Incontinent cats and dogs

I have never heard of incontinent cats and dogs, yet an online business is selling incontinent pants for cats and dogs. They are similar for obvious reasons to the human version. The online business is called Petwetting.co.uk.

I am not sure this business will succeed because I don't think there is a market for this product. I suppose it may help in the case of spraying (cat that are unneutered spray more) but the best way to deal with that is neutering (sadly it seems the only way we can live with domestic cats is if we castrate the males).

My cat has never had a problem with inappropriate urination except once when she had cystitis. But I dealt with that quickly by medical treatment. Perhaps this product is for these sorts of situations or a whole range of situations when cats urinate inappropriately.

There is the delicate point of, "will the cat accept wearing the garment?" I mean cats don't like this sort of thing. Cats like to be natural and will try and remove collars etc. I guess that it'll be a question of training and the cat getting used to it. But how often will you need the item? If only infrequently, there will be no opportunity for the cat to get used to it.

So, I conclude (for what it is worth) that this garment may be useful for the rare occasions when you have a cat that has a genuine long term disorder/illness that makes him/her incontinent and if you have the time and patience to train your cat to wear the item. It also means a lot of input from the person in respect of allowing the cat to do N0. 1's (sh**t**g). How do you manage that?

I just don't see it working for those few incontinent cats and dogs, but others will disagree.

Asian Cheetah

This is not an Asian cheetah as I couldn't find one on Flickr (not surprising since they are all but extinct in the world). This is a fine cheetah nonetheless - photograph copyright by World Resources Institute Staff - taken by Jonathan Talbot in South Africa.

The Asian cheetah is also called the Asiatic cheetah. Not that this will matter before long as this beautiful wild cat is almost extinct.

There are about 50-60 remaining in the wild in central Iran (I wonder if the war down there has had an effect?). Another survey indicates 70-100 survive. The cheetah already has a high level of inbreeding due to a drastic reduction in population about 10,000 years ago, during the ice age. Is such a small wild population viable? I can't find the answer quickly but I would have thought that 50 is a number at which population viability is at the limit. The species is critically endangered therefore.

The Asian cheetah is extinct in India. Like the cheetah found in Africa the Asiatic cheetah preys on antelope and other small/medium sized animals. Although I don't believe the antelope exists in Iran. In Iran a more readily available prey is the Jebeer gazelle and Goitered.

Since the Iranian revolution of 1979 when the Shah was overthrown and the Imams took control, the decline in the Asian cheetah has been accelerated. You would have thought the opposite would have been the case but sadly no. It looks like religion no only kills people.

This decline has been brought about by the destruction of (a) habitat (b) the prey the cheetah hunts and (c) the cheetah herself. Little or no consideration has been given to conservation efforts in Iran. It is a great shame that the cheetah finds herself in a country, Iran, and a continent, Africa that are to be truthful not that well suited to wildlife conservation as at 2009. That is particularly true now, in 2009, in Iran where there is political turmoil and a dictatorship. That said some (I think too little and certainly far too late) efforts are now being made.

"Degradation" of the habitat was accelerated during the period 1988-1991. The killing of wildlife that the Asian cheetah lives on also accelerated at this time, apparently. This is probably due to the difficulty in surviving for people in Iran. Or it is just plain hunting for pleasure. I've been to Iran during the time of the Shah (1971) and it seemed a reasonably prosperous country in those days. Quite westernized and cultured. It probably still is (cultured but no longer westernized). This would indicate hunting for pleasure is the problem.

Accessibility to the Asian cheetah habitat has been made easier because of road building for mining in the area of cheetah habitat. Also the cheetah habitat is in the region where smugglers pass from Afghanistan and Pakistan - more opportunity for hunting, which is uncontrolled.

Local herdsmen also kill the Asian cheetah because they think that the cheetah kills their livestock when in fact it is often other animals. Apparently some form of training is taking place to help herdsmen distinguish between the animals. I can't imagine how effective that is - probably extremely low grade and ineffective (wrong - please tell me).

India, having driven the Asian cheetah to extinction now want to clone the animal to reintroduce her. Same old story. Why do people do this? Everything is too late; the moment has passed. Why is it so reactionary and not proactive? Answer: people acting in short term self interest and a total lack of co-ordination.

Asian cheetah to cheetah facts

Killing feral cats

Killing feral cats is a big job in a country where there are millions of feral cats. Americans, having created a feral cat problem of gigantic and almost uncontrollable proportions, are now beginning to resort to allowing anyone with a gun (and there are many Americans with guns) to shoot them at will. Is this what you have come down to killing feral cats at will?

{Note: I am not criticizing America or all the people of America - I like America - but those people in America who think hunting feral cats with guns is the right way to fix the feral cat problem}

{Note 2: In the UK it is an offence to puposefully kill a cat - hunting feral cats would be a criminal act in the UK}

Apparently in South Dakota and Minnesota people are already allowed to hunt feral cats (these were domestic cats, lets not forget). And now a fireman named Mark Smith, has proposed hunting feral cats in Wisconsin. He has had death threats as a result but the public in a vote have agreed (6830 to 5201).

This doesn't actually surprise me but it really is a highly ignorant and a cruel thing to do. We need to take responsibility for what we have done. We created the problem. There are clearly far to many people in Wisconsin abandoning cats that have not been neutered. Is there not some way to deal with that at source? Yes, that is a harder route but it is fair, right and proper to punish those who are responsible rather than killing feral cats by hunting them.

There seems to be a much bigger feral cat problem in the USA than on Europe because of the size of the country, the improved weather in the warmer States and the ever increasing population. It is unthinkable that people in Europe would vote to shoot feral cats (or some do with air guns for fun). For a start very few people have a gun. We just don't have guns except for a tiny minority who are either criminals, sportspeople or farmers etc.

And think of the hazards. When Americans shoot wildlife (another cruel and unnecessary act), they do so usually far from other people and even then accidents happen and people get shot. How are the authorities going to make it safe for people to fire guns willy-nilly at cats in surburbia? People are bound to get hurt. It'll be impossible to control surely?

Then there is the humane element. Even if it could be justified how many cats will be injured and die cruel and agonizing deaths? How mad is this? How uncivilized is this? I am afraid it is the kind of mentality that can make America unpopular in the eyes of some people in the rest of the world. You know the red necked gung-ho thing. Killing feral cats by hunting is cruel and shows a lack of education.


Killing feral cats to British Shorthair

Siamese cat song

Siamese cat song? You'll see the connection (tenuous) when you read the post. Photo copyright ChrissieWiz.

My competitor (on the Internet), Moggies.com, has a small article about the Siamese cat song, so I'll do the same! Anyway this song was co-authored by Peggie Lee and I have always liked her work and her voice. Her famous song, "Fever" comes to mind right away.

I didn't know, though, that she was a talented song writer as well as a talented singer. There are other well known women who are associated with cats. They are Bardot, Day and Hammond and all three are concerned with animal welfare.

I didn't have much of a clue as to what the Siamese cat song was. The Siamese cat song was written for the Walt Disney animated feature (cartoon film), "The Lady and the Tramp". It was released in the summer of 1955. The film is about 2 dogs, one a posh girl dog called "Lady" and the other a poor boy dog called "Tramp". It's a fine and successful film. Two Siamese cats are introduced into the story when the human "owners" of Lady go away for a few days and an aunt comes to baby sit. She brings with her two Siamese cats called Si and Am. {technical point - these would have been Traditional Siamese Cats!}.

As cats do, they explored their new environment, driven by their inquisitive natures and they predictably caused some problems. Si and Am took a fancy to the goldfish, the canary and the baby's milk! Lady intervened and barked and the aunt didn't like this. Peggy Lee sings the Siamese cat song during these scenes.

The song is called, "We Are Siamese (If You Please)". Here are the lyrics:

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

Do you see that thing swimming round and round
Maybe we can reach on in and make it drown
If we sneaking up upon it carefully
There will be head for you and a tail for me

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you please
Now we're looking over our new domicile
If we like we stay for maybe quite a while

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

Do you hear what I hear a baby cry
Where we finding baby there's milk near by
And if we look in baby buggy there could be
Plenty of milk for you and also some for me

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you please
Now we're looking over our new domicile
If we like we stay for maybe quite a while

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

The lyrics are as far as I am aware, Copyright 1997 Disney Corporation. The Lyrics are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels.

The Siamese cats obviously thought themselves as rather superior. This is completely in keeping with the thoughts about Siamese cats in the 1950s and earlier. They were rare cats in the earlier part of the 1900s and Peggy Lee would know that. That rarity translates into being special which carries a certain self importance. Click on the link to read about Siamese cat history. Siamese cats are now quite commonplace and their appearance transformed by the breeders. Well, at the least the appearance of Siamese pedigree show cats has been transformed. There is still a large population of Traditional Siamese cats (many non-purebred or half Siamese) in the world.

The song was written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Peggy also contributed to the films score. Most of us know Peggy Lee as a famous vocalist of the 1950s. Sonny Burke is less well known. Sonny Burke was a big band leader (big bands were the "in thing" in those days) in the 1930s and 1940s and a band arranger at the time the Siamese cat song was composed. He did a bit of composing as well, hence his collaboration with Peggy Lee. His full name is Joseph Francis Burke. He died in 1980 aged 66.

Peggy Lee (left towards the end of her life -this is published under a creative commons license but the photographer is unkown).

Her real name was Norma Deloris Egstrom. She was born 26 May 1920, in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. She died aged 81 in 2002.

She remained popular to the end and was singing in the UK as late as 1994 in a wheel chair to a sell out audience.


Siamese cat song - Lyrics source: MetroLyrics. Siamese cat song - Information sources: Wikipedia and various others

Siamese cat song to British Shorthair cat

Domestic cat hunting

Domestic cat hunting
Elderly domestic cat and first kill.

My cat, who is a good 15+ yrs old has I think just participated for the first time in her life in a bit of hunting. I am thrilled for her and sad for the mouse.

Every morning she wakes me up at about 4-4:30 to be let out to go into the garden. There is a cat flap but she doesn't like to use it (but well able to) as she is a little old and a little overweight.

So, I let her out and go back to bed. I leave the patio door ajar to allow her to get back in otherwise she'll get me out of bed again. Well, I've been doing this for a bout 5 months now and yesterday I paid the price and was burgled. It is believed that a boy on a bike came into the apartment car park on a bike and into the back gardens. He saw the patio door was ajar and then saw my wallet. Anyway, I lost $400. And my cat, Binnie found a mouse (see picture).

Hellfire and damnation it was an exciting morning. Binnie was exhausted and spent the next several hours resting. I pretty much did the same after I had spent some time looking for a boy on a yellow bike. I found an orange bike not too far away and photographed it, in the case the police could use it in their search for the burglar. Fat chance though. The police in the UK pretty well never find burglars and they treat this rather nasty crime as if it is a very low level inconvenience.

Back to domestic cat hunting. All cats have this skill deep inside them no matter how sedate and domesticated they are. It must be the season (early summer) that produced a lot of mice and even my girl cat couldn't avoid finding one and hunting it. I was astonished when she walked in with the mouse in her mouth. That's ma girl, I thought, like a proud father.

Domestic cats hunt on the ground mainly. Cats are good climbers, however. Domestic cats hunt in a patient and stealthy fashion. To hunt a bird the cat has to stalk as near as possible. The cat slinks along belly to the ground and she or he stops and pauses from time to time.

When close enough the cat launches a determined strike, using his hind legs to thrust him forwards rapidly.  Just before jumping forwards the hind feet tread the ground getting a firm footing. Once grabbed the cat kills the prey with a bite to the nape of the neck, severing the spinal cord.

If a cat is not feed by us he or she will hunt a wide range of prey, whatever is available. Rabbits are at the top end of prey size. Mice are perfect as prey. Birds are not a major prey item despite what bird conservationists say.

Some island populations of birds have been decimated by cats but it is rare and we introduced the cats in the first place.

There is little well produced research that assesses accurately the impact of native species by domestic cat hunting.

Domestic cat hunting to more on domestic cat hunting (you'll like the picture)