Kids’ Cruelty Toward Mother Cat and Kittens Points to Need for Humane Education

Warning: This story includes two brief accounts of cruelty toward animals.

This mother cat and her kittens were pelted with rocks, but thanks to their
kind rescuer and Alley Cat Rescue, the mom and her surviving kittens
are recovering and will be available for adoption soon.
Photo courtesy of Alley Cat Rescue.

In late May, a kind person in Maryland witnessed some children throwing rocks at a tortoiseshell cat and her four kittens. Fortunately this person intervened, rescuing two of the kittens. But the other two kittens had died, and the mother had run away.

The kind person then called Alley Cat Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to the welfare of cats. ACR took over care of the kittens and sent rescuers out the next day to search for the momma. They found her near where the incident had taken place. She was under a car and was likely searching for her kittens. The rescuers were able to humanely trap her, and she is now recovering in foster care along with her two remaining little ones. Understandably, the little family has been shaken by what happened to them, but they are getting better and will soon be available for adoption.

The momma’s new name is June Bug, and her kittens are Star and Boo. We hope they all soon learn that many humans are kind and loving and would never, ever try to hurt a defenseless cat.

The importance of humane education

We’re so happy that June Bug, Star, and Boo were rescued and are recovering, but this story makes us ask, Why do people do stuff to intentionally hurt animals? Old SoLT has been asking this since she was about 12, when she briefly witnessed some older teens throwing rocks at a puppy. She didn’t understand it then, and she doesn’t understand it now. How anyone could see any living thing suffering and not have their heart break is beyond us.

Humane education--learning to have compassion for animals--
benefits kids and animals alike.
Photo via Adobe Stock.

According to ACR, “cruelty towards animals can be an indicator of other behavioral problems in children and continued criminal activity in adulthood.” One problem, wethinks, is that often people—adults and children alike—don’t understand that, yes, animals feel pain and fear. Yes, animals deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. That’s why we’re so glad to know that ACR advocates for humane education—teaching children to be kind and compassionate to animals.

“It is so important to teach children compassion for animals at a young age, while they are so impressionable,” said Denise Hilton, Alley Cat Rescue’s director of operations. ACR has taught humane education courses at elementary schools and Girl Scout events. Hilton said, “When we have taught at local schools the children have been really engaged and interested in learning more about cats.”

That is good to hear!

We applaud ACR's humane education initiatives and hope they can do a lot more of it.

Get more information

 To learn more about Alley Cat Rescue, or to support them and their humane education efforts, visit saveacat.org.

And potential adopters for June Bug, Star, and Boo should contact Alley Cat Rescue at acr@saveacat.org to learn more about them.

Source

“Alley Cat Rescue Pushes for Humane Education After Saving Cats from Children Throwing Rocks.” June 5, 2018. https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/06/prweb15536477.htm

A Call for Veterinarians to Help “Fix” Annual Kitten Invasion

Kitten season is coming, and so is Alley Cat Rescue's May Spay Challenge!
Photo via Adobe Stock.

You’ve all heard of kitten season, right? It’s that time of year when temperatures warm, flowers bloom, and animal shelters are inundated with kittens in need of homes.

Many people just call it “spring.”

Kitten season sounds cute and cuddly, but it’s actually a big problem for shelters, not to mention cats. That’s because there are often so many homeless kittens that shelters become overcrowded and overwhelmed. Many cats never make it out of the shelter alive. Annually, some 30% of the over 3.2 million cats that enter US shelters are euthanized.

What can be done to improve those numbers? Well, since many of those kittens who land in shelters are born to free-roaming mothers, Alley Cat Rescue, a national nonprofit dedicated to the welfare of cats, says that one solution is to sterilize outdoor cats.

Fewer fertile cats = fewer kittens born = fewer homeless kittens in shelters

The May Spay Challenge

Obviously, not just anyone can spay or neuter a cat. It takes a veterinarian to do that, and so Alley Cat Rescue has an annual May Spay Challenge to encourage vets to participate in trap-neuter-return (TNR) projects with local rescues. 

Alley Cat Rescue president and founder Louise Holton says, “Most kittens in shelters lose their lives, as shelters cannot cope with the influx. If this was a feline disease, veterinarians would want to end it. But cat overpopulation has an easy simple answer: spay and neuter cats.”

In the May Spay Challenge, vets are called on to sterilize one feral cat per week during the month of May. That can add up to a lot of sterilizations, which means a lot of feline pregnancies prevented and, ultimately, fewer homeless kittens born.

The May Spay Challenge got its start back in 2010. So far, over 1,200 veterinary hospitals in the US, Canada, Israel, Croatia, and South Africa have participated, and over 30,000 feral cats have been spayed or neutered. Alley Cat Rescue expects even greater participation this year.

Veterinary practices are encouraged to take the May Spay Challenge, and individuals can invite their local clinics to participate. Find out more here: http://www.saveacat.org/may-spay-challenge.html

Source

Alley Cat Rescue: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/04/prweb15396427.htm

The Ancient Maya Kept Big Cats in Captivity as Early as 400 BC

We have an interesting “big cats in archaeology” news short for you today, as a recent study has indicated that as early as 400 BC, the ancient Maya of Central America had big cats that they kept in captivity.

Some of the ruins at Ceibal, Guatemala.
Photo by Chixuy (2006) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

The first physical evidence of the Maya having a captive big cat

This portion of a mural from Chichen Itza, Mexico, shows a
jaguar grasping a human heart.
Photo via Adobe Stock.

The evidence comes from the site of Ceibal, which is in present-day Guatemala. It was occupied for some 2,000 years, from about 1000 BC to AD 1000. There, archaeologists discovered a mandible and molar believed to be from a jaguar (or possibly a puma). Researchers tested isotopes (different forms of an element’s atoms) of carbon, nitrogen, strontium, and oxygen from these and other animal bones found at the site. The carbon and nitrogen would give clues about what the animal ate, and the strontium and oxygen, which came from tooth enamel, would show where the animal was born and grew up. That analysis showed that, from a young age, the jaguar either ate maize or ate other animals that had eaten maize. A wild cat wouldn’t be expected to have this kind of diet, so it is possible that this jaguar was raised in captivity for ceremonial purposes (i.e., to be sacrificed).  Captive cats had shown up in Maya art before, but this jaguar’s jaw and tooth are the first physical evidence of the Maya keeping a big cat in captivity.

There were dogs too

The same study found that two of the dogs discovered at Ceibal had come from over 100 miles away. These two dogs were from the same time period as the jaguar—about 400 BC—and their presence there is evidence of dogs being traded over long distances by the Maya.

Why are we telling you this?

Because occasionally we like to blog outside the lines to tell you something interesting about our wild cousins, and one should always keep tabs on one’s wild cousins.

Keep track of your wild cousins!
The Maya carved this head of a jaguar ca. 550-950.
Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011) [CC BY 2.5].

Sources

Pappas, Stephanie. 2018. “Big Cats and ‘Ritual’ Dogs Lived in Maya Captivity.” Live Science, March 19. https://www.livescience.com/62061-ritual-dogs-mayan-pyramid.html

Sharpe, Ashley, et al. 2018. “Earliest Isotopic Evidence in the Maya Region for Animal Management and Long-Distance Trade at the Site of Ceibal, Guatemala.” PNAS, March 19. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713880115

Hardy Gets Adopted and Alley Cat Rescue Increases Reward for Information on His Abuser

Hardy after his rescue
Photo by Alley Cat Rescue.

You may recall that about two months ago, we posted about a Maryland cat named Hardy who had suffered sustained, painful abuse at the hands of an unknown person. We recently got an update from Alley Cat Rescue, we’re pleased to report that Hardy has been adopted by a couple who will give him the loving care he deserves.

Both of the adopters work in the veterinary field and can provide him with the kind of expert care his injuries require. Hardy’s abuser had cut his ears and bound his limbs and tail. As a result, Hardy has lost most of his toes. According to ACR program manager Niki Cochran, “Hardy will likely be afflicted with arthritis, litter box issues and pain in his feet.” However, “He should live a happy and healthy life with continued veterinary care.”

Unfortunately, Hardy’s abuser still has not been identified. ACR continues to focus on bringing this person or persons to justice. This is for Hardy, certainly, but it is also for the larger community. As ACR communications associate Brianna Grant explains, “Animal cruelty can be indicative of a violent personality. A person who commits such violent acts against an innocent cat could progress to hurting more animals or even people.”

ACR is offering a reward of $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. In addition, the Prince George’s Police Department is investigating and is also offering a reward. Anyone with information should call the police department at 301-772-4911. Callers who prefer to remain anonymous may call 1-866-411-8477.

Case of Cat Torture in Maryland Shows Need for Protections for Animals

Hardy is getting better and recovering in a
safe place now. Remarkably, he still trusts people!
Photo from Alley Cat Rescue.

Earlier this week the good people at Alley Cat Rescue contacted us with a disturbing story. A wounded gray cat had been brought in to the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Animal Shelter, but this cat’s injuries were not the result of an accident. It was determined that the wounds to his ears, limbs, and tail had been inflicted intentionally. Alley Cat Rescue took over the cat’s care and named him Hardy, meaning “courageous and capable of enduring difficult conditions. This certainly describes Hardy’s brave yet gentle personality,” ACR said in a news update.

What happened to Hardy?

After veterinary examination, it was determined that Hardy suffered for weeks at the hands of a person who, for reasons we may never understand, put rubber bands on his tail and limbs and cut his ears. By the time Hardy was rescued, his tail was necrotic and had to be surgically removed. On three of his legs, the toes were “hanging by threads,” so those toes were also amputated.

Hardy's tail and parts of three of his feet

had to be removed because of the damage

caused by his abuser.

Photo via Alley Cat Rescue.

Hardy is recovering now that he is getting good care. The remarkable thing is, despite his tattered ears and damaged limbs and tail, Hardy still trusts people. He will even nudge up against people to ask for some pets.

Hardy is not the only one

Sadly, Hardy’s case is far from unique. According to data cited by the Humane Society of the United States, in 2011 over 1,400 cruelty cases were reported in which the species was given—and remember that is just the tip of the iceberg, because who knows how many cases either weren’t reported at all or did not specify the species. Abuse was most commonly reported for dogs, cats, horses, and livestock.

Cruelty toward animals must be taken seriously

We don’t know exactly what kind of situation Hardy came from, but we can say that animal cruelty does not just affect the animal victim. Alley Cat Rescue says, “Animal cruelty is often an indicator of a violent personality.” This means that those who start out being violent toward animals can later turn that violence on humans. Also, animal abuse and domestic violence often occur together. In one study at a domestic violence shelter, 71% of the women there who had pets said that their abusive partner had threatened, harmed, or killed their pet.


The federal Pet and Women Safety Act would, among other things, change the definition of stalking to include “conduct that causes a person to experience a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to his or her pet.” It would also provide grants so domestic violence shelters could create housing for victims with pets. We think it is important to support this legislation to protect all victims of domestic violence—including pets.

Meanwhile, Hardy is looking for a new, loving home

Alley Cat Rescue is looking for someone to ultimately adopt Hardy and give him the loving home he deserves. Please contact them through their website to learn more.

Prince George’s County Animal Control is investigating Hardy’s case. Anyone who has information on what happened to Hardy should contact them.

New Job-Placement Service for Hard-to-Adopt Cats in DC /MD/VA

Working cats.
Photo via Alley Cat Rescue.

Rats. Just the word gives you the creepy-crawlies, doesn’t it? (Of course we’re not referring to cute pet rats. We think they’re pretty neat.) Mice are smaller, at least, but they can still creep you out. And then of course there’s the fact that these rodents eat your stuff and spread disease. If you happen to own a warehouse where rodents are ruining your supplies and scaring the bejesus out of your employees, not to mention potentially exposing them to everything from E. coli to the plague, well, that’s a problem, isn’t it?

Maybe it’s time to hire a cat.

Alley Cat Rescue, an organization in Brentwood, MD, that promotes humane treatment of all cats, is launching a new Working Cats program to benefit area business owners as well as cats. The program will place cats in warehouses for rodent control. Cats can also be placed in offices, again for rodent control but also as a morale booster. A working cat can provide stress relief for employees and can also become a popular mascot for a business, giving you something fun to post about on social media (check out our review of Distillery Cats, which features Maryland’s own HellRazer and the DuClaws of DuClaw Brewing Company).

The cats we’re talking about might not do well in a home or outside but would thrive in an environment that provides shelter and gives them independence to patrol, hunt, sleep, or visit with their human coworkers as they please. Currently, Alley Cat Rescue has three cats looking for job opportunities. The cats are all spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. If you choose to add one of them to your workforce, you will be responsible for providing food, shelter, and long-term vet care.

For more information, call Alley Cat Rescue at 301-277-5595.

Prehistoric Cat News: Saber-Toothed Cats Lived in Europe Longer Than We Knew

An interesting news item flashed across our computer screen last week, concerning new findings on ancient cats. Big cats. With big teeth. It seems that some of these cats in Europe went extinct hundreds of thousands of years later than previously thought, and that means these cats could still have been around when modern humans stepped foot onto the European continent.

What cats are we talking about?

Homotherium, with human for size comparison.
By Dantheman9758 at English Wikipedia [CCBY 3.0], via WikimediaCommons.

The cats in question are called Homotherium (that’s their genus name). They were lion-sized saber-toothed cats that originated in the Old Word and also lived in the New World. They were related (but quite distantly, it turns out), to what you probably think of when you think “saber-toothed cat”—Smilodon fatalis.  S. fatalis is the species whose remains have been found in California’s famed La Brea Tar Pits. In North America, both Homotherium and Smilodon are known to have survived until the Late Pleistocene, or until about 10,000 years ago.

The picture is different in Europe, though, where Homotherium was thought to have disappeared by about 300,000 years ago.

New study finds new dates

But that old picture changed recently, with the results of an ancient-DNA study. A team led by Johanna Paijmans of the University of Potsdam in Germany examined DNA from a unique fossil: a Homotherium jaw bone found in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands that has been firmly dated to just 28,000 years ago (which, you’ll notice, was many, many thousands of years after the cats were thought to be extinct). Their work confirmed that the fossil is in fact from Homotherium, which means that these cats were living in Europe a lot longer than we knew. And that means that "when the first anatomically modern humans migrated to Europe, there may have been a saber-toothed cat waiting for them," Paijmans says.

Homotherium reconstruction.

By Sergiodlarosa (Own work) [CCBY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia  Commons.

Just imagine that welcoming committee!

And by the way, why are we telling you this? Well, because we cats all have a common ancestor from way back in the distant past, and that means that Homotherium is the (extremely) distant cousin of your housecat. Just think of that next time you're telling your cat it's not time to eat yet!

Source

“Ancient DNA offers new view on saber-toothed cats' past.”

Current Biology, Paijmans et al.: "Evolutionary History of Saber-Toothed Cats Based on Ancient Mitogenomics" http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)31198-3 , DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.033

Read more

National Fossil Day: The Big Cats of Pleistocene Park. 

Seven Tidbits on Early Cat Domestication

For years, cat lovers and scientists have believed that cats were first domesticated in ancient Egypt. You may already know this story: The Egyptians began farming and storing grain, which attracted rodents, which attracted the local wildcats, which started hanging around human settlements. Humans encouraged the cats to stick around and eventually made pets of them. The Egyptians went further than that though, believing that the goddess Bastet could take the form of a cat. From Egypt, domestic cats spread to the rest of the world.

But is the traditional story of cat domestication correct?

Well, according to the latest study of cat domestication and dispersal, that original story may be partially correct, but the true picture is more complicated—and more interesting—than that simple tale. This post provides seven brief highlights from the study,[1] which analyzed DNA from ancient and modern cats across a wide temporal and geographic distance. The DNA used for analysis came from Europe, north and east Africa, and southwest Asia, and the time period covered was from about 7000 BC to the present. DNA from 352 ancient cats was analyzed, and modern wildcat DNA was sampled from 28 cats from Bulgaria and east Africa.

What did the researchers find? Here are our chosen tidbits, in roughly chronological order:

1. Cats were first domesticated in the ancient Near East.

Map of the Fertile Crescent. Somewhere
in the red-shaded area (most likely in the
larger eastern bit on the right), cats were
first domesticated.
Original image by NormanEinstein.
Creative Commons: Attribution-ShareAlike.
Via Ancient History Encyclopedia.

You’ve heard of Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent, where farming began? Well, according to the DNA analysis by Ottoni and colleagues, that area of southwest Asia is also where domestic cats began sometime in the Neolithic period (8,000 years ago, give or take). Think modern Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Some of the local wildcats, Felis silvestris lybica, were attracted to the rodents that were attracted to the humans’ stored grain. Eventually, some of those cats were tamed and domesticated.

2. Humans probably began transporting cats from place to place in prehistoric times.

Cats from the Near East may have arrived in southeast Europe by 4400 BC or thereabouts. Some of today’s domestic cats have DNA that came from these Near Eastern cats.

3. There is some evidence to suggest that domesticated cats in Egypt came from southwest Asia.

The idea that the Egyptians got their first cats from the Near East has been suggested before. Now there is evidence (in DNA from ancient cat remains found at a Roman-Egyptian port on the Red Sea and from one Egyptian cat mummy) that this may indeed have happened.

Detail from a painting in the
Tomb of Nebamun, ca. 1350 BC,
Thebes, Egypt.
Public domain image, via Wikimedia Commons.

4. Egyptian cats seem to have become very popular, and this study provides “the first evidence for an African origin for one of the mitochondrial lineages of present-day domestic cats.”

It could be that the Egyptians developed a closer relationship with their cats, leading to cats that were tamer than their Near Eastern cousins. That cat napping on your couch could be descended from one of those Egyptian cats.

5. Humans spread cats throughout the eastern Mediterranean during Classical times.

We’re talking about the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Cats became popular across a wider area during this period, and they were recognized as being able to control rodent populations on ships, so the felines really started to get around. By the 6th century BC, cats were showing up on Greek pottery and coins and on a piece of pottery found at the Etruscan site of Vulci (in modern Italy).

6. Cats were further spread during Medieval times, when ships’ cats went along with humans who were traveling for trade or war.

Some evidence comes from a 7th-century cat found at a Viking port on the Baltic Sea and an 8th-century cat found at an Iranian port. There was also trade in pelts of domestic cats, and this too may also have encouraged cats’ spread.

7. Cats probably lived alongside humans for thousands of years before humans began breeding then for specific physical appearances.

The Arkesilas Cup, a black-figure kylix by the Arkesilas Painter, found at the Etruscan site
 of Vulci, ca. 565-560 BC. The king of Kyrene (far left) watches as men work with trade goods.
Several animals are depicted, including a cat under the king's chair.
© Marie-Lan Nguyen [Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic], via Wikimedia Commons. 

Hey, cats do what they want! This, by the way, is the tidbit that has led to headlines saying cats domesticated themselves. Because basically they did. Ottoni and colleagues looked at a specific gene that determines whether a tabby cat will have a mackerel or blotched coat pattern. Wildcats have a mackerel pattern, and a blotched pattern is seen in some domestic cats. So, the appearance and spread of the blotched pattern can be taken to mean that humans were beginning to influence cats’ physical appearance. In this study, the earliest occurrence of the blotched-tabby version of the gene was from the time of the Ottoman Empire (dated between AD 500 and 1300). The gene turned up later in other areas (AD 1300–1900).

Conclusion

We have been waiting for a study exactly like this--one that answers so many of our questions about where domestic cats actually come from. Next up on our wish list of cat research would be a study of early cats from farther east (India, China, and so on). We don't know if anyone is working on this, but we do hope so.

---

[1] Ottoni et al. “The Paleogenetics of Cat Dispersal in the Ancient World.” Nature Ecology & Evolution 1, 0139 (2017).

Explore Cats at the Archives of American Art

Remember life before the internet? Back in the day when, if you wanted to show your friend on the other side of the country some silly thing your cat liked to do, you couldn’t just shoot off an email with a link. Oh no. You had to draw. A picture. On a piece of paper. And send it. In the mail. With a stamp. Remember that?

The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art remembers, and that’s why “Cat Correspondence” is one section of the exhibition titled Before Internet Cats: Feline Finds from the Archives of American Art. The exhibition is on view at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in Washington, DC, but you can explore the items from the comfort of your own computer. We picked out just a few of our favorites to share with you here.

First up is an ink drawing of a cat and three mice, by Charles Green Shaw (1892-1974). Find this and other sketches in "Cats and the Creative Process."

Here is a photograph of Tuffy the cat, from the papers of abstract expressionist painter Hans Hofmann (1880-1966). Photographer and date unknown. Find this and other photographs, and even a 1958 Cat Fancier's Association registration form, in "Everyday Life."

And last, wouldn't you love to get this in the mail? It's a piece of "mail art" sent by influential fiber artist Lenore Tawney (1907-2007) in 1980. Find it and some other neat pieces in "Cat Correspondence."

Details

• Before Internet Cats runs through October 29, 2017.
• The Fleischman Gallery is located in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 8th and F Streets, NW, Washington, DC.
• Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.
• Admission is free.

News: Having Cats Does Not Cause Mental Illness

Cats: lovely, friendly, and unlikely to make you psychotic.
Photo via Adobe Stock.

Last year, there were some brouhahas and kerfuffles over the subject of cats and mental illness. Specifically, research suggested that people who have cats are more likely than others to become psychotic because they are exposed to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (see "Blaming Cats for Human Aggression"). But a new study has found no link between cat ownership and psychosis.

The new study was published in Psychological Medicine. It followed about 5,000 people from when they were born in 1991 or 1992 until they were 18. The researchers also had data on whether there were cats in the house during the subjects' childhood or while their mothers were pregnant with them. The study found no link between the presence of a cat and the development of psychosis. This study is considered more reliable than previous studies because it looked at a larger population over a longer period of time.

And the millions upon millions of people who have lived their whole lives with cats without becoming psychotic say, “We told you so.”

(Source: “Cat ownership not linked to mental health problems”)

Did Vikings Have Cats? Of Course!

If you follow cats on social media,
you probably saw lots of cats in
Viking helmets late last week. It's
all because of a new DNA study.
Stock image by Chris Brignell, via Adobe Stock.

In case you are not tuned in to the cat news of the week, I will begin this post by telling you about the recent kerfuffle (or should that be kerFLUFFle in this case?) in the ancient-cat world. If you are plugged in to social media and follow cats at all, recently you may have seen your feed flooded with pictures of cats in Viking helmets. That sudden influx of Viking kitties was due to a cat DNA study that got a lot of attention last week. This study, presented at a symposium on biomolecular archaeology, examined DNA from over 200 felines dating from the Mesolithic period (that’s the middle of the Stone Age, before agriculture) up to the 1700s AD. The researchers found that wild cats of a certain lineage were dispersed from the Middle East to early farming communities in the eastern Mediterranean and, much later, cats from Egypt moved into Eurasia and Africa with a lot of help from farmers and seafarers, including Vikings.

I’d like to tell you a lot more about this particular study, but so far I have not been able to lay my paws on anything more than a very brief Nature news bit describing it. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. (We did learn more. Read the update here.)

Anyway, one fascinating item in the news bit is the mention of cat remains at a Viking site in northern Germany dated to between the 8th century and 11th century. One geneticist is quoted as saying, “I didn’t even know there were Viking cats.” Obviously this person is not an avid reader of The Cuddlywumps Cat Chronicles. Otherwise, he might recall that we have written about Viking cats before (see The Goddess Freya’s Cats).

Who were these Vikings, and why did they have cats?

The Vikings were Scandinavian raiders, colonists, and traders who had their heyday beginning in the 8th century and ending in the 11th century. According to The Viking Answer Lady, the Vikings had cats both to keep rodents in check and as pets. New brides might receive kittens as gifts. We think the kittens would have been both a practical gift to keep mice out of the house and a symbolic gift recalling Freya, the goddess of domesticity and female sexuality.

What kind of cats did the Vikings have?

This is a Skogkatt, or Norwegian Forest Cat. But was the
cat found at that Viking Age site a Skogkatt? Cuddlywumps Cat
Chronicles readers want to know!
Stock image by Summer, via Adobe Stock.

We’d like to just say, “Norwegian Forest Cats,” because that would be so easy, and it makes sense. Called Skogkatt in Norwegian, these are large, strong cats with well-insulated coats (for more, see What Kind of Cat Would Santa Claus Have?). But we don’t have any information that says that the cat whose remains were discovered at that Viking site in Germany was indeed a Skogkatt. 

Two questions we would love to know the answers to are

1. Was that cat a Skogkatt? and
2. When did cats first arrive in Scandinavia?

Once again, curiosity leaves us with more questions than answers!

Breaking News: Cats Understand Physics

You’ve probably heard the jokes about cats being “gravity testers” (you know, a cat knocks something off a shelf to “test gravity”). Until now, this has merely been a source of amusement for humans. But recently, scientists in Japan found that cats actually know a thing or two about physics. Because cats are brilliant.

The study

Researchers at Kyoto University videotaped 30 domestic cats while someone shook a can and then turned it upside down. I know, it sounds weird, but there’s a little more to it than that. Sometimes, the shaking was accompanied by a rattling noise; sometimes it was not. Sometimes an object fell out of the overturned can; sometimes no object fell out.

The cats spent more time looking at the can when there was a noise with it. They also spent more time looking when there was a noise but nothing came out of the can and when there was no noise but something did come out of the can.

It does mean something

I know, it still sounds weird. But the study shows that "cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of invisible objects,” one of the researchers said. That's science-speak for this:

If the can makes a sound, the cat expects there to be something inside it. If the can makes a sound but then there’s nothing in it, the cat knows something is wrong. Likewise if the can makes no sound but then something falls out of it. Those two situations are incongruent with the laws of physics. In other words, those situations are weird, and cats know it.

How do cats use this ability?

Basically, using sound to figure out where an unseen object (like a mouse) is can help cats hunt. The cat hears something rustling about and, even if the cat can’t see what’s making the sound, she knows something must be making it.

As I said earlier,

Cats. Are. Brilliant.

Also, gravity still works. This cat checked it out thoroughly:

Source

Springer. "Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics: Cats' expectations are based on what they hear." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160614114410.htm (accessed June 17, 2016).

Picture credits

Newton Gravity Law: Stock photo by Marek via Adobe Stock. 

Cat in graduation hat: Stock photo by Chris Brignell via Adobe Stock. 

Comet Named After Cat

Like cats, comets usually have tails.
Stock photo of Comet Hale-Bopp via AdobeStock.

Comets and cats have several things in common: They are somewhat mysterious. They have tails. They may hold secrets of the early universe.

Okay, I made that last part up a little bit, but there is no reason to think it might not be true (I refer you to the earlier sentence about cats being “somewhat mysterious”).

The tail part is absolutely, 100 percent correct though. Cats usually have tails. Comets* usually have tails—at least when they approach the sun and some of their ice vaporizes and trails behind, reflecting sunlight.

A Manx cat. Note the obvious similarities to a comet.
1895 illustration from The Cat, R. S. Huidekoper.
By Internet Archive Book Images via Wikimedia Commons. 

But recently, astronomers announced the discovery of a tailless comet, the first of its kind (that we know of). They needed a name for this tailless type of comet, and naturally they turned to the world of cats and dubbed the comet…a Manx.

So now there is officially a type of comet named after a type of cat, which makes comets almost as cool as cats. Almost.

*A comet, according to Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, is a “nebulous celestial body that consists of a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that often when in the part of its orbit near the sun develops a long tail which points away from the sun because of radiation pressure, that has an orbit varying in eccentricity between nearly round and parabolic, that has an inclination from zero to 180 degrees, and that has a period from three to thousands of years.”

Source (and sciencey stuff)

Reuters, “Astronomers find a tailless comet, first of its kind,” April 30, 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-comet-idUSKCN0XQ2HZ

Read more

Legends of the Manx.

Which Cat Species Are Endangered? We Take Stock on Earth Day 2016

Four endangered cat species. Clockwise from top left:
Amur Tiger, Andean Cat, Flat-headed Cat, Fishing Cat.
Credits: Amur Tiger in Louisville Zoo by Ltshears [CC BY-SA 3.0].
Andean Cat by Jim Sanderson [CC BY-SA 3.0 ].
Flat-headed Cat by Jim Sanderson [CC BY-SA 3.0].
Fishing Cat in Tennoji Zoo, Osaka, Japan, by pelican [CC BY-SA 2.0].

For Earth Day 2016, we thought we’d take a look at how our wild cousins are doing, so we went to the Internet to collect data, which She of Little Talent put into this table. She even added subspecies and color-coded it, so it might actually be useful. As you can see, some species seem to be doing well, but there is still too much yellow, orange, and red (Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered, respectively) on that list.

To get a Word or pdf file of the list, drop an e-mail to roby@robysweet.com and we’ll send you one.

Conservation Status of Wild Cat Species

Taxonomic Name	Common Name	Status (publication date)*
Panthera leo	Lion	Vulnerable (2015)
P. leo	West African subpopulation	Critically Endangered (2015)
P. leo persica	Asiatic Lion, Indian Lion	Endangered (2008)
Panthera tigris	Tiger	Endangered (2015)
P. tigris altaica	Amur Tiger	Endangered (2011)
P. tigris amoyensis	South China Tiger	Critically Endangered, possibly extinct in wild (2015)
P. tigris corbetti	Indochinese Tiger	Endangered (2011)
P. tigris jacksoni	Malayan Tiger	Critically Endangered (2015)
P. tigris sumatrae	Sumatran Tiger	Critically Endangered (2008)
P. tigris tigris	Bengal Tiger	Endangered (2011)
P. tigris balica	Bali Tiger	Extinct (1940s)
P. tigris sondaica	Javan Tiger	Extinct (mid-1970s)
P. tigris virgata	Caspian Tiger	Extinct (1970s)
Panthera onca	Jaguar	Near Threatened
Panthera uncia	Snow Leopard	Endangered
Panthera pardus	Leopard	Near Threatened
P. pardus kotiya	Sri Lankan Leopard	Endangered (2008)
P. pardus melas	Javan Leopard	Critically Endangered (2008)
P. pardus nimr	Arabian Leopard	Critically Endangered (2008)
P. pardus orientalis	Amur Leopard	Critically Endangered (2008)
P. pardus saxicolor	Persian Leopard	Endangered (2008)
Neofilis nebulosa	Clouded Leopard	Vulnerable
Catopuma badia	Borneo Bay Cat	Endangered
Pardofelis marmorata	Marbled Cat	Near Threatened
Catopuma temminckii	Asiatic Golden Cat	Near Threatened
Leptailurus serval	Serval	Least Concern
Caracal caracal	Caracal	Least Concern
Caracal aurata	African Golden Cat	Vulnerable (2015)
Leopardus pardalis	Ocelot	Least Concern (2015)
Leopardus wiedii	Margay	Near Threatened (2015)
Leopardus geoffroyi	Geoffroy’s Cat	Least Concern (2015)
Leopardus guigna	Guiña	Vulnerable (2015)
Leopardus jacobita	Andean Cat	Endangered (2008)
Leopardus tigrinus	Oncilla	Vulnerable (2008)
L. tigrinus oncilla	Central American Oncilla, Central American Little Spotted Cat	Endangered (2008)
Leopardus colocolo	Pampas Cat	Near Threatened (2015)
Lynx lynx	Eurasian Lynx	Least Concern (2015)
L. lynx balcanicus	Balkan Lynx	Critically Endangered (2015)
Lynx pardinus	Iberian Lynx	Endangered (2015)
Lynx canadensis	Canadian Lynx	Least Concern (2015)
Lynx rufus	Bobcat	Least Concern (2008)
Acinonyx jubatus	Cheetah	Vulnerable (2015)
A. jubatus hecki	Northwest African Cheetah, Saharan Cheetah	Critically Endangered (2008)
A. jubatus venaticus	Asiatic Cheetah, Iranian Cheetah	Critically Endangered (2008)
Puma concolor	Puma	Least Concern (2015)
Herpailurus yagouaroundi	Jaguarundi	Least Concern (2015)
Otocolobus manul	Pallas’s Cat (Manul)	Near Threatened (2015)
Prionailurus viverrinus	Fishing Cat	Endangered (2010)
Prionailurus bengalensis	Leopard Cat	Least Concern (2015)
P. bengalensis iriomotensis	Iriomote Cat	Critically Endangered (2015)
P. bengalensis robori	Visayan Leopard Cat	Vulnerable (2008)
Prionailurus planiceps	Flat-headed Cat	Endangered (2015)
Prionailurus rubiginosus	Rusty-spotted Cat	Vulnerable (2008)
Felis nigripes	Black-footed Cat	Vulnerable (2008)
Felis silvestris	Wild Cat	Least Concern (2015)
Felis margarita	Sand Cat	Near Threatened (2011)
Felis chaus	Jungle Cat	Least Concern (2008)

Source: IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org). Accessed April 19, 2016.

*For extinct species, parentheses indicate date of extinction.