High rise falls by pet cats and health consequences

A study looked at the injuries sustained by domestic cats under what is called 'high-rise syndrome' i.e. falling from an apartment block usually. I don't have the distances fallen but there is an optimum height at which the cat suffers the least injuries because the cat has the time to fan out their limbs flying squirrel style and slow their descent plus stabilise their body and land on their feet.

RELATED: Highest A Cat Has Fallen And Survived.

Cat falling as the building was on fire. Image: Screenshot.

Here are the summarised findings:

• 132 cats were studied over 5 months
• The average age of the cats was 2.7 years. Comment: young cats which points to reckless behaviour by the cats and perhaps less than optimum concern or concentration by the cat owner.
• 90% of the cats suffered some type of thoracic trauma (the thorax area of the cat's body: the chest).
• 68% suffered pulmonary contusions (an injury to the lung parenchyma - portion of the lungs involved in gas exchange - in the absence of laceration to lung tissue or any vascular structures).
• 63% had pneumothorax (the presence of air or gas in the cavity between the lungs and the chest wall, causing collapse of the lung.)
• 55% had abnormal breathing.
• 57% suffered injury to the face (facial trauma).
• 39% suffered limb fractures.
• 24% were in shock.
• 18% had 'traumatic luxations'. I believe this to mean dislocations of joints.
• 17% suffered hard palate fractures inside the mouth.
• 17% were hypothermic.
• 17% had dental fractures (damaged teeth).
• 37% required emergency vet treatment.
• 30% need non-urgent treatment.
• 30% were observed and did not need treatment.
• 90% of the cats survived
• 10% died.

The study: Whitney WO, Mehlhaff CJ. High-rise syndrome in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 1987 Dec;191(11):1399-1403. PMID: 3692980.

Melbourne man attacks 2 cats while walking his dog and it's the Australian government's fault

NEWS AND COMMENT-MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: A man attacked 2 cats while walking his dog in Melbourne last Wednesday. CCTV footage shows him kicking the two cats and encouraging his dog to chase one. One of the cats is 15-years-old and has suffered a serious leg injury which is ongoing. Victoria police have asked anyone with relevant information to contact Crime Stoppers. I'm going to blame the Australian government for this or for contributing to it.

This man attacked 2 cats wantonly without cause. It was a malicious and cruel attack. Photo: Victoria police.

For years, now, the Australian federal government and state governments have railed against feral cats and stray cats. They have basically indoctrinated the public into believing that any cat wandering around a public space, be it the countryside or suburbia, is a pest. They have consistently portrayed feral cats as pests and vermin.

Time and time again we've seen stories of state authorities devising schemes to kill feral cats. Intelligent scientists have used their best efforts to devise clever ways to poison cats. It's all an attempt to protect their native species which are being killed faster by humans than by feral cats by the way.

And the problem is this: when you constantly portray an animal species as vermin, you're going to get people like this uncouth man taking the opportunity to seriously injure a domestic cat whose been let outside to wander around suburbia.

RELATED: Attitude of Australian state governments towards feral cats indirectly promotes cat cruelty as evidenced in Perth.

We know how the public can be indoctrinated into believing whatever you want them to believe given enough time. I predicted this years ago (see link above). Clearly, you don't need to be indoctrinated by the government to hate cats. This man might simply hate them for all kinds of reasons. However, if you are ambivalent about the role of domestic cats and feral cats in the lives of Australians, then some gullible people will be susceptible to the indoctrination of their governments.

I think that it is about time the authorities started to think about how to deal with feral cats humanely. I've hammered on about this for years and they simply refuse to treat stray and feral cats humanely. They encourage people to shoot feral cats. But how do you know the difference between a feral cat and a domestic cat at 50 yards, for certain? What is certain is that some domestic cats are being killed by people who are eager to kill feral cats.

In this instance, and unidentified man was walking his dog on Belloza Way in Mernda, Melbourne at around 4:50 PM last Wednesday. The man kicked a black-and-white cat and encouraged his dog to chase him/her. The police also said that he picked up a piece of wood and attacked another cat. The elderly ginger cat was severely injured.

The man is described as Caucasian, about 185 cm tall of slim build and with dark hair. At the time he was wearing blue shoes, blue mid-length socks, black shorts, black T-shirt, black watch, black sunglasses and his mind is black to 😢! This is a cruel man with a problem and as a consequence society has a problem with him. If you have relevant information, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.

Note: there is a video of the incident. I can't watch it but if you want to see please go to the Daily Mail website by clicking this link.

Chancellor of the Exchequer's Cat Freya Hit by Car

It was totally expected. Very recently, Freya has been hit by car because she wanders all over Central London in one of the areas where the traffic is at its heaviest and let's not forget that traffic is heavy anywhere in London a lot of the time.

Freya

So we have to conclude that George Osborne, the current chancellor of the exchequer, and his wife are irresponsible cat owners because they let their cat wander all over the most dangerous place for a cat on earth, practically. Let's also not forget that trauma - and by trauma I mean being hit by a car on a road - is one of the major causes of death of the domestic cat in the world today.

Any decent cat caretaker knows that they must supervise their cat if he or she goes outside in an area where there is traffic. That's common sense. Anybody knows that but apparently George Osborne and his wife who are both highly educated don't realise it or they have some sort of intransigent, unreasonably idea that a domestic cat should be allowed to wander wherever he/she likes.

This is clearly a ridiculous idea if you live in the middle of London which is exactly where the Chancellor of the Exchequer lives. George Osborne and his family are setting a deplorable example on how to look after a domestic cat but when the news media reports this story they appear to make no reference to that important fact.

There are places where a certain sort of cat can go outside safely but some cats like to wander far and wide and Freya is one of those cats. She has a history of wandering long distances over central London.

That might be all right if George Osborne lived in the country but even then I wouldn't allow it myself because you just do not know what hazards are awaiting your cat. I think it is time that somebody other than me criticises George Osborne and his wife for this sort of behaviour. It simply is not good enough.

Apparently, although Freya has been hit by a car very recently and she has been seen by a veterinarian, she appears to be all right as far as I know but let's wait and see what the follow-up news on this.

As far as I'm concerned it is only a matter of time before Freya is killed on the roads of London and if she is not it will be a matter of extreme good fortune.

Tilting Windows Are A Danger To Cats

Tilting Windows Are A Danger To Cats - a cross post to spread the word.

I'll be honest and say that I'm not completely sure how tilting windows hurt and kill cats but they do. I'll have a guess at how it happens.  A cat uses the window as a means to go outside and come back inside.  On returning the cat jumps onto the window and it swings upwards and the cat ends up near the edge of the window where she becomes trapped between the tilting window and the window frame.

The reason why a cat might jump onto the window itself rather than the windowsill is because a tilting window can be in a horizontal position and provide a flat surface.  A cat will not realise that this flat surface is not solid.  Instead it is like a seesaw.  When the cat jumps onto the flat surface the window rapidly swings upwards at one end and somehow the cat finds herself at the edge of the window at which point the window PVC edge of the window slams down onto her as she is trapped against the window frame.

Picture by Ruth aka Kattaddorra

The picture above shows one such window where a cat was trapped and her back was broken by the window.  The cat was rescued by the RSPCA but could not be saved and was euthanised.  It happened in the UK where tilting windows are quite commonplace particularly for double glazed windows.

If you click on the link at the top of the page you go to another page on the same subject written by Ruth who was the person who created the image on this page and who has experienced at first hand the tragedy of a cat being trapped in the tooting window.  The window was not hers.  The accident happened at a neighbour's home.

Cats can also be trapped in doors that are slammed shut. A cat runs through a door and at the same time the owner slams the door shut accidentally trapping her cat.

Cats in Animal Testing

"Latest figures show Animal Testing is up overall by 3.2% to 12.1 million in 2005. This includes 3,600 Cats. This is despite European Commission and member state's individual promises to reduce and replace the use of animals in experiments."

This comes from an email circulated amongst a Yahoo Group. I am not sure if this relates to Europe or worldwide. Either way it's a large figure. Animal testing has to be fundamentally wrong.

I know it can be argued that for certain kinds of research it could be justified. Research into life saving drugs being an example. However, even for this kind of research it presupposes that we (as human animals) are more important and more valuable than other animals, which justifies killing other animals to save the lives of human animals. That just doesn't sound correct to me.

But it does sound correct to many people. The world is still pretty basic in its thinking. In 1000 years we will look back at 2007 and think that we were barbaric just as we do now we we look back 1000 years.

All animals are equal. All have a value and all should be respected in exactly the same way.

If we as humans want to prolong our lives through drugs that need to be tested lets do the tests on ourselves or in a purely scientific way.

If there is an argument at least that testing on animals might be justifiable under certain circumstances, if it is for the improvement of cosmetics it is frankly totally immoral and it makes me sick to think about it.

"CoverGirl is one of the largest U.S. brands to conduct animal testing but Procter & Gamble contends that they have discontinued animal testing with respect to about 80% of their products worldwide." (Wikipedia - this is not copyright material).

Shame on them, I say. Those of us in Europe should write to out MEPs in http://www.europarl.europa.eu. I know this takes time and it's a pain and we think it won't do any good. (I've just done this, its easy to do).

Here are two quotes from the great man that may encourage you:

In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

Mahatma Gandhi

These saying inspire me to do the right thing. What about the 3,600 cats that were used for testing purposes? Apparently Iams (the pet food manufacturer) and Hills test on cats and dogs and cause suffering to these animals. Read more about this here

We just don't think about animal testing. It's hidden away. We are too busy; too self concerned. We have to be to survive. We should though give back a bit if we can. We hold the lives of cats in our hands. We have an obligation to act responsibly.

Cats domesticated themselves some 9,500 years ago. We accepted that. We have a "social contract". This means an unwritten contract implied from actions that governs how we treat each other. We are in breach of that contract and we should be ashamed.

Photograph reproduced under CC copyright Daveybot (flickr)
Figures from an email from Tony on Yahoo Group Benagal L
Ghandi quote from All Great Quotes

Injured cat

Photograph reproduced under Creative Commons credit: scazza (Flickr)

My cat Binnie Do was injured once. The fact is that you might not be sure that your cat is injured or in pain. A sign that she is in pain is if she runs away and hides in a dark spot out of the way. She wants to be left alone. The usual places are under furniture if indoors and under a bush, for example, if outside.

Provided you're cat gives clear indications that she is alright at a fundamentally level then she is best left alone. For example, you may know why your cat is in pain (post operation). Make sure there is water and a litter tray near by and that she has peace and quiet for up to 24 hours.

If your cat stays put for longer you would need to take action and check her over. That would mean some upset, but needs must.

What should you do if your cat shows signs of injury? He or she will want, as mentioned to hide, and she probably be frightened. The natural reaction for your cat under these circumstances is to be aggressive even towards people she knows ( and are trying to help). Take appropriate care to protect yourself (gloves and long sleeved top).

To both protect yourself and your cat from further injury (and to better manage the situation) you will need to secure your cat. No-one I know has a suitable basket for this purpose so the best thing is to wrap your cat in a towel to the extent that movement is prevented (see picture - although this is a cat that is resting after treatment as I understand it).

You can then safely transport her to the vet as quickly as possible. If she is bleeding you will need to limit the flow of blood.

This can be done by by applying pressure to the area. If it is suitable, a pressure bandage can be used (e.g. for a leg). Otherwise applying pressure by hand is the next best thing.

Injuries such as suspected broken bones (feet and legs), burns and eyes (through a fight or if there is something in it) are best dealt with by a vet as soon as possible.

Transportation may be necessary as described above if she is in pain.

China and lead

Here's something that I picked up on Yahoo Groups. You have probably heard about children's toys made in China that have high levels of toxic material such as lead in them. They have been removed from shops.

It occurred to a person called Mike L on a Yahoo Group that cat bowls made in China may have similar defects. I am sure that there are feeding bowls out there in the UK or USA that are made in China. It would seem possible therefore that some may be painted. Some paint made in China has high levels of lead in it.

Lead in paint makes it more durable. In fact lead was routinely used in paint made in Western countries until it was realized that it was dangerous in much the same way that lead in petrol (gas) is now known to damage children (hence lead free petrol).

It's just that China is behind the West in certain areas. If I were buying a cat's feeding bowl that was made of metal and painted I would check if it was made in China and if so not buy it.