March 14, 2006

• So... the bird flu makes you hang out in trees? Now the name makes sense.
• well, that's a pretty cool site - thanks. that particular entry, not so much.
• Not a lot to be said about aargh plop, except that I'm skeptical about its origins as cited -- the only country in enough of a flap over cats having the disease seems to be Germany. Or have I missed something in the recent news? The entry there for flarf could be improved; this thread contains examples of flarf excuted via Google.
• I totally misinterpreted this thread from its title.
• mecurious wrote: "well, that's a pretty cool site - thanks. that particular entry, not so much." ...that particular entry links to a Nature article that backs up the claim, with evidence that cats can catch and spread the bird flu. Next dogs will catch it. Then all our companion animals will be extinct. Planet of the Apes, here we come... and I'm worried enough by this damn flu to be only half-joking here.
• Thanks for the link, Mr. Imp. Beeswacky, I'd add in examples of "flarf" but that's not really the role of a dictionary.
• We know it's true that cats can catch Avian Flu. But why would that necessarily mean they'd be in trees?
• Civets live in trees.
• In places with lots of trees, people, cats spend more time in them.
• A true Zen saying.
• In the town I grew up in, we had no contract with the SPCA. The cats really did hang from trees right on Main Street. Still I'd think it'd be hard for a sick cat to climb a tree as opposed to trees being considered enough of a natural cat habitat to spawn a phrase to describe their falling out.
• A cat might climb a tree to protect itself from predators if it's sick.
• Wait, go back to the first part. What?
• No mang they go into the trees because they have the disease, that why they call it bird flu. It makes you behave like birds do. Don't you understand?
• Trees are a natural habitat for cats, Lara. They have evolved for partly arboreal activity. It's probably unusual for Americans to see cats in trees, since Yanks appear to customarily remove cats' claws, thus rendering them unable to climb. However, for the rest of the world, particularly those parts that still have trees and cats, seeing cats in trees is not unusual. Nor would it be unusual for a cat to seek haven in a tree when sick; I should imagine it would seem a safe place to go.
• It makes you behave like birds do.... Mr. K, I think that's bird flew.
• Well, Chyren, that's apparently true. For some damn reason we like to mangle our cat's feet, partly crippling them and removing their best natural defense, all in a self-serving attempt to keep our furniture pretty. I have two chubby indoor kitties. Both of my boys have their claws. With a little training, some patience, a good scratching post and a set of claw trimmers to help now and then, my cats can climb as they wish but don't destroy my furniture (well, not as often as they could, anyway). I made a decision never to get a cat declawed again. It's just silly - a cosmetic thing - like docking a dog's tail, or cropping its ears, both of which are pointless and stupid things to do.
• *puts on tinfoil hat.* *wonders if it's the declawing industry that's responsible for the prevalence of polydactyl cats in the u.s.*
• Although many North Americans still (unfortunately) declaw their cats, I think the explanation lies in the fact that most cats here are indoor cats (whether clawed or declawed), and therefore not likely to be seen in trees, aside from the potted rubber tree in the hallway. Declawing is still legal here, and it infuriates me when I hear a new cat owner blithely declare, "well, of course she has to be declawed right away." Makes me want to take a set of garden shears to the first knuckle of each of their fingers.
• good for you, caution live frogs, & Koko. My cat never claws the good furniture. We had really nice set of leather chesterfields for a long time, the cat never put a claw on them. She gets an old chair with crappy upholstery that she tears chunks out of. As you say, cats aren't so stupid that a little bit of patient training can't cure them of bad habits. People are just lazy and want an animal without having to spend the time with it. There are a few recalcitrant cats, though, who never can be weaned of their extreme ways, I have to say. These are usually reclaimed ferals or unneutered males with a wild streak, in my experience. But as it is said somewhere, "if you play with the cat, you must expect to get scratched." I fail to see why anyone would have a cat if they weren't prepared for the sharp claws and teeth that come with it.
• I don't mind getting a scratch while playing, but that insane purrr-purr-purrrr-VICIOUS-ATTACK thing that Persians do makes me reconsider the viability of cats in the petebestiverse.
• That's nothing. Try Siamese. I still have a scar on my arm where a siamese male bit me right on the wrist with his fangs about 4 months ago. Those things are strong and mean!
• I get really angry with declawing as well. It's akin to cutting off the ends of someone's fingers for the sake of your pretty furniture. I also lived for a long time in the woods, with a huge colony of feral cats very nearby. Although they would climb trees, they didn't hang out in them as a rule.