If child cruelty crimes have doubled in England over five years, what chance for the domestic cat?

In England, child cruelty crimes have doubled in the past five years and I suspect there may be an increase in neglect of companion animals too

NEWS AND OPINION: I have read a rather shocking report in The Times this morning (December 7, 2023). The article tells us that “child cruelty rates have doubled in five years, research has shown”. The information relates to England. My argument is that the domestic cat and the human child are in similar relationships …

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Friendliness in cats is inherited

When dad saw his kitten for the first time

There are two important issues concerning domestic cat character: friendliness and socialisation. They do overlap but they are distinct. Whereas socialisation ‘acclimatises’ the kitten to the presence of humans and dampens down a cat’s fear of humans, friendliness can be inherited, and it is a personality trait which makes the kitten/adult bolder and more …

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Female, domestic stray cat has a kitten and knows she needs a human caregiver and asks

Momma cat with kitten asks for a caregiver

There is only one way to interpret the behaviour of this stray, female domestic cat who leads the video maker on a rainy day towards a lobby area of what appears to be an apartment block where she has her kitten. How else can you interpret this but to say that she wants and …

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Why is my adult male cat aggressively licking my new male kitten?

Male cat involved in committed parenting which is unusual

This is a question posed by a social media user accompanying a video of a beautiful ginger tabby cat enthusiastically licking a young kitten who is also a ginger tabby cat. The questioner does not explain if the kitten is the offspring of the male cat. It looks certain that they are. The interesting …

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Picture of rescue dog parenting and nurturing abandoned and rescued kittens

Picture of rescue dog parenting and nurturing abandoned and rescued kittens

The picture, which I think is an excellent example of this genre of photograph, is of an ex-Battersea rescue dog, Bertie, parenting and nurturing kittens that were abandoned on the roadside and rescued when they were a mere few weeks old. They were taken in by a member of Battersea’s foster staff. Her dog, …

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