Cat Afraid of Mice

Is there such a thing as a cat afraid of mice? According to Jav in England there is. Here is his short story:

Once there was a mouse in the cupboard. We got our cat tiny and put him in front of it to get rid of it . He screamed meow then ran out as quick as a flash. Now we know that he is afraid of mice.

So, yes, cats can be afraid of mice. Pretty well most forms of a cat's behavior is developed in the first 6 months of life and if during that period if a cat becomes traumatised by a mouse for whatever reason, it may affect the mouse throughout its life. This is a link to a post that talks about a genetically engineered mouse that was unafraid of cats. It resulted in the cat not attacking the mouse. Another reason why a mouse was not in danger from a cat! When a Mouse has no Fear of a Cat.

This is a video in which a kitten is afraid of a mouse. Only the mouse is clockwork and the kitten is half afraid and half interested in playing. I suspect the same reaction occurred for Jav's cat.



Now, the classic scenario is, of course, cat chasing a mouse or hunting mouse (domestic cat hunting).



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What Do Cats Need?

What do cats need? 17 things:-

1. Companionship - we are talking about domestic cats and for that reason they need to be with people and if suitable other cats or dogs for a part of the day at least. See separation anxiety as a possible consequence of not providing this basic need. Here is another post on the subject: Cat behavior and separation anxiety.
   
2. A balanced diet - I have just done a post on this most important of subjects. We should make sure that there are no bones in the cat food if we are making it ourselves. See homemade cat food.
   
3. A good and constant supply of water. It is easy to let this task drift and the water becomes stale. Cats don't seem to drink much partly because manufactured wet cat food contains 80+% water! But dry food is much more fashionable these days and under these circumstances water is absolutely vital. There is a certain amount of controversy surrounding dry cat food, which you might like to read about: Cat Food Recipe.
4. A garden to exercise in. But it must be safe. It is becoming increasingly difficult to let a cat wander into a garden and remain safe. In the USA a large percentage of cats are full-time indoor cats for this reason. An enclosure in the garden is a compromise. Or indeed any safe area to play and exercise every day is fine. It really should be well away from busy roads, though or any roads for that matter. There are conflicting, strong views on indoor and outdoor cats. Cats indoors or out. See a number of posts on this subject.
   
5. A suitably quiet and out of the way place that is warm to sleep, an activity which occupies a good part of the day for a cat. See a list of links on the subject of cat sleep.
   
6. To be combed and brushed regularly. This is particularly important when they are shedding their coats during warmer weather. Long-haired cats such as the Persian, Ragdoll and British Longhair cat need to be brushed every day.
7. Some sort of scratching post. This might be an old chair because cats have a tendency to chose something that we might find unacceptable. See a list of articles on cat scratching.
   
8. Try and help to clean their teeth. There are special toothpastes etc. Personally, I would not bother unless your cat has the kind of mouth and gums that are more susceptible to tartar build up. The only really practical way to clean a cat's teeth are by a vet under anesthetic. The bottom line is to check teeth and take preventative measures as best as possible. See Cats Gum Disease, Dental Gel for Cats.
   
9. To be able to move to the outside freely through cat flap if an outdoor cat. In the UK most (90+%) are outdoor cats. But great care needs to be exercised in areas of traffic. Even when there is little traffic there are many other hazards (e.g. poison - see cat poison) so an enclosure, which are surprisingly still rare or careful supervision or a leash are advisable. See (a) cat on a leash (b) cat stroller (c) cat leash laws (d) cat training.
   
10. A properly maintained and suitably situated litter box of decent size. The RSPCA suggest a cat needs to be trained to use a litter. I respectfully disagree. Cats will use it automatically perhaps with a little direction from us provided it is maintained to a high standard and provided the cat is well and the house is clean. See litter box habits.
    
11. Microchipping in a modern world it is recommended. There is some controversy surrounding microchipping, though. An added benefit is that it allows for a cat flap to operate on the wearer of the microchip, preventing time share cats wandering in.
    
12. Cat neutering (males) and spaying (females) should be carried out as soon as possible in order to avoid unwanted litters. See neutering cats and cat neutering increases body weight.
    
13. To act promptly by a visit to the vet when your cat is ill or injured. An early visit can save money and make recovery faster.
    
14. Vaccinate your cat per your vet's recommendations. See cat vaccination recommendations. Vaccinations are a procedure not a routine event. Care and discretion needs to be exercised and some vets may over vaccinate.
    
15. Consider worming treatments and always check for fleas by flea combing at the same time as grooming as mentioned above. See (a) How to Control Cat Fleas (b) a large list of links to articles on flea control to life cycle.
    
16. To make sure your cat is looked after when away on holiday.The classic is a cattery (cat hotel in the UK). For a more nervous cat a cat sitter is more suitable but the bottom line is cost, I suspect. A cat will need the standard vaccinations before she can be accepted into a decent cattery.
17. Unconditional love..........lots of it. That is the answer to the question, "What do cats need?".
    

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What Do Cats Need? -- Photos top: by alasam
What Do Cats Need? -- Photo middle: by Tom Poes
Photo bottom: by Rakka
All photos published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License -- this site is for charitable purposes in funding cat rescue.

Animal Cruelty Statistics USA

Animal Cruelty Statistics for the USA are hard to find. Even the most respected of sources, HSUS, which provide some information, are unable sometimes to provide up to date information. Reporting of animal cruelty is not great, is it? I don't think we really have a handle on the problem.

A lot of the figures come from media reported cases. What percentage of the total cases are media reported? No one knows as most animal cruelty happens behind closed doors unannounced. Lets guess, I would say about 10% is in the media.

USA Animal Cruelty Statistics provided by HSUS plus some info.
Most common victims of animal cruelty (media reports)	Dogs (64.5%) - 2007
Percentage of cruelty cases involving companion cats	18% (2007)
Animals abused in connection with domestic violence (between people)	1,000,000 (estimated)
Number of men or women assaulted by partner annually USA	2,168,000 (2000)
Households keeping a companion animal	65% of households (2006)
Percentage of domestic violence victims who said partner also victimised pet	71% (1997)
US States that don't have felony provisions for animal cruelty (2009 src: HSUS)	Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota
What is a Crush Film?	A film showing the death by crushing of an animal
Are Crush Films allowed in the US?	Yes, protected as freedom of speech.

In the UK, it is no better. If you go to the RSPCA website, and search for animal cruelty statistics you simply don't get what you are looking for. I would like to see some real numbers, recent numbers and trends to see what is going on. Is it getting worse or better?



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A Cat Needs a Balanced Diet

I just read a story about a kitten that was fed a raw food diet (beef meat) plus supposedly dry food as well. The dry food was intended to provide the supplements that are added by the pet food manufacturers as meat by itself is not balanced. Commonsense I know, but we need sometimes to be vigilant because a cat needs a balanced diet and we can think this is happening when in fact it is not. I am talking about calcium deficiency on this occasion.

What happened was the kitten wasn't eating the dry cat food that was put down. It was being eaten by other cats. Perhaps also the kitten preferred the meat and stopped at that. Perhaps not enough supervision was carried out by the "owner". The unbalanced diet resulted in the kitten suffering from calcium deficiency. An X ray showed calcium depletion. The kitten ended up hardly being able to walk. I presume that this is what brought the problem to the person's attention.

This kind of problem might occur when we try and make our own homemade cat food. It is sadly quite tricky and daunting to make homemade cat food for this very reason and it shouldn't be. We should be able to buy natural cat food but I can't seem to find a supplier. This pulls us back to the same pet food manufacturers and a lot of what they produce is poor although the top end stuff is good (but expensive).

The kitten with calcium depletion could and probably would recover on returning to a balanced diet with, intially more calcium in the food mix. A cat needs a balanced diet and this needs to be supervised sometimes.



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Free Cat to Good Home

All those who are considering putting up an advertisement that reads something like, "Free Cat to Good Home" in the local paper, or anywhere else for that matter, should read this and then think hard about it. It is both a tragic and uplifting story.

A man, a very nasty man indeed, has been convicted of animal cruelty in New Jersey. His name is Anthony Appolonia. What is remarkable is that the judge (I love this judge, Judge Edward Neafsey -- for a cat lover he is a hero) sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment, the maximum under the law in that State (see cats and the law for worldwide laws). It is rare, in my experience for maximum sentences to be handed down and in this case it is the first time it has happened in an animal cruelty case in this State. Praise should go to the prosecutor Nicole Colucci and support from Sherry Ramsey of the The Humane Society of the United States (the source of this story). The excellent investigation was carried out by Monmouth County SPCA Executive Director Ursula Goetz sent Chief Amato. It seems in these two people that the county has a committed team of investigators.

It is so refreshing to read about a criminal investigation into animal cruelty actually being carried out fully and professionally to a proper conclusion. How often does that happen? In the UK we can't get the police to turn up to a burglary, for example, and if they do catch a burglar they get off with a caution (a warning). Burglaries can have a hugely negative impact on a person's life.

I am pleased that the law of New Jersey allows for a substantial sentence for animal cruelty. Praise should also go on this occasion to the politicians, the law makers. It is not often that I praise politicians!

Appolonia obtained, at least, 19 cats through adverts in local newspapers reading, free cat to good home, and then systematically tortured and killed them. Although he initially tried to lie his way out of it, he eventually confested to first beating then torturing and finally drowning the cats. It would seem that Mr Appolonia is sane but very angry, ill and nasty.

Here is the point of this post. The people who gave up their cats to this monster are mortified, shocked and saddened. They placed a free cat to good home advert in the local paper and it seems (no criticism intended) that they failed to carry out proper checks or if they did Appolonia fooled them. What HSUS call " due diligence" in re-homing your cat (or any other companion animal) should include the following (this is a summary in which I refer to cats, see the full article here):

• initially ask why you want to give up your cat. If it is for behavioral problems this can possibly be dealt with on seeking advice. Cat behavioral problems are usually caused by us or are health related and both can be resolved.
  
• if the need to give up the cat is housing related (i.e. moving to unsuitable housing) HSUS have a page on that: http://www.rentwithpets.org/.
• if the above have been "ticked off" then the best place to re-home a companion cats is through the shelter network and the best way to find one in the USA is through www.Pets911.com and/or www.PetFinder.com.
• If conducting the re-homing process yourself the advice of HSUS is to do this with the cooperation of friends, neighbors and your veterinarian first (people you know) and then as a last resort use the local newspaper.
• always visit the prospective adopters home but of course take precautions when doing so. If the person won't cooperate strike that person off the list of adopters. Professional people deal in cats and dogs and they obatin them by responding to free to a good home adverts. These people simply deal in cats and dogs and are to be avoided obviously.
• ask the prospective adopter for ID and if none is forthcoming the deal is off.
  
• ask yourself realistic questions about the suitability of the new home (children, space, location etc.).
• make sure the cat is spayed and neutered before re-homing.

This case is a warning to us all about the dangers of re-homing our cat. I think the first item on the list above is probably the most important. We need to commit to caring for our cat throughout the lifetime of the cat and nothing bar our health should interfere with that.



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