The Cat Blog on TheCatSite.com

Well, be careful what you say about it if you name it after someone. Don’t take my word for it, ask the Canadian Transport Minister’s assistant.

According to this latest headline, people attending a gala dinner last night heard the Minister mention that Lady Thatcher had passed away. While the shocked guests were reminiscing about the former British Prime Minister, the Minister’s assistant started working on an official statement. Fortunately, he did contact Buckingham Palace prior to issuing anything so only mild embarrassment ensued as he was promptly told that 84 years old Dame Thatcher is still very much alive.

As it happens, the Minister’s 16 years old cat was the one to have passed away. She was named Lady Thatcher.

Our condolences to the Minister’s family.  I can only guess that he must have been overheard by someone else, as I am pretty sure the owner of a cat named Thatcher would have had his cat on mind first.

Loved reading about this latest study where scientists discovered that cats too can be either left-handed or right-handed:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203873/Now-heres-paws-thought–cat-left-right-handed.html

My favorite part of the article is the discussion of methodology:

“Scientists who played with 42 pet cats for weeks on end concluded that…” No wonder I’ve always wanted to become a scientist! Can you imagine playing with cats for weeks on end and getting paid for it too?

Dr Karen McComb of the University of Sussex published an interesting study this week. According to her team’s work, cats use a special kind of purr to “entice” their human caregivers into action, namely providing said cats with food and/or attention.

According to the researches, that sound is combined of a purr and a quiet cry at the back of it. It sounds like a purr, but triggers an emotional response in humans akin to that felt towards a baby’s cry. Dr McComb claims this is a learned behavior found among some cats and not others. According to the study, it is more likely to appear in a one-on-one relationship between a human and a feline.

So, has your cat learned how to push your secret baby button yet? Visit us on the forums and let us know there too! You can read more on this study on the BBC website and Discovery Channel’s website.

Edited to add: We now have a thread about this very topic going on the forums- click to read and join the discussion.

We’ve had complaints come into the forum about a site prentending to sell “kitty beef”, as in cat meat:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198843

Here’s how I can tell this website a hoax:

1. The title of the site uses the word “Kitty”. Not feline, not cat, but Kitty. This is a direct shot at cat lovers.

2. The site is a quickly put together replica of another site pretending to sell “puppy beef”. The very first page opens with “Welcome to Puppy Beef” and there are numerous mentions of “dog meat” where it should be saying “cat”. I guess someone wasn’t proofreading well enough…

3. More quirks through out the site. For example, the recipe page only contains one recipe and that one includes the F word in one of the ingredients. Hardly the mark of a professional company site.

4. While there is a list of “cuts” and products” – they all lead to the same page. It’s a fancy menu design with little behind it.

5. The “About US” page is signed by a “Yuen Xi – President, Puppy Beef and Kitty Beef International Meats.” The domain name is owned by an American person, Frank from Atlanta, Georgia.

6. Above all – no direct contact details, no order form, just a mysterious invitation to register with the site for more information…

Please note that the site in question contains some graphic material which can be hard for us cat lovers to look at, specifically pictures of what appears to be actual cat meat sold in a Far East market. This is why we wil not be linking to it directly from this post or from the forums.

Pass along this post if you see other concerned cat lovers. Like the infamous Bonsai kitten website, this is yet another incident trying to yank our proverbial chains and upsetting us into spreading its web address across the net. Instead of doing that, send your friend the link to this post:

http://thecatsite.com/blog/162/kitty-beef-hoax.html

I just couldn’t believe this column by baby expert Dr. Brazelton. I had to double check the date, to make sure such things were still being written in 2009.

Dr. Brazelton had been asked by a Grandma-to-be about the three cats that her expecting daughter has. After giving her the scary Toxoplasmosis lecture (forgetting to mention that there are no documented cases where any pregnant woman has ever contracted the disease from a cat), the good doctor then takes on the role of a cat expert and adds:

You are right to be concerned about your daughter’s cats and her new baby for other reasons.

Cats attach themselves to human caregivers, and felines have been known to be jealous of babies as if the new arrivals were siblings! Some cats will seek out the infants’ mouths and noses and lie on them to smother them.

It would be better for the baby if your daughter would rid herself of the cats. If not, the cats must be kept away from the child for the infant’s protection.

I couldn’t believe that in the year 2009, an educated man would still be spreading that old wives tale about cats suffocating babies! Not only that, he goes as far as attributing fairly complex motivations to felines, and actually claims that they will seek out the airways with an aim to suffocate the baby because of “sibling rivalry”.

Sigh. Where do you begin with such a stupid claim?

Oh, and if all of this were not enough, the good doctor adds a final cause for the daughter “rid herself of the cats”:

Finally, if there is a history of allergies or asthma in the family, or if the child develops signs of either of these, your daughter may once again need to consider finding a new home for her cats.

Note he is not even talking about a diagnosis. Any symptom of any type of allergy or asthma are reason enough for this Doc… I guess he needs to do some reading on the health benefits of cats, and pay more attention to recent studies.

My heart goes out to the poor pregnant Mom. Last thing she needs right now is an anxious Grandma-to-be armed with a letter from a “baby expert” that tells her to “rid herself of the cats”.

Such a reckless and irresponsible column could actually cost many cats their lives. Check out the column here and drop an email to Doctor Brazelton, won’t you? Oh, and do comment here with your stories about cats and babies – I am sure some mothers-to-be would find those useful.

Much has been written about the effect of felines as predators, specifically of birds. For some reason, when cats hunt rodents, it seems acceptable to most people, but not when it comes to our feathered friends.

With more cats being kept indoors-only, there is less issue for concern in most urban areas. However, on some secluded habitats, such as Macquarie island in Australia, feral cats (introduced by human visitors) were deemed to be a real threat to local birds.

Here’s an interesting twist though. The mighty “ferocious” predators were removed from the island, but the birds are not doing any better. Apparently, the local “feral” rabbits are causing more damage now by feeding on local vegetation which the birds need for cover. With no cats around, the rabbits are getting out of control…

Interesting, how the felines were blamed for all the trouble, but the cute bunnies were ignored the whole time. As one of our forum members put it: “it’s easier for people to hate cats than it is rabbits.”

More on this topic, and a chance to let your voice be heard on the matter in this thread. Or add comments here – they are welcome.