years old.

On the rare occasions that it can infect the spinal cord and the base of the brain it causes paralysis, normally in the legs, which develops over hours or days. Sometimes the breathing muscles are affected which can make it life-threatening.

To someone like me, polio is something which we never consider at all. The UK was proclaimed to be polio-free in 2003 and the last wild case was detected in 1986. Let's just say that it has not been around in the UK for a very long time which is why people forget about it. In turn, that is why this information is a little bit surprising or even shocking to some people.

But the reason why I am posting it on this website is because people who have domestic cats need to be reassured that it is not transmittable to cats and vice versa.

Former president Trump had an aide play 'Memory' from 'Cats' to prevent rage

Stephanie Grisham, one of former president Trump's White House press secretaries and communications directors, said that Trump's temper was scary. She has written a book about her experiences telling all. She says that when Trump descended into turmoil and near rage, his staff used to summon and aide who was nicknamed the 'Music Man' to play songs from musicals to help calm him down. And apparently a favourite was Memory from the Broadway musical Cats.

The former president is facing accusations he encouraged violence against counter protesters (Image: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Further, another ex-aide, Cassidy Hutchinson has gone into staggering detail to the House select committee hearing on Tuesday about Trump's character which she described as 'unhinged'. She claims that he was often wildly out of control.

The committee is investigating the invasion on Capitol Hill by Trump's followers which he allegedly supported and encouraged in order to try and overturn Biden's election victory.

The New Yorker identified the Music Man as Max Miller. He is a former boyfriend of Stephanie Grisham and also a former aide. He is now a Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio.

The New Yorker Journalist, Adam Gopnik wrote that because Trump needed to be calmed down by a Broadway musical it degraded the office of the presidency "and of a great American institution".

It appears that Trump's character has been trashed at this committee investigation hearing.

Why do up to 10x more cats die under or after a general anesthetic than humans?

Feline anaesthetic deaths in veterinary practice are at approximately 0.11% (1 in 895 anaesthetics) of healthy cats. A study reports that this is more than twice as frequent as has been recently reported in dogs. And for humans it is 1-4 deaths per 10,000 anaesthesias.

Let's just recap that. One death per 10,000 is 0.01% which is about 10 times less than for cats. 4 deaths per 10,000 is going to be half the rate of cats or even better.

There is no way to avoid the conclusion that between double to 10 times the number of cats die under general anaesthetic compared to humans. We need to know why, don't we?

So far, I have not found an answer. Can somebody out there who reads this article tell me the reason why? Is it because veterinarians don't have the same standard of equipment that hospital doctors have?

His female cat went in for a standard spaying operation and came out severely injured. It makes me sick and mad to be honest.

Is it because veterinarians have to be doctors and anaesthesiologists at the same time? When you go to a hospital you have a surgeon and an anaesthesiologist in the operating room. Anaesthesiologist are highly trained specialists. There is lots of advanced equipment. Great care is taken. The standard is exceptionally high, normally.

My gut feeling is that the standard of care provided by veterinarians to cats when they are given a general anaesthetic is lower than for humans in hospitals. And it is this difference rather than a difference of cat and human anatomy which causes the up to 10 times greater fatality of cats when under a general anaesthetic.

And if I am correct, it is not good enough. But then perhaps this is a question of what the general public think they can afford when they take their cat or dog to a veterinarian. If a vet has to buy more advanced equipment they are going to charge more. There is already a problem with cat owners not taking their cat the veterinarians often enough. 

Veterinary cat care is well below that of dog veterinary care. Cat owners think that their cat is independent and with that thought in mind they tend to be switched off as to their cat companion's health problems.

This morning I wrote about a man who took his young to a veterinarian for a spaying operation. The cat was put under a general anaesthetic. The effect was catastrophic on this sweet female cat.

The video above comes from TikTok and it is tragic. It is hard to watch and it is extremely sad. It is not the first time that a female cat going in for a spaying operation has been killed by the anaesthetic. Years ago, a woman wrote in about her British Shorthair kitten who died under the same circumstances. She was bemused and confused. She didn't know why her kitten that died. Clearly the veterinarian had not told her. Perhaps he didn't know himself.

Indoor cats stop fighting to watch a bird outside the window

This video on Instagram has caught the eye of many people. They are amused by the fact that this couple of domestic cats suddenly stop fighting when they hear a bird outside the window. They have a common enemy which stops them being enemies. That is the argument. However, it is a false one because these two cats are buddies. They are friends. And in any case a bird is not the enemy of a cat. They are a 'prey item'.

Cats stop fighting to watch a bird.

They are not fighting with animosity. They are play-fighting which comes entirely naturally for domestic cats. They are playing like kittens because - and I have said this before - they are kept in a mental state which is similar to that of a kitten. This is because they are looked after by a human. They have a permanent mother and therefore they do not need to grow up and become truly independent.

That said, clearly their predatory instincts are immediately aroused and take instant priority over their play-fighting. And this is to be expected as well. The domestic cat is a top-quality predator. Their instincts immediately drive them to react to the sounds and sights of prey animals.

And being full-time indoor cats, the window to the outside world is like a television for them. Windows are "cat television" to full-time indoor cats. Knowing that, there is a good argument to make watching it as comfortable as possible by placing some sort of bed or platform near the window. Perhaps cat condominiums should be placed near a window.

RELATED: Cat Television – a good example.

There is one negative about this. When a full-time indoor cat sees a cat outside the window they will be aroused because the cat outside is on the territory. Strictly speaking this is not their territory because they are indoors all the time but from the cat's perspective it is his home range. And therefore, he wants to go out and attack the intruding cat. Obviously, he can't which is going to be frustrating.

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Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

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