What affects us affects cats
Cats could pass on bovine TB (tuberculosis) to people, we are told. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection of the lungs. There are two aspects to this story that stand out: Bovine TB is in the news in the UK because there is shortly to be a massive badger cull to try and prevent it …
This is a carefully produced prezi on the prevention of human toxoplasmosis. A “prezi”, for people unfamiliar with the word, is a modern and more flexible version of the usual presentation using online software. I think it is an ideal way to present information about a tricky topic, which is often presented by scientists …
The continued stories in online newspapers about the Toxoplasma gondii parasite and how it can infect people and travel to the brain is harmful to the image of domestic cats. The problem is that the whole thing is being exaggerated and misrepresented. They keep chewing on the same thing, putting a new spin on …
This is a slightly disturbing story about a substance called an enyme that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics. In other words it is a sort of superbug maker. I feel that this piece of news picked up by Google News is unfair on the domestic cat. This mysterious substance is believed to originate in …
This story won’t go away and I believe it is a serious threat to the welfare of the domestic cat in the USA and Europe. It may have long lasting repercussions on the level of cat relinquishments. It may also result in the people who are best placed to be cat caretakers doing without …
It is a subtle matter, almost imperceptible but it is there. Headlines to online new articles can be biased against the cat. That is unfair on the domestic cat. The domestic cat gets a rough deal from the press actually. Not all stories are bad for the image of the domestic cat, obviously, but …
This is a background problem for the domestic and feral cat. I don’t like overt or over zealous political correctness but sometimes we have to watch how we say things. We can gradually erode the status of something by constantly referring to it in terms that are slightly derogatory. The feral cat and to …
The title is a bit of a joke because I think the story behind it is a bit of a joke too. Perhaps it is meant to be a sort of spoof but that does not seem to be the case. Jaroslav Flegr is said to be ‘no kook’ meaning he is not mad, …
