Uncontrolled sibling breeding evident in this black cat brigade

The problem of uncontrolled breeding of unowned (and owned cats regrettably) is very evident in this picture of a group of black cats in the US on a country road.  They all look the same down to the spot of white on their chest on some individuals. 

RELATED: How fast do cats breed?

They are all closely related, parents and siblings.

The capacity of the domestic cat and domestic cats turned stray and feral to procreate is one of the big challenges of humankind. 

RELATED: Female feral cats avoid inbreeding in colonies.

Uncontrolled breeding in a colony of feral cats all of which look the same or very similar. Image: see embossed credit.

Apparently, we are not entirely capable of controlling it despite widespread spaying and neutering. 

A failure to sterilise is the cause of cat hoarders ending up in a massive mess and cruelly neglecting their cats. The opposite is achieved with well manages TNR programs supported by the local authority.

The benefits of controlling cat procreation are seen in TNR.

A tiny minority of cat people believe that a female cat needs to have one litter before feeling whole. This single incorrect superstition is the cause of hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats leading to many feral cats and in turn plenty of feline misery.

Some human thoughts are really silly and dangerous.

There are some interesting and technical downsides to universal spaying of female cats and neutering of male cats.

The most docile and friendliest cats are going to be captured and neutered while the wildest and meanest avoid people and are harder to capture and sterilise. This could lead to pushing the cat's evolution away from where we want it: more adoptable cats.

Also, if there were 100% sterilisation and no breeders the domestic cat would eventually become extinct. Not much chance of that bearing in mind that there are an estimated up to 500 million domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet.

Ingrid Newkirk, the co-founder of PETA would probably like the gradual extinction of the domestic cat as she is firmly against cat domestication. 

Click on this link to read four of her quotes and some comments on them.

Peeing too often due to an enlarged prostate can be alleviated by losing weight

I am an old man (almost 74). I am pretty fit but like all men I have the desire to pee more often than I used to. It is due to an enlarged prostate which seems to affect almost all men of my age.

I have worked on changing my diet for the past 8 years. Yes, it takes a lot of self-discipline and a long time (for me) to stabilise one's weight when you get old because of a lifetime of eating habits based on a higher metabolic rate. Metabolism slows but many old people eat the same amount as they did when much younger. 

By 'diet' I mean a wholesale change to one's eating habits permanently. This is not a flash in the pan fad diet. And it accompanies a lifestyle change too.

Note: I know that this is not about cats. Well, it is indirectly. If you are ill because you are overweight, you are less effective as a cat caregiver. And if you have to get up all the time at night to have a pee you disturb you cat who is on the bed with you!

There, I have linked the page to cats ✔️👍.

Good BMI to help men pee less. Image: MikeB.

Result: weight gain and for men a pot belly. I don't have a pot belly and I have a good BMI thanks to those 8 years of diet change 😎. That is not intended to be a boast. It is just a fact.

But I still decided to lose some weight and when I did, I found that I have the desire to pee less often. It was almost like going back to my old self. Well, not quite. I believe, now, that it pays to be thin in old age. The benefits are for all to see.

You have to really get rid of the belly fat which is mighty hard because old men are meant to have some belly fat, but it needs to be reduced to the smallest amount possible consistent with not being anorexic!!

Anyway, I looked up the possible link between losing weight and shrinking the prostate and peeing less. 

There is a study on this. Probably many. What better authority than the Prostate Cancer Foundation in New Zealand for some info on this. They say the following: 

"A study published in the Journal of Urology found that overweight men, especially men with a high amount of abdominal fat, have an increased risk of BPH. If you are looking to shrink the prostate, losing weight can help you reduce your prostate size and help relieve annoying and frustrating urinary symptoms."

If you don't believe me, please look it up yourself.

The benefits of losing weight and maintaining a good BMI are legendary. There are so many benefits. But sleeping through the night without the desire to pee is a wonderful thing. And avoiding type 2 diabetes is no mean benefit. And what about high blood pressure. That goes too. Mine is 120 over 70.

Both the last 2 health problems have many ancillary health problems, many severe.

And having a good BMI means you can walk more and because you can walk more you are more likely to lose weight and feel better mentally. It is an upward spiral. The opposite is equally true.

But this is about urinary tract and bowl function. 

I am not saying that losing weight always results in peeing normally for all men. I am just saying there is a link, and it may apply to you.

I recommend trying it. Be prepared for a hard slog of diet change. My diet now is unrecognisable compared to what it was 8 years ago. 

And I stopped drinking alcohol 8 years ago too. Completely stopped. That makes losing weight much easier.

Also, obesity is a risk factor for the development of prostate cancer (odds ratio 1.097–2.47).  The list goes on....

Cuddled cat asks for more kisses and gets them. Warm relationship.

A video which confirms (if you need it) that cats ask for kisses and cuddles. Well, they ask for stuff that they like, warm human behaviour and things that pleases them like favourite food treats. That's the function of the infinitely variable meow. The video provides one example.

Cat asks for more kisses and gets them. Screenshot.

I love this relationship. There is a hell of a lot of warmth and a wonderful understanding between cat and human.

You can tell that they understand each other because there is great communication between them. 

Thie couple are 'talking' to each other through their actions and vocalisations.

Please note that these embedded video stop working sometimes. I don't control them. If it has stopped: apologies. It was nice!!

What is this cat wearing, I wonder? It looks like he is dressed up. Not sure about that. He is a ginger tabby. They are nearly always males and I hear nothing but good reports on the ginger tabby personality.

Ginger Cat Personality

Mouthwash can kill Covid virus which is mutating and bouncing back

The news at the moment is that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is mutating and in a substantial percentage of cases is defeating the modern vaccines. There is a current "hybrid vaccine", one of which is manufactured by Moderna and another by Pfizer, which is meant to be effective against the Omicron variant.

Mouthwash can kill Covid virus, and this virus is mutating and bouncing back. This product contains cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) which as study has found kills the Covid virus. Image: MikeB

However, my reading of the situation is that there is a current surge in Omicron infections in the UK and I suspect that this is playing out in a similar way in other countries. Plus the original COvid-19 is hanging around and still infecting people.

People, therefore, need to do all they can to prevent an infection because they are now somewhat exposed. And I also learned that if you have had the Omicron variant and therefore have developed antibodies against it, you can still be reinfected even if you have had the vaccine as well.

And in a rather timely way, a recent study which has yet to be peer-reviewed states that certain mouthwashes can kill the Covid-19 virus in the mouth.

One of these contains the ingredient cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). There are several mouthwashes with this ingredient. I have bought Dentyl because I happen to believe that this study is probably solid and worth following and therefore, we should do all we can to prevent a covered infection.

This might not be the only ingredient which is effective against Covid. In another article that I recently read, it states that certain other mouthwashes can be effective. The study is described as experimental. The author is Dr. Craig Myers who is described as a distinguished Prof of microbiology, immunology, obstetrics and gynaecology at Penn State College of Medicine.

He reports that the following products are effective in killing the Covid virus as I understand it.

• Johnson & Johnson’s 1% (Johnson & Johnson Consumer) baby shampoo which was used as a sinus rinse for this study;
• Crest Pro‐Health (Proctor & Gamble) mouthwash;
• Peroxide Sore Mouth (CVS), Orajel Antiseptic Rinse (Church & Dwight Co.) and 1.5% H2O2 (Cumberland-Swan);
• Listerine Ultra (Johnson & Johnson Consumer), Equate (Wal-Mart Co.) and Antiseptic Mouthwash (CVS);
• Listerine Antiseptic (Johnson & Johnson Consumer) mouthwash.

I'm just throwing this information out there is it might stick somewhere. Please do your own research. Don't rely on me 😎😉. I think that it is worth knowing about these things because, as mentioned, we need to do all we can to protect ourselves from this nasty virus.

The Omicron virus is milder than the original Covid-19 which killed people, but it is still a nasty illness depending upon your immune system and how each individual reacts to it.

These products can be bought over the counter and therefore it is very easy to take these protective steps.

The recommendation with Dentyl is to rinse your mouth for 30 seconds with the product and then gargle with it which kills the virus in your throat.

Sources: Sky News and Healio Primary Care.

Will Powers is a celebrity seeker living vicariously through his Guinness World Record Savannah cat

OPINION ON THE NEWS: Dr. William John Powers of Farmington Hills, USA is all over the news and has been for about a month. There are endless numbers of pictures of him with his Guinness World Records titleholder as the world's tallest living domestic cat.

Fenrir and Powers. The Guinness World Records tallest domestic cand his owner. Image: Guinness World Records.

The accolade goes to Fenrir, a second filial Savannah cat measuring 18.83 inches to the shoulder on January 29, 2021.

I have a strong sense that this man, a Michigan physician and HIV specialist, is desperate for celebrity and he gets it vicariously through his cats.

I say 'cats' because four of Powers' cats have officially won the following Guinness World Records:

1. Altair Cygnus Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. His tail measures 16.07 inches.
2. Arcturus Aldebaran Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the tallest cat ever, and previously held the title for the tallest living domestic cat. He died in a fire in 2017.
3. Cygnus Regulus Powers – A silver Maine Coon who held the record for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. Cygnus also died in the 2017 fire. 

He always names his cats after him. More publicity seeking in my opinion.

Mr Powers story is rather remarkable because two of his previous record holders as you can note above died in a fire.

But what is apparent is that he is constantly chasing records. I think he does this because he knows he will achieve celebrity. And I don't like it. There is something wrong with the man.

There is an absurd obsession by humankind in chasing cat records. What is the point of this record? It is the tallest domestic cat from the ground to the shoulder. Does that really mean anything?

It just means that the cat has long legs! Unsurprising as the wild cat ancestor of the Savannah cat is the serval which has the longest legs to body size of all cats. 

It doesn't mean that Fenrir is the biggest domestic cat. There are some extraordinary Maine Coon cats which are bigger than this Savannah cat.

This particular Guinness World Record is, as I have suggested almost meaningless, but Mr Powers has latched onto it, perhaps realising that it is a rather artificial award but nonetheless gone for it and achieved the result he wanted.

In an earlier post I suggested, tentatively, that Fenrir was a little bit overweight. He seems to have fixed that problem but in a recent interview he states that Fenrir is "ravenously" hungry. This has put pressure on Mr Powers to limit his cat's diet because he was getting too big.

It seems, therefore, that I was correct in my assessment. However, in more recent photographs it appears that he has lost some weight.

It is nearly always Savannah cats which achieve this particular award. The most famous Savannah cat to achieve it was Magic. I made a video about this cat. Actually, I made more than one video. She was a female. I don't know whether she still alive.

She was an F1 Savannah cat. Fenrir is an F2 Savannah cat which means second generation from the wild. Normally F1s are larger than F2s but clearly that is not always the case.

As I recall, Guinness World Records did away with the world's fattest cat because it encouraged people to overfeed their cats and make them unhealthily fat.

I personally don't think Guinness should be involved with world records for domestic cats. I'm being a grumpy old man, but it tends to encourage human behaviour which is not really desirable.