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Showing posts from November, 2022

The cat toy that has 16,400 perfect reviews (none from the UK!)

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Strangely, this well-known cat toy, "Electric Flopping Fish, Moving Cat Kicker Fish Toy", has no reviews from the UK despite being for sale on the UK version of Amazon. The toy has 27,372 reviews of which around 16,400 are 5-star ratings. Overall, it gets 4.1 out of 5. But it is a best seller and is currently out of stock! Although I believe the manufacturer is introducing a new model which may account for lack of stock. Reviews and none from UK. Please click on the link to see the UK version. This is an Amazon link by the way. Flopping fish cat toy . So, what's so good about it. It moves! The activity stimulates the cat to regard the toy as a genuine struggling fish, a prey animal. Cats like the struggle and try and subdue it. Play is hunting for a cat as you know. They want to kill the toy. Toys that can be 'killed' are the best. This means destructible toys! This one isn't but it can probably be damaged. The weird aspect of the large number of reviews is th

Can cats hear bats?

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Can domestic cats allowed outside hear bats. The answer according to a specialist bat group in Essex, UK is that they can. They say that cats can hear most bats' calls . And it seems that because they are able to pick up their sounds they may sit on a wall or a roof beneath a bat roost and catch them when they emerge which will be between dusk and dawn. The hearing range of the cat for sounds of 70 dB SPL extends from 48 Hz to 85 kHz. Bat calls can range from 9 kHz to 200 kHz. Humans can hear from 20 Hz to 15-20 kHz depending on age The question in the title occurred to me because we know that domestic cats have an extended hearing range to a much higher frequency than that which is afforded humans. It therefore seemed natural to me that they might be able to hear the high frequency echolocation sounds emitted by bats. Endangered bat attacked by cat in New Zealand but made a full recovery remarkably (being fed a grub). Image: Peter Drury. This is another problem for bats because th

Tip that should encourage your cat to voluntarily jump off your lap

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This is a rather strange tip, and I am not entirely sure that it will work every time. And, in any case, who wants their cat to jump off their lap? Most cat owners like their cat on their lap.  But sometimes there is a limit to how long you'd like your beloved, darling cat to stay on your lap because (1) your legs are seizing up at the knee joint (2) you are reading a broadsheet newspaper and it is almost impossible to do this when your cat is on your lap (3) you need to get up to go to the bathroom or make some tea or get a beer etc. Cat comfortable on a warm lap. This is a stock image as I don't have a photo of my cat on my lap while I am sitting in my armchair. Image: Pixabay. You can delicately push him off your lap if you like. That'll work but I don't like doing that because I don't want my cat to get the impression that I want him off my lap. I like him on my lap, and he comes on my call.  Sometimes cats get used to signals which mean that their caregiver is

Two celebrities who promote an unhealthy cat breed

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Welfare charity Cats Protection wants to stop the bleeding of Scottish Fold cats. The ever popular and admired Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran both live with Scottish Fold cats. It is unfortunate and perhaps unintentional that these two very high-profile celebrities decided to adopt a Scottish Fold cat. Perhaps at the time they didn't know that the genetic mutation which creates the cute face because the ears are flattened to the skull can also cripple the cats because it affects the cartilage in the ear flaps and can also affect the cartilage of the joints. They will have learned about this. It may be an issue for them both but once you create a massive following for your cats you can't surrender them to a shelter! 😎. RELATED:  Scottish Fold cats health problems. Beware . Ed Sheeran and his Scottish Fold, Calippo. Photo: Instagram. Cats Protection are unhappy, the Mail on Sunday reports, that A-listers are perhaps innocently promoting this breed which the Germans would say is the

Cats don't strip their self-regulating biome from their skin. Humans shouldn't either.

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When domestic cats clean themselves, they use their tongue and saliva. That's about it except that they do it fastidiously and often. Humans, normally shower once a day. That means using lots of water and soap which removes the self-regulating biome on the skin. The nature.com website says this about the human skin biome: "Our skin is home to millions of bacteria, fungi and viruses that compose the skin microbiota. Similar to those in our gut, skin microorganisms have essential roles in the protection against invading pathogens, the education of our immune system and the breakdown of natural products." It is a useful part of human anatomy, and it serves a purpose. For a high percentage of people there is no need to wash the entire body with soap and water daily.  We might learn from domestic cats. Image: MikeB Humans do it to feel better and to prevent body odour which is social unacceptable but there is no health benefit and a possible health problem. Professor Sally Blo

Scottish wildcats and Neanderthals have this in common. Sex with the wrong species.

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What could Scottish wildcats and Neanderthals possibly have in common? Sex! Both are extinct although some experts like to think that the Scottish wildcat is extant (meaning not extinct). But I say that it is extinct because over centuries they have been breeding with feral and domestic cats . And in doing so they created hybrids.  All the offspring of these matings between purebred Scottish wildcats and domestic cats were and are hybrids. There are non-purebred Scottish wildcats. Neanderthals and Scottish wildcats have something in common. Sex with the wrong species. Image: MikeB based on images in the public domain (left) and BANG Showbiz (right). Therefore, they are not Scottish wildcats. And therefore, the Scottish wildcat is extinct because the hybrids that you see in Scotland, although they look like Scottish wildcats, are not. The reason why the Scottish wildcats mated with domestic and feral cats is because of sex. They wanted to procreate, and they were unfussy. However, Neand

It is not babytalk that makes a cat listen but the caregiver's voice

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Some journalists are misinterpreting a recent study which said that when a cat's owner uses baby talk their cat listens to them, but their cat won't listen to other people. That's a misinterpretation of the results of the study. It just so happens that a lot of cat caregivers (usually women) use a baby voice when talking to their cat. They do this because they see their cat as a child or toddler or even a baby. They humanise their cat. In more complicated English language, they 'anthropomorphise' their cat and interacting with them as toddlers. Taylor Swift sees her cats as children. I bet she uses baby talk when communicating with them. Image: Instagram. The classic example is Taylor Swift's relationships with her cats . It is fine to talk to your cat as if they are a baby or a toddler provided, at all times, you understand that your cat is not a toddler! If you expect your cat to behave like a toddler or a baby, you will be disappointed and that will strain th