"My cat got a double dose of Benadryl. Will she be okay?"

Question in title asked on Quora. Here is the answer. 

Benadryl, which is the brand name for the medication diphenhydramine, can be safe for cats in certain situations, but it is important to consult with your veterinarian before giving it to your cat. Benadryl can be helpful for allergic reactions, such as hives or swelling, and can also be used to help with motion sickness or anxiety.

However, it can also be toxic to cats if not given correctly. Cats can get diphenhydramine poisoning from ingesting too much Benadryl or from ingesting Benadryl that contains other ingredients, such as decongestants or pain relievers, which can be toxic to cats.

Here are some of the signs of diphenhydramine poisoning in cats:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Dilated pupils
• Loss of coordination
• Seizures
• Coma

If you think your cat has ingested Benadryl or is experiencing any of the signs of diphenhydramine poisoning, it is important to take them to the veterinarian immediately.

Important: Never give your cat Benadryl without first consulting with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian will be able to advise you on whether Benadryl is right for your cat and, if so, the correct dosage.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Warning about Librela and Solensia. Potential severe side effects.

Recently I wrote a post on another website about these two drugs: Librela and Solensia. They are both used to treat arthritis in pets. I think they are delivered by injection. They received FDA approval in America in January 2022 to relieve pain. The products are manufactured by animal health giant Zoetis.

My initial article was about warning pet owners about the potential dangers of this drug in terms of the severe potential side effects. But when I search the Internet for information about these drugs the predominant information is about how good they are. There is some references to side effects but I don't think the warnings have been sufficiently publicised.

That is why I am doing this cross post. As I said, these drugs were regarded as being significant advancements in treating osteoarthritis in pets. They target a protein called nerve growth factor. The vets are saying that this could exacerbate underlying nerve conditions and other medical problems.

Although Zoetis says that the side effects represent a fraction of the more than 18 million shots of this drug given in the US and internationally, there has been a plethora of complaints.

It appears that health regulators in America and in Europe have received thousands of complaints from dog and cat owners saying that their pets have developed serious or severe side effects. Sometimes the side-effects were so bad that they had to euthanise their companion animals.

Zoetis stock tumbled by 7% on these reports. Side-effects are normal in all medication as all medications are potentially poisons. But the issue here appears to be that some of these companion animals, as mentioned, have been euthanised because of the side-effects.

Like any reasonable person I am not saying that cat and dog owners should tell their veterinarians not to use these drugs. I'm just saying that companion animal owners should be aware of the potential - albeit a small potential - for severe side effects. They can then discussed the matter with their veterinarian with knowledge. They can ask their veterinarian what they think and ask him or her whether there are alternatives which are as effective with lesser side-effects.

It's about options and being aware of those options. I've always believed that cat and dog owner should go to the veterinarian armed with some knowledge about cat and dog health and the drugs that might be prescribed as it allows a proper discussion. It allows for informed consent on behalf of their companion animal.

A companion animal caregiver cannot give informed consent without knowledge. They act as trustees and the highest level of trust and responsibility towards their companion animals. To discharge that responsibility they need to have knowledge to discuss matters with their veterinarian in a meaningful way.

This page is an attempt to help provide that the necessary knowledge.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Almost 50% of cats and dogs have their own dedicated room

Cat caregiver enjoying the company of their cat. Image believed to be in the public domain.

A survey commissioned by Homesense, part of the TK Maxx family in the UK, found the following facts about cat and dog ownership which may interest people:

• 48% of cat and dog owners allocate a certain space in their home, a dedicated room often or a space in the garden for their pets.
• Just over half, 55%, wanted their cats and dogs to have their own area where they can chill out.
• 34% of the respondents of which there were 2000, wanted to ensure maximum comfort for their companion animal.
• 30% wanted all their possessions kept in one place. By this I mean cat and dog products of various sorts.
• 80% of the respondents dedicated a certain space in their home so that their companion animal's things and toys et cetera don't take up space in the rest of the home.
• 46% of respondents designed a home around their cat or dog.
• 21% admitted they were unlikely to buy items just to please their companion animal if those items didn't match with the interior of their home.

The study was in partnership with Kelly Brook to launch a pet an interiors content series “Barkitectural Digest”.

Kelly Brook said that certain parts of our home are designed around her dog, Teddy. Through the study she found that she was not the only one. She is pleased to help others.

The top changes made to dog and cat caregivers' homes included moving delicate things higher up (29% of the respondents) and adding a cat flap (in 21% of the respondents) and installing a garden fence (20%). Also:

• 16% of the respondents replaced carpets with hard floors.
• 11% bought scratch-proof furniture.
• 9% chose dark furnishings to disguise cat and dog fur.
• 17% installed baby gates to stop wondering cats and dogs.
• 19% used blankets to cover up damage to furniture and household items.
• 75% of respondents struggled to find pet products that were of good enough quality and reasonably priced.

The research was carried out by OnePoll.

• They also found that 41% of the respondents had discovered that owning a companion animal is more expensive than expected. The cost of food and insurers being the expenses that surprised them the most.
• 15% claimed that they spent more on their cat or dog than they do on their children. The same percentage said that they spent more on their cat and dog than their car or holidays.
• The average cat and dog owner spent £708 annually.
• 59% said that they compromised on buying pet products because of the expense.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Amir Anwary a TikTok veterinarian gives us three vital tips on cat caregiving

It is always nice to have a veterinarian provide cat caregivers with useful tips on how to improve cat ownership. There is always a need to improve it although I think we can argue that the Internet has been incredibly useful in educating millions of caregivers.

Amir. Screenshot.

Amir Anwary says that three important cat caregiving tips would be to (1) if you need to change your cat's diet do it slowly to avoid stomach upset and (2) watch out for your cat's changes in behaviour as it might point to a severe disease and (3) know the signs of kidney disease because this is a very common disease in older cats.

@amirthevet Must know for all Cat owners !! The advice you needed to hear ! #catowners #catlovers #veterinarian #learning #vet #cats #catlearning #kidneydiseasecat #fyp ♬ original sound - Amir Anwary

I will briefly touch on these three points.

Changing diet slowly

For me, this applies mostly to reducing your cat's food intake because they are obese. There is an obesity epidemic according to veterinarians amongst the cat population in the West and therefore a lot of cat caregivers will be considering reducing their cat's diet. It should be gradual in order to avoid hepatic lipidosis which is fatty liver disease, a serious disease. You can read about that disease and how it develops by clicking on this link.

As to changing a cat's diet by changing the wet cat food you provide them, I don't think that will cause upset. I am presuming that you buy decent or high quality commercially prepared wet cat food. They are very similar if they are balanced and complete. Your cat will like the food or possibly reject it. You are currently giving them a food they like. If you give them new cat food which they reject then there is no change in diet! Problem solved.

Changing from a good quality wet food diet to a full-time low quality dry food diet will probably cause stomach upsets and may well affect a cat's health detrimentally. There are strong arguments for not providing dry cat food as the sole diet for a domestic cat because it's too unnatural and cats don't compensate sufficiently by drinking more water. 

It's been argued that this kind of diet can lead to cystitis if the environment in which the cat's lives is also stressful. Stressing cats is probably more common than people think particularly in multi-cat homes. Cat caregivers should look out for signs of stress particularly in timid cats who might be prone to hide and are being bullied.

Changes in behaviour

If everything else has stayed as normal by which I mean the environment in which the cat lives, and the cat suddenly starts to behave differently by hiding or becomes lethargic and losses appetite (common signs of illness) then a caregiver might presume there cat is ill. It might be a serious illness. There would be a need to take him or her to a veterinarian for diagnosis.

These changes should be pretty apparent to an observant and reasonable cat owner. Amir Anwary is simply reminding cat caregivers to be aware of these changes in order to allow a veterinarian to tackle any underlying health problems promptly. That I think is the message he is trying to deliver in his TikTok video. A good one.

Kidney disease

As Amir Anwary states this is a very prevalent disease in elderly cats in the West and is probably due to cats living longer (as occurs in humans) and the environment in which they live which may contain pollutants which are hidden or unknown by the owner and thirdly the diet might predispose the cat to this particular health problem. More work needs to be done on this in my view. There may be an inherited genetic element too.

Diabetes can damage the kidneys and diabetes is a growing disease in our feline companions. The increase in kidney disease may be linked to the increase in feline diabetes. Diabetes in fact has a severe negative impact on health in various ways so it's important that caregivers ensure that their cat maintains a healthy weight.

The biggest sign of kidney disease in elderly cat would be drinking a lot more water and urinating more and more often. That's because the kidneys are malfunctioning and not processing the liquid and so it passes straight through them. This means they're more thirsty and so they drink more and then pee more. Watch out for that particular sign as it will pretty well certainly be kidney disease if your cat is elderly. There is no cure the kidney disease and it often leads, sadly, to humane euthanasia.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Improving your pet's gut microbiota

The health of a cat or dog's gut microbiota is important for their health. A healthy gut microbiota supports the animal's immune system. It affects the animal's hormonal system and affects general welfare. This is about good bacteria in the stomach and how it is vital to both the health of people and their companion animals. It is something that I believe cat and dog caregivers should think about both in the interests of their health and the health of their companion animal.

So how can a cat or dog caregiver improve their cat's gut microbiota? It is also referred to as "microbiome" . The word refers to the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses, that live in the digestive tracts of animals.

A balanced diet is obviously important and you can buy cat foods that feature probiotics and prebiotics in order to support the health of the animal's gut.

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that help your cat's digestive system to function well and they aid overall immune function. They support vitamin production and they help to balance the good and bad bacteria within the cat's gut.

Prebiotics are non-digestible fibres. They promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and act as a food for probiotics and encourage the growth and activity.

You can create a calm and pleasant environment for your companion animal which helps to reduce stress which helps to avoid a negative impact that stress can have on gut health.

You can make sure that you minimise the use of antibiotics in treating your dog or cat because antibiotics kill bacteria in the gut and therefore disrupt the gut microbiome. A veterinarian should use them judiciously but I must add that sometimes veterinarians tend to overuse antibiotics as a precaution because they sometimes can't tell whether a companion animal is suffering from a viral or bacterial infection. A cat owner should question their vet if they think antibiotics are being overprescribed.

My research indicates that a minimally processed raw or gently cooked diet is good for cat health. These diets are made from whole food ingredients.

Cats with chronic digestive disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease should be tested for their gut health by a veterinarian. They can then decide how best to intervene.

RELATED: My cat suffers from IBD and will undergo fecal microbiota transportation soon.

There are some probiotic supplements on the market designed specifically for cats to support their cat health and they are listed below.

• Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora for Cats: This liver-flavored powder contains probiotics and yeast. It’s beneficial for cats prone to diarrhea and provides extra gut support. You can sprinkle it on your cat’s food or mix it with a liquid.
• VetriScience Laboratories Probiotic Everyday Gut Health Supplement for Cats Soft Chews: These soft chews are easy to administer and help maintain gut health. They’re suitable for daily use.
• Pet Naturals of Vermont Daily Probiotic for Cats: A budget-friendly option, these probiotics come in chew form. They support digestive health and can be given to cats of all ages.
• PetUltimates Probiotics for Cats: Ideal for cats dealing with constipation, this supplement promotes a healthy gut. It’s available in capsule form.
• Fera Pet Organics Probiotics with Prebiotics: Specifically formulated for cats with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), this supplement contains both probiotics and prebiotics.
• Purina Calming Care Veterinary Supplements: While primarily calming, this supplement also supports gut health. It’s suitable for stressed-out kitties.
• Skout’s Honor Probiotic Deodorizer: Not only does it help with odor control, but it also contains probiotics for gut health.
• Healthy Kidney Inc. Kidney Restore: Designed for cats with kidney disease, this supplement includes probiotics to support overall health.
• Vital Planet Flora Cat Probiotic: Boosts immune support and maintains gut balance. Suitable for cats of all ages.
• Nutramax Proviable-DC: Especially beneficial for kittens, this probiotic supplement supports overall digestive health.

A healthy gut microbiome is important in maintaining overall health. It helps break down complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Also beneficial bacteria produce enzymes that aid in nutrient absorption. This make sure that your companion animal receives all the nutrients that they need.

About 70% of our cat and dog's immune cells live in the gut. A well functioning microbiome help to regulate immune responses. And good bacteria prevent harmful pathogens from taking over which reduces the risk of infections.

There is a thing called the "gut-brain axis". It connects the gut and the brain. A healthy microbiome influences neurotransmitter production and mood regulation. Also, some gut bacteria produce compounds which affect stress levels, depression and anxiety.

Weight gain and loss can also be linked to certain gut microbes. A balanced microbiome help to prevent obesity as it affects metabolism and appetite regulation.

Good gut bacteria helps to prevent autoimmune responses and therefore help to prevent inflammation inside the body. It also affects the condition of the cat's coat.

Lastly, some good bacteria metabolises dietary fibres into compounds that can help lower cholesterol levels.

What I have said above applies to people and pets.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Why do domestic cats have thinner fur between the ear flaps and the eyes?

The Live Science website asks a similar question but I think the way I have asked the question is more accurate. They ask "why do cats have bald spots in front of their ears?" Well, firstly, these are not bald spots. The hair is thinner between the top of the eyes and the flaps. Secondly, although Live Science claim that small wild cats have the same anatomical characteristics, I don't think they do. On this page you will see a headshot of a serval which is a medium-sized wild cat compared with a headshot of a black domestic cat.

This is typical of the black domestic cat but there are variations:

Black domestic cat showing thinning hair from above the eyes to the base of the ear flap where skin is genuinely bald. The photograph is from Wikipedia and therefore published it under licence.

This is a serval:

Serval headshot showing continuous fur above the eyes and up to the flaps. This photograph, it is believed, as in the public domain.

You will see that the serval's fur between the eyes and the that is pretty solid and it doesn't seem to be thinning to me. Another point worth making is this: every time we discuss this topic we invariably show an image of a black domestic cat. This is because there is greater contrast between the white skin underneath the black fur making the thinning coat more obvious.

Also the fur there tends to stand on end. It is vertical which makes the skin underneath more visible.

Another point worth making is this: I don't think all domestic cats have the same level of thinning fur at this point on their face. It varies which is understandable because domestic cats do very.

But it has to be said that often times we see this characteristic so what causes it? The frustrating answer is that we don't know. I think one reason is that the hair strands tend to sit more vertically at that point which makes the skin below easier to see which could add to the impression that there is partial bolding at that point.

Live Science suggests that the thinning fur at that point is to help with hearing because the sound waves bounce off the head between the eyes and ears before entering near ear canal and impinging upon the eardrum. So this thinning fur maybe to do with improving hearing. That's the best guess so far.

It might have nothing whatsoever to do with hearing, however. It might just be a domestic cat trait because of their domestication. Fur is present to keep the cat warm and to protect them. Arguably, both of these benefits are not strictly required by a well cared for domestic cat. Perhaps, then, it is an evolutionary trait during the 10,000 years of domestication. That is another big guess.

It may be nothing to do with evolution. It could be a problem with thinning coats generally due to their lifestyle and/or diet which might not be entirely appropriate but which is not clear to humans. Perhaps the domestic cat is losing fur and this process is not visible in most areas of the coat because the fur is denser elsewhere than in the area between the top of the eye and ear flaps.

So perhaps this so-called bald patch is a symptom of a generalised inadequate domestic cat caregiving and its variation is because in some homes caregiving a superior than in other homes. We need another study on this to do some tests to get to the bottom of it.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Routine is important for both kids and cats

There is a similarity between kids and cats in one aspect of their desired lifestyle: routine. Cats love the reassurance of routine. They can sleep better. They have less anxiety. They enjoy life more. Life becomes more predictable. This is important because the wildcat is just below the surface of the domestic cat and they live in the human world. They are out of place in many ways despite almost 10,000 years of domestication.

And so routine is important to cats. I don't know of a study to support this but it is probably fair to say that cats who live a life of routines and rhythms live longer in general than those who live a disjointed and fragmented lifestyle with uncertainties.

Today, in The Times, there is a report on research carried out at Colorado State University in which they enrolled 94 children aged between five and nine from a wide range of economic backgrounds. They concluded that routine was "key to a healthy, wealthy and wise child". The underlying reason for this huge benefit was that they slept better.

The lead author of the study, Emily Merz, said: "Shorter sleep duration was significantly associated with reduced cortical thickness in frontal, temporal and parietal regions and smaller volume of the amygdala (a brain region key to emotion processing)."

I'm not saying that when cats have a life of routines and rhythms that they necessarily sleep better but they probably do because they will be less anxious. Because of the reassurances that routine and rhythms bring them, they are better able to sleep soundly.

I see a great similarity between kids and cats and interestingly we keep our cats as 'feline kids' because we look after them all the time and so emotionally and mentally they behave like kittens despite being adults. This is another similarity to the results of this study.

Children need dependable schedules as cats do. The best cat caregivers live a life of routines and rhythms themselves and their domestic cat companion fits in with them. Both parties are content with this lifestyle and relationship.

The routines of the children included whether they did the same thing each morning when they woke and whether their parents had a regular playtime after coming home from work. And further whether the parents read or told stories to their children regularly and whether the children went to bed at the same time and so on and so forth.

Routine is good particularly for the more vulnerable of us and the more timid or anxious of us. I would argue that domestic cats are inherently going to be a little anxious because, as mentioned, they live in the human world, a land of giants and of human activities which are essentially alien to them. I believe that cat caregivers need to be aware of this and do all they can to reassure their cat companions.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Neglect your cat or dog's allergies long enough and you can be convicted of a crime

This is a story about a dog but it could be about a cat. It is also a story about a not untypical pet health problem namely allergies through allergens in the air or in what they eat. So were talking about a typical cat or dog caregiving situation. 

And in this story which comes from Australia, a fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker (usually mining) and his wife failed to deal with their dog's allergies to the extent where the dog lost a lot of hair and had raised lumps and thickened, cracked and flaking skin. The dog had also developed an ear infection which was possibly associated with the allergy.

We don't know what kind of allergen caused the allergy but they are difficult to deal with and this dog required veterinary treatment at an early stage and perhaps ongoing veterinary treatment. But she was found in the backyard which was covered in faeces because the wife didn't like clearing up faeces.

The neglect was reported to the RSPCA of Western Australia probably by a neighbour. The couple were taken to court where they pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable steps to prevent an animal from suffering harm. They were convicted therefore of animal cruelty and fined AU$2500 each and banned from owning any pets except for the three cats that they already had in their care.

The dog concerned, Ella, was taken off them and has been rehabilitated and rehomed. She is described as a sweetheart and everybody loved her at the RSPCA. It is hard to think about her suffering as occurred simply through a careless approach to pet caregiving and their lack of funding to deal with veterinary treatment.

The owner agreed that she had suffered with allergies her whole life. He appears to have excused himself to a certain extent by saying that the veterinary bills would have been too expensive.

Comment: what do we learn from this little story? Firstly, you got to have the money to do a good job of cat or dog caregiving. You cannot do it without sufficient funding. And that issue needs to be dealt with before you adopt a pet. It requires some seriously hard questions and answers by the person who wants to adopt a pet.

Secondly, simple neglect which might not feel like anything severe by the cat or dog owner but which becomes severe over a long period of time can be described as criminal behaviour. It'll be a sliding scale from minor neglect which would not be criminal to long-term neglect which can be and often is criminal.

Pet owners should realise that. It's a slippery slope perhaps. But there's no need to embark on that slippery slope. If a cat or dog owner faces the problem and deals with it honestly in admitting that they don't have the will or the money to care for their dog or cat properly then they should rehome the animal as soon as possible. 

They should surrender the animal ideally to an adopter of their choosing through a private arrangement as long as I know for sure that the other person is going to be a good cat or dog caregiver or through a shelter which should be of good quality and where euthanasia is a genuine last resort.

The bottom line is that this couple could have rehomed their dog years ago which would have avoided the pain and suffering she experienced. It would have also avoided their conviction for criminal behaviour and lastly, it would have eased their conscience if they have one for causing this cruelty. It required an honest self-appraisal.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Hybrid working is great for pet caregiving but not so good for productivity

I'm not sure about other countries but in the UK hybrid working has become somewhat of the norm. Hybrid working means working from home and working from the office. It's a shared working environment as opposed to the default situation in the past of always working from the office.

Flexible hours have pretty well killed off the 9-to-5 working style. It's no longer the way to make a living for the vast majority of office staff in the UK.

Hybrid working allows people to tailor their working hours to fit much better around their nonworking activities. These include cat and dog caregiving.

Improved cat caregiving. Less anxiety.

I can imagine the joy of millions of cats and dogs perhaps particularly cats because they are perceived as being independent and mistakenly believed to accept being alone. I am afraid not.

Now they can have their human companion around far more often. There's been no study on it but I suspect that domestic cat anxiety brought on by separation anxiety has diminished tremendously since Covid-19 and the commencement of hybrid working. 

Also, looking at it from the human perspective, cat caregivers will be more relaxed and less anxious about their companion animals because they can be around far more often. There must be a lot of people who are unhappy about leaving their cats alone all day. That problem is now resolved for office workers.

Survey supports hybrid working

A study of more than 2,000 Britons who used to work in an office five days a week before the pandemic but who now split their working hours between office and home said that they had far more freedom to tailor their schedules and start their workday either later or earlier to suit themselves.

Most (43%) said that they begin their day at 8 AM or before which is earlier than when attending the office. Ten percent chose to logon at work after 9:30 PM. Extraordinary. I have just realised that that is in the evening rather than the morning. They prefer to do nightshift by the look of it.

Although companion dogs and cats are benefited tremendously, I would argue through hybrid working, I think you will find a consensus among managers and business owners that productivity has diminished as a result. 

There are problems with it such as not being able to interact on a direct, person-to-person basis and far more freely with work colleagues in order to exchange ideas. I think this is one way employees are more productive.

In Britain 44% of the workforce now spend at least some of their working week at home according to the Office for National Statistics. The method has become very popular and jobseekers are now demanding hybrid working from their future employers and as employers are having difficulty hiring staff they give way to this demand.

Employee demands

Seventy-one percent of hybrid workers say that they would not take a new role involving a long commute. That's another point about hybrid working; it's avoids commuting costs and time. This puts money in the pockets of employees and can make working more efficient.

But this article is about the benefits to companion animals which for people like me is very welcome. 

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Image: MikeB

You are part Neanderthal if you wake up when your cat is active at dawn

The title seems bizarre but there is an element of truth about it. Even more than an element of truth because the title is based around a study about Neanderthal genes which can be found in modern day humans.

And, the study reports that Neanderthals were early risers in order to improve their hunting success rate. In other words, the Neanderthal genes in some us affects our circadian rhythms making us early risers.

We know that domestic cats are most active at dawn and dusk and sometimes at night and indeed sometimes during the day but they are known to be crepuscular which means active at dawn and dusk.

And if you have these precious Neanderthal genes you are likely to be active at dawn which means that you are likely to wake up at dawn and do something at 4 AM in the morning which, by the way, is what I tend to do now that I am an old man and I want a bit of peace and quiet to write articles for my website.

It helps if you have Neanderthal genes as you are more in sync with your cat. It helps cat caregiving therefore.

Neanderthals lived at higher latitudes than our ancestors who migrated from Africa. In other words they were further away from the equator which meant that the days were longer in summer and shorter in winter.

Neanderthals were able to make the most of the daylight hours to maximise their hunting successes. To achieve that they were early risers.

The study is new in that it is one of the first studies to look at the circadian rhythms of humans and to see whether there was a genetic reason for differences between modern humans and are forerunners. They found 16 variants linked with greater 'morningness' or the propensity to rise early in the morning.

The study scientists suggest that modern people might have inherited Neanderthal "circadian variants."

Most of the variants in circadian rhythms and sleep preferences concerns an increased propensity to being alert in the early hours of the morning. And it's consistent with research on other animals which are adapted to living at a high latitude just as Neanderthals did.

The study is published in Genome Biology and Evolution.

So in conclusion, I will say that I have Neanderthal genes inside me because I am active at 4 AM in the morning although this is dependent partly upon the fact that I'm old and therefore sleep badly. Don't think badly of Neanderthals. They were much smarter than they are generally given credit for today.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Same old story as dogs are favoured over cats at Christmas

OPINION: News media today tell us that researchers found that pet owners will spend 27% more on dogs and cats this Christmas. It's always been like this. Dogs get taken to the veterinarian more often than cats. Dogs are more closely connected to their owners and cats because they look up to their owners as the alpha, leader dog and they fawn all over them and a very needy towards their owners. 

This creates a very close connection whereas the solitary, independent-minded domestic cat can tend to have a looser connection with their owner.

Image: MikeB

This appears to inevitably lead to spending less at Christmas on the animals! And other things. 2000 pet owners were surveyed. They found that typically cats received £19-worth of gifts whereas dogs received gifts worth £25.

There are many gifts for dogs and cats available these days. Typically cats received toys and some food treats. Chew toys apparently are top of the list for dogs.

RELATED: Cats vs dogs – it’s a draw as expected.

It doesn't surprise me that quite a lot of money is spent on cats and dogs her Christmas because they are very much part of the family and in some instances they are the entire family and in other instances they are more important than human family members!

John Lewis reports that sales of pet gifts are up by 19% this Christmas. The pet gifting buyer at that organisation said that "everything from edible Christmas cards and chew toys, to litter robots and DIY cross stitch collars have been flying off the shelves this year. All throughout the year, we have so many pet parents coming into our stores looking for that perfect gift for their cats and dogs and we are always delighted to help find that special something for them."

Separately, it is said that dogs are slightly better behaved than cats at Christmas with 11% of cats described as being naughty while only 8% of dogs are in that category.

That said, 72% of cat and dog owners say that there companion animals make Christmas celebrations all the more special when they share Christmas festivities with them.

Survey: believed to be OnePoll poll from America.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.