Saturday, January 17, 2009

Upsets Me to Lose One

I do get upset when I lose a cat. Just makes me want to cry. It also makes me want to rant and rave over the people around here, who don't fix their cats, and put the responsibility and sorrow of the consequences of their actions onto others.

The other big male I got fixed from the yard was back last night. It is possible the loss of the other big guy will save this one's life, that he won't get infected. But there was something about his fur, when I looked at him in the trap, that had made me think then, a day before trapping the second positive male, that he might be positive.

FIV cats get dry almost hollow feeling hair. They often also begin to loose hair and get skin eruptions. This other male had that dry hollow looking hair. I bet he's positive. They arrived from different directions, but you can bet they knew each other. They were two big dominant males. How long ago to the Big Guy become infected, and from what cat? I don't know.

FIV is primarily a disease of the unfixed males. The virus is harbored best in deep bite wounds inflicted when they fight. It is so preventable.

Because so many people don't feel the need to fix their cats here in Albany, FIV is epidemic. It is tragic. The responsibility for the spread of this disease lays squarely on the shoulders of irresponsible pet owners, who let their cats free roam and don't fix them. FIV results in reverse natural selection, or sort of twisted up natural selection. The biggest most hormoned up males are the ones who fight and ones who get the disease and spread it to other fighting males. Maybe natural selection will choose for pacificts and change the face of the male cat world ultimately. Pacifists survive to breed, because they don't fight other males and get infected. Wouldn't that be something and wouldn't that be something in the human world?

I would love to see neighbors start sueing neighbors who let unfixed cats free roam, for endangering the health of well cared for fixed cats. It would only be fair and right, because they put other cats at risk, which means costs and heartache to real cat lovers.

I haven't seen the starving calico now in two days. Is she dead? Or is she off sleeping, relaxed, now with a full belly? I don't know.

I haven't been able to make videos of the cats for awhile because the kittens destroyed my speakers and other crucial components necessary to upload video. I hope to repair some of the damaged cables and equipment over the weekend.

I have been having a tough time getting sleep lately. Why? Oh, it's Deaf Miss Daisy, going on very loud sprees in the night, racing around for sheer joy, screaming her deaf head off as she does so. She's so delightful, but gosh darn do I get upset with her, after several nights of this.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:41 PM

    how do the other cats react to deaf miss daisy's nightly frenzies? do they join in, too, or just sleep through it? Its one things when a "HEARING" cat gets the late night frenzies, but how do you tell a deaf cat to please settle down???
    Is it just possible - I am, as usual, trying to be optimistic, that the other big male's fur is dryish due to the cold weather? i don't know how it could affect cats - i know people get dry skin and hair in colder weather...are you going to try to get his tested or has he been tested for it when he was fixed?

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  2. That's an interesting take on FIV as a thwarter of natural selection. I can see the logic to it. These retro-viruses are sophisticated, still relatively new and there's so much about them that is as yet unknown. They are really screwy in that they most often get active (full blown) when the host is stressed, which means the host is killed more quickly - considering the stresses strays and ferals (especially toms)endure, it would imply that the virus would be less succesful because the host would succumb to the virus quicker and the virus would die out... Sunday ramblings there..

    When Teddy who was elderly and deaf made with the midnight madness and calling, we found leaving a little night light on in the hallway kinda calmed him down a bit - he tended to call when he lost his bearings - he was 21+ though, so there may have been some dementia developing.

    I hope the calico turns up.

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  3. You're probably right about FIV, killing stressed unfixed strays quickly. The retro's are certainly extremely stress dependent, on how active they are in the body.

    It's interesting what you say about the light and your cat. I have a set signal, three flicks of a flashlight, that will often not only bring Miss Daisy to the bedroom, but quiet her, if she sees it. I know you're right about a deaf cat becoming disoriented in the dark and calling out, loudly, for assistance in orienting herself.

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  4. I know you are nifty with electrical switchy things (your remote controlled trap) I wonder if it would be possible to rig up a device that reacted to Miss Daisy's calling sound then flashed a light 3 times?

    Perfect school physics project - I wonder if a nearby school could help out with this?

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  5. I've been sitting here laughing at the thought of people suing negligent cat "owners" that permit their unaltered cats to run around and infect and torment well cared for cats. Wouldn't that be poetic? :)
    Your post is one that speaks volumes for people to keep their pets inside.

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