Not really off-topic.
Cats are amazingly "cute."
Oh, how, genetically programmed we are. (Thousands of years of viral influence.)
At least 80 million cats in the US alone.
We are harvesting feeder fish
we are growing feed and mammals everywhere on the planet
to feed our pets
"Oh, isn't is cute. It must be lost. I should give it shelter, and food, and litter, and pet sitters, and keep it alive for 20 years, at least, and demand my kids believe critters are good for them,........"
Cats are one of the worst invasive species for the united states (prolly the planet), they kill at least:
11 billion mammals
2.2 billion birds
in the US alone.
This is per year.
"Domesticated cats are an invasive species and are an extreme danger to wildlife."
" estimate that roughly
84 million owned cats live in the US, and that there are 30-80 million un-owned cats, which include feral cats, barn cats, and cats who are not allowed inside. The researchers "estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill
1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually." They emphasize that "un-owned cats" are the culprits here. Though the numbers may be shocking, their discovery isn't particularly startling. Un-owned cats have already been implicated in
33 modern bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions, write the researchers in
Nature Communications.
"
How can this be good?
"
both the pet Fluffies that spend
part of the day outdoors and the unnamed strays and ferals that never leave it — kill a median of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals a year, most of them native mammals like shrews, chipmunks and voles rather than introduced pests like the Norway rat.
"
"Owned" cats
cost (contribute to the economy) about $53 billion per year. Gotta be good.
Cats are truly evil.
If you are inclined to pooh-pooh such ideas you are probably infected and controlled. (True "Puppet Masters".)
Deniers should read the science literature.
The 72 million dogs in the US are not far behind in true cost, and effect.
About 20% of human children in the US sleep hungry. But obviously happy "pets" are more important.
(The Trouble with Tribbles: so cute and cuddly.)
=================
The
Toxoplasma parasite may infect about
30% of the human population on the planet.
How can that be good?
" the “latent” parasite may be quietly tweaking the connections between our neurons, changing our response to frightening situations, our trust in others, how outgoing we are, and even our preference for certain scents. And that’s not all. He also believes that the organism contributes to car crashes, suicides, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia. When you add up all the different ways it can harm us, says Flegr, “
Toxoplasma might even kill as many people as malaria, at least a million people a year.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ToxoplasmosisCrazy Cat Lady Syndrome[
edit source |
editbeta]
Main article:
Crazy Cat Lady SyndromeStudies have shown the toxoplasmosis parasite may affect behavior and may present as or be a causative or contributory factor in various psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and
schizophrenia.
[15][16][17] This association is often jocularly termed
Crazy Cat Lady Syndrome.
[18] Those infected think the smell of cat urine is pleasant. Other Recent references:
"They have been called one of the "worst" invasive species. And a
new study published today in Nature Communications suggests that cats are responsible for killing several endangered bird species in the United States, and decimating bird populations on islands all over the world. In the US, cats kill as many as 3.7 billion native birds annually, making them a bigger threat to these creatures than buildings, towers, windows, poison, and cars.
"
Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island Invasive Species. 7. The Domestic Cat (
Felis catus)
1Abstract:
This article reviews the biology, ecological effects, and management of the domestic cat (
Felis catus) in the Pacific basin. The cat is one of the most controversial invasive species in the Pacific region because of its complex relations with humans. At one extreme, well-fed domestic house pets are allowed outdoors where they may hunt native animals; at the other, unsocialized feral cats have replaced native predators as apex predators or occupy a new niche on oceanic islands, where they have devastated native faunas. In the middle are stray cats that are still socialized around humans. Feral and stray cats can be reservoirs of diseases that infect free-roaming domestic cats, humans, and wildlife. Given these problems, the best response would be to keep domestic cats indoors, restrict cat breeding, and remove feral populations. However, most Pacific basin societies have failed to reach a consensus on the cat problem, so solutions are ad hoc, often lacking in any scientific basis, and reflect our conflicting views. Compromise management might best fall into three broad classes: (1) eradication of cats should be confined to islands and other areas of high native biodiversity where reintroduction can be prevented; (2) in a landscape of low or moderate biological value, efforts should be made to educate the public to reduce the impact of their cats on remaining wildlife, while excluding cats from “islands” of elevated biodiversity values or human sensitivity; (3) in drastically simplified urban ecosystems, management perhaps should occur only in response to local complaints.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/mar/01/house-cats-invasive-species/ http://io9.com/5979891/domestic-cats-are-among-the-worst-invasive-species-and-could-be-destroying-ecosystems http://melissaasmith.hubpages.com/hub/free-roaming-cats Cats are vermin. Worse than mice and rats.
They are SOOOOOOOOOOO cute.
Don't get me started.