Validity Of All Animal Testing on Mice Called into Question

Validity Of All Animal Testing on Mice Called into Question

When a mouse is in the presence of a man, the mouse thinks that the man is another mouse trespassing on his territory and as a consequence the mouse becomes stressed, highly stressed in fact.  The reason this happens is because men and mice have the same pheromones.  The presence of stress reduces the experience of pain in the mouse.  This skews results in animal tests carried out on mice.

This finding has called into question perhaps all of the animal experiments on mice that have been conducted by men since the beginning of animal experiments, which must be an awful lot of experiments because in the United Kingdom about 67% of all animal testing is conducted on mice (almost 2,000,000 mice were used in 2004).

If we can say that all the experiments conducted on mice can at least be called into question or at least there are doubts about the results of experiments, then I would have thought that this substantially damages the justification for the animal experiments that have taken place over the past decades.

If it wasn't slightly amusing it would be very sad.  In fact is both at the same time.  To think that the results of animal testing on mice, over the decades, has been different between experiments conducted by a man or a woman must also call into question the abilities of the scientists involved.

Even when a T-shirt worn by a man was placed next to a mouse, the mouse became highly stressed. Apparently, scientists can judge how much pain an mouse is under by looking at its expression.  A mouse makes a grimace when in discomfort and/or pain and the amount of the grimace indicates how much pain the mouse is in.  Using this measure, scientists who came to this finding noted that mice when stressed by the presence of men felt less pain.

The information is interesting because cats are also used in animal experiments.  In the USA 25,500 cats we use in animal experiments in 2000 and about half of them had the potential to cause the cat great discomfort and pain.

I wonder whether cats are also affected by the pheromones given off by people.  We know that cats are highly attuned to the scent of other animals and people.  I'm not saying that a cat will necessarily feel stressed in the presence of a man but a cat might like or dislike the body odour of certain individuals which may impact upon the results of an experiment conducted upon him or her. I think that needs to be looked at as well in the light of the interesting findings regarding mice.

Families Torn Apart by the Arkansas Tornadoes 2014

Families Torn Apart by the Arkansas Tornadoes 2014

Of course, when I refer to “families", I include companion animals and not only the relationship between people and their pets but also the relationship between pets themselves.  They're all part of the family and the family unit.

In this case we have a cat and dog.  The dog's name is Lucille and she has been found, thankfully, but unfortunately the cat whose name is Opel is yet to be found.

Having visited the Facebook page setup to reunite people with their companion animals, I have noticed that there are far more dogs posted than cats. I don't know whether that is significant or not. It just might be that people in that part of Arkansas prefer dogs.

Or it might be the case - and I have rather black thoughts are, as black as that tornado cloud in the picture - that people are more concerned about their lost dog than they are about their lost cat.

If, by chance, that is true it is in line with statistics which tell is that people take their dog to the veterinarian far more frequently than they do their cat.  It seems that the independence of the cat works against them while the needy nature of the dog works in their favour.

In any case, the point of this short article is that these devastating tornadoes affecting the middle of America has torn apart some families and in this instance, a couple of best buddy pets. Let's hope Opel is found.

Picture of Tabby Cat Rescued after Arkansas and Oklahoma Tornadoes April 2014

Picture of Tabby Cat Rescued after Arkansas and Oklahoma Tornadoes April 2014

This is a screenshot from a video taken in Oklahoma just south of Oklahoma City which is where the tornadoes passed across Oklahoma and also Arkansas and I believe other states in the centre of America.  The date is April 2040 and there's been lots of devastation in that part of America with, of course, lots of companion cats and dogs are being killed or lost.

This cute little tabby cat - with a collar by the way which I hope helps to be reunited with her owner - was rescued by the lady in the pink dress.  I like the photograph because there is tenderness in the woman's eyes, there is fear and anxiety in the cat's eyes and there is total devastation behind them both.

The result of all this devastation is a massive job on hand to reunite those pets (that survived) with their human guardians and caretakers.  There is, though, a lot of dedication from many wonderful people who are highly committed to helping.  Natural catastrophes like this bring people together. Although people lose everything in the way of possessions they realise what is really important to them when all their possessions are stripped away; and what is important is their family, their health and their companion animal.

Are You Squeamish about Seeing Your Cat’s Bottom?

Are You Squeamish about Seeing Your Cat’s Bottom?

This is actually a serious question although it looks like it's a bit of a joke.  Some people are squeamish about their cat's bottom.  They don't like their cat presenting their bottom to them.  It feels impolite to a human but to a cat it is neither here nor there, it means nothing and in fact cats frequently present their bottom to us because they like to sleep next to us but facing away from us and when they settle down guess what they do: you get their bottom in-your-face.

No big deal.  Get used to it.  It's all natural and it's all part of a domestic cat's anatomy.  Every part of a domestic cat's anatomy is as good as the other.  A genuine cat lover is a very practical, down-to-earth person who likes naturalness.

Some people don't like it when cats lick their bottom to clean it.  They think it is unclean and horrible. Some don't like to clean out cat litter trays.  The modern person actually can tend to live a little bit outside of reality sometimes because reality is harsh to some people.  Everything is transformed.

A lot of people don't like the way they look so they have plastic surgery.  When they get older they hate the lines on their face and so have plastic surgery even though it is perfectly normal to have lines on your face and they can make you look better but they are too "real" for some people; it's to natural and normal.

There is a tendency for some people to shun reality just slightly or in some cases greatly.  I'm thinking about drug addicts and alcoholics but don't get me wrong; it is perfectly human and I have great sympathy but personally I'm a realist and I'm quite happy if my cat presents his bum to me.

In fact, a good cat caretaker needs to be observant and observe both ends of the cat!  There are often medical problems in the mouth of the cat with gum disease and what comes out the rear end can say a lot about a cat's health.  Tapeworms come out the rear end and bloody stools, for example. Diarrhoea comes out the rear end or nothing comes out of it (constipation)!  All these things indicate particular health issues.  They are symptoms and a concerned cat lover will not shy away from inspecting the rear end of a cat and what comes out of it.

I remember visiting a person in America and we were having dinner at the kitchen table and her magnificent Maine Coon cat came up.  I think he jumped up onto a chair and turned around to present his bum to us.  So....we have food on the table and his bum in in our faces but who cares? The host cared and quickly turned her cat around to hide his bum but as for me, I didn't care.

Are They Your Cat’s Ashes?

Are They Your Cat’s Ashes?

The link above takes you to an essay about the cremation of a domestic cat but it covers a lot more than that so make a cup of tea before you start reading it.

As I understood the article, the message is that you might not be given your cat's ashes even when you ask for an individual cremation at an established pet crematorium.

This may not worry people but it would worry me.  Although, it has to be said that once an animal or a human being is cremated there is no vestige whatsoever remaining of that person or animal.  There is no DNA in the ashes.  Ashes are ashes and they could be the ashes of a piece of wood or a piece of flesh or bone.  There are all the same.

Therefore, if you request an individual pet cremation you are doing so for entirely emotional reasons because what you receive back is an emotional connection with your lost cat but it is not a direct physical connection as nothing of her or him remains after cremation.

That said, an emotional connection is extremely important and therefore there is a lot of value in asking for an individual cremation and taking her ashes back with you to your home and placing them in an urn.

However, if you place a value on an individual pet cremation is probably wise to supervise the whole process from beginning to end by observing it.  Only then will you be sure that your pet has been cremated by herself and what you receive is her remains.

This is exactly what I did with my two lost cats who passed some years ago.  Individual creations are obviously much more expensive than a standard cremation, which is something that should be borne in mind but, as far as I am concerned, it is money well spent.

A lot of people will simply ask their veterinarian to euthanise their cat and then deal with the body.  Personally, and I'm not being critical of anybody, that is unfeeling or insensitive and possibly reflects the relationship that the person had with their cat.  I don't know.

I do know, however, that it does bring me comfort emotionally to have my two cats' ashes with me.  When I die I will be cremated and my ashes will be mixed with theirs and then they can be scattered at a place that I treasure or, if I have a partner at that time, she can take the ashes home with her if he wishes.

The Social Function of Tail Up in Domestic Cats

The Social Function of Tail Up in Domestic Cats

The tail up position of the domestic cat is a signal to the other cat that the meeting is to be amicable. This position of the domestic cat's tail has evolved because the domestic cat has adapted to living in groups and being a social animal, whereas the domestic cat's wild ancestor is the African wildcat, which is a solitary creature.

The only other cat species that presents the tail up position is the lion because they are the only species of wild cat that live in groups called prides.  They lion's tail up position is very similar to the domestic cat's except that the tip of the tail droops forward.

So, the domestic cat's tail up position has evolved out of the hierarchical system that developed because they learned to live in groups.

In hierarchical systems you have dominant and submissive cats-we all know that.  And there will be a top cat in a group.  When a cat who is not at the top greets the top cat he wants to make sure that the greeting is amicable because he wants to avoid aggression towards himself.  The greeting cat needs to play his role within the hierarchal system within the group and ensure that his signal is clearly made to a cat higher up in the hierarchy.

So, the domestic cat tail up position is an example of cat body language.  Scientists are not exactly sure how it developed but may have developed from a newborn kitten greeting his mother with his tail up and then rubbing against his mother in a warm and friendly way with scent exchange.

With the tail up and with the warmth of the greeting the two aspects of that behaviour merged and the vertical tail position developed into an amicable greeting in adulthood and one which is designed to ensure friendship: an affiliative behaviour.

People should not be squeamish by the fact that the tail up position exposes the cat's bottom to them or someone else. That may sound like a silly remark to make but some people are a bit squeamish about this sort of thing but they should remind themselves that the fact that they are seeing their cat's bottom means that their cat's tail is in the air and therefore their domestic cat companion is content and happy to see them and furthermore is behaving in a way which infers that the person is at the top of the hierarchal tree.

Pets Lost and Found From Arkansas Tornado April 27 2014

Pets Lost and Found From Arkansas Tornado April 27 2014

I am just spreading the word in trying to help to reunite pets with people who have been separated as a result of the recent Arkansas tornado of April 27, 2014.

There is a Facebook webpage where people can post comments and pictures etc to help in the reuniting process.

If you click on the link above at the top of this page it will take you to another web page where there are links to FB.  Sorry but I can't say much more right now because I am pushed for time.

Missouri Mother of Two Goes to Jail Over Family Cat

Missouri Mother of Two Goes to Jail Over Family Cat

I am reliably informed that keeping a domestic cat in America is becoming more and more restrictive in that there are more restrictions on letting your cat go outside without supervision or on a leash.  It seems that the good old days of letting a cat go wandering around the house are gradually coming to an end.  I had no idea that there was a gradual increase in bylaws or local laws placing restrictions upon cat ownership and letting the cat go outside.

The Family. The lady who was made a criminal is top right.

Anyway, this Missouri mother adopted a cat called Thriller and she had a daughter aged 2 (see above).  The daughter inadvertently let their cat outside and he was eventually picked up I suppose by animal control and taken to a shelter.

Mom had to pay a fine to the cat shelter to recover her cat and although she will wasn't aware of it, she had to attend court.  She failed to attend court and as a result she had instantly become a criminal.  A warrant for her arrest was issued and she was arrested and put into police cells for a while until the matter was sorted out.

So we have an ordinary law-abiding woman with a 2-year-old daughter and a nice bicolour cat getting into big trouble over nothing and acquiring criminal record, at least for a while.  Not nice.

The whole ghastly episode started off with an inadvertent and accidental breach of the local leash laws of which I know nothing about but clearly it was illegal where she lived to let a cat go outside unsupervised or unattended.

The simple act of letting a cat go outside, on a common sense basis, has no criminal content about it. It is just a cat outside in the open doing nothing and that by itself cannot be a crime but it has artificially been made a crime.  And once you start going down that route you have to watch procedures and comply with them 100% otherwise you get into trouble like this lady did.

Of course, the philosophical question is there a need for strict regulations regarding cats going outside in America?  That must depend on where you live and I suppose in urban areas it might be justified but I sense that there are better ways to deal with outdoor cats.

Does it have to be the case that all domestic cats must live their entire lives indoors?  If that is the conclusion that American legislators have come to then, as far as I'm concerned, domestication of the cat is a failure in America.

What about putting GPS trackers on all outdoor cats?  What about making it obligatory to build cat enclosures if one lives in a detached house?  Why could not that be a building regulation?  What about regulations making it obligatory to microchip a cat?

It might be better to deal with the problems of cat ownership in different ways so that there are far fewer domestic cat outside in the first place and there are far more excellent cat caretakers in the second place.

Finally, you have to look at the enforcement of local legislation which controls outdoor cats.  How do you enforce this legislation?  It seems to me that you're going to get a lot of problems with enforcement because firstly animal control will have to ascertain whether the cat is a genuine domestic cat or a semi-feral cat.  The complications are endless and the unfortunate circumstances in which this lady found herself is an example of how it can go wrong.

Drones Prove Effective in the Fight against Wildlife Poaching in Kenya

Drones Prove Effective in the Fight against Wildlife Poaching in Kenya

This is the first time that drones have been used for an activity that I approve of and like: wildlife conservation.  I could not think of a better use of technology to beat the wildlife poachers.

We are all familiar with drones.  They come in a variety of sizes and shapes and uses.  The ones we usually see are quite large and may have rockets underneath their wings and sensors and cameras at the front.  Other ones are like model helicopters but there's more than one rotor: usually four. And underneath the rotors is a camera.  I suspect this is the one that they are using in Kenyan on a trial run. They are controlled remotely on the ground.

Using a drone to scare away poachers who are frightened to be identified has proved exceptionally successful with poaching being reduced by 96%, apparently, in the area of the trial.

Because of the success the Kenyan authorities have decided to extend the use of drones across more of their 52 reserves and parks.  I hope the drone continues to be successful and that it is used across all 52 reserves.  I suspect that in due course the poachers will find someway of stopping it.  Perhaps they will shoot the drone down.  Who knows?

Some of the major wildlife species in Africa's reserves are highly endangered due to poaching and habitat loss (primarily).  The rhino's horn is a favourite because some Asians who are rich enough think that it gives them an erection. Very sad, isn't it?  I bet that they have tiny penises as well.  Even a rhino horn can't fix that problem.

Then we have the majestic African elephant which is being systematically poached to extinction for its ivory once again to be sold to the Asian market, I suspect.  I don't want to sound racist but they don't seem to have much respect for wildlife in Asia, do they?

What about the lion?  Well, some people think it will be extinct in the wild in 20 to 40 years, which is about the same time that it will take to make the Bengal tiger extinct in India.

The African lion is also systematically poached and its habitat constantly eroded through human activity including massive increases in industrial activity, which is managed by the Chinese who wish to take as much in the way of minerals out of Africa as possible to feed their industries back home which in turn will feed the consumer markets of America and Europe.  Crazy world isn't it And at the end of the chain is the lion being persecuted and ground down to extinction.

The lion is poached for its carcass which is eaten just as the tiger's carcass is also eaten. The penis of the tiger is worth about $6000 on the open market in China.  The forearms of the tiger are valuable because they are very strong and the poor week insecure men who like to eat the forearms of the tiger think that it will make them stronger and more masculine.  Shame isn't it?  The insecurities of humankind knows no bounds.

Well, the Kenyan government is going to spend $103,000,000 on this drone protection/conservation project and the governments of America, the Netherlands, Canada and France are also providing their support because, after all, this is a world problem because once the lion is gone in the wild it is gone from the world.  And that affects everybody now and for eternity.

Will Women Veterinarians Stop the Declawing of Cats In the USA?

Will Women Veterinarians Stop the Declawing of Cats In the USA?

It seems that I have an old-fashioned view point that women are nurturers and men are hunters.  I had thought that that approach to life was genetically programmed into us.  And if it is, it must be very difficult for a female veterinarian to remove the top of the 10 toes of the front paws of a cat when the operation carries no benefit whatsoever for the cat and is done solely for the benefit of the cat's owner and on her instructions.

If a person is a nurturer they want to nurture!  They want to nourish the person or animal or baby.  They want to make sure that the patient is cared for well and gets better.  They want to help the patient if the nurturer is a veterinarian.  This should be hardwired into the brain of a female veterinarian.  But apparently not.

Despite the fact that 50% of American veterinarians are women there has been no impact upon the number of cats declawed in America.  It appears that female veterinarians have exactly the same attitude to declawing as male veterinarians which is to make money out of it.

I understand the pressure that veterinarians are under.  Training to become a veterinarian is extremely expensive which means that student veterinarians acquire lots of debt which has to be paid off which in turn means they have to make as much money as possible when they qualify.  Is this right though?  Is it right that a veterinarian should be motivated by money?

Clearly a veterinarian should not be motivated by money but by caring for a patient in the best way possible.  Therefore, the training of veterinarians highly compromises the attitude of a veterinarian once qualified.  In fact the expense of training is such that the American vet has to tear up his or her oath in order to make financial ends meet.

If we agree that being a female vet does not in any way protect the domestic cat from being declawed and if we agree that the reason for this is because of the expense of training, I think that people in authority should look at the expense of training.  Can it be reduced?   Are there too many vets chasing too little work making the profession over competitive leading to unnecessary operations and vaccinations?

I had thought, perhaps naïvely, that female veterinarians would put a brake on the declawing of cats in America but I'm told that money overrules any innate genetic motivation which makes a woman and nurturer.

Heaven is real: Which pet do you hope to spend eternity with?

Heaven is real: Which pet do you hope to spend eternity with?

Is heaven really real?  We'll never know, will we?  Heaven is not real because it is only in the imagination or in our minds.  It is not tangible.  There is no evidence of it despite what some people might say.  The title to this post and the linked post itself was written by Elisa, a regular contributor to the main website.

I don't believe that heaven is real but it doesn't stop me wanting to spend eternity with a particular cat who has passed on.  She died 20 years ago.  She died in an accident.  The accident was my fault.  I had just moved home because I just got divorced and the new home I moved to had a nice garden. There was a road outside but it wasn't that busy.  I wanted to let her go out but I was careless.  I was too free about her going out.

At the time I was working very hard so I was away from the home all day.  I've learnt some hard lessons since then.  One day when I came back home she wasn't there and I knew, I knew she was dead.

I sort of knew where she might be: over the road under some bushes and trees beyond which was a field where I'm sure she had gone.  Anyway, I spent about an hour or 90 min searching for her and found her under the bushes.  I figured that she had been knocked over by a car and raced under the bushes to die.

I put her in a box and buried her at the bottom of the garden.  Subsequently, I was burgled twice so I moved home.  Before I moved I asked a friend of mine to dig up the bones of my darling cat which she kindly did and I took them to a pet crematorium where she was individually cremated and today she is in an urn in the living room with  the ashes of my other deceased cats.

I remember clearly every single bit of the time that I lost my beloved cat, found her, buried her, met my former wife and we cried over the whole thing and so on and so on.  I remember everything about it and it devastated me.  I made quite a few mistakes in those days.

This cat that I mourn so heavily had a brother and when my wife and I divorced she took the brother and I took the sister.  That was a mistake anyway because brother and sister should not have been broken up.  Anyway, that's just another mistake.  I've changed since then.

The name of the cat I lost so tragically is Missie. She was a sweet, athletic, Norwegian Forest Cat mix.  She was a great jumper.  She was a fantastic climber.  Norwegian Forest Cats are.  They're known for it.

And to this day I still think of her and still mourn her.  Nothing would give me more pleasure than to meet her over the rainbow Bridge, on the other side and be with her for eternity, if it is possible.  I don't believe it is possible but if it is it would bring me joy.  If it was certain that I would meet her in heaven and be with her for eternity I would willingly die immediately. I loved her more than any person.