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July 29, 2005
Friday Cat Blogging
Update: "
VERGENNES, Vt. - A worker in the returns department at Country Home Products got a return and a surprise when he opened a brush trimmer sent back from South Carolina. Inside the box was the trimmer - and five kittens. The kittens survived the bumpy and hot two-day trip to Vermont and are doing fine.
Update: Related to cats and sweets as stated below, Pharyngula has a post on the same subject that goes into much more detail. It's very interested. I highly recommend reading it.
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Sorry, no pictures today, but I found some tidbits of interesting cat news.
Want to know why cats are such finicky eaters? It might be due to a gene that prevents them from tasting sweets. Nearly every mammal on earth can taste sweetness in varying degrees, but apparently not cats. Cats sense of taste may have led it to be carnivorous.
The stereotypical crazy cat lady is usually a woman over 60 who lives alone and is socially isolated. The isolation tends to be the result of, and not the cause of, the cat hoarding. There are men who hoard cats, but most often it is elderly women.
Posted on July 29, 2005 at 12:23 PM | Permalink
Comments
"They found that two-thirds of the obsessive collectors were women and that 70 percent were single.
One member of the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium points out that women are also more likely to become veterinarians and less likely to perform acts of animal cruelty."
Subsequent research will probably show it's the maternal instinct run amuck.
I hate to say it but we're going to be facing this a LOT more in the future at least where I live. None of these women around here seem to be having kids. I mean what's going to happen to that almost 50% of professional women that Sylvia Hewlitt found that didn't have any kids?
I foresee a LOT of cats in their future.
Well I guess it could be worse. Generally the male equivalent of those women would be committing serial murders by now. So compared to them, I guess women hoarding cats is not that bad.
This could even have been the impetus behind that whole witchcraft business in Salem now that I think of it. Old women living alone and having a lot of cats as surrogate children to keep them company.
I think humane societies should start programs to help these women get some vets to give them discounted care for their pets. Maybe spade them so they don't have kittens to limit the numbers. It's obviously not the worse thing people can do with their time.
Posted by: NYMOM at Jul 29, 2005 7:59:04 PM
Here's more on kitties and candy.
Posted by: PZ Myers at Jul 29, 2005 8:44:53 PM
Well that was very interesting. So even our ordinary domestic cats have the same genetic sequence as tigers and cheetahs? I think I read the same thing once about dogs with wolves.
So even a miniature poodle is related to a wolf. Hard to believe, but true.
Also I had a cat once with a sweet tooth. Someone gave me a carrot cake soaked with rum for Christmas. It was gift wrapped so I put it on my table planning on having a piece when I came back after visiting some relatives for Christmas. Well when I came back that wrapping paper was ripped to shreds and the only thing left of that rum soaked cake was a few crumbs.
That cat had eaten the WHOLE cake. AND I had that lady's cakes before and her cake was very sweet. I was so aggravated I didn't even notice if he was drunk from the rum but I suspect he was.
Posted by: NYMOM at Jul 29, 2005 8:56:59 PM
I'm an animal lover in general so I don't mind cats.
But I really love my dog. She's become like my third child. When I'm at the computer she curls up at my feet. When I'm in the kitchen she lingers at the threshold waiting for me to drop something so she can snatch it up..all the while wagging her tail in that dog way that makes me want to drop something else. She's a wonderful friend.
Posted by: carla at Jul 29, 2005 10:26:06 PM
That was a great post, PZ. I had never before heard that cats cannot taste sweets. Your post explained why very, very well.
Posted by: The Countess at Jul 30, 2005 10:15:39 AM
