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Today's Poll!How a cat parasite can affect your brain
Secreted substance reduces fear, increases risk-taking
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Earlier this year researchers writing in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggested a parasite associated with cats might raise the suicide risk of women who live with the animals as pets.
The parasite, the researchers found, was spread through contact with cat feces as well as eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetable. Now, in a follow-up, Swedish researchers believe they know how the parasite enters the brain and influences the behavior of its victim.
“We believe that this knowledge may be important for the further understanding of complex interactions in some major public health issues, that modern science still hasn't been able to explain fully", said Antonio Barragan, researcher at the Center for Infectious Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control. "At the same time, it's important to emphasize that humans have lived with this parasite for many millennia, so today's carriers of Toxoplasma need not be particularly worried."
Nothing new
In other words, the parasite is widespread and has been for a long time. Yes, cleaning a cat's litter box may bring you in contact with it but that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to harm yourself.
The current study, which is published in the scientific journal PLoS Pathogens, suggests between 30 and 50 per cent of the global population is infected. The infection is also found in animals -- especially domestic cats.
People contract the parasite mostly by eating the poorly cooked meat from infected animals or through close-up contact with cats. The infection causes mild flu-like symptoms in adults and otherwise healthy people before entering a chronic and dormant phase, which has previously been regarded as symptom-free.
It is, however, known that toxoplasmosis in the brain can be fatal in people with depleted immune defense and in fetuses, which can be infected through the mother. Because of this risk, pregnant women are recommended to avoid contact with cat litter boxes.
Even dangerous while dormant
Other studies have shown that the toxoplasmosis parasite can affect the victim even during the dormant phase. It has, for example, already been observed that rats become unafraid of cats and even attracted by their scent, which makes them easy prey. And here it gets a little creepy -- almost like a science fiction movie.
Some scientists believe this is the parasite's way of assuring its survival and propagation, since the consumed rat then infects the cat, which through its feces can infect the food that other rats might then proceed to eat. A number of studies also confirm that mental diseases like schizophrenia, depression and anxiety syndrome are more common in people with toxoplasmosis, while others suggest that toxoplasmosis can influence how extroverted, aggressive or risk-inclined an individual's behavior is.
"We've not looked at behavioral changes in people infected with toxoplasma, as that's been dealt with by previous studies," Barragan said. "Instead, we've shown for the first time how the parasite behaves in the body of its host, by which I mean how it enters the brain and manipulates the host by taking over one of the brain's neurotransmitters."
Reduces fear
In one laboratory experiment, human cells infected with toxoplasma secreted what's known as a “signal substance.” Among its effects is reducing the sensation of fear and anxiety. It's similar to the effects seen in people with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar diseases, anxiety syndrome and other mental diseases.
Battagan says the findings convince him that scientists should closely study the link the toxoplasmosis parasite and major public health threats.
Marry Me
Comments
eileen10 5 months, 1 week ago
Glad I have a dog.
itsjustme 5 months, 1 week ago
Man that's why i want to kill my self after i change my cat's litter box. But i'm a guy.
asb 5 months, 1 week ago
Hey, if you had Eileen10's dog, your cat's litterbox would magically clean itself . . . aarrrggghhhh
eileen10 5 months, 1 week ago
Ha Ha smart butt. He doesn't eat cat poop. Just bugs and maybe a chunk of flesh if he doesn't like someone. Oops. He did eat cat poop quite awhile ago. What can I say. He's a dork.
JCLifer 5 months, 1 week ago
Is he suicidal from eating cat scat?
eileen10 5 months, 1 week ago
Not yet but anyway you look at it he's a screwball.
eileen10 5 months, 1 week ago
Having a dog that runs out the door with my underwear, sniffs peoples butts and thinks my arm is a dog ...There outta be a law!!
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
They make a grievous error every time they mention that humans get it from meats and vegetables on a person's plate while failing to mention that the ONLY way those herbivore meats and vegetables can contain the parasite are from Toxoplasma gondii oocysts shed directly by cats that roam around stockyards, farms, ranches, and gardens. Herbivores (and other non-flesh-eating animals, such as most birds and most rodents) cannot contract this parasite in any other way other than from free-roaming cats spreading their feces everywhere. A simple washing of your hands and garden vegetables is of no use either because the oocysts even survive a washing in bleach. They are also destroying rare and endangered marine-mammals along all coastlines from run-off from the land carrying this cat-parasite's oocysts, surviving even in saltwater. Also contrary to many cat-lovers' oft-spewed lies, cats can become reinfected with their own parasite many many times during their lives. Spreading millions of new oocysts each time which survive for over a year in any water or soils where a cat has defecated.
If you want to look for a cause, look no further than your nearest cat-lover and cat-supporter.
Without the domesticated cat species this parasite will cease to exist to the food-chain of humans. The cat is this parasite's primary host animal that goes on to infect all other animals -- and then humans.
Paroquet 5 months ago
You missed this part of the article, didn't ya?
"as well as eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetable [sic]]."
What do you know about furunculosis? I'll give you a hint; you can get it from touching dirt, or having dirt touch you. Or playing with any critter whose paws, talons, claws, toes, fingers, what have you, that come in contact with soil. Anytime, anywhere. Heck, the sirens went off at bush stadium in response to a dust storm a few years back on account the CBW detector found too much Aeromonas salmonicida (that's what causes furunculosis) in the airborn dust.
Next up? Histoplasmosis. Google it. You get it from bird poo. Hanta virus from mouse dung. Oh, and mice are also a major vector for lyme's disease.
Shall we cover armadillos and leprosy next? They can be reservoirs for it.
Tapeworm in your eyeball? Surface waters (streams, rivers, lakes) contaminated with hog waste.
Fun stuff, eh? ;-}
Word to the wise? Never, NEVER, take parasitology or study zoonotics. You'll sleep better.
Paroquet 5 months ago
Oh, Nature Advocate, I must go on!
Reptiles, all of them, salmonella. And did you know most of the diseases contracted by humans are spread by (gasp!) HUMANS!
As side note, my family and I do share our home with several cats, some parrots, a lizard, an aquatic turtle, a bunch of fish, plants planted in dirt, a dog, and surprisingly, spiders, moths, and whathaveyou come with the territory. Sometimes get a random snake or frog in the basement.
Sounds like a 3rd-world country to you I bet. With all of the plants we keep, it really looks more like a petting zoo. All the neighborhood kids love it, as do the animals. The kids even come help tend the garden, which is well conditioned with manure, river sand, and all manner of mulch. Two of them are especially fond of tending the chickens. Right here in the city limits. Spooky, ain't it?
Cats, I find, are very good at catching spiders without upsetting the furniture. Can't say as much for the pooch who can clear a coffee table with an errant swipe of his prodigious tail. The Missus simply can't abide arachnids. Give her the willies. Last statistic I saw was eighty-some percent of all residences in MO harbor the Brown Recluse spider. Nobody's been bitten by one here.
A little girl once siad; "The difference between momma and daddy is that momma likes morals, and daddy likes cats."
That girl was Susie Clemmons. Daughter of Mark Twain.
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Paroquet, I missed no part of the article. I was commenting on the fact that they left off the direct correlation of all those other modes of transmission through human's foods being 100% dependent on the presence of cats.
As for your other red-herring cat-licking biases ... proximity and frequency of the infectious agent is very much a part of determining which must be addressed as high-risk human-health issues. Seen any kids reaching down to pet armadillos, brown-recluse spiders, or intentionally licking bird-poo lately?
Go lick some more cats. And have yourself tested for T. gondii while you're at it. Something is definitely affecting your ability to think and reason clearly. Your thoughts seem demoted to that of the base biochemical awareness and survival of a protozoan, with no further concern nor consideration for anything else in your environment -- just you and your cats.
eileen10 5 months ago
You need to hold up there. If anyone is concerned about the enviornment it's Paroquet. He's highly educated and knows what he's talking about so you need to back off.
Paroquet 5 months ago
Um, I'm kinda concerned for the well-being of all involved. I just don't sensationalize out of context.
Cook your meat right, wash your hands, keep your utensils clean. Airborne stuff you can really do little about. Soil-borne requires contact either directly or indirectly with soil. Same with water.
From my meager observation, for some reason you hate cats, or are phobic of them. That's okay! I'm no fan of dogs bred to fight or kill. I see them as guns with a mind of their own. And if it has a brain, it can exercise poor judgment or just plain go crazy.
Equine encephalitis is another hazard of pets or livestock. Bovine encephalopathy, Anthrax, which is also "reservoired" in soils.
There are things for probably each animal, plant, or inert mineral (pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanosis-- caused by inhaling quartz dust, aka silicon dioxide--look at a packet of artificial sweetener or read the ingredients on OTC pills or capsules sometime, you'll invariably find quartz dust or some kind of feldspar as "an anti-caking agent").
If you did everything possible to avoid getting sick or dying by some fashion, it'd kill ya.
So you don't like cats. No problemo. Avoid them and situations that would put you in contact with them. Same the missus does with spiders, who don't bother me; been Recluse-bit five times. Got a small sore what took some time and care to heal. Personally I think I owe that to my ancestors who settled here back in the 1800's; everyone susceptible, probably died and didn't contribute to the gene-pool.
I've been bitten, scratched, puked, peed or pooped on by just about every domestic and quasi-domestic animal you could conceive. And more wildlife than I care to express. We all have our merits, vulnerabilities, strengths, and flaws.
Oh, did you know the Plague of 1348 in Europe was likely, in part, a result of folks being told it was okay to crucify or kill cats, who ate the rats, that spread the fleas, what spread the plague? Yeah. Felinophobia is part of what led to roughly a whole bunch of the human race needlessly dying only 700yrs ago.
I, um, am regenerating native ecosystems on my property. Wetland, meadow, riparian woodland, and prairie. The critters associated with such come with the territory.
No further concern? Hardly. My concern for the well being of all extends beyond my own species. Oh, and all of the companions with which we share our home are rescues or re-homes.
Good day!
online_editor 5 months ago
Some good points are being made, but moving forward, let's try to avoid injecting personal insults in favor of staying focused on issues. Thank you. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
connor 5 months ago
With your biased moderation Mr. Brown you really should look into a position at Huffpo or Feministing. You would fit right in as a moderator at a site like one of those.
TickledPink 5 months ago
Maybe I'm reading it wrong but I sense that you'd like a cat free world. You do realize that cats are part of that nature you're so poorly advocating, right? I'm an animal person who tends to favor cats but I also have a snake and have made homes for dogs, deer, squirrels, tutles, fish, lizards, birds, rabbits and even a raccoon once. Anytime you deal with animals there are sanitation issues. Contrary to popular belief, most docs will tell you normal soap and water is all you need 99% of the time.
JCLifer 5 months ago
I'd prefer to live in a world full of cats than a world full of dogs. A dog-free world would be a much better world. Dogs remind me of liberals.
eileen10 5 months ago
Hey Lifer. Wanna meet my dog Frankie? He' s the dog from hell and there's no way he'd remind you of a liberal. He's a republican. Okay. Time for me to hide. Merry Christmas Lifer!!
JCLifer 5 months ago
He probably doesn't eat his lunch out of the litter box like most dogs...
eileen10 5 months ago
Nope. Not recently anyway. ;o)
Paroquet 5 months ago
There is no doubt that cats are republicans. I speak from decades of political discourse with them on the subject. They're okay once you've each a mutual understanding and respect for the other. Mostly its an issue of specific vernacular. Once you speak the lingo, it's smooth sailing.
9 of ten declawed cats put-up for re-homing, are put down (read: executed). Which is no wonder; imagine how frustrated you'd be with your fingers all cut-off from the first knuckle up from the hand. That'd make one seem a tad unhinged, don'tcha think?
eileen10 5 months ago
Yep. I know I'd be pizzed if someone mutilated me.
RobHunterJohnson 5 months ago
I like that republican assement of cats! My cat will not kill anything? Sleeps all day, parties all night, while waiting for her entitlement at 4AM sharp, with a little counter corner begging at dinner time, and back to the same game the next evening! I could have sworn she was a Democrat! rob
Paroquet 5 months ago
Find me ANY politician who doesn't want to sleep-in. Can't say as I blame them either. Siesta should be a legal requirement for elected officials. Them boys and gals tempers would be entirely more amenable if they were rested proper prior to engaging in deliberations.
Oh, mine beg at the table from a respectable distance. And out of respect, I put them down a sample of what i am eating, and it is usally disapproved of and they disperse to their respective troughs. /e_Yoda: "How you get so big eating food of this kind? Hmmpf."
Except one of the parrots. She insists on trying everything. Flying up on to your shoulder as you're taking a fork or spoonfull and "asking"--"can I have a bite?" More of a "demand", really. Best to just give her an apple or an orange on her own plate and leave her go at it. The others taste whatever, eat what they deem tasty, and wipe their beaks unceremoniously upon your shoulder. Whole other ballgame from dogs and cats. "What you mean it's not -my- bowl? Who's muzzle is in it, hmm?"
Flighted birds, as mine are, are distinctly Independent, or Libertarian. You can tell just looking at them.
Yeah. Three political parties in the mix with various advantages and handicaps all on the same floor. And you thought the UN had it rough? ;-)
I think the fish are Constitution, maybe Reform. Definitely not fond of "Tea", that's for sure.
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Wow, the amount of misinformation and biased ignorance that your beloved "highly educated" Paroquet is spewing is phenomenal. And you all swallow it to the hilt, like fools.
Dear misguided and T. gondii parasatized-brain Paroquet,
Please explain to the class how an animal (the domesticated cat in this case) which can carry and transmit the plague all on its own, could have saved anyone from The Plague in Europe.
A FEW recent examples (of hundreds):
Cat-Transmitted PLAGUE:
URL's apparently not allowed, instead:
Google for (include quotes): "Cat-transmitted fatal pneumonic plague"
Or: Oregon man suffering plague Or: Taos cats plague Or: Yellowstone feral cats plague Or: ( ... hundreds of other cases)
Totally disproving that oft-spewed LIE that cats in Europe could have prevented the plague. No rats nor fleas even required. Cats themselves carry and transmit the plague all on their own.
And you look up to something like this brain-damaged Paroquet for advice? Now add in the fact that cats attract rodents right to them if the cats infect the rodents with their T. gondii parasite, and you'll see a plague the likes of which have never existed before. Especially when you breed super-strains of plague with your overuse and irresponsible use of antibiotics.
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Dear misguided and misinformation-spewing Paroquet,
Destroying cats is neither hating nor fearing cats.
Why do psychotic cat-advocates always presume that someone removing a highly destructive, deadly disease spreading, human-engineered invasive-species to restore natural balance that they must hate that organism? Does someone who destroys Zebra Mussels, African Cichlids, Burmese Pythons, or any of the other destructive invasive-species have some personal problem with that species? (Many of which are escaped PETS.) Your ignorance and blatant biases are revealed in your declaring that people who destroy cats must somehow hate cats. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I battled a cat-infestation for 15 YEARS. During which time cats destroyed nearly every animal on my lands, from smallest of prey up to the top predators (starved to death). I sadly listened to FOOLS like you which only made the problem worse and worse. Until there were nothing but your disease-infested cats left on my lands. Luckily I had a wise Sheriff who finally advised that I shoot every last cat, collared or not. In only 2 seasons I was able to be rid of every last one. My wildlife has been recovering nicely for the last 3 years. I finally hear owls again. A family of Gray Fox (one of the most beneficial native animals to grace the land) made a den near my home. Birds I had never seen in my life before now nest here. 2 of the species are warblers listed in the top-10-songbirds of the world. What an amazing sound to awaken to during warm months. I now feel nothing but pity for anyone who has cats. Their lives are dismally empty and they don't even realize it.
It is people who let a destructive invasive-species roam free that tortures-to-death all other wildlife that have zero respect for ALL life. They don't even care about their cats dying a slow torturous death from exposure, animal attacks, diseases, starvation, dehydration, becoming road-kill, environmental poisons, etc., the way that ALL stray cats suffer to death. They don't even respect their fellow human being. This speaks more than volumes about your disgusting character. People like you should be locked up in prison for life for your cruelty to all animals, cruelty to your own cats as well as all the native wildlife that you let your cats skin alive or disembowel alive.
If people have LEARNED to hate cats today, you have nobody but yourself and everyone just like you to blame. YOU are the reason people are now realizing that all excess cats must be destroyed on-site and on-sight. You've done so much to make people care about cats, haven't you. If you want to do something about it direct your sadly and sorely misplaced energies at those that are causing the problem, not at those who HAVE SOLVED IT 100%.
THIS IS YOUR FAULT and THE FAULT OF EVERYONE JUST LIKE YOU. You have NOBODY but yourself to blame.
You can take that all the way to the very last shot-dead cat's grave.
dokeus6 5 months ago
Guess Nature didn't read the rules for posting on here. WOW such hatred being spewed from your post and you call yourself a advocate of nature.
It took you 15 years to figure out what to do about an infestation of cats? Why so long?
eileen10 5 months ago
Sounds to me like Nature broke out of the assylum.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
I have a cat. I also shoot feral cats. My cat is not allowed to roam, although he is a stray who "roamed" onto our farm and because were had been catless for a couple of months we had him fixed and vaccinated and he has been spending his nights in the garage, killing mice that are trying to get into the house that way. Feral cats are a huge problem and may actually be causing the near extinction of quail, much to the dissatisfaction of my bird dog. We've usually had a cat and have plenty of birds. Your cat infestation must have been huge. Coyotes in our neck of the woods normally keep the cats and even stray dogs under control, along with trigger-happy farmers who keep their barn cats thinned down or don't allow cats at all, depending on their philosophy.
Paroquet 5 months ago
Actually, the quail problem is a function of agricultural and CRP practices. Wrong practice, wrong fallows. Granted, it can be exacerbated by feral cats, but they aren't the main issue overall.
When's the last time you saw a wooded and well grown-over fence-row or property boundary? The #1 reason for quail decline is loss of habitat necessary for their survival.
"Lazy farmers" who let their fencerows grow-up were a boon to our encroachment of formerly what was wildlife habitat.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
I'm in the Ozarks and although the now defunct family farming corporation had some cropland, we are in quail friendly woods and brush and savannahs and have done all kinds of work to make it quail friendly. We do have a large covey on the farm that we don't hunt, just let the dog find and flush. Many of the neighbors also are doing quail restoration work as recommended by the Conservation Department. Recreational mowing is a problem but I think feral cats are generally underrated on their ability to slaughter wildlife, at least from my experience.
Paroquet 5 months ago
Misinformation? Hardly. I'm the guy who rid my neighborhood, and two adjacent subdivisions of strays. Some were adopted, some relocated, some exterminated.
My form of education is for people to be responsible pet owners. Which is why I refer to all of "my" animals, save for the fish, as "Companions". I hold them in only the very highest regard. Rather like foreign dignitaries; we don't have the same preferences or habits, but once we both know the ground rules, we can meet in the middle and get along handsomely.
So, you obviously hate cats or are a felinophobe. See, phobias and hate go hand-in hand with primates (humans included). What they don't, won't, or can't understand, they fear. What they fear they hate. What they hate, they seek to destroy. Same the world over amongst this thing called humanity. Sad state of affairs for the ape that can reason, apply logic, and innovate.
Now, excuse me whilst I go enjoy my lunch. Venison. From a deer I stalked, killed, and butchered myself. The veggies are a bit of a mix, with the cooked ones from my gardens, and the fresh ones--a blend of storebought and some "weeds" from the yard.
Oh bother, and I've still yet to deal with a raccoon I caught this a.m. which was brutalizing my chickens' coop. He'll go to a farm family where 'coon hunting (with dogs) is part of their family tradition. Best I can do besides drowning him in a trash can of water. I'd rather a sporting chance myself as opposed to the alternative.
Nature_Advocate, if there were more people like me, nuisance wildlife and strays wouldn't be anyone's problem but their own.
Your hatred hurts you, and countless uninformed or under-educated innocents.
The quickest way to overcome a fear or hatred is to educate yourself about that thing which you fear or hate. I wouldn't wish that anyone live in irrational fear. Which appears, to me, what you are suffering.
Wish i could help. Know that I can't.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
You really do need to write a cookbook. We've been eating salad greens out of the garden since the weather cooled off in September. I think this is the latest I've had lettuce survive without throwing a cover over it. That speckled trout romaine is great and so much tastier than the store bought stuff. Pan fried venison is on the menu for tonight, I hear.
Paroquet 5 months ago
I've got this one cultivar green what is cold hardy and freeze resistant. Some kind of brassica (broccoli, cabbage, califlower, etc) and it's a mainstay for us insomuch as fresh, homegrown greens are considered. Good raw, good blanched. But for all my ability and book learning, I just haven't bothered figuring out what it is called.
Made a beechin' concoction of chopped celery, grated potato, wild turkey drippings, carrot shavings, red lentils, ground venison, and diced onion the other night. Of course, the spice rack had its own go with the blend. Whatever. The Missus approved, and all was well with the world...for a time. :-)
Then she wanted dessert...I can't bake to save my hide. :-(
RobHunterJohnson 5 months ago
I will just keep on trying to understand my bipartisan cat, who is as spoiled as the last one, or the next one! I also like Dogs, but just do not have the time to give him, or her! Rob
asb 5 months ago
"pneumonic plague?" Here's a real brain at work; and clearly a dog in poor disguise. Advocate you don't own enough land for a top predator to starve on. I suspect that "fighting a cat infestation" consists of sittin' on your massive acreage plinking cats. You're actually a serious troll, and should be banned from the forum, but the rants are too entertaining to suggest removal. Tell us more about the horror of cats.
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Coyotes, or any other native predators, are not going to save you from this man-made ecological disaster today -- worse than ANY oil-spill in history.
I tried helping the remaining few predators on my land after cats starved most of them to death. Hoping I could raise an army to deal with this disaster ecologically. Was I ever proved wrong.
During this venture I found some surprising things.
Any time that a cat would enter the wildlife feeding area, all the wildlife would scatter. After 5 years of witnessing this I was truly disappointed. These were, after all, the army I was trying to raise to deal with this invasive-cat problem ecologically.
When I was advised by law-enforcement to shoot all cats, then I thought maybe I could put these waste-of-flesh cats to use to feed the wildlife. These cats had denied them a food source all these years, perhaps in death they might be able to put back what they had taken. But no. Even when offered dead cats the wildlife would run from the wildlife feeding area.
Longer story short:
This led to an interesting original discovery of mine, and also completely explains how cats can totally wipe-out the whole native food-chain in any ecosystem that they have infested.
Due to the bold patterns bred into these MAN-MADE INVASIVE-SPECIES cats, the NATIVE wildlife perceives them as having a hidden toxic or olfactory defense mechanism. A universal symbol throughout nature, across all phyla. That if an unknown animal is sporting bold patterns then that animal must be dangerous or deadly -- to avoid it at all costs.
This is why you will read reports online of how someone's docile Mr. Fluffy scared that "nasty" coyote out of their yard. The cat's imagined bravado had NOTHING to do with it. It was the cat's coat-coloring pattern alone that scared that larger and more capable predator away.
Conclusion: Native predators will only take the bland or no-pattern cats. So even if coyotes or other larger predator will take a cat or two, they'll leave all the bold-patterned ones alone. And the land will eventually be inundated with bold-patterned cats only. Back to square one. On top of that, their continually varying coat patterns prevents native wildlife from ever learning to lock onto which of them might ever be safe to eat.
NATURE IS NOT GOING TO SAVE YOU FROM THIS HUMAN-MADE, INVASIVE-SPECIES, ECOLOGICAL DISASTER.
There's very good reason that the phrase "hunted to extinction" is so well known across all cultures, across all lands. IT IS THE ONLY METHOD THAT IS FASTER THAN A SPECIES CAN OUT-BREED AND OUT-ADAPT TO. Especially one as prolific as these man-made cats which can breed 2-4X's faster than any naturally-occurring cat species. A painful fact of past human-behavior that we must now rely on to fix this worldwide ecological disaster. This is ONLY going to be solved by a discerning human-eye aiming a gun to pick off the correct species as rapidly as is humanly possible.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
More than once I've sat in a tree stand while deer hunting and either have seen a coyote pick off a cat or have seen one carrying a dead house cat. Your wildlife is weird.
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Important note:
One winter I tried one last time at feeding one of the shot-dead cats to the last few starving opossum. (The only all-gray cat I had ever shot, this event led to the "Eureka!" discovery above.) Those 2 adult opossum, which I had saved from certain starvation and were doing well, even having 3 offspring while under my care, all promptly died from some disease in that cat-meat. Alarming -- in that opossum, due to their cooler body temperatures, cannot contract nor transmit many common diseases, not even rabies. They are one of the most disease-free animals in N. America. (In fact, they have recently isolated something in opossums blood, that when any other animal is injected with it becomes 100% immune to ALL of the most deadly bio-toxins on earth. Interesting stuff, look it up. Tests are now being ported to humans for a universal anti-venom anti-toxin.) Yet ... something in that cat-meat was able to kill all the opossum that fed on it. Cats truly are complete and total wastes of flesh. They can't even be used to feed wild animals safely. Leaving any of these invasive-species cats out in nature, alive OR dead, is no better than intentionally poisoning your native wildlife to death.
Further proof: Here's what happens when you mix a slightly assertive cat with a bold pattern coat vs. a bear. And people laugh when they hear about a cat scaring just coyotes away.
Google for: nationalgeographic cat chases bear tree
A declawed cat with a bold pattern and a slightly assertive demeanor can even frighten a bear away. A bear, that by all rights, should just give the cat one paw swipe and a quick chomp. But no, the coloring pattern told the bear that this is a potentially deadly and toxic life-form, use extreme caution.
The only predator that's going to be able to get rid of all of these man-made invasive species outdoor cats is a human with a gun. Native predators are just not going to be able to override millennia of perceiving bold patterns as dangerous or deadly.
You can also check out a recent finding in Australia.
Google for (include quotes): "feral cat numbers not reduced when dingo numbers increase in outback"
They thought they could increase their Dingo populations to help get rid of the feral cats that are devastating all their lands. Conclusion: Dingo populations had absolutely NO effect on reducing the population growth of cats. I should have told them what I found out, then they wouldn't have wasted all that time -- and valuable endangered wildlife that ended up as tortured play-toys for cats.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
Hope you don't have horses. Possums carry a disease deadly to horses. Bobcats also carry a disease deadly to house cats. Maybe you should start raising bobcats. They have pretty markings. Would they fit your "patterned" cat criteria?
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
While it is true that overpopulation of humans is the #1 problem that we and all other species face today; this doesn't excuse all the responsible, wise, and intelligent people from stopping all the ecological disasters caused by those phenomenally stupid and criminally negligent people that should have never been born in the first place.
Cats are a man-made (through selective breeding) invasive species. And as such, cats being a product of man, are no less of a man-made environmental disaster than any oil-spill, radiation-fallout, chemical-spill, or other environmental disaster caused_by_man. Cats are not exempt from being removed from every natural environment, wherever they are found away from supervised confinement. Just as you would destroy Burmese Pythons and African Cichlids in every habitat where they exist in N. America. They started out as pets too. Many of our destructive invasive species pests started out as PETS discarded by criminally-irresponsible humans. Guess what happens to all those other non-native pets that became destructive invasive species? They are destroyed on-site by any means possible -- no questions asked -- none required.
Cats are even worse than a multi-continent-sized oil-spill. They not only kill off rare marine-mammals along all coastlines (just as oil-spills do) from run-off from the land carrying cats' Toxoplasma gondii parasites, they also destroy the complete food-chain in every ecosystem where cats are found. From smallest of prey that is gutted and skinned alive for cats' tortured play-toys, up to the top predators -- starved to death from cats destroying their ONLY foods. (Precisely what cats caused on my own lands not long ago.) They destroy everything that moves. They will even destroy native vegetation by destroying those animals that are pollinators or act as seed dispersers for those plants (as many rodent and bird species do) or those acting as plants' pest-control. Cats can and will wipe out whole ecosystems -- animal and plant.
Cats need to disappear from all natural habitats PERMANENTLY. The sooner the better. They are breeding out of control at an exponential rate. The reason for "sooner the better" is that you can only hope you can halt the problem before it is beyond the reach of any method you eventually choose. Luckily, I caught the problem in time where I live (by humanely shooting and burying every last cat I saw, hundreds, collared or not, totally LEGAL). It seems nobody else is faring as well. Their time is being wasted by cat-lovers stopping them from doing the right thing. Asking or listening to any deranged invasive-species advocate for advice on how to clean up the ecological disaster that they created and perpetuate is about as useful as asking your local career thieves for advice and help to hide your valuables from their daily motives and activities. Ignore anything they might say and you too will solve the problem where you live.
It worked 100% where I live!
Nature_Advocate 5 months ago
Littleinvestor, my wildlife is not "weird'. My lands were overtaken by variable bold-patterned cats. (Mostly calico, bold grays & whites, a few strongly striped tabbies, etc.) Those were the only kinds I ever kept seeing (and shooting). Until a fateful winter night that I shot an all gray cat running at full tilt 90 yards away in the dead of the night. (I set up an IR wildlife surveillance system, and put it to use to watch for and shoot stray cats all night long. Taking advantage of cats' bred-in predilection to seek out human habitation.) It was one of the very last cats I shot too. Good thing I outfitted my rifle with a laser-sight just for shooting cats. The laser-sight was the only light bouncing off the snow that night. I found that all-gray cat not 2 feet from where I had aimed into the dark, where I knew that cat was running to. It must have dropped in mid-bound. If it weren't for that fateful shot I would have never figured out why native-wildlife can be inundated by man-made invasive species cats on every continent today.
One thing cats are excellent for, and the ONLY use I found for them out in nature -- quickly turning humans into expert marksmen. Until the cat-infestation problem I had never fired a rifle before. I quickly learned how to make each and every bullet matter. Even when I got ammo on a close-out sale of 5000 rounds for only $15, $0.003 per cat is more than any cat is worth. I didn't waste even one bullet on this venture.
(my browser prevents posting replies in a nested-manner on this site, deal with it)
Paroquet 5 months ago
Glad to say I didn't have your level of a problem. Whereabouts I live on the outskirts we still have natural predators. Foxes and coyotes, mostly. Hawks sometimes, and becoming disturbingly more frequent (probably on account of my chickens).
Look, write these words: "I hate (or am phobic) of cats." And I'll happily let this drop.
They're not as detrimental as Bush Honeysuckle, fescue, or a rampant amount of other species introduced for our own convenience which we later learned we couldn't control. Have you ever seen a Kudzilla? You can google images there, it says enough.
You do know the number one cause for overall avian species decline are introduced rodents and mustelids (ferrets, weasels, & stoats). Cats are on the list too. Who was responsible for all four of them? Humans. Couldn't have done it without them. What do you know about the Kakapo? Read-up. It's a tragedy with hope. And it's all our species fault.
Hey, you're passionate. That's cool. Put the hate aside, cool your head, and reason. Any critter or computer can do logic. Reasoning takes a degree of insanity unique to our genome...so far as we can tell.
Oh, and my cat's won't hold your opinion of your superiority against you. The parrots, I don't have license to speak for. The dog doesn't care, just pet it and throw something for it to chase.
But remember, admit you hate cats.
Me? I hate people for putting cats in the state they're in, and even more hate people for hating cats that are a victim of the human's circumstance. Same goes for any "companion" animals. Why do they become nuisances? Because of people not worth the matter that makes-up their own brains, or the energy to run them.
Littleinvestor 5 months ago
We live in an area where dumping of pets is a serious problem. The dumpers probably think the farmers in the area take in their unwanted animals. Wrong. When a new cat or dog shows up in the neighborhood, we ask around and if it does not belong to anyone, one of us blows it away. Quick and effective. Most animal problems are people problems. But, in the past when we've had lots of grain around in a larger farming operation, I'd have hated to have been without the barn cats and snakes. Still have the snakes. No more barn cats although the current cat does go to the barn with me when I feed the horses. He likes to dart into the feed room ahead of me and sometimes takes a rodent even though grain is in metal boxes that are kept shut. I probably let some grain fall on the floor from time to time. You are right about the bush honeysuckle. We've fought it for years and I can't say as we've made much headway. Fescue has its place as I do have some fescue pasture. But we've also used fire and other methods to let some of the savannah return to native grass.
Paroquet 5 months ago
Actually, fescue (good ole KY31) harbors a fungus that makes cattle thirsty and lowers their weight.
Fescue is a scourge, much as is bush honeysuckle. You'll note that burning hasn't been standard practice for several generations. We're only now getting around to working within natural systems and their maintenance. Fire suppression used to be all the rage. Thankfully it has fallen from favor.
JCLifer 5 months ago
I got lots of bush honeysuckle if anyone wants any shoots.
Got lots of cats too, and I know where to get more if need be.
Armageddon is next week anyway, so I sleep well.
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