Why owners spend more on their dogs than cats: they want to be masters not servants

Dog servants and cat masters

The old adage: dogs are servants to humans and humans are servants to cats explains why people spend more on dogs than cats. This is an interesting article on the theconversation.com website which helps explain why the veterinary bills for dogs is much higher than that for cats in America. This has been put …

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Sport hunting of African lions has weakened them by restricting their genetic diversity

Lion roar

A study lead by a conservation biologist at the Zoological Society of London, Simon Dures, has produced compelling but not conclusive evidence that sport hunting of African lions has made them physically less strong than they were 100 years ago because it has made lions’ genetic makeup less diverse. “We show that the genetic …

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Amish and Hutterite study tells us that cats and dogs help protect people against allergens

The study which looked at the prevalence of allergy among two American communities, the Amish and the Hutterite, tells us that keeping cats and dogs, including indoors, helps to protect schoolchildren from allergens including those causing asthma. The Amish are in Indiana and the Hutterite reside in South Dakota. This is an interesting study …

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Feral Cats Are Healthier and Live Longer Than Thought

Bald eagle eats black cat in middle of town

An extensive study published on September 13, 2013 on Plos One regarding the feral and stray cats of greater Chicago indicated to the researchers that feral cats are healthier and survive for longer than they had thought. The study came up with some interesting findings. Note: As you can see this was published getting …

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How much does letting domestic cats go outside affect wildlife conservation?

Domestic cat predation

There are many cat owners, some of whom are my online friends, who strongly support keeping cats inside all the time. This article is not a criticism of them because I understand the motivation to keep cats inside. It is meant to be a fairly cold, scientific discussion about cats and conservation as at …

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Inconclusive study does not find Toxoplasma gondii infection causes schizophrenia in people

Toxoplasma gondii

An inconclusive study does not find Toxoplasma gondii infection causes schizophrenia as is reported on many websites this morning. The online newspapers and even online science journals are misrepresenting the conclusions of another study which seeks to find a link between the parasitic protozoan toxoplasma gondii and psychiatric disorders in people. For instance, IFL …

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Cats in boxes: Study shows that cats given boxes are less stressed

Christmas is a fun time of the year for our cats. A major reason is cats know they’ll be getting the best gift of all from their human servant: a new box! Several years ago researchers from the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) conducted a study which was published in the journal Applied Animal …

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