Touch your cat and let them touch you for health benefits both ways

A study is out on the Internet at the moment which probably states the obvious but it's always useful to restate the obvious and it might not be so obvious to some people. 😉😎

The conclusion of the study is that people benefit from touch. Yes, a simple act. Touching is part and parcel of the way of life of animals and people. People are animals. The human animal. Let's not kid ourselves that we are any different at a fundamental level which includes experiencing the benefits of touch.

Touch on the face and head is more beneficial than touch on the arm. We can be touched by a professional medical person or a non-medical person but someone we know and the benefits are going to be similar both mental and physical.

People who are ill benefit more than those who are not. Hugging people is touching people. The same benefits. Cuddling your cat is like hugging a person. The same benefits. It cuts both ways by which I mean the cat benefits from your touching and you benefit from touching your cat. Note: hug cats respectfully.

To stress the point, the study states that, "It is widely known that many animal species benefit from touch interactions and that engaging in touch promotes their well-being as well."

You can't really touch your cat enough. You can't overdo it but caregivers should respect the feelings of their cat. Petting your cat is good for both person and cat but different cats have different wishes and people shouldn't overdo petting. Sometimes cats have a limit to the amount of petting they wish to receive.

Notwithstanding that observation, cats enjoy petting and of course people enjoy petting their cats. This is a form of touching obviously and therefore both benefit from it.

Touching can help reduce pain, depression and anxiety in adults and children. In terms of newborn babies, touching helps them gain weight. This is a reflection of the general well-being incurred by the baby when being touched.

The study is titled: A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. It is published on the Nature Human Behaviour website and the citation at the base of the article provides a link to it.

Overall, touch interventions were beneficial for both physical and mental health, with a medium effect size. Our work illustrates that touch interventions are best suited for reducing pain, depression and anxiety in adults and children as well as for increasing weight gain in newborns. 

The lesson to be learned from the study (if we need to learn a lesson on this topic) is that we should enjoy touching our cat. And our cat will enjoy it. It just needs to be done in a respectful way which means gently and up to the limits allowed by our cat companions. 

You will learn those limits as your cat will complain if you overdo it. Gentleness is a key. Sometimes people can handle their cats too roughly and forgetting that we are bigger and generally stronger. It's a two-way process at all times and interacting with our cat.

And don't treat your cat as a human baby but as a feline, a fine domesticated predator.

RELATED: Picture of Taylor Swift cradling Benjamin Button, her new cat, like a baby.

Citation

Packheiser, J., Hartmann, H., Fredriksen, K. et al. A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01841-8

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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.

Jilted senior councillor threatened to kill ex-lover's cats

NEWS AND VIEWS: Here is the summary of this news story in which unsurprisingly the woman's cats play a part. Cats are not infrequently used as tools by men to leverage desired human behaviour sometimes in an obnoxious way. The humble domestic cat is vulnerable to being used in this way as women (and men) normally have a close emotional bond with their cat. Threaten to harm the cat and you emotionally harm the owner and force them to behave in a way which is against their wishes.

Salisbury City Councillor Mark Mewse outside Salisbury Magistrates Court (Image: Ollie Thompson/Solent News)

In a rather bizarre and unsettling turn of events, Mark Mewse, a Tory councillor, embarked on a peculiar campaign to win back his ex-lover, Sarah Houchin. Let’s delve into the details:

1. Lovebombing with Presents:

   • Mark Mewse, besotted and determined, showered Sarah with gifts. Not just any gifts, mind you, but specifically for her feline companions. Yes, he bought presents for her cats in a desperate bid to rekindle their romance.
   • The court heard that he left flowers on her car bonnet, sent her cards, and even gifted her and her cats a bag of goodies for Christmas. It’s like a feline-themed love story gone awry.

2. Persistent Pursuit:

   • Undeterred by Sarah’s clear rejection, Mewse continued his relentless pursuit. He bombarded her with a constant barrage of messages, hoping to melt her heart.
   • CCTV footage revealed him waving and blowing kisses at her as she drove around Salisbury, Wiltshire. He even followed her into her workplace, leaving her feeling anxious and nervous.

3. Threats to the Furry Companions:

   • But here’s where it takes a dark turn. When Sarah firmly declined his advances, Mewse allegedly threatened to kill her cats. Yes, you read that right. The same cats he had gifted presents to earlier.
   • It’s a chilling twist that involves both love and feline lives hanging in the balance.

4. The Court Drama:

   • The case unfolded at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, where Mewse faced charges of harassment.
   • Sarah, in her early 50s, stood her ground, making it unequivocally clear that she wanted no part in a relationship with the defendant.
   • Mewse, the Chair of the Personnel Committee at Salisbury City Council, denied the charges, but the evidence against him paints a vivid picture of obsession and misguided affection.

In summary, this tale combines romance, cat presents, and a dash of menace—a script that even Hollywood might find intriguing. 🐱❤️🌹

Source: Daily Mail Online

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.

Google's Gemini can't answer the question: "Is Putin a mass murderer?

I asked Google's Gemini the following question: Is Putin a mass murderer. Gemini's response was: "I'm still learning how to answer this question. In the meantime, try Google Search."

Image: Google which allows the image to be downloaded.

My response to my question: Putin is a mass murderer because he has invaded a neighbouring country to expand Russia as he thinks Ukraine should be part of Russia. His invasion is almost universally recognised as illegal. As the act of war was illegal shelling apartment blocks with old woman and pets inside in their many thousands is mass murder. Bombing and shelling non-military targets in Ukraine and killing more than 10,000 civilians must be considered mass murder under these circumstances.

Definition of murder: the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. The actions of Putin and the Kremlin cronies fits this definition I would strongly argue. It does not matter that Putin's orders have to go through several layers of commanders. The buck stops at the top.

I'm surprised that Gemini has no opinion on this. That the question is beyond its abilities. It could have at least presented some possible suggestions. 

Perhaps Google is scared of criticising Putin! Perhaps the senior bods at Google are scared that Putin will order their assassination if Gemini calls Putin a mass murderer?!

A huge number of animals have been killed by Putin's bombardment of Ukraine's cities in the east and south-east. The devastation to wild animal life such as marine wildlife in the Black Sea to name one example is enormous and still being assessed.

"About 80 animal species are on the brink of extinction due to the invasion, and more than 10 million animals have been killed, environmentalists estimate."  -  central.asia-news.com

We must think of the animals. So many killed needlessly. Or so many starved to death. The cruelty is unimaginable. For what? To satisfy the psychopathic cravings of a dictator and megalomaniac.

Google's Gemini liked Elon Musk to Hitler and it was unsure if paedophilia was wrong. There is work to do! 🙄😎

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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.

74-year-old woman's cat attacked the 60-year-old man who was throttling her

NEWS AND COMMENT: A 60-year-old man was arrested for assaulting a 74-year-old women because she refused to permit him to drive her car which she had allowed in the past. The lady has a cat who dived into the fray and jumped on the man as he throttled the woman with one hand and covered her mouth and nose with his other hand. 

It appears that the man is scared of cats! Job done them. Fortunate outcome and brave of the cat. This is yet another example of a cat companion defending a human, this time an adult human, when under attack. In another post I reported on a female cat successfully defending her dog companion from an attack by a couple of coyotes in the backyard.

In other videos I have seen domestic cats protecting babies and kids from danger including falling down stairs and being attacked by stray dogs. It happens a lot, strongly indicating that cats see themselves as part of the family (and vice versa) and a protective mother to the family members with whom they are close. So much for the domestic cat being 'solitary' creatures. They are not. They've become very sociable.

Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA

Name of man: Nathaniel Charles Derouen

He is out on a bond of $35,000. A bond is posted on a defendant's behalf, usually by a bail bond company, to secure his or her release.

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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.

Keeping a good news secret will improve your energy levels

A recent study has suggested that people would do better to keep positive secrets to themselves as it can help energise them and make them feel more invigorated. It's an interesting concept.

The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The researchers worked out of Columbia University in New York.

The report states that: "Prior research on secrecy has focused on the effects of negative secrets, secrets that involve information that people consider unpleasant, objectionable or embarrassing. Yet many secrets are positive in nature, from marriage proposals to gifts, to surprises to unexpected good news. Although negative secrets have been found to be fatiguing, we proposed that positive secrets can be energising. We define feelings of energy as feeling alive, alert, active and invigorated."

The moment a person discloses a good secret should be delayed so that the person can "spend more time savouring the information, reflecting on its meaning or considering possible joyful reactions to sharing the secret."

The experiments were conducted with 2,500 people. In all there were five experiments and they found that more than 75% of participants instinctively wanted to tell people good news immediately. Yes, I can understand that. It is common sense to tell others good news and counterintuitive to talk to others about it but it may be an opportunity missed.

They were shown 40 types of common good news such as winning on a bet, becoming pregnant, getting engaged or clearing a debt.

They were asked which type of good news they had experienced and which they had shared with others or those that kept secret for a while. And there were asked how they felt under these different circumstances.

They were also asked to imagine they had a piece of good news and to envisage two scenarios. In one they chose not to tell their partner until the end of the day. And in the other they try to call their partner but couldn't make contact and therefore had to wait until later.

In the first scenario they made a deliberate choice to keep the secret for a number of hours and this led to positive feelings while the second scenario did not.

Of course, secrets are very nuanced and very variable. Some so-called positive secrets don't make people happy when kept close to their chest. It might be a secret to avoid embarrassment because good news can make others feel worse about their situation. 

Or the good news might lead others to judge you negatively. A typical example would be if you bought a nice but expensive present for yourself, which might elicit negative reactions in others for reasons, perhaps, of envy.

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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.

Financier threatened to kill his neighbour's cat over Knightsbridge property dispute

NEWS AND COMMENT: A financier threatened to kill his neighbour's cat because of a row over the space between their properties which is described as a "cupboard" and which had been inappropriately and illegally appropriated by one neighbour (a former owner) against the rightful owner, the financier, Mr Knight, and his wife.

Image by MikeB based on images from the Daily Mail.

Between two properties in Knightsbridge, there was a peculiar cupboard space which belonged to Anthony and Angela Knight's home.

The problem is that they didn't use that space as it had a separate door. In fact, they hadn't used it since 2010 when it was used a storage area. Over those intervening years of non-use, their immediate and adjacent neighbours Zyapkov and Grigore used this space as part of their flat apparently not knowing that their predecessors had illegally appropriated it by smashing through the party wall and thereby unlawfully incorporating it into their flat.

The Knights found out about this theft of part of their property when they visited their neighbour on an invitation. An argument ensued which went to litigation but the Knights and their new neighbours tried to settle the issue amicably. Emotion got in the way and the police were called several times.

In one argument, Mr Knight can be heard warning Zyapkov that taking the case to court would end in his ruin and the loss of his job at the Bank of America.

Also, it's alleged that Knight said: "Don't let the cat out here. If I see it, I will kill it."

Eventually they received a court order in which the cupboard will be returned to the Knights. His neighbours will foot Knight's lawyers' bills for the dispute. It's going to cost them over a hundred thousand pounds.

They were stupid to put it mildly. It was a total loss from the beginning and they must have been ill-advised or ripped off by their lawyers.

The flats are not far from Harrods where houses cost about £3 million upwards.

It is unsurprising to me that Mr Knight made a threat to kill his neighbours' cat because this happens so often as a domestic cat is a vulnerable sentient being. If they go outside as is not uncommon in the UK even in London, they are very vulnerable to angry people.

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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.

Woman transitioning to a 'human cat' with many body modifications and more to come

The image and videos that you see are of a young 22-year-old Italian woman named Chiara Dell’Abate aka Aydin Mod who wants to transition to a 'human cat' through plastic surgery, piercings, tattoos and other body modifications. Does she look like a cat? The answer is no quite definitely. I don't know what her thinking is but to an outsider like me, she has not realised her objective; nowhere near. I find it very sad indeed that she has done this to herself. For me she looks revolting.

Chiara Dell’Abate aka Aydin Mod. Screenshot (modified) from YouTube.

Apparently, she is very excited about her transitioning to a human cat. She started the long journey at the tender age of 11 when she received her first body mod. She now has 72 piercings in her body.

Her body modifications include punched nostrils, 0.8 cm upper lip piercings and a 1.6 cm inner labia piercing. Her tongue has been split (see video below). Horror. I can't see that that is anything at all to do with being a domestic cat. Domestic cats do not have split tongues but snakes do. 

She struggles to speak properly. I wonder if she struggles to eat properly too. And what about day-to-day functioning? These body mods must get in the way.

But she is very happy with her body. She said, "I'm thinking that I would be a pretty cool cat lady".

In addition to the above, she has submitted herself to a blepharoplasty which, I'm told, removes excess skin or fat from the eyelids. Her eyeballs have been tattooed!! She has pointed ears, forehead implants and claw-like nails. And permanent eyeliner.

She added: "I think becoming a cat lady is more appropriate for me as I don’t really want to look like a cartoon character. I have always loved cats, and I think I’ll look really bold and fierce as a cat lady with the right body mods."

She is not finished. She was to become more like a human cat.

"To achieve the full cat-like look, I will need a cat eyes lift or canthoplasty — surgery to produce more elongated and naturally almond-shaped eyes — teeth reshaping, upper lip cut, more fillers."

And she said that she will employ something called a transdermal which is like a micro dermal to attach a tail and definitely more tattoos. 

She said that the procedures hurt a lot but the pain is temporary and not a big deal to her. Some people have slammed her for her desire to dramatically alter her appearance. For me, the alterations are very much to her detriment. She looks horrendous to me. But I am an old man with particular views. Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned but....she looks horrible...

Some people have labelled her psychotic and disturbed. Others have been supportive and praised her for living freely. She said that through her body modifications, "I feel free to stay true to myself, regardless of what people think."

I just wonder whether she wants to modify her body because she is unhappy with it. I wonder if she does have mental health problems. I am not saying that she does by the way. She sounds perfectly normal and rational but I also wonder whether she will think exactly the same way in 10 or 20 years' time. I doubt whether she will. I wish her well.

But because there is more to come, she'll get progressively worse until she turns into a monster. And what about the cost? And has anyone checked out her mental health? People should be protecting her.

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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.

The hypocrisy of humankind in describing feral cats as 'invasive' beggars belief

The Week, a website, has the title "6 of the most invasive species on the planet". The author lists the feral cat as the second most potent invasive species. And I've heard this numerous times. You hear this in Australia by the way where the feral cat is in general hated certainly by the authorities. Of course, the domestic cat is also an invasive species in Australia but you don't hear them say that.

Remember that the so-called "feral cat problem" is actually a human problem because it is of human making. This picture is in the public domain in my assessment.

Sidebar: let's remind ourselves that all invasive species are the handiwork of humankind. That's true to the best of my knowledge. All species would not have moved around the globe from one country to the other but for the movement of humans bringing those species into countries where they don't belong.

The Australians regard the dingo, as a native Australian wild dog species. But the fact of the matter is that the dingo is an invasive species because it was imported into the country 4000 years ago approximately, I'm told. In other words, the dingo did not evolve over hundreds of thousands of years on the Australian continent. The animal was imported into the country. Technically that makes them an invasive species.

But where do you draw the line? For how many thousands of years does an animal have to be in a country before they qualify as native? That's the issue and as far as the Australians are concerned 4000 years is long enough. Therefore, there is a limit. The term 'invasive species' is not an absolute term.

So, the feral cat in Australia is an invasive species because it was brought into Australia via domestic cats with the early settlers in the 1700s. That isn't long enough for feral cats to be native.

And the other problem which led me to write the title about hypocrisy is that this invasive species is the handiwork of humankind. The feral cat is the victim of humankind's carelessness. Humans brought the domestic cat to Australia and then they let them loose to become feral.

The creation of feral cats, to stress the point, is entirely due to human carelessness. That doesn't stop them being invasive. Feral cats, as mentioned, are invasive because there had never been any cats in Australia until the domestic cat was imported into the country.

But it does stop people, on a moral level, denigrating the feral cat and wishing to kill the feral cat in inhumane ways to protect wildlife. In hating the feral cat, Australians are indirectly hating their human ancestors. Perhaps they do hate them because they were British prisoners, were they? Perhaps the Australians have a real problem knowing that their ancestors were British prisoners.

Today, it is estimated that 20% of the Australian population are descended from people originally transported as convicts. Is it possible to speculate that the Australian authorities' hatred of the feral cat is because they hate their ancestors?

You don't carelessly take pot shots at feral cats - who are the victims of human negligence - which harms and injures them and leave them to slowly die because you are being negligent again. You are being negligent twice over and the victim, as mentioned, is the innocent cat. This is clearly immoral.

How do I get my cats to stop stealing my man?

 It seems that the woman feels that her cats are 'stealing' her man because they love being with him as the picture shows. My response was this:

Let them both have the freedom to have their relationships as it will strengthen your relationship.

What I mean is if she tries to restrict access between the cats and her man, she'll stress her relationship with her man whereas in doing the opposite he'll appreciate it and it'll be good for her relationship. Giving your partner freedoms is the best way to bring them nearer. Restricting people pushes them away. Allowing freedoms brings the person closer.

But it nice to see that the cats seem to prefer the man! Uhm..that's good as the default impression we have from the internet is that dogs are a man's best friend and cats belong with women! Nah...wrong.

How do I get my cats to stop stealing my man? They get along great, don't they? Image: Reddit user: u/MckennaMakes

Dog walker sits two dogs on a railway line for a photograph (video)

his is a video from Sky News which is a compilation of security camera footage from a railway company. It shows some pretty risky behaviour.

Woman risks her life and the life of the dogs in her charge as a dog walker. Screenshot.

Security camera footage shows a person risking their lives and the lives of the dogs under their supervision at a railway level crossing as the dog walker encourages two dogs to sit on the tracks while an onlooker takes a photograph of them.

And in another section, two dog walkers rushed across the railway tracks eight seconds before a high-speed train arrives. You can hear the train's horn sounding. They look very casual.

Network Rail released the video footage showing people risking their lives on a footpath level crossing in Worcestershire, UK. In addition to the above, a teenage boy was filmed doing a one-armed press up on the tracks.

Without wishing to preach, the first duty of companion animal caregivers and dog walkers is to keep their animals safe at all times.

A stressed cat owner cannot be a good cat owner

We know how competently even brilliantly domestic cats can de-stress their owner. It's one reason why we live with cats. They are great companions and they help stop us from getting too wound up because once they are on your lap you have to slow down a bit. And they get in the way when you are on your computer. You either accept that and work around it or you fight it and become more anxious and stressed.

A stressed cat owner may have a stressed as well and a stress cat owner cannot really discharge their responsibilities to a high level. The image is by Michael.

But the point is that if a cat owner is stressed by their lifestyle, by their work or by any manner of reasons, they are not going to be a great cat caregiver.

Stress leads to anxiety and anxiety leads to depression. You can't be a good cat caregiver if you are stressed and anxious although, as mentioned, there is the counter measure which is that although being stressed prevents you being a good cat caregiver, living with a cat makes you a better cat caregiver because it calms you down! 

The problem is that in the meantime you are likely to interact with your cat in a less than good way because of your anxiety. If you are irritated because of stress then you are going to be irritated by your cat at some point. And you might yell at your cat or behave towards your cat in a brusque and unsatisfactory way. There is no blame in this. It is just a simple fact.

I know for a fact that if I'm stressed, I'm not going to present the best side of me in terms of cat caregiving. I might be irritated because my cat brushes against my bare legs and at that moment in time I don't want to feel that. I want to get on with what I'm doing and my cat is getting in the way of achieving that.

But in having a cat we have to be prepared to compromise and to give way to our cat. We are sharing the same environment as our cat. The environment should be pleasant and mentally stimulating for our cat.

It's an interesting mix because on the one side there is the responsibility of caring for a cat well and this in itself can make a person stressed, and yet on the other side there is the pleasure of looking after a cat and the pleasures that flow from it which helps to de-stress a person.

A person stressed by the responsibilities of caring for their cat

There is an interesting post on the Reddit.com website about a person who adopted a cat and became very stressed because they wanted to do their absolute best in looking after their cat. They did everything possible to make the life of their cat as good as possible.

In striving for this state of affairs, the cat owner became very stressed. They went to the Reddit.com website to ask for advice because the person didn't even feel a bond to their cat after doing so much for them. And they asked, "How can I stop holding the bar up so high for myself and revolve my life around my cat?"

I think the ultimate answer as to how you relate to your cat and care for your cat is that you must simply love her or him. If you love your cat everything good flows from that starting point. You will find out what your cat likes and loves and what makes them happy and indeed what makes you happy. And you will find out whether you are suited to being a cat caregiver. You've got to actually like or even love cats to successfully live with a cat companion. That must be a starting point and it is common sense but some people might not think about that when they decide to adopt a cat.

There's no point in regarding cat caregiving as solely a responsibility and a duty. It should be a pleasure to look after a cat. Then you receive the pleasure of living with your cat. It should be entirely reciprocal with equal mutual benefit.

Human to human relationship

There is another quick point to make which is this: if you are in a relationship with a person which is not going that well and you both live in the same home as your cat, it's going to affect your cat negatively, which probably goes without saying. It is another source of stress for you and it will taint the ambience of the household. Domestic cats pick up on that. They demand, really, a calm and stable household.

"Weaponised incompetence" is one reason why men don't want to clean out the litter tray!

I am told that there is a huge discussion on the social network TikTok regarding marriage and divorce. Millions of users are chewing over the concept of "mental load" (the stress of organising a household) and "weaponised incompetence" (the way people - mostly men - avoid house work by purposefully being bad at it).

Wife takes on the 'mental load'. Image: MikeB

The terminology is being used in divorce proceedings as a contributory factor when applying for divorce. Weaponised incompetence places a greater burden on the other party who is competent!

As it happens, women take on more of the mental load as they do more of the house work than men. This has consequences in the relationship. And there are wider consequences such as the quality of their work in the workplace as a lot most wives and partners are also workers.

About a quarter of families experience some form of weaponised incompetence. It's a brand-new term and it is not been fully defined yet.

@clarabellecwb

Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!

♬ A Day in My Life - Soft boy

But I wonder sometimes whether men use the term without realising it to avoid cleaning out the litter tray and general caregiving of the family cat.

It is often said that men prefer dogs and this is understandable because dogs are pack animals and the man is the leader of the pack blah blah blah.

However, men are perfectly capable of looking after both the family cat and family dog. Or to share these responsibilities but to the best of my knowledge, cat caregiving in a family setting normally falls upon the woman; it is her burden.

@maiabemtbc #weaponizedincompentence #weaponizedincompedance #relationshipproblems101 #relationshipproblemsbelike #relationshipproblemss ♬ Sunshine - WIRA

In San Francisco it is NOT cats who are defecating in public places but PEOPLE!

Decayed San Francisco. Image: DALLE-E

Ron DeSantis, the presidential candidate, recently threw his hat into the ring on the discussion about the new woke culture. It's said that he made a bizarre speech. He was speaking to the Conservative group's Road to Majority conference and was discussing wokeness. And he made this comment about it:

"When woke overtakes our criminal justice system — like it has in San Francisco, like it has in Los Angeles — the average person becomes less safe in their communities as a result.” He vowed to leave “woke ideology in the dustbin of history.”

“Don’t tell me it doesn’t affect people’s lives. I was just in San Francisco. I saw — in 20 minutes on the ground — people defecating on the sidewalk. I saw people using fentanyl. I saw people smoking crack right there in the open, right there on the street. It was a civilization in decay.”

Yes, he is saying that he saw the gross degeneration of society's values to the point where adult humans were defecating on the sidewalk and getting high on fentanyl and so and so forth. And he put it all down to wokery; the new woke culture.

It's quite nice in a way to see humans being criticised for defecating in public (if it is true) because so often we see criticism of feral and domestic cats who are pooping in a neighbour neighbour's garden for instance or in a public place which neighbours don't like. The feral and outdoor domestic cats get a very bad rap in the news media concerning going to the toilet in the wrong places.

You might be wondering what the word "woke" means. 

Well, as I understand it, it means that the people who have adopted the woke movement are enlightened enough to see the truth in society. To be ENLIGHTENED and to act fairly towards everybody even if their attitudes and standards are different. And this applies a lot to the binary and non-binary discussion about people's gender.

The woke culture would argue that there are a spectrum of genders or sexes whereas the non-woke person might argue that gender is binary, either you are female or male based upon your biology/anatomy.

Afghanistan

When I was in Afghanistan in the 1970s it was common practice for the citizens of Kabul, the capital, to defecate down a side alley. The trousers had a sort of vent in them to allow them to shit without pulling them down! True.

San Francisco

Note: San Francisco is said to have gone downhill massively because of slack and soft administration resulting in a crime wave and people moving out of the city in droves.

Cats don't want to gender transition

This is a discussion. The title sounds mad. It might be. But I don't think it is. The point of the title is that there are no signs in behavior to tell us that some domestic cats think they are in the wrong body and want to transition from male to female or female to male. Gender transitioning is big human news. But it is exclusively about humans. It is a human condition. The desire to gender transition can only come from a higher non-instinctive intelligence. 

Cats don't want to gender transition. Image: MikeB

Animals behave instinctively. Instinctive behavior does not provide an avenue in which thoughts about gender transitioning emerge.

Thoughts about gender transitioning requires the intelligence and social pressures that only humans enjoy or submit themselves to.

Instinct is natural. It is a part of nature's way. But we should all respect people's thoughts and desires. If a woman wants to be a man and human society can help, we should help. 

But human society should make damned sure beforehand that the woman genuinely wants to transition because the transitioning process is irreversible in truth and young people pass through phases when their thoughts change frequently.

They are in the process of finding their character and ideas. They can be influenced by others and society's pressures.

I'm not against gender transitioning. I'm just for doing it with extreme care. That means doing it when the person is more mature and emotionally settled. What age might that be? Not sure. Thirty maybe. Yes, much older than is currently the case. And there must be neutral, unbiased advice available.

Bethany

Bethany feels that she was rushed into taking testosterone and having a double mastectomy. She is now in the process of 'detransitioning'. She said:

I do regret the loss of time. I am 26 and think 'what have I done?' I wish someone had advised me to properly explore my feelings when I was 19. I was offered no psychotherapy. It is only now, at the age of 26, that I feel I am a mature adult, and it is no coincidence that it is now I am realising that transitioning is no solution.

She now knows that she is gay and not meant to be a man.

She is one example of a number of individuals who are detransitioning. Not good. Too rushed. Too many societal pressures and 'experts' with their own agenda to push onto others.

Human minds can be fragile and fraught; more so in the 21st century with tons of stuff on the internet.

Humans are more intelligent than cats. They are more vulnerable to misleading thoughts that are not instinctive. Cats rely on nature's instinct. It is rock solid.

Sing to your cat while you are petting her?

Here's a thought. It is no more than a thought but it is something that I do these days. I sing to my cat while I pet him. I pet him in a certain way which I know he particularly likes (put pressure on the back of his neck). It is our solemn duty to make our cats happy after ensuring that they are safe.

And I think that if you sing to your cat while you pet them in a way that they particularly like they will associate your singing voice with something very pleasurable.

The advantage of that is that if you sing without petting him it should please him. It's a form of training. Of conditioning.

I think this tip would be very useful for somebody who likes to sing around the house. I don't particularly do that. I only sing when I pet my cat (sometimes). However, I do know a lot of people like to sing occasionally because they've got nice voices.

You can link that nice voice to something nice for your cat by petting them at the same time. Just a thought.

The concept is based upon reward training i.e. positive reinforcement. If you want to train a cat to do something new, get them incrementally to do certain things and at each stage you reward them with a food treat. They link the food treat with doing a certain action which you want them to do. This encourages them to do the thing that you want them to do. That's training through reward.

It is the link between doing something and the reward which makes it work. It is the link between singing and petting which makes singing an enjoyable experience for a cat. That's my theory.

Having written this, I have just noticed that quite a a lot of people sing to their cats. Or, they sing to the four walls of their home and their cat likes it. So clearly, cats are making a link between the human caregiver that they have learnt to love and singing by that person. 

It's an association. I'm pleased because I didn't know this when I dreamt up the idea for the article. It seems that I am not alone.

For example, one person says that when she sings her cat comes up to her for a cuddle. That's the point I'm making.

For how long should I cuddle my cat?

For how long should I cuddle my cat? The short answer is not long. Image: MikeB.

These are my unresearched views on the topic. Please share yours in a comment as I'd be pleased to hear from you.

What do cats do?

For how long should I cuddle my cat? This is a question people ask on the Internet. The short answer is not long (normally, but there are exceptions). How often do you see cats cuddling each other? And if you do see one domestic cat with their 'arm' (foreleg) around the other (which happens) for how long do they do this? To the first question the answer must be rarely if not sleeping together and to the second question the answer must be for a short time (unless sleeping together).

Domestic cats regard us as surrogate mothers. That's why we keep them in a mental state of kittenhood. On that basis, they wouldn't expect to be cuddled, human-style, by their feline mother other than for a short time unless they are sleeping together. That's a point worth making I feel.

Sleeping together

There is probably a bit of an exception here. Sometimes cats can settle down on a cold winter's night with their human and spend hours with the arm of their caregiver around them. A quiet, gentle cuddle. But this is I feel an exception to the general rule.

It is a state of affairs where humans can share their behavior with cats and dogs.

Cat cuddles a dog friend sleeping. Image in the public domain.

Cultures

This is really about a clash of cultures. The human race has a culture of cuddling each other when needed. And it is needed quite often as a form of reassurance and friendship. It can be part of a greeting or a departure. It's a sign of affection indeed love. We know all these things.

Cat greetings and contacts

But domestic cats don't have the same culture. When they greet in a friendly way, they do so with their tail held erect with the end just flopping over slightly (tail-up greeting). They might touch noses having approached each other (the nose touch greeting).

In subsequent interactions they may rub against each other flank-to-flank. One cat's tail made curl over the other cat's back. These behaviours happen quite fleetingly. They are delicate movements.

But as mentioned there can be long-term cuddle contact when resting and sleeping.

Devon Rexes cuddle. Image in public domain.

Human cuddle

The human cuddle is quite a forceful action. There is an element of squeezing in the human cuddle. This is likely to be uncomfortable for a domestic cat even if they have a close bond with their human caregiver.

And of course, the cuddle means that the two parties are in very close proximity. They are in contact. The human is much larger than the domestic cat. We can be intimidating. They live in a land of giants. We need to be sensitive to that.

If we place our head close to their head, they can feel intimidated. If we squeeze them at the same time, it can be uncomfortable as mentioned. These elements combine to make the experience perhaps tolerable but not particularly enjoyable for some cats.

And if it is enjoyed because they become habituated to it as it happens a lot, they'll normally accept it for a relatively short period of time perhaps around 30 seconds.

Body language

In fact, domestic cats tell you when they want to get down or stopping cuddle. They may wriggle a bit or if you are carrying them at the same time as you see in the picture, they may twist their bodies and look towards the ground to indicate they want to get down.

Wild cat ancestor

The answer comes from observing domestic cat behaviour. Domestic cat behaviour is the product of evolution of the African wildcat. This wildcat is solitary. The domestic cat has learned to be sociable within the human environment.

But essentially this solitary character is within the domestic cat and this is the last factor as to why domestic cats will normally accept being cuddled (but not always because it depends upon the individual cat's character) but for a time which is shorter than the human would wish for.

For our benefit

It perhaps is worth reminding ourselves that when we cuddle our cat, we often do it mainly for our benefit. We are seeking reassurance. We are looking for a friend and companionship. So, we do it for ourselves and therefore we can only expect that our cat will accept it rather than seek it.

Cats are individuals

That said, each cat has their own personality as mentioned and therefore sometimes cats will ask to be picked up and cuddled if, in the past, they have learned to understand that it is a sign of friendship from the human caregiver and enjoyable. Cats do pick up on human behavioral traits and some learn to copy them or integrate them into their livestyles.

AITA for giving away some of my girlfriend's rescue cats?

The man asks on Reddit.com whether he behaved badly (AITA) when he felt he was forced to rehome some rescue cats that his girlfriend had found. The title sort of indicates that he might have behaved badly but when you read the story carefully, he hasn't at all.

Reddit's AITA category for discussion.

His story

He works from home and he owns his home. His girlfriend of two years lives with him in his home. She also works from home. She does not pay rent.

She found a box of 6, 2-week-old abandoned kittens by the side of the road (that stuff happens which is appalling). She asked him whether she could bring them in to the home and he agreed even though he has a severe cat allergy. Although he asked whether she could take them to a shelter but she didn't want to do that and he relented.

Conditions he set

But he said he would allow them to come into his home on condition that she adopted them out at eight weeks of age. In the meantime, they should stay in the guest room/bathroom. And he agreed to look after them if he had to in an emergency otherwise the responsibility was his girlfriend's.

She breaks the agreement?

After four months they were still in the house and they needed fixing i.e. spaying and neutering and he did not want the expense. Also, they were now roaming around the house. His girlfriend tried to get him to clean the litter tray because she didn't feel like it, he said.

He said that his allergy to the cats was a real problem for him and that he had to constantly take precautions like wash clothes et cetera to minimise the allergic reaction.

Warned her of adopting them out

He told her three weeks before he adopted them out that he would do so. Eventually he posted them on Facebook offering them for adoption. She agreed to it.

A couple of people responded and met with him. She agreed with that as well. As a result, four of the cats were adopted out. She appears to have been out of the home at the time and when she returned, she "flipped her shit".

He was very surprised. He said that she was angry because he didn't let her say goodbye to them. He said that he gave her two months of goodbye time. He asked AITA?

All the world's pet dogs weigh 10 times all the world's pet cats

Interested? Perhaps not but I think the statistic in the title is mildly interesting. Perhaps the more interesting statistic is that the weight of all humans on the planet at present is 18 times more than the weight of all land based wild mammals. 

But ants weigh about four times more than wild mammals! Those pesky ants are almost weightless as individuals but there are an awful lot of them.

Infographic my MikeB.

Perhaps the more extraordinary statistic from a study (The global biomass of wild mammals) by Prof Ron Milo and colleagues of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel is that the total biomass in tonnage of humans is almost 18 times more than all the wild mammals on the planet combined. 

To that perhaps remarkable statistic we have to add the 630 million tonnes of livestock kept by humans and other mammals that would not exist without us such as urban rats.

As the Infographic shows you, the biomass of all land-based wild mammals is about 22 million tonnes.

Stalker abducted former lover's cockapoo in campaign of hate

NEWS AND OPINION: A classic story of an embittered man who harassed a pretty woman and abducted her attractive dog.

Hannah Rasekh with her cockapoo and the man, Bashar Ayoub, who harassed and threatened her. Hands up, this is a Sun montage. If The Sun objects, please tell me in a comment.

The basic story is pretty commonplace and rather typical but with a twist as a dog was involved. Sorry no cat stories today 😢😎.

Hannah Rasekh was born in the UK and has a Palestinian heritage. She is an influencer on social media and has a boutique in Al Amman, Jordan. 

She met Bashar Ayoub in Dubai in 2017. Bashar Ayoub is a property developer with some wealth, and he lives in a £2 million flat in a posh part of London (Belgravia). Hannah Rasekh lives in South Kensington, West London.

She decided to split up from Bashar Ayoub claiming that he had "emotionally and psychologically" abused her. Bashar Ayoub was obviously enraged, and he embarked on a campaign of harassment and nasty threats. 

I set out some of those threats below but before I do so I will bring into the story Rasekh's cockapoo, Ted, who was abducted by Ayoub. 

He turned up at her home while she was not there, but her parents were as they were housesitting and said that he was a friend who had offered to walk her dog. He took the dog and did not return him. He therefore abducted Ted. We are told that he returned the dog several weeks later.

He couldn't stop himself harassing her because even after Hannah Rasekh had contacted the police and the police were actually inside her home, Ayoub called her 85 times. The police warned Ayoub not to contact her but within hours he started his campaign again and phoned Rasekh 64 times together with sending her abusive messages.

In one he said: "Die you thief you thieving whore, I pray you die, I pray you die every day, you whore."

He also said in another text: "I'll rip you apart, all of you, your whole family you c****. He sent 35 emails to her between January 4 and January 5 in 2022 in which he called her a "bitch".

His behaviour inevitably led him to the criminal courts where he admitted one charge of stalking with fear of harm and violence between April 4 and September 5.

He was granted conditional bail. The condition is that he does not contact Hannah Rasekh directly or indirectly. 

He must wear a GPS tag to ensure that he does not go near her home. He will be sentenced at Westminster magistrates' Court on December 8. The max he can get is 10 years in jail.

My thanks to The Times newspaper.

Pet food bank allows unemployed man on welfare to keep his cats

For me, this is a story which looks at the cost-of-living crisis, unemployment, anxiety and depression, domestic cat caregiving, alleged laziness and the state of the Scottish economy! It goes well beyond cat caregiving.

Chris Forrest became anxious that he would have to give up his four black cats, all males and two sets of siblings. They look great. He says that he depends upon them to help him with his mood. They are, in effect, therapy cats for him.

But he lives on employment and support allowance (welfare) in Scotland because the BBC says that he is unable to work due to severe anxiety and depression.

He lives in Granton, Edinburgh, Scotland. His cats are like his children he says. He said: "The cats keep me going-they interact with me and get me up in the morning as they need to be fed. I am in a much better place having them, I'm more chilled out and relaxed."

Chris Forrest and Shadow. Image: BBC Scotland (believed).

There is a really nice picture of him smiling broadly with one of his black cats on his back on the BBC website. He does not look depressed in that picture.

Because of rising prices, I guess, and what is euphemistically called the cost-of-living crisis in the UK, Chris is dependent upon a pet food bank set up by Mike Dougan, the community outreach and development manager of the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home according to the BBC.

He started the pet food bank when he discovered people were sharing the human food that they had got from food banks with their pets. That's interesting. Clearly it is not a good idea to give your cat exclusively human food because it does not contain the required nutrients for cats. Human food is not "complete and balanced" to use the terminology of pet food manufacturers.

You don't need vouchers to receive pet food from this pet food bank and they also provide other items such as food bowls, toys and harnesses. They do a great job I think and certainly if pet food banks help people to keep their pets it is a great service because nobody wants more cats and dogs surrendered to animal shelters.

Chris says that "The pet food bank is a lifeline. I get so much from my cats; the cats make my day better and I talk with them more than I do humans."

He's a great cat caregiver and lover but I do question his way of life. It is very difficult to talk about depression and anxiety and I don't know Chris. But one way to tackle these mental health problems is to get out and be active.

Working at least part-time is a way of managing depression and anxiety. Staying at home if that is what he does is a sure-fire way of exacerbating anxiety and depression.

I'm not saying that Chris is lazy. But a lot of Scots think that other Scots who are on welfare are lazy. Sir Jackie Stewart, the famous F1 racing driver, accused fellow Scots of being lazy and too dependent on jobs for life in 2007.

And in a survey a high number of Scots thought that poverty is caused by laziness. I read somewhere that less than 50% of Scots actually contribute to the wealth of their nation.

Scotland has consistently spent more than the country earns. There is a sense south of the border that Scotland is living beyond its means. And you wonder if as a nation they can work a little bit harder but that will no doubt rub people up the wrong way.

We have to face the fact that there is a section of society who become dependent upon welfare. And we have to face the fact that certain health conditions are only diagnosed on the basis of what the patient says namely health problem such as back pain and depression and anxiety.

You can't diagnose depression and anxiety other than through what the patient tells the doctor. I'm not saying that this is what is going on with Chris, but it does happen, and it needs to be challenged by the authorities. It is a sensitive area, but a lot of people believe that not only Scotland but also Wales and England have become a little bit lazy.

The UK has a poor productivity record. There are a lot of people out of work in the UK because they are ostensibly ill after the Covid pandemic. These are men and women of working age. Are they genuinely ill? Are they shirking?

The Covid pandemic lockdowns and the furlough scheme, I believe, engendered laziness in the population. And it is a great excuse to stop working by simply saying that you have Long Covid. Long Covid as a way out of working in this country and it has to deal with it more robust in my view.

I wish Chris Forrest well. I hope that he finds he can get back to work at least in some capacity because I think that it will do him good. And then he will be dependent upon a pet food bank or any other charity.