cats

Gene therapy to prevent pregnancy in dogs and cats

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A Research team led by David Pépin, PhD, Associate Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School has developed a gene therapy as an alternate to spaying and neutering animals. They are hopeful that this method will eventually be available to be able to control outdoor pet populations.

While this discovery is promising, the researchers have yet to develop the infrastructure to treat thousands of unowned feral cats. This will also give pet owners an alternative to traditional spay and neuter programs to prevent pregnancy in their pets.

What is interesting is this gene therapy was first used in people. Typically discoveries in animals help humans, in this case it is the reverse.

Journal Reference:

  1. Vansandt, L.M., Meinsohn, MC., Godin, P. et al. Durable contraception in the female domestic cat using viral-vectored delivery of a feline anti-Müllerian hormone transgene. Nat Commun, 2023 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38721-0

Cite This Page:

Massachusetts General Hospital. “Gene therapy produces long-term contraception in female domestic cats.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 June 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230606111636.htm>.

Those amazing whiskers

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A study at Northwestern University has shown that rats determine the direction of the wind with their whiskers. Since many other animals such as dogs, foxes, coyotes and cats also have whiskers that are similar to those of a rat, is it possible that they also use their whiskers to determine the direction of the wind?

All wild animals also have to be aware of the direction of the wind to either find food or avoid being detected by predators. Therefore, the ability to determine the direction of the wind or even a slight breeze is a life and death skill. It seems reasonable that that they would use their whiskers as well as the movement of their fur to detect the direction of air movement.

Sue’s Note: As a person who has trained many working dogs, I have seen dogs learn how to use the direction of the wind to find scent. It is quite an amazing thing to watch, and another example of how intelligent animals are.

Journal References:

Mitra J. Z. Hartmann et al. Whiskers aid anemotaxis in rats. Science Advances, August 2016 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600716

Yan S. W. Yu, Matthew M. Graff, Mitra J. Z. Hartmann. Mechanical responses of rat vibrissae to airflow. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2016; 219 (7): 937 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.126896

Cite This Page:

Northwestern University. (2016, August 24). Whiskers help animals sense the direction of the wind: First-ever study shows that rats use whiskers to locate source of airflow. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160824160248.htm

Brain connectivity in animals and people

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In a first of its kind study, researchers at the American Friends of Tel Aviv University studied the MRIs of 130 mammals of different species to determine if there is a difference between brain size and its ability to transfer information through the neural network. This information was compared with the MRI of 32 human brains. The size of the mammals ranged from tiny bats to large mammals. The report stated that no animal was killed for the study.

Professor Assaf explained that many scientists assumed that human brains were superior due to greater brain connectivity, explaining a human’s greater abilities. However, no difference was found between species. However, there were differences between individual animals of the same species.

Brain connectivity involves the transfer of information from one part of the brain to another. The researchers found that different brains use different strategies to preserve an equal measure of overall connectivity.

“Our study revealed a universal law: Conservation of Brain Connectivity,” Prof. Assaf concludes. “This law denotes that the efficiency of information transfer in the brain’s neural network is equal in all mammals, including humans. We also discovered a compensation mechanism which balances the connectivity in every mammalian brain. This mechanism ensures that high connectivity in a specific area of the brain, possibly manifested through some special talent (e.g. sports or music) is always countered by relatively low connectivity in another part of the brain. In future projects we will investigate how the brain compensates for the enhanced connectivity associated with specific capabilities and learning processes.”

This study was conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Yaniv Assaf of the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Sagol School of Neuroscience and Prof. Yossi Yovel of the School of Zoology, the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.

Journal Reference:

  1. Yaniv Assaf, Arieli Bouznach, Omri Zomet, Assaf Marom, Yossi Yovel. Conservation of brain connectivity and wiring across the mammalian class. Nature Neuroscience, 2020; 23 (7): 805 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0641-7

Cite This Page:

American Friends of Tel Aviv University. “MRI scans of the brains of 130 mammals, including humans, indicate equal connectivity.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720112216.htm>.

Can animals predict earthquakes?

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People often claim that they notice animals acting differently before an earthquake. To study this, with the hope of using animals to predict earthquakes, a group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz/Radolfzell and the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, have investigated whether cows, sheep, and dogs can actually detect early signs of earthquakes.

The researchers put sensors on the animals in an earthquake prone area of Northern Italy and studied their movements over several months. They found that the animals were unusually restless hours before an earthquake. They also noted that the closer the animal was to the epicenter the sooner they showed unusual behavior. In some cases, the animals showed unusual behavior up to 20 hours before the quake.

The researchers found that during the months they studied the animals there were, officially reported, 18,000 earthquakes in the region which included small hardly noticeable quakes to 12 with a strength of 4 or higher on the Richter scale.

The data implies that animals can predict earthquakes and the researchers are considering a global study to help develop an early warning system using a chip located on animals.

Journal Reference:

  1. Martin Wikelski, Uschi Mueller, Paola Scocco, Andrea Catorci, Lev V. Desinov, Mikhail Y. Belyaev, Daniel Keim, Winfried Pohlmeier, Gerhard Fechteler, P. Martin Mai. Potential short‐term earthquake forecasting by farm animal monitoring. Ethology, 2020; DOI: 10.1111/eth.13078

Cite This Page:

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. “The sixth sense of animals: An early warning system for earthquakes?.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200706101837.htm>.

Cat’s can detect odors as well as a dog

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Until now, no one has seriously studied a cat’s ability to detect odors. A collection of researchers found that when a cat takes in air, their nose divides it into two flow streams. One flow stream is cleansed and humidified which goes to the lungs and the other is sent quickly to the olfactory region. What the researchers found is that a cat’s nose is a highly efficient dual-purposed gas chromatograph. This makes the cat’s ability to detect odors equal with that of a dog.

The odor detection part of the cat’s nose acts very quickly so that the cat can determine what is food, foe or friend. The researchers feel that the discovery about how a cat can detect odors may inspire improvements to the gas chromatographs that are used today.

Journal Reference:

  1. Zhenxing Wu, Jianbo Jiang, Fritz W. Lischka, Scott J. McGrane, Yael Porat-Mesenco, Kai Zhao. Domestic cat nose functions as a highly efficient coiled parallel gas chromatograph. PLOS Computational Biology, 2023; 19 (6): e1011119 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011119

Cite This Page:

Ohio State University. “How the cat nose knows what it’s smelling: Study reveals function behind complex nasal structure.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 June 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230629193238.htm>.

Cats know when you are talking to them

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It is commonly understood that dogs and other animals recognize when their owners talk to them but do cats? A study conducted by Charlotte de Mouzon and colleagues from Université Paris Nanterre (Nanterre, France) found that cats do recognize when their owners are talking to them. The research showed that the cats did not react to other adults who spoke to them. The study showed that a one-to-one relationship with their owners is important for the cat to develop a strong bond with their owners.

Sue’s Note: For a long time, people did not feel that cats developed a bond with their owners, that cats were independent. However, studies of feral cat colonies show that cats have a very close-knit social relationship with members of their colony. This bond is often transferred to their human family. Just like other animals, cats have different personalities and can be independent or very attached to their people.

Journal Reference:

  1. Charlotte de Mouzon, Marine Gonthier, Gérard Leboucher. Discrimination of cat-directed speech from human-directed speech in a population of indoor companion cats (Felis catus). Animal Cognition, 2022; DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01674-w

Cite This Page:

Springer. “Cats distinguish between speech directed at them and humans, study finds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 October 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/10/221025090458.htm>.

A worthy product to promote health

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I do not often post articles about products but I feel this is important. So please forgive the departure from purely animal topics. Years ago, I purchased an Ecoquest air purifier. I ran it 24/7 for about 15 years before it quit, so no complaints on that part. When I told a few people about the difference it made in my house, I was surprised to learn that most of the people I talked to had no idea what this type of air purifier was.

It is not an air filter, this product does so much more. It kills germs, bacteria and odors in the house. It takes care of dust, dust mites, mold, mildew, and pollen, just to name a few things. No one has ever walked into my house and smelled what I had cooked, or that I had dogs, cats and birds. My husband and I rarely catch colds or other airborne illnesses and the house smells springtime fresh all of the time. Since I suffered for years with allergies and now asthma (I am even allergic to my cat) I find that this air purifier lessens my symptoms and often eliminates them. I feel that this product will also help animals that have airborne allergies and help to keep birds healthy.

You can google the air purifier but I highly recommend that you contact Don Coon, who can help you select the right model and save you quite a bit of money from the on-line prices. His contact information is: adcoon99@gmail.com or phone in the U.S. 406-360-0956. I do not get any credit for recommending him but offer this because it is a great product and he is a great guy.

Pets can reduce food allergies in children

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Previous research has shown that living with animals can reduce allergies in children such as airborne and food allergies. Now a recent study has confirmed and strengthened this finding.

Researcher Hisao Okabe from the Fukushima regional Center for the Japan Environment and Children’s Study and colleagues studied over 65,000 young children who lived with dogs and cats and found that they had less food allergies than children who do not live with pets.

About 22% were exposed to indoor dogs and cats during their fetal stage and showed a significant reduction in food allergies. It is interesting that the study showed that children exposed to outdoor dogs had no significant reduction in food allergies.

The children who were exposed to indoor dogs were less likely to be allergic to eggs, milk and nuts. The children who were exposed to indoor cats had a lower instance of allergies to eggs, wheat and soybeans. Yet those children who were exposed to hamsters had a higher rate of allergies to nuts.

This study did not go into detail about why this occurred but it is interesting that it did.

Journal Reference:

  1. Hisao Okabe, Koichi Hashimoto, Mika Yamada, Takashi Ono, Kazufumi Yaginuma, Yohei Kume, Mina Chishiki, Akiko Sato, Yuka Ogata, Karin Imaizumi, Tsuyoshi Murata, Hyo Kyozuka, Kosei Shinoki, Seiji Yasumura, Hidekazu Nishigori, Keiya Fujimori, Mitsuaki Hosoya. Associations between fetal or infancy pet exposure and food allergies: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study. PLOS ONE, 2023; 18 (3): e0282725 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282725

Fearful cats and socialization

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Doctoral Researcher Salla Mikkola from the University of Helsinki and the Folkhälsan Research Center wanted to look into what causes behavior problems in cats such as fearfulness, aggression towards people and excessive grooming.  

What they found out is important, and that is socialization when cats are kittens with people is very important. Cats under the age of twelve weeks who only came in contact with strange people and children a few times or more fearful than kittens who interacted with strangers on a weekly basis. Fearful cats had more litterbox, aggression and excessive grooming issues.

The researchers noted that there were less fearfulness and aggression in cats when the cat lived with another cat.

Mimi who is partly blind

Sue’s Note: People tend to associate socialization with puppies and dogs but it is just as important to socialize cats. This should include handling all body parts, grooming, traveling in a vehicle, being put in a carrier, and exposure to noise that is not excessively loud. It is very important to make sure that the cat is not physically handicapped which can cause the cat to become frightened. For example, my cat was born with limited vision that is not detectable by a physical examination and was only apparent by observing her behavior. Many people do not realize that cats are very social and do best if there is at least one other cat in the home.

Journal Reference:

Salla Mikkola, Milla Salonen, Emma Hakanen, Hannes Lohi. Fearfulness associates with problematic behaviors and poor socialization in cats. iScience, 2022; 25 (10): 105265 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105265

The loss of a pet

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Love runs deep, no matter if it is the love of a person or a pet. When we lose a beloved pet, no matter what species, it leaves a huge hole in our heart and life. For some people, getting a new pet right away helps ease the pain. Other people can never get another pet. I have owned many dogs, cats and birds, each one holds a special place in my heart. When my search dog Scout died suddenly from undetected cancer, I was numb for two weeks. I had other search dogs and pets since losing him, but I could never get another dog of his breed.

Unfortunately, many people do not understand how someone could feel so deeply about an animal. They do not offer the support that they would give if a family member passed, but the person who is heartbroken needs that support just as much.

People handle grief differently and it helps to understand their needs. A pet owner will handle their grief in the same way that someone who has lost person would. Some people need to talk about the lost pet. Others avoid talking about the pet because it is too painful. Almost everyone feels comfort by getting a sympathy card or a hand written note. In this case a hard copy is best because they may want to save it.

As a certified animal behavior consultant, I have had many clients call to tell me about the loss of their pet. They do this because they know that I will understand. Letting a friend who has lost a pet know that you understand is very important. Let them talk and be willing to listen, even if they talk about the pet frequently as they go through the grieving process.

Both the Old and New Testament have a lot to say about animals and how important they are to God. In the book of Matthew 10:29 it says that God knows even if a sparrow falls. Animals are mentioned many times in the Old Testament, illustrating how important they are to God. Knowing this may bring comfort to someone who is grieving the loss of a pet. The big question that people often have is whether or not they go to Heaven. I have explored this and many other questions regarding animals and their importance to God in my book God’s Creatures A Biblical View of Animals. Please feel free to order it on Amazon or directly through my website for an autographed copy. www.sbulanda.com This book has brought comfort to many people, especially when a beloved pet has passed.