Because There's A Reason Fluffy's Eyes Are So Wide — INFOGRAPHICS
Lucia Peters
While it’s fairly easy to figure out exactly what dogs are
trying to tell you at any given time — if non-clothes-wearing creatures were
capable of wearing their hearts on their sleeves, pooches would display theirs proudly and without fear — decoding cat language
can be a little
trickier. Luckily, though, there’s a ton of research out there that can
help us
figure out just what Fluffy means when she sits there slowly blinking at
us. Even better, we’ve got it in infographic form, thanks to a lovely
little series
by UK rescue organization Cats Protection. Isn't the Internet grand?
Cats communicate primarily in a few different ways: Through
their facial expressions, through their body language, and through their
behavior. To be fair, they also talk — that is, they communicate through their
meows — but not every cat is super talkative, so your mileage may vary depending on each individual feline. If you do
have a chatterbox of a cat, it’s usually pretty easy to tell the friendly
sounds from the non-friendly ones; purrs typically mean they’re content
(although they can also be a sign of stress), chirps or trills usually
mean they want you to look at or follow them (apparently those are the noises
mother cats make when they want their kids to keep up), and hisses mean "YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW." A plain old “meow” in and of
itself is quite versatile (kind of like a certain four-letter word according to
Boondock Saints); depending on the
way your cat uses it, it can mean everything from “Hello, human!” to “FEED ME.
NOW.” My cats, for example, are making their “Give me treats!” meows right now. (Nice try,
cats.)
But back to the physical cues. According to Cats Protection's handy
dandy infographics, here’s how to decode what your cat is saying based
on
what they’re doing with their bodies and faces.
Face:
Although it may seem like your cat has the same dang look on its face all the time, subtle changes in the way they position their
ears, eyes, and whiskers reveal loads about the inner workings of your pet’s
little feline mind. The exact combinations vary, but generally speaking, a happy,
calm cat looks pretty similar to a happy, calm human: Everything is nice and
relaxed. Be on the lookout, though, if your cat’s eyes are wide open with wide
pupils, their ears are pricked up or lying flat, and/or their whiskers are
pointed forward; they might just be on alert, but they also could be stressed,
worried, or anxious. If everything is drooping down, that might be an indication
of depression.
Cats like to say hello with their body language in a variety of different ways, but the
most common are arguably rolling over on their backs and balancing on their
hind legs while they reach up to you with their front paws. Be warned, though:
A cat rolling around on its back is not usually
asking for belly rubs. It means that they feel safe around you, not that they want you squeezing them in their squishy bits. A crouched
posture, meanwhile, usually means that they’re on alert; if your cat is
crouching, you might want to see if you can figure out which facial expression
they’re making as detailed above in addition in order to decode exactly how they’re feeling.
Cat behavior is arguably the easiest part of a cat to
decode — or at least, it's what I have the easiest time figuring out. If they’re rubbing up against either you or a nearby object, they’re
marking their territory, but in a good way — a way that says, “I like you and I
feel at home here.” Kneading — a throwover from their kitten days — also typically
means they’re happy, although it can also be a stress reaction. (It helps them
calm themselves down.) And if they’re hissing? You should probably already know what that means. If
they’re hissing at you, stop whatever
the heck you’re doing, because it’s clearly antagonizing the creature.
If there's one animal that rules the internet, it's the
almighty cat. Felines are the undisputed champions of cyberspace — just
ask Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, or Hamilton the Hipster Cat. Their bank
accounts prove the power of the purr.
Now South Florida felines can claim the catnip in the year's most important awards show: the 2016 Cat's Meow Awards. Forget
the Academy Awards. The big winners in the Wild Cat Card category
(drumroll please) are Cutler Bay's own Floof, and Poker in "The Floof
Massage." At least someone local is getting proper recognition from the
Academy (we're looking at your Oscar Isaac snub, Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences).
The idea for the Cat's Meow was simple: People love award shows, and people adore internet cats.
Sponsored by Meow Mix, this all-star kitty competition (it's like the
Oscars, but with way more fur) had more than 25,000 entries. Cat-loving
a-cat-emy members — including author Layla Morgan Wilde,
spokesperson Sandy Robins, and cat behavior consultant Daniel "DQ"
Quagliozzi — took on the tough job of choosing favorites.
Other
categories in the Meow Awards are Best Cap Napper, Best Kitty Hijinks,
Best Cat-hlete, and Best Cat Cuddle. The four-legged winners take home
"honor, prestige, and the knowledge that Meow Mix treats will always be
there to celebrate their impressive achievements," a news release
states.
Bailey guarding the Meow Mix.
Courtesy of the Cat's Meow Awards
As
far as epic cuteness, this competition ranks right up there with other
furry rivalries such as the Puppy Bowl and the Kitten Bowl. The entries
feature cats playing fetch, cats in tissue boxes, and cats playing
superhero. Kitties from New York to Arizona earned honors for being
adorable.
The contest is part of Meow Mix's "Irresistible Moments" campaign. No stranger to viral moments, Meow Mix is the brand behind the legendary "Meow, meow, meow, meow" jingle — it knows a catchy cat when it sees one.
Researchers reveal the 25 signs that could mean your cat is in pain
Researchers determined 25 behaviours that sufficiently reveal cat is in pain
Through four elimination rounds, researchers narrowed down list from 91
Some signs of pain include difficulty jumping, hunched posture, less play
By
Cheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com
Published: 26 February 2016
Cat
owners learn to develop a shared language with their pets; they can
discern the meanings of different meows and will return a 'slow blink'
when graced with one.
But, cats are notorious for hiding pain, so figuring out if a cat is suffering is a much more difficult process.
A new study has collected insight from international experts to reach a consensus on the tell-tale signs of a cat in pain.
Cat owners learn to develop a shared
language with their pets; they can discern the meanings of different
meows and will return a 'slow blink' when graced with one. But, cats are
notorious for hiding pain, so figuring out if a cat is suffering is a
much more difficult process
From
reluctance to move, to avoidance of light, the researchers have
compiled a list of the 25 behaviours that reveal your cat is in pain.
To
determine which cat behaviours are good indicators of pain, and which
behaviours are not, the authors recruited 19 experts, ranging from
private clinicians to academic staff.
The results were published in the journal PLOS One, titled Behavioural Signs of Pain in Cats: An Expert Consensus.
Experts
were able to narrow down the list to 25 reliable signs, though for two
of the behaviours – straining to urinate and tail flitching – the
experts could not come to an agreement on the intensity of pain to which
this indicates.
Some of these signs include difficulty jumping, playing less, lack of grooming, and a lowered head posture.
Through
four rounds of elimination, experts evaluated a total of 91 signs,
reaching agreement if at least 80 percent of group reported the same
answer on four components of each behaviour.
THE 25 SIGNS THAT ARE 'SUFFICIENT' INDICATORS OF PAIN IN CATS
The researchers explain that the list is an assessment tool which covers the sensorial and emotional aspects of pain.
Being able to identify a set of behaviours can help to reliably detect pain, rather than looking for a single symptom.
For
each of these signs, unless otherwise indicated, the experts agreed
that they are frequently present in both low and high levels of pain.
For the last two signs, experts had varied responses on the intensity of
pain the behaviour indicated.
1. Lameness
2. Difficulty to jump
3. Abnormal gait
4. Reluctant to move
5. Reaction to palpitation
6. Withdraw/hiding
7. Absence of grooming
8. Playing less
9. Appetite decrease
10. Overall activity decrease
11. Less rubbing toward people
12. General mood
13. Temperament
14. Hunched up posture
15. Shifting of weight
16. Licking a particular body region
17. Lower head posture
18. Blepharospasm (involuntary forcible blinking)
19. Change in form of feeding behaviour (rare in low level pain)
20. Avoiding bright areas (rare in low level pain)
21. Growling (rare in low level pain)
22. Groaning (rare in low level pain)
23. Eyes closed (rare in low level pain)
24. Straining to urinate
25. Tail flitching
These
properties include the frequency of the behaviours in the presence of
pain, the likelihood of its presence with low levels of pain, the
reliability of the sign as an indicator of pain, and its presence in
acute, chronic, and/or non-painful conditions.
The
researchers say that the 25 behaviours cover the sensorial and
emotional aspects of pain, and they can be used as a helpful assessment
tool to help owners understand when their pets may be suffering.
'Both owners and veterinarians are clearly able to recognise many behavioural changes in cats which relate to pain.
'However,
owners may not always recognize the clinical relevance of what they
see,' said Professor Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural
Medicine at the University of Lincoln's School of Life Sciences.
'For
example, they may view the changes as an inevitable part of natural
ageing and not report them to the vet as a concern, or at least not
until the behaviours become quite severe,' Mills said.
'We
hope that having an agreed list of more objective criteria, which
relates to specific signs of pain, could improve the ability of both
owners and vets to recognize it.'
From reluctance to move, to avoidance
of light, the researchers have compiled a list of the 25 behaviours that
reveal your cat is in pain. The signs also include difficulty jumping,
playing less, lack of grooming, and a lowered head posture
Of
the 23 signs that were agreed upon across all properties by the
experts, nearly all of them were frequently present in instances of both
low level and high level pain.
Just
five behaviours were considered rare in low level pain, and only
frequent in high level – change in feeding behaviour, avoiding bright
areas, growling, groaning, and closed eyes.
The
team was also able to eliminate many behaviours which they have deemed
'not sufficient for pain,' including panting (as this is related to
acute conditions), trembling or shivering, and teeth grinding.
While
these behaviours alone aren't to be used as definitive diagnoses, being
able to identify a set of behaviours can help to reliably detect pain,
rather than looking for a single symptom.
'Cats
are notorious for not showing that they are in pain, and the more that
we can find out what the signals are, then the sooner we can get them to
the vets for diagnosis and treatment,' said Caroline Fawcett, Chairman
of Feline Friends.
'There
is a long way still to go before the more subtle signs can be
identified, but we are really excited about progress to date.'
At 26 years old pet Corduroy has been named the world's oldest cat
His owners have now set up his very own social media accounts online
Now Corduroy has thousands of followers keeping up to date with his everyday life
By
Jennifer Newton for MailOnline
Published:
24 February 2016
He
might be almost 121 in cat years, but the world's oldest moggy has
proved its never too late to get to grips with social media.
At
26 years old, pet cat Corduroy, who lives in Sisters, Oregon, has
racked up thousands of followers after his owners set up his very own
Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat accounts.
Fans log on daily to @oldestlivingcat to
keep up-to-date with the elderly animal, who holds the Guinness World
Records title for the oldest living cat and is still in remarkable good
health.
Scroll down for video
The world's oldest cat, Corduroy, who
is 26 years old. He has racked up thousands of followers after his owner
set up social media accounts for him
Fans log on
daily to keep up-to-date with the elderly animal, who holds the
Guinness World Records title for the oldest living cat
Corduroy was born on August 1, 1989 and took the Guinness World Records title for the world's oldest cat in August last year
Owner
Ashley Reed Okura, 34, said: 'I set up Corduroy's Instagram account on
August 13 last year - the same day Guinness World Records graciously
announced his claim to the record of the oldest living cat.
'He also has Snapchat and Facebook and the reaction has been really positive.
'I do my best to update his followers and respond to messages and special requests.'
Corduroy lives with entrepreneur Mrs Reed Okura and her 37-year-old husband Aaron Masusru Okura, who owns a ranch restaurant.
Mrs
Reed Okura chose Corduroy, who is a half main coon cat, during a visit
to a shelter in a neighbouring town when she was just six years old.
Corduroy lives in Sisters, Oregon,
with entrepreneur Ashley Reed Okura and her 37-year-old husband Aaron
Masusru Okura, who owns a ranch restaurant
Aside from eating a special diet to protect his kidneys, Corduroy, pictured with Mrs Reed Okura, is like any other cat
The
pet was born on August 1, 1989 and first took the Guinness World
Records title in June 2014 before it was claimed by Tiffany Two, an
older cat from California.
When
she died in June last year, he was awarded the honour again and, aside
from eating a special low-protein diet to protect his kidneys, the
senior feline does not act his age.
Mrs
Reed Okura, who hopes to have children next year to provide Corduroy
with human siblings, said she believes the secret to her pet's longevity
is the time he spends outdoors - although she has begun to now
supervise him on walks because of eagles and coyote.
She explained: 'Corduroy certainly does not act his age - he still jumps onto counters and jumps down.
'Every
night, he glides up our flight of stairs and jumps onto our bed and
sleeps with us before waking us up every morning around 5am.
Mrs Reed Okura first adopted Corduroy when she was just seven year old. Pictured is the cat with his owner as a youngster
His owners say that the pet knows he
is special because he enjoys the attention he gets from friends and
family, and is patient with young visitors
'I strongly believe the key to his longevity is the fact we did not declaw him and allowed him to go outside.
'He
was able to defend himself and exercise his body and mind by hunting.
Corduroy still catches critters but is not as good as he once was,
thankfully.'
The
owner added that Corduroy has a mellow personality and loves to groom
himself, be petted and cuddled, take catnaps in the sun and play with
catnip-filled mice and a pheasant feather.
She
believes he knows he is special because he enjoys the attention he gets
from friends and family, and is patient with young visitors.
She added: 'It is an honour to have Corduroy in our life, I honestly don't remember much of my life without him.
'He is a wonderful companion and I hope to give him a happy and healthy life for many more years.'
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers told members of the Nebraska Legislature's Natural Resources Committee Thursday that he is a realist.
He
knew they were not going to send his bill (LB961) to the full
Legislature for debate, he said, because they already killed basically
the same bill that he introduced in 2015 and was carried over.
"I face reality and I know (what) the reality for this bill is in this committee," he said.
The bill, which has no priority designation, would terminate the
authority of the state Game and Parks Commission to establish hunting
seasons for mountain lions. There was a hunting season in 2014. There
has not been one since.
Chambers was particularly incensed that
in one of the lottery hunts in 2014 the hunter was allowed to use dogs
to tree a mountain lion and then kill it. That, he said, was immoral,
vicious and abusive.
Chambers said that in terms of mountain
lions being a threat to livestock, more of those -- sheep, goats and
calves -- are taken by federally protected eagles than mountain lions in
the state.
Patricia Fuller, who supported the bill, said the
safety of people and livestock is best ensured by education, conflict
prevention and emergency response plans that target problem cats.
"Random culling via sport hunting will not make Nebraskans safer," Fuller said.
Human tolerance for the lions is a major issue for conservation and is what's at issue, she said.
"Globally we are losing our large carnivores and
ironically they are vanishing just as we are learning about their
important ecological effects," she said.
Scientific research has
shown that healthy cougar populations help maintain healthy landscapes.
They play an important role in ecosystems, she said.
Melissa
Money Beecher said she appeared before the committee to represent normal
citizens who feel that killing the very few mountain lions in the state
is wrong.
"It just appalls me that we are at a point that we think killing
for fun is something that should be done, that people are getting
pleasure from killing mountain lions for fun," she said.
Tim
McCoy, Nebraska Game and Parks deputy director, opposed the bill. The
goal of the agency is to maintain the population in the long run, he
said.
No game species Game and Parks has managed has become
endangered, he said. Hunting plays a role in conservation because it
provides a lot of the funding support, he said.
The agency is in a
three-year research project studying mountain lion populations in the
state. McCoy said he expects new estimates to show the population is
larger than previous estimates.
Two main goals of the study are
to find out what the big cats are hunting and where the populations are.
The cost for a study of mountain lion scat is about $30,000, he said.
Collaring mountain lions costs about $60,000 a year.
The agency
has put GPS collars on nine cats, seven of which are females. That will
allow the agency to refine the habitat estimates. Six kittens have ear
tags.
BANGKOK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Thailand's controversial Tiger
Temple, dogged for years by talk that it supplies the black
market and mistreats its animals, is fighting to keep the big
cats after wildlife authorities rejected a bid to extend a zoo
license that expired in 2013.
The Buddhist temple, home to more than 100 tigers, has been
investigated for suspected links to wildlife trafficking and
wildlife activists have accused it of illegal breeding of the
animals.
Thai wildlife authorities have sent ten of the temple's
tigers to a wildlife sanctuary. But the temple, which bills itself as a wildlife sanctuary,
has denied links to illegal trafficking, and wants to hold on to
its tigers.
"This is their home. They are happy here," said Supitpong
Pakdijarung, an official of the foundation that runs Wat Pa
Luang Ta Bua, as the temple is known in Thailand. "The government has to find a budget to take care of them,"
Supitpong, the body's deputy chairman, told Reuters. "Here, the
money comes from donations. It is about giving and generosity."
Supitpong denies accusations that tigers bred at the temple
have been sold on the black market.
But the allegations of mistreatment of tigers had dented
Thailand's tourism image, said Teunchai Noochdumrong, director
of the country's Wildlife Conservation Office.
"The world is looking at us," he added. "The temple did not
allow officials to enforce the law. The temple has affected Thai
tourism."
In the past, attempts by wildlife officials to inspect the
tigers have been blocked by the temple and its abbots.
Thailand has long been a hub for illegal wildlife
trafficking, as a place where everything from exotic birds to
reptiles, and even bears, is for sale, driven by international
demand for exotic meats and rare pets.
Successive governments have launched campaigns to curb the
trade in illegal wildlife, but with varying degrees of success.
One visitor to the temple said the tigers should be left
there, rather than being confiscated.
"These animals are used to being around people," said
Victoria Carpenter, an American tourist.
(Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Luxury hotel for feline guests comes
complete with designer beds, Roberto Cavalli wallpaper and Swarovski
food bowls
Rooms are filled with purified air and have classical music played inside
The Wagington luxury pet hotel in Singapore offers rooms for £20 a night
Cat section is part of an extension to Singapore's first five-star dog hotel
By
Georgia Diebelius For Mailonline
Published:
24 February 2016
Cats
who are tired of the rat race in fast-paced Singapore have a new
high-end leisure option - a top-of-the-range hotel complete with
designer beds, Roberto Cavalli wallpaper and Swarovski crystal-studded
dining ware.
The
Purrfection Suites are the ultimate in luxury for fussy felines looking
for some quality downtime in the most upmarket surroundings.
Purified
air is pumped into every room, while some even boast classical music on
a Sensurround system to help stressed cats unwind.
The Purrfection Suites are the
ultimate in luxury for fussy felines looking for some quality downtime
in the most upmarket surroundings
Purified air is pumped into every
room, while some even boast classical music on a Sensurround system to
help stressed cats unwind
Apart from lodgings, the hotel offers
grooming and spa services at additional cost. It plans to introduce
'in-room dining' featuring home-cooked food
The
14-room extension - exclusively for cats - is part of The Wagington,
Singapore's first five-star dog hotel housed in a converted British
colonial-era bungalow in the heart of the city-state's diplomatic
quarter.
The
Wagington owner Estelle Tayler said that since the opening of the dog
hotel in 2014, cat owners have clamoured for a similar style of upmarket
lodging for their pets.
'We decided to make a wing dedicated just for our feline friends, with its own private entrance,' Tayler said.
The 14-room extension - exclusively for cats - is part of The Wagington, Singapore's first five-star dog hotel
The hotel is housed in a converted British colonial-era bungalow in the heart of the city-state's diplomatic quarter
Pets also have their own obituary section in the country's leading English language newspaper
Apart
from lodgings, the hotel offers grooming and spa services at additional
cost. It plans to introduce 'in-room dining' featuring home-cooked
food.
While
their feline friends remain mostly indoors, The Wagington's doggy
guests can frolic in the outdoor bone-shaped swimming pool and work up a
sweat on treadmills.
Pets are a pampered lot in Singapore, one of Asia's richest cities.
One
businessman offers weekend boat cruises for pets and their owners. Pets
also have their own obituary section in the country's leading English
language newspaper.
The Wagington owner Estelle Tayler
said that since the opening of the dog hotel in 2014, cat owners have
clamoured for a similar style of upmarket lodging for their pets
The top-of-the-range hotel complete with designer beds, Roberto Cavalli wallpaper and Swarovski crystal-studded dining ware
Room and board in the Purrfection Suites begins at Sg$39 (£20) per night.
Lawyer
Jolene Lim, 26, checked her seven-month-old Persian cat into a cabin
suite for five nights when she went on holiday this month.
She
said: 'For many people, their pets are like their children. I
definitely want to give her the best and whatever makes her comfortable.
'If I'm going off on a holiday and having fun, I want her to feel comfortable and have fun and be at ease as well.'
Room and board in the Purrfection Suites begins at Sg$39 ($20) per night per pet
A pet cat looks out from its Purrfection Suite at the Wagington luxury pet hotel in Singapore
Researchers
have kept an eye on tigers in Thailand’s Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife
Sanctuary with camera traps. The images show that the tiger population
there has remained steady, a new study finds.
Government of Thailand/WCS Thailand
The
wild tiger population is not doing so well. The big cats have been the
victims of habitat destruction and hunting. And those that are left
often struggle to find prey because those animals have been overhunted,
as well. In the last two centuries of so, tigers have lost 93 percent of
their historical range, and scientists estimate the species numbers
only 3,000 to 4,000 animals in the wild.
About 70 percent of the
tiger population can be found crammed into spaces that total just 7
percent of the animal’s current range, in places scattered across Asia.
One of those sites, the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary,
is in eastern Thailand. In 2006, officials working with the Wildlife
Conservation Society established a systematic and intense program of
foot patrols in the sanctuary to combat poaching of the tigers and their
prey. The efforts appear to be helping, concludes a studypublished February 5 in Conservation Biology.
Somphot
Duangchantrasiri of Thailand’s Department of National Parks and
colleagues monitored the sanctuary’s tiger population with camera traps from
2005 through 2012. Over that time, the team identified about two to
three dozen tigers every year. Using these sightings, the researchers
estimate that the park is home to more than 50 tigers, making this the
largest tiger population outside of the Indian subcontinent.
In 2006, armed foot patrols began monitoring the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary for wildlife poachers.Government of Thailand/WCS Thailand
The
researchers weren’t able to detect any huge increase in the sanctuary’s
tiger population following the implementation of the foot patrols. But
there was some evidence that the patrols are having a positive effect.
For one, the big cat population isn’t decreasing. And incidences of
poaching, of both tigers and their prey, appear to be declining at least
a little.But the study also shows why the Global Tiger Initiative’s
goal, set in 2011, of doubling the wild tiger population by 2022 is
nigh impossible. The Thailand tigers were given good protections in
2006, and within seven years, the population remained stable or perhaps
increased a little. But evidence from tiger reserves in Nepal and India
suggests it takes 10 to 15 years of protection for prey species to
recover and reach optimal densities. Only then can female tigers find
enough prey to start surviving on smaller territories, making room for
more females and more tigers. And that’s not a fast thing since tigers
have only two or three cubs at a time, and those young tigers won’t start reproducing for at least five years.
Protecting
tigers is necessary, and it may save the species. But don’t expect the
situation to improve any faster than biology will allow.
My
cat is something of a legend among people who have met him. He’s a
handsome fellow in a fur tuxedo, but that’s not what makes an
impression. It’s his meow – a raspy, baritone, reproachful mrow that you can experience for yourself, if your eardrums dare, in the video above (he’s cat No. 1).
He wields it around the clock, loudly. Visitors take video of the spectacle. Why, they ask, does Enzo meow like that?
It’s
a good question. Unlike dogs, which range in size from teacup
Chihuahuas to ursine Newfoundlands and usually have barks to match,
domestic cats’ body types don’t vary that much (with some exceptions –
ahem, Ulric). But some have meek mews and others fervent yowls, as seen in the video.
Although
there isn’t a lot of research on cat voices, meow experts – and there
are a few – say the explanation probably lies in the same complicated
mixture that leads to different human voices: Anatomy, such as body size
or length of vocal chords; gender; the amount of effort the cat puts
into talking; and no small dash of personality. Breed, such as it exists
in the average mutt cat, likely also plays a role.
More
clear is that although Enzo sounds like a professional scold, it seems
he might actually be happy. But we’ll come back to that.
First,
some basics on cat conversation – or vocalizations, as researchers refer
to the sounds they make. In 1944, researcher Mildred Moelk outlined
what remains the definitive – though still debated – cat lexicon. She
identified 16 sound patterns in three categories, and they include much
more than meows. There are the mouth-open, heavy breathing sounds, such
as hissing and shrieking, which cats use when they’re feeling
aggressive. There are sounds cats make with their mouths closed, such as
purrs and trills; those seem to indicate contentedness.
Cats
make more typical meow sounds by opening and closing their mouths, and
those sounds can be friendly or – shocker – demanding. But adult cats
meow only to humans, not to each other, probably because their mothers
stopped responding once they were weaned.
“Cats vocalize so well
to us because they’ve learned that we humans are really not all that on
the ball in figuring out what the tail swish means, what the ear twitch
means,” said Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society and author of “How to Speak Cat.”
But
people do respond to cat calls – with their own voices or their can
openers – in part because they are charmed by a sound that almost
resembles a language, said Nicholas Nicastro, who published two widely-cited studies on meows more than a decade ago. But it’s not one, he said.
“It’s
clearly not a situation where they’re saying specific things. I have to
emphasize that for some people, this is a radical idea. I get people
telling me all the time, ‘I can understand my cat,’ ” said Nicastro, who
studied whether people could listen to cat sounds and identify the
circumstances in which they were made. They could – but only slightly
better than half the time.
Cats are “trying to get what they want. But it’s only language in a very loose emotional sense,” he said.
Researchers
have reached only a couple of conclusions about cats’ voices, but
they’re interesting ones. One study of South Korean cats found that
domestic felines make shorter and higher-pitched meows than feral cats,
suggesting that socialization matters. African wild cats also make lower
meows that human subjects surveyed by Nicastro found to be “much less
pleasant to listen to” than those of their domesticated descendants, he
said. Nicastro – who is now a novelist
but says his meow research was his most attention-getting work –
theorized that sweet meows evolved over millenniums as people selected
house cats who made nicer noises.
So,
back to my cat. Maybe Enzo’s strange meow is due to his semi-feral
bloodline? His parents were street cats in Pakistan, after all. Or maybe
he has an accent, which has been detected in some other animals?
Nicastro said no, it’s probably just an individual thing. Weitzman
surmised that Enzo might be part Siamese, a breed known for being
chatty.
The latest researcher to tackle cat-speak is Susanne Schötz, an associate professor
of phonetics at Lund University in Sweden, who uses the acoustic
analysis tools she usually uses on people to study meows. She recently
embarked on a five-year study — titled “Meowsic”
— of how cats use melody and voice to communicate with humans and how
people use the same things to speak to cats. One thing she’s interested
in, for example, is how cats use rising and falling intonation to get
their points across. The goal: A “prosodic typology of cat
vocalizations.”
To help Schötz’s research (and ours), we sent
audio of Enzo and three other Washington Post journalists’ cats –
Sharkey, Roger and Randy — off to Scandinavia for her expert
interpretation.
For starters, she said, the cats didn’t just
meow. They made what Schötz calls “complex utterances.” And it is
probably no surprise that Schötz heard all four cats ask for something
at one point or another.
Sharkey, she said, may have held onto
his kitten-like mew to get attention or food. Roger has the most typical
meow, a rising and falling sound that indicates he might want food, or
company, or, she said, “to be let out in the garden.” (Unfortunately for
him, he is an indoor cat.) Schötz said Randy, another talkative feline,
brandished a rising, “question-like meow: ‘Could you please give me
some food?’ ”
Evidently Randy has very good manners.
Enzo,
I can attest, does not. But it turns out he’s not obnoxious at all to a
cat meow researcher. His meow, Schötz said, “is quite unusual,” making
him a very interesting subject.
“Enzo has a very beautiful
low-pitched voice,” she said, though she could not explain just why. But
to my surprise, she said he also employed a “complex vocalization
beginning in a chirr and ending in a meow. And these are usually happy
sounds.”
And
cat people know that when it comes to stroking, each cat seems to have
very specific preferences — and not doing it right can have some harsh consequences.
Koshka Schweig-PalombaSarah V. Schweig
For
instance, in my own household, Brioche prefers the facial area, while
Koshka prefers the tail base ... depending on the time of day and who is
petting her.
GiphyHuman beings, the most curious animal, decided to investigate where cats generally prefer being pet most.
Sarah Ellis, a feline behavior specialist at International Cat Care, and her colleagues at the University of Lincoln in the U.K.
were determined to get to the bottom of where cats like being pet most
and why. So they teamed up to delve into studies to help cat owners
understand.
Oddly enough, despite Koshka's preference, most negative reactions occurred when cats were stroked at the base of their tails.
And it also found that Brioche is definitely not alone in her enthusiasm for face-pets.
Two cats with two very different petting-style preferences.Sarah V. Schweig
The
study also found that being stroked by the humans whom cats live with
led to more negative responses than being stroked by an unfamiliar
person ... Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt? Perhaps cats know just
how to charm strangers?
GiphyThe
order of areas being stroked (head-to-base-of-tail versus
base-of-tail-to-head) appeared to have no influence over whether a cat
liked or didn't like the petting session.
Sarah V. Schweig
So, there's some order to the chaos, apparently — but not too much. And that's probably one of the reasons we love them.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that will make it illegal for people to own exotic cats.
Officials at a local wildlife sanctuary said it would be bad for some cats.
They said most people should not own big cats, but some big cats benefit from private ownership at sanctuaries.
Lawmakers are proposing changes that could force Oklahoma wildlife sanctuaries to shut down.
Workers at an exotic sanctuary in Broken Arrow said they are fighting the act that would end the ownership of exotic cats.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act was introduced into the US Senate this week.
The act would bring an end to the private ownership of exotic cats.
Officials from Safari’s Sanctuary said the act may
seem like a good thing, but it would force animals brought in from
captivity to go out into the wild where they cannot survive.
They also said animals from the sanctuary may be brought to small concrete cells the size of horse stalls.
They said while most people should not own exotic
pets, senators should reword the act to make it more of a responsible
owners act.
Wildlife officials load a tiger Tuesday onto a truck at the ‘Tiger Temple’ in Kanchanaburi province.
By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee
Staff Reporter
KANCHANABURI — A second group of five tigers were removed from a commercial wildlife temple yesterday. It
took about half an hour for veterinarians to sedate each tiger, conduct
a physical examination and load them for transport to a wildlife
research station in Ratchaburi province, temple lawyer Saiyood
Pengboonchoo said over the phone Wednesday morning.
That
makes for 10 tigers removed from the controversial temple, which takes
money from tourists to pose for photographs with the wild animals and
has been accused of selling tigers. Saiyood said, as negotiated with the
wildlife officials, five tigers will be removed from the temple each
month until all 147 tigers are gone.
The
temple has also said it is seeking permission to operate a zoo and
hopes to buy the tigers back from the government to keep there.
The
tigers moved Tuesday were in good health condition when they arrived at
their new home, according to Banpot Maleehuan, chief of the Khao
Prathap Chang Wildlife Breeding Research Station. However, they will
need to be closely monitored for the first seven to 10 days, Banpot
said.
The
next batch of tigers to be relocated from the temple will be partly
moved to the Khao Son Wildlife Breeding Research Station, also in
Ratchaburi province, Banpot said.
The first group of five tigers were removed overnight by wildlife officials Jan. 28.
In 2014, a trio of concerned doctors wrote a letter to the editor of Allergologia et Immunopathologia,
a Spanish scientific journal concerning allergies. They wanted to alert
the scientific community to a potential danger: lion allergies.
It all started when an 8-year-old boy came into their emergency department in Warsaw, Poland.
"He came along with his parents, directly from a circus show," the doctors wrote.
"About 30–45 min after the beginning of the show, he started
complaining of itching skin and a burning sensation in his eyes,
followed by rhinorrhea [runny nose]. The symptoms occurred a few minutes
after the first animals appeared on stage."
These doctors speculated that the child — who tested positive for cat
allergies — was also allergic to the cats in the circus. "The symptoms
suddenly arose when the lion-taming begun," the doctors wrote.
They were especially concerned that the same warnings that doctors
give about cat allergies were not extended to lions. "Recommendations
for avoiding [house cat] allergens do not include any restrictions of
contact with big cats in places like Wild Parks, Zoos or circus visits."
Perhaps they should.
If you're allergic to house cats, you're probably allergic to lions and tigers too
(Mathias Appel/Flickr)
Granted, if you're trapped in a room with one of these carnivorous animals, sneezing will be the least of your concerns.
Still, it's a good question: Why would someone allergic to house cats also be allergic to a lion?
Because all cats shed dander — a.k.a. dead skin cells.
With house cats, it's often a single protein in that dander, called "Fel d 1,"
that causes allergies and gets eyes watering. Fel d 1 is secreted in
cats' saliva and skin. When a cat grooms, cells containing Fel d 1
become airborne and will irritate those sensitive to it.
And at least one published paper suggests big-cat dander may also
contain Fel d 1, or a protein similar enough to provoke an allergic
reaction. (Admittedly, there's not a lot of research on this.)
The 1990 study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, tested the dander of eight species of felines: ocelots (obviously the coolest), pumas, servals, Siberian tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, and caracals (a.k.a. desert lynx).
The researchers then exposed 11 people with allergies to the exotic
cat dander. (An additional five people allergic to mites, five people
without any allergies, and four zoo employees who work with big cats
served as study controls.)
The conclusion: In general, those with cat allergies also showed an
allergic response to the big-cat dander, but it wasn't as strong.
(Participants showed the weakest reaction to the caracal, in case you're
worried about a zoo trip.)
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
The histamine release of one of the cat allergy patients per unit of dander.
The study also found that this mild big-cat allergy didn't usually
affect the patients' lives. Except, that is, for "the second patient,
[who] avoided visits to a zoo or circus show."
In 2006, armed foot patrols began monitoring the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary for wildlife poachers.Government of Thailand/WCS Thailand
Koshka Schweig-PalombaSarah V. Schweig
GiphyHuman beings, the most curious animal, decided to investigate where cats generally prefer being pet most.
Image modified from: www.pet-happy.com
Giphy
Image modified from: www.pet-happy.com
Two cats with two very different petting-style preferences.Sarah V. Schweig
GiphyThe
order of areas being stroked (head-to-base-of-tail versus
base-of-tail-to-head) appeared to have no influence over whether a cat
liked or didn't like the petting session.
Sarah V. Schweig
GiphyRead more about cats and their mysterious and amazing qualities here.
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology