Arginine Deficiency in Cats

Cat eating rat - plenty of arginine - Photo by aj_1328

Arginine deficiency in cats is something that affects our cat rarely, but it is something that we should know about. Cats are very sensitive to arginine deficiency and it is life threatening. Provided a cat is feed a diet that contains enough protein it won't be a problem.

Arginine is an amino acid. Most species of adult animals synthesize arginine. "Synthesize" refers to a chemical reaction in which arginine is made. However cats and dogs have a limited capacity to synthesize it. It needs therefore to be in the diet as a dietary supplement. It is a "dietary essential"¹.

The metabolism of a high protein diet results in large amounts of ammonia being generated which has to be eliminated by conversion to urea for excretion from the body in urine. Arginine is essential in this process.

A lack of arginine causes an immediate and severe problem. Cats develop severe hyperammonemia "within several hours of consuming a single arginine-free meal" ¹ ("hyperammonemia" is excess ammonia in the blood).

Symptoms include: vomiting, muscular spasms, ataxia (lack of coordination), hyperesthesia, tetanic spasms, leading to coma and death. This indicates the importance of arginine. It is a hidden importance as this nutrient is almost always included in the cat's diet because it is present in nearly all protein sources.

Note: (1) The Cat It's Behavior, Nutrition & Health page 305 ISBN 978-0-8138-0331-9

Rabies Rarely Caused by Cats in USA

Photo: bakroots

Rabies is a fatal disease. It is useful for us to know the major wildlife reservoirs for rabies - meaning what species of animal carry the disease in a specific geographic area and which are the most likely to transmit the disease to people. The table below helps, I hope. It has been compiled from the Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook Third Edition 2008.

It appears to me that cats are very low risk in North America (I am prepared to be corrected). Bats are high risk. It seems that transmission of the disease might take place through airborne aerosols from bats (1). It is obligatory to vaccinate a cat against rabies in the USA and it applies to indoor cats as well.

Place	Major reservoir for rabies - these overlap
Midwest, Southwest and California, USA	Skunk
New England and East, USA	Raccoon
New York, Eastern Canada, Alaska and Southeast, USA	Foxes
Texas, USA	Coyotes and Foxes
Widely distributed in the USA	Bats - 86% of cases between 1980-97 caused by bats. Bats need not bite to transmit the disease it seems.
Outside the USA	Dog or Cat
UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Taiwan, Japan, Hawaii, Mauritius, Barbados and Guam	No Rabies.
Northeastern USA	Raccoon

Note: (1) Wikipedia. I am referring to North America when I say cats rarely cause rabies.

Black Cat Breeds

There is only one black cat breed: the Bombay. The Bombay is a sleek miniature black panther of patent leather. This is a man made cat breed - no rare cat discovery in a far flung country. The Bombay is a hybrid cat, a cross between an American Shorthair and a sable Burmese.

It is interesting that there are four cat breeds that must be gray and no cat breeds that should be white. Please click on the link to see the gray cat breeds.  Gray is dilute black.

The photo montage above shows "VINDOURO KALIENTE OF KATSNKLAMMS" being photographed at a cat show at Waxahachie in the USA, by Helmi Flick. See a large format image.

The coat is short haired and should be sleek and "painted on". The copper eyes are set off beautifully by the jet black coat.

Associated page: Black or White Cat Breeds

Cheetah Sets Speed Record

Sarah at the finish - see video.

This is my comment on "cheetah sets speed record". If you Google this phrase, Google shows you a cheetah in a video running the 100 meters in 6.13 seconds.  The cheetah is a 9 year old female, Sarah, who sets off from the back of a vehicle and chases a fake prey item. The picture is a still from the video.

Is this a speed record? What was measured was acceleration and absolute speed. From a standing start over 100 meters you do not measure absolute top speed or average maximum speed. That is evident in the human world 100 and 200 meters world records. Usain Bolt has them both but the 200 meters record (19.19) is less than twice the 100 meters record (9.58), which means that he reached a higher terminal cruising speed in the longer race.

My guess is that the cheetah did not reach terminal velocity (maximum speed) in this video and so called world record. It is not therefore a good test of the speed of a cheetah. A speed test should discover the speed over a fixed distance as is the case for the human world land speed record (car) and it should be a flying start.

I have a page on cheetah speed which tells the story of a true speed test. The cheetah was assessed as running at 64 mph. This is a little less than much quoted 70 mph but people tend to exaggerate.

Sarah did the 100 meters in 6.13 seconds; an average speed, over the distance, of about 37 mph.

Conclusion: the wrong method was employed. The cheetah should have been timed over a 200 or 400 meter course with a flying start. Normally, the cheetah can only run at maximum speed over 400 meters. She is a sprinter. The cheetah gets too hot over longer distances.

Associated page: Usain Bolt versus Cheetah

Why do cats sleep so much?

Domestic cats sleep a lot. Some wildcats don't sleep a lot. I don't think you can generalize about the length of time that a cat sleeps.

We know that our domestic cats sleep for about 15 hours a day or more. Geriatric cats might sleep or doze all the time except for feeding and eliminating.

However, taking just two examples of the sleeping patterns of wildcats, you will see that not all cats sleep a lot.

Binnie - very old lady sleeping out in the open - Photo: Michael

The sand cat, a pretty and small wildcat species that is the only true desert living cat, starts to hunt before sunset. The cat will hunt all night and sometimes into the early morning. This is a full night's work and more. This cat cannot be said to sleep a lot or at least it sleeps no more than people.

The black-footed cat also hunts all night long and lives in an arid habitat. They are very active and successful as hunters. The black-footed cat will kill prey every 50 minutes. In captivity this cat is less active but will do a lot of walking in the enclosure.

The lower activity levels in captivity seem to give us the clue. Domestic cats are kept in a perpetual state of kittenhood by us, as I have mentioned before. They have it all on a plate. What do you expect? They are bound to sleep a lot. It depends on what the cat has to do to survive. In the wild where prey items are scarce the cat will have to work harder and sleep less.