purrsNswipes: 2006.05

SOS

It ain't peachy for Singaporean cats
Cats banned from NINETY % of homes
Singapore chooses killing over sterilisation

TNRM

TNRM 101

The Street Gangs

CARE!

Earth calling Homo Sapien

Is that blood in your lipstick?

Does your grub bleed?

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Updates are on the way, just that eta is uncertain - traffic jam and problems as listed in our last entry, "Buzz-out. Greetings from Cyber Purgatory". *points to first entry*

Thank you for your patience, and interest, and see you there,
calsifer
29 June 2006

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Cari - MIA today

So Cari didn't show today. If she continue to be a no-show, we'll see if we can find her over the weekend. - Meet the Street Gangs - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Angel - updated Adoption notice

ANGEL is a friendly female, about 1 yr-old, with classic black and white patch patterns and a perfect full-length tail. She is sterilised, vaccinated, and litter-box trained. At an age where she's more sedate than kittens, but still young enough to adapt quickly to new situations, she will make a great house-pet. She is suitable for single or multi-cat families. Will you consider giving this lovely young girl a permanent home? - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

CWS Adoption Board Parade of Kittens

In the last few weeks, going to the CWS adoption board could have you think it was a kitten nursery. There were postings of kittens, kittens, and more kittens. In the best of situations, even tweenagers stood little chance against the boisterious, irresistable, littel furries, what more mature and older cats against a whole horde? Our lot's adoption notices were pushed off rapidly. And since, we've been laying low, and waiting for things to calm down before hazarding a repost. Now seem like a good time to revive the postings. So we're starting with Angel. - Meet our homeseekers - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Never crash diet the moggie either

Though Roly poly isn't cute, unless you're a whale stocking up for summer, never allow your cat to starve/fast, unless under a vet's instructions, for example in cases of diarrhea, soft stools or in preparation for surgery. Why? Because of the risks, like hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease), where the liver starts to function abnormally. This might result even after just a day or two of not eating, and can be life-threatening. So how do you help your rotund one to lose weight? Patiently. You could

change to reduced calories formulas
reduce food portions gradually
leave less out for all-day grazing
engage in longer playtime

Frankly though, it is not as easy to get cats to lose weight as dogs. Because it's habitual of them to sleep 16 hours a day.

Monitor your cat's health, and consult the vet. We did all the above, and Joey and Philly are still overweight, though it did hel pthem shed a wee bit.

At least, with the vet's certification, they've got their clean bills of health.

Now we do still control food intake, for the sake of helping them maintain their current weight, and to prevent the others from ballooning.

- Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Cari

Just now, a new kitten popped up at the Street Gangs' Areas 1 and 2 buffer zone as btmao was getting around to dinner service for Area 1. She was probably about 4-5months old, wearing a white coat accented by grey tabby patches, and a short clubby tail. We've named her Cari. Cari is very friendly and loving. btmao lured her to Area 1 proper and served dinner to her, and the resident Wunder Duo, Samia and Izzy. Perhaps it's because they're all friendly, humanised kittens: only Cari, understandably, puffed and hissed for a while when Samia approached, but in no time at all they were rubbing noses and sniffing each other out! Izzy, ever the guile-less (and slightly spaced-out too), decided to puff up only when the action was over. No harm done. Anyway, dinner decided them, and all soon were settled down and munching happily. After dinner, they just lounged around for a while. I took a few pictures with the phone cam, but can't upload them yet as I don't have the cable here. Anyway, hopefully Cari sticks around, at least for a few days. We'll try to arrange for her mojo-removal tomorrow. Cari Gossip

Cari - MIA today (20060531)
Cari's cute looks (20060601)

Salvi (free-ranging pet)

Salvi - 17 May 2006, PM (Phone Cam) First sighted in the night of 8 Jan 06, in the Street Gangs' buffer zone between Areas 1 and 2, Salvi was estimated to be between 6 mths to less than 1 yr old at that time. She was very thin, and wore a worn red collar with a bell. Bt she was not interested in food - dry only, wet only, dry and wet... nothing interested her. We assumed she was a free-roaming pet, as she wasn't panicky like most abandoned pets and yet had no fear of strangers. It was almost too easy to pop into the carrier for her appointment with mojo-removal the next day, 9 Jan 06. Lucky we caught her, Ivan the Terrible, then still brimming with mojo, was stalking her, a shadow in the dark. Salvi was released on 11 Jan. Since then, we've seen her at the same place most nights for about 2 weeks or so. She was still not interested to eat our dinner offerings - though she was cetainly hungry. She just takes a few eager sniffs and wander off. By this time, we suspected her to be a free-ranging pet who was abandoned. She had the air of a kid waiting for mum and dad to come fetch her. It was heartbreaking, and we worried for her health, seeing her condition and her lack of appetite. After that first fortnight, she disappeared. We could only comfort ourselves with the fact that her mojo has been removed. But we needn't have worried. A month or so later, we spotted her again. She had become somebody else's free roaming pet in Area 1! The boy who claimed to be her owner, said she just appeared one day about a month ago, and he had never seen her before then. His family decided to feed her, and so that was how she became his pet. We couldn't get him to understand the importance of keeping her indoors though. Or anything else that mattered. But we've not given up hope. We're waiting for help with translating a flyer we intend to use into Malay. Then we're going to try again. Salvi's not so skinny anymore of course, I just hope to get the message across to her family before she got into trouble. She's been abandoned before, and she deserves some stability and happiness. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Extremes (Dawn, 20060530)

This is positively the final installment in the Animal Rights/Animal Welfare debate of the day. I managed to hear a recording of the segment. It was... interesting, and of course showed that there's still work to be done to make people AWARE of what's wrong with the current situation. Dawn has also, once again, put into succinct words, her thoughts in the aftermath of the radio segment:

Extremes That was an interesting discussion on Yakety Yak about animal rights. I missed the first 5 minutes or so because I was fiddling with my RealPlayer and wondering why it wouldn't tune in. Thanks Calsifer for sending in my blog entry. It was strange that they read it just before I went on air.
It was quite interesting that people were saying that animal rights activists if left to go to the extreme would change the world and not allow other people to eat meat, or have pets, or a whole range of other things. In every realm of human activity, there will be extremists. There are people who believe that to protect an unborn baby, it's permissible to kill other people or blow up a clinic. There are people who believe that to protect the purity of one race, it is fine to exterminate another. Some others think that in the name of religion, it's acceptable to kill. There are people who have subverted every human activity to extreme ends, including religion, ethnicity and just about anything you can think of.
It also predisposes that people would impose their beliefs on others and not take into account what they feel at all.
So why judge people by the worst? We can always look into the abyss of the soul and see the worst that humans are capable of - or we can try and find the positive and try to be more like that. The same best impulses that drive what is purest about humans are the same that we should extend towards animals - compassion, empathy and an awareness of another's suffering. If we can find it in ourselves to extend it to those who are most helpless, whether they be human or animal, then it speaks volumes of our humanity.

"Do not be so eager to deal out death and judgement. Many who live deserve death, and many who die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo?" - Gandalf Chronology

Roly poly isn't cute, unless you're a whale stocking up for summer

Really, only marine mammals, like whales and walruses own the bragging rights to blubber-bulked physiques. Otherwise, like humans, overweight animals are prone to health risks. Some interesting reads about the situation elsewhere: Porky pets warning for British

"Feeding your pet full English breakfasts, chocolate, chips, burgers and too much pet food may make you feel like a kind and loving owner," said David Grant, a veterinarian working for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). "But it could give your pet fatty tumours, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, liver failure, skin problems -- and, even worse, an early death." Of 143 veterinarians questioned by the RSPCA for the report 80 percent reported a steep rise in the number of cases of overweight and obesity they had seen. One man used to feed his dog a breakfast of egg, sausage and bacon until it became so fat it could not move and had to be put down. He was banned for life from keeping animals, the RSPCA said. "People who let their pets starve are labelled cruel and callous, but what people don't realise is that overfeeding your pet can cause just as much suffering as starving it, " Grant said. "A fat dog may look cute and cuddly but in reality you are killing it with kindness. " An animal only needs to be slightly over its ideal body weight for health problems to begin.

Loving your pets to death

"It's a big problem, and quite reflective of what's happening in the human situation," said Mark Lawrie, the RSPCA's chief vet. Australia is a nation of 20 million people, almost 4 million dogs, 2.5 million cats, 8.7 million pet birds and more than 12 million pet fish. It has one of the world's highest rates of pet ownership at 64 percent of households, compared to 62 percent in the United States and 44 percent in Britain. The RSPCA said de-sexing and lower levels of exercise had an impact on pet obesity, but the key issue was over-eating. "It's really the calorie intake and food that makes the big difference," Lawrie said, adding that many pet owners could not resist giving their animals food when they asked for it.

And here's an example of what might bother your roly-poly one: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears Sounds painful, doesn't it? Cats and dogs are prone to it.

Written by Kevin Helliker, the article reports that the high rate of ACL tears is mystifying to veterinarians. Could it be the prevalence of obesity in dogs? A fat dog jumping on and off the sofa is putting a lot of pressure on his joints. And active dogs, unless they're well conditioned, are just as much at risk, especially if they're jumping and twisting to catch a flying disc. Cats are prone to ACL tears as well, especially if they're overweight.
-> more on dogma and cattitude's Weak in the Knees

So don't think you're being a good companion animal guardian if you succumb to every begging whine or meow for food. It's not your guilty conscience that needs defending, it's your cat/dog's health. This applies to the homeless animals you care for too. So don't underestimate the impact of hauling extra weight around. - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Veg OUT!

I figured some things deserve trumping... so here's the day's trumping: VeggerBLOG aka blogs by vegans/about veganism. Just added them to our BLOGwatch on the sidebar (scroll down, and down a bit more). Filched them from Cat, so Kam Siah, Girl! Saved us some work. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Can you fathom people like this?

Dawn blogged that Some people are more offended by this ... Then by this Where else would a cat, a sterilised one too, minding its own business be deemed more offensive than the other thing? - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Buddhism - we likes

The more I think about it, the more I like how Buddhism is non-judgmental nor exclusive, as A 'meeting of two religious streams' shows. As I've said in Transcendence, or maybe not, I'm a agnosatheist, but I do find myself leaning very much toward Buddhism. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

A 'meeting of two religious streams'

After that bout of meta/science kitty thoughts Schröedinger's cat evocated, I find it apt/coincidental/providential to find this on vegancat's blog:

And with that understanding can come contentment, even joy.
Extract from A 'meeting of two religious streams'
By LOUIS SAHAGUN, Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2006
As the world's leading Buddhist, the Dalai Lama, likes to say: If there is a problem and there is nothing you can do about it, there's no use worrying. If there is something that can be done, there's no use worrying. And with that understanding can come contentment, even joy.

I especially like these parts:

"Most people don't go very far into Buddhism; they just want to feel a little better," said Michael Shiffman, founder of L.A. Dharma, a nonsectarian Buddhist organization in Los Angeles. "But can you be Jewish and not believe in God? Good question."
Others, however, would say it all depends on an individual's definition of God.
Essentially, Buddhism creates a solitary and quiet path away from suffering and toward a moral life based on an all-inclusive vision of interconnectedness, wisdom and compassion. A method for achieving that awareness is daily meditation.
Being nondogmatic, Buddhism does not require that adherents join anything or reject anything — even the notion of God.
So in this regard it differs vastly from Judaism, a community-based tradition that relies on observances, laws and prayers such as the mourner's kaddish — the prayer for the dead — to connect adherents with a personal god."
"Suffering is at the heart of the matter," suggested David Gottlieb, whose autobiographical book Letters to a Buddhist Jew examines the life of a "Zen Jew" struggling to resolve his two identities. "Judaism, at its best, embraces suffering and, at its worst, enshrines it. Buddhism explicitly seeks to end suffering and doesn't look to the past."
Lee Rosenthal, 59, of San Diego found that powerfully appealing. He'd just returned from the Vietnam War and was facing the deaths of his two children shortly after they were born, and then his wife's cancer.
"I couldn't buy into the spiritual answers I was getting from people for why my little babies passed away," he recalled. "But I picked up a book on Buddhism and it spoke to me, streetwise and honest."
"Instead of sugarcoating things, it gave me a plain explanation for why I was suffering: Life is painful and difficult," he said. "It said also you can't run away from it. Deal with it."
"I'm a healthy mosaic of Judaism and Buddhism," Lieberman said. "Is that fair to either religion? Fair schmair! It's what I am.

Schröedinger's cat

Cat's compilation of the Laws of Physics awoken a strange little kitty that's been having a permanent siesta in the back of my mind. Schröedinger's cat. A famous little moggie, in the human physics/quantum physics realm anyway. He/She is probably the most famous modern day feline nobody has ever seen. The beauty of his/her existence? View him/her as you will: heavy, in-depth, light, lay, whimsical. Take your pick. And what about Schröedinger, the man who made the cat's fame? Infamy... well according to this article: Why does the SPCA Hate Schröedinger? Now, if you're ready for a Schröedinger's something else, come meet Schröedinger's dog! Have fun! PS if you wonder how I knew Schröedinger's cat was just having a siesta and not crossed over the rainbow bridge, simple: the atom did not decay in the box I opened. PPS and no, I don't quite get it either - ain't academia nor literati after all. Just a statistic in the good old labour force. more Caterati - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Tiger, the paraplegic cat (vegancatsg, 20060529)

vegancat made a vid of Tiger, who is one lucky cat, in spite of his disability. Kudos to his family for rescuing and caring for him. He reminds me very much of Debbie, who is under Foster Mum's meticulous care. I just saw her on Saturday... no pics as the cam batt flatlined. *ARGH* Debbie's loving and as friendly as ever. I just wish she could get her wheels soon. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Laws of Physics - Feline Version

LOVE these truisms!

Laws of Physics

Kudos to Cat. More Cat-ffervescence: Sneezes of Laughter - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Animal Rights/Welfare - do we know the difference?

Okaaaay, so I couldn't resist sending this email last night to the hosts of the 93.8 program that's running the radio segment at 12.20om today: Is Animal Rights Activism a waste of time and resources? I did get carried away.. just a little.

Hi Melanie, Eugene, This is going to be an interesting topic, but I just wonder how many people do appreciate the real meaning of Animal Rights, or are even aware that it is quite separate from Animal Welfare? It seems quite impossible to engage in meaningful discussion unless participants are able to recognise the two as separate in the first place. For example, I've known of animal-work volunteers who get asked the question: why do you bother with animals? It is more important to help people! Even my relatives have asked the same of me. My usual reply is: animals cannot speak, but that does not mean they don't feel anything, nor does this 'disability' of theirs give us the right to exploit and abuse them. Besides, I am being guided by my beliefs. You think it's more important to help people - may I know what have you done in support of your beliefs? Personally, I do believe both Animal Rights and Animal Welfare are important, and you can work for either or both at the same time. Time and resources channelled to these two causes are never a waste. As a friend say, the true waste is when you have a ginomous casino, and it's attendant ills, around - it takes time and resoures to build it, and it also takes time and resoures to alleviate the ills it brings. I say alleviate because realistically, nothing can resolve these ills while the source is open. It is like opening a floodgate, and then trying to repair the damage, while keeping the floodgate open. Another problem with being concerned for animal rights/welfare is the word activism or activists. It is actually a unwelcome brand those who don't 'get it' impose on the people working for these causes. These are viewed as dirty words within this context - along the lines of terrorists or crazed fanatics. Most people assume anyone who works on non-human causes are rabid extremists. That is just as condescending and discriminatory as painting all Muslims with the same brush because of 911 and Al-Queda! Most people assume too that animal activism is to the detriment of humanity. But is it? Ethics is, I believe, at the heart of the argument. "Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind." ~Albert Schweitzer, humanitarian theologian, missonary, organist, medical doctor, 1875-1965 Note that this gentleman is a humanitarian, theologian and medical doctor. And yet he believes Ethics and Compassion cannot be exclusive to mankind. Ethics is founded on compassion. And compassion is neither selective nor discriminatory. So you see, you don't have to be an animal-lover to understand or appreciate why Animal Rights and Animal Welfare movements have their relevance. The true pre-requisites are compassion and ethics. I'd like to quote a few more enlightened persons to illustrate: Saint Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226quoted in Life by St. Bonaventura
If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't.... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. ~Mark Twain, writer (1835-1910)
Remember: The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham, philosopher and jurist (1748-1832)
Exclusivity of any kind leads to discrimination. Today, the view may be non-humans do not deserve to live without pain and fear. Anything that a person doesn't like or agree with can be excluded. Btu what happens tomorrow? It is not a pretty proposition. It doesn't take much to extend this exclusion and discrimation to other humans whom the person view as different. I do believe this is one of the causes of human violence. With people, or animals, exclusion leads to an indifference to the excluded person or animal's ability to feel, and may spawn an urge on the excluder's part to get rid of the excluded object. I do think it's why FBI studies show a link between animal cruelty and violent crimes in 78% of convicted murderers and other serious cirme offenders. On a larger scale, it may become war. Actually, this has already happened throughout history, and we even don't need to look that far back: Hitler, the various discrimination-inspired wars that have happened on the last 100 years, or are taking place right this minute. Do we really need deja vu, redux 1000? Ultimately, it comes back to what we are and how we treat each other too. Us all, homo sapiens. Singapore is not too bad, really. But the problem is, neither are we fantastic in terms of our treatment and attitude towards animals. Anything that does not contribute directly to the economy seem to be neglected. We're definitely not 'there' yet either - far from it. Some excuse our indifference and apathy with the age of our nation. But is it valid? True, the places where people like to compare Singapore unfavourably to, are nations one, if not two hundred years old. But consider, ethics and compassion was given the room to develop and grow organically as these nations progressed. Singapore, on the other hand, simply neglected anything not contributing directly towards a productive economy. Singapore will be 41 soon. That is a long time to neglect such essential foundations of nation-building. We hothoused our economy, I hope it has not killed our soul. Whether animal welfare or animal rights, homo sapiens, Singaporeans or whatever, cannot continue to sweep the issues under the rug. First though, the question is still: Do Singaporeans even know the difference? But instead of continuing on a long-winded rant, allow me to, once again, quote Ms Dawn Kua of the Cat Welfare Society, because she puts the salient points across most succinctly. Thak you for your attention, http://catwelfare.blogspot.com/2006/05/animal-rights-versus-animal-welfarism.html Monday, May 29, 2006 Animal rights versus animal welfarism Calsifer sent an email to say that tomorrow at 12:20 pm on 93.8 FM they are discussing the issue of whether animal rights activism is a waste of time and resources. Thanks for the heads up Calsifer! People often lump the two together - and often in doing so, they try and point out that people who are interested in animal welfare are not for example interested in the welfare of people, which is patently ridiculous. It also allows some to say that they aren't interested in animal welfare by painting anyone interested in animal welfare as being a crazy activist who hurts anyone and anything in the process of saving animals. Here's the thing - someone may be concerned in animal welfare without necessarily being an animal rights activist. The question of whether you're interested in welfare is a simple one - do you believe that animals should not be ill treated and made to suffer? If you do, then tada! you believe in animal welfare. This does not touch at all on the fact whether the animal has inalienable 'rights' in the sense of the word. Let's give an analogy. For example you may believe that a chicken can be eaten as meat - this does not mean that you believe that you can do anything to that chicken in the process of it being killed, including mutilating, torturing and letting it die a slow, horrible death where it suffers horribly. At the end of the day, I would argue that someone who has no interest in animal welfare at all is someone I would view with suspicion. To knowingly partake of, enjoy or condone the suffering of an animal does suggest a rather alarming state of mind - and the repercussions are not 'just' about animals. "Animals cannot speak, but can you and I not speak for them and represent them? Let us all feel their silent cry of agony and let us all help that cry to be heard in the world."~Rukmini Devi Arundale Blog: purrsNswipes
(Powered by mental-brainjuice of 2 two whacked-out sibs) (Our awareness is the hope of voiceless animals and the underpriviledged among us.)

Monday, May 29, 2006

Animal Rights is not the same as Animal Welfarism?

There IS a difference between the two. Just that most people lump them as one. That's why I didn't go on about it in my "Radio segment on Tue, 30 May: Is Animal Rights Activism a waste of time and resources? " No point crowding the issue. But Dawn's thoughts on Animal rights versus animal welfarism, after receiving my email alert, is short, sharp and to the point. Very worth a read or 3. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Radio segment on Tue, 30 May: Is Animal Rights Activism a waste of time and resources?

Just got to know about this, and wanted to let everybody concerned know. Whether you rescue wildlife, or do TNRM, or is aware and gives support in other ways, we're all doing our bit in different aspects of Animal Rights activism. Please consider calling or writing an email to weigh in on this topic, Otherwise, the public might get to hear only from those who don't get the importance of Animal Rights. Please tell your friends too! Details Radio station: 938Live (frequency: 93.8FM) Program: F-CUBE Hosts: Melanie Oliverio (melanie@mediacorpradio.com), Eugene Loh (eugene@mediacorpradio.com) Segment and call in details: 12:20pm Yakety Yak A call-in segment where you can have your say about the latest issues - both international and local - affecting you and your loved ones. We pick the topic, you tell us how you feel. Fiery! Call us at 669 11 938 to share your thoughts! If you think there's something we should yak about, tell us at eugene@mediacorpradio.com (source) - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Sara/Mocha is mending and rounding out

Sara aka Mocha, who got sick and had to see the vet a number of times soon after going home with her parents, is now well!

YH, Mocha's mum's response to my email on Thu, 25 May: Hi calsifer, _Mocha is fully recovered and doing very well now. She's even put on a bit of weight! Cheers, YH My reply sent today: Hi YH, That's wonderful to know! Thanks. YH, we also want to thank you and your husband for sticking it out with Mocha despite her getting sick so soon after going home with you. We really appreciate it a lot. So thank you again for your TLC for Mocha. We really hope to visit some time... but keep having trouble finding a free weekend these days! Meantime, if you've more photos of her, and if it isn't too inconvenient, could you send them along? I'd like to see a weighter Mocha ;-) Thanks!

I had left off asking frequently for updates on Sara because I'm sure YH didn't need Sara's ex-guardians making like buzzards while she tried to tend to Sara and help her get well. Am glad for the good news. Sara has good, committed parents - they could have thrown her back when she got sick, since they've only been with her a few days and the emotional attachment was still raw/new, their time together being so short. It's really really admirable that they stuck it out with her. Also, during the initial stage of Sara's bout of sickness, though there were emails back and forth, it was more trying to understand where and how she might have gotten sick, and not blame pinning. We appreciate YH's maturity and understanding in this very very much. Hopefully, more people like YH and hubby will adopt - our wards, even though they can't speak, don't walk on 2 legs, and will never vote nor contribute meaningfully to the economy (except maybe as hapless pawns of the pet trade and animal based research), still deserve the best care and TLC, just as much as every human child is expected to receive. MUST try to visit soon! - Meet our homeseekers - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Orli Snuggles

Orli's homecoming - Day Two. SMS update from his mum:

Hi Orli is getting 2 know me... he snuggless n sleeps w me on bed. But he goes 2 his cage/house 4 the nite. Will keep u informed.

Good progress, don't you think? btmao and I are WooHoo-ing.

- Meet our homeseekers - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Orli Euphoria

Orli, current record-holder of lengthy-stay at Foster-Mum's has a home!!! At last! Is there such a thing as quiet euphoria? Because it seems like we're overwhelmed, happy, relieved, anxious all at once. And tired - it's a high-strung business to be chaperoning potential adopters - due to our low success rate. Now, after waiting for nearly 16 months, Orli has finally gone home with Theresa today, just after noon on ---- well yesterday now. Unlike other visitors - he had a grand total of about 8 enquiries and 3 visits, Orli got himself acquainted with Theresa's shoes immediately - he usually needs a bit of warming up. A good sign, I thought then, but then the previous Sunday, he had good rapport with his potential little lady too, but the family, a good one I might add, went home with a tabby girl. I had no idea how good that sign really was. But given that it's not unusual for potential visitors to leave with another cat instead, btmao and I maintained our usual cautious optimism. Theresa hung out with him, and the other cats in the cattery. And she decided on Orli! Being the good boy that he is, he walked into the carrier himself and settled down - no panic, no histrionics, and certainly no drama-queenness. As of evening, he has decided under Theresa's bed is a great place to be. Hopefully, he will overcome his shyness soon. Orli's adoption gives us MUCH hope for Booties, Timmy and Frankie, who've also been waiting for more than a year, and Angel, who's still missing a home after 4 months, unlike her babies. I need sleep now, but before that, it'll be a great pleasure to move Orli from the "In The Market For a Home" section on the homeseekers' page to the "NO LONGER SEARCHING - HOME IS WHERE THE KNEADING IS" section. After the little death, we shall think about adoption notices for Booties, Timmy, Frankie, Angel, and the Wunder Duo: Izzy and Samia - Meet our homeseekers - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education

Saturday, May 27, 2006

The Scream - Really The RWOAR?

So what's the REAL truth behind Edward Munch's fanous painting - The Scream? Cat unearthed it... here, and it's meowsome! More Cat-ffervescence: Sneezes of Laughter - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Think someone's flaming you? Careful you're not self-immolating

So, I got a response to the repartee I left on Cat's Reality TV for the Meowies blog entry... and got really amused and bemused all at once. While I had thought there was a debate going on, the other party was, apparently getting hot and bothered, framing the idea that she was being flamed. It is interesting to to note there's been two mentions of flaming at this point, and both by the other party. What's even more interesting is how sensitive the other party appeared to be about flames... it seems like the only level playing field is where this person gets to state her views, and... period. Huh? That's it? Yup... imagine this sequence of events:

You read a blog, and give your comments
Someone weighs in after you and say the situation is not as bad as you think
Since the Someone didn't seem to get your drift, you weigh in again, and explain further why you said what you did
the Someone respond with the statement that she believes in balance, and tell you not to be one-sided in your view, at which point you're going DUH
You take a deep breath, and reply and give even MORE details to show your views are not formed in a vacuum. And also your opinion that balance is cool, but balance can only happen in a situation where all things are equal. In this particular case, there is IMbalance
the Someone respond again with the balance thingy again
You take a really deep breath, reply and give another example, with in-depth details where you feel there's a lack of balance
the Someone respond and says you read too much into her views, is saying she doesn't support the situation in this particular case, she never intended to criticise your views, just want offer her views, and says she's stopping because you're flaming her.
You go WTF first, and then WTF again for the almost petulance in the accusation. You then take a really really deep breath, count to ten, just for good measure, and compose a response like this:
- Views are open to interpretation... esp online views
- Views that almost belittle/negate the concerns you raise means supporting the situation, however implicitly
- Views being open to interpretation, are therefore open to responses ... esp online views She can air her views on your views, so can you air your views on her views on your views
- Flaming is defined as nasty responses, and is an accusation that's not taken lightly. You point out, almost with a spotlight that discussions and debates involve saying things in a way you feel strongly for... like it or not, just because a sentence rubs the Soomeone the wrong way doesn't mean she's getting flamed. You also invite the Someone to point out instances in your replies to her where she feels the heat
What you didn't mention is how the Someone skipped over your latest response, and instead used a retro-quote (a quote from your previous previous previous post) in her accusation of your flaming her, which seems strange since that quote was already dealt with, or so you thought, in the relevant previous posts. And yeah, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen... in a moment of benevolence (the counting and deep-breathing does help!), you decide to save the over-sensitive one more agitation, in case self-immolation occurs and you get pinned with another WTF accusation.

Funky, isn't it? IMO, freaking convoluted too. Ok, so what's the point of all this?

Are you ready???

Don't take things so personally, an opposition to YOUR view is NOT a personal insult. Relax lah! And yeah, everybody else has as much right to view-airing, not to mention responding, as you do.

I kid you not, read this article if you need evidence.. now, don't ASSume you're being flamed if you happen to be the sensitive type. Take 3 DEEP breaths, and then think it over. If it doesn't work, repeat.

Trust me, life will be more endurable... especially if you do like to air your views, more so you're active in online view-airing. At least you reduce the chance of self-immolation and bringing down an innocent party or three with you.

If the deep breathing/stop to think just doesn't work, hey, just remember flames are better used for barbeques, as someone with a sensible mind said. Just be careful playing with that fire, yah?

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars By Stephen Leahy . Also by this reporter

02:00 AM Feb, 13, 2006 EST

"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today. Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.

According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.

"That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New York University. "People in our study were convinced they've accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.

The researchers took 30 pairs of undergraduate students and gave each one a list of 20 statements about topics like campus food or the weather. Assuming either a serious or sarcastic tone, one member of each pair e-mailed the statements to his or her partner. The partners then guessed the intended tone and indicated how confident they were in their answers.

Those who sent the messages predicted that nearly 80 percent of the time their partners would correctly interpret the tone. In fact the recipients got it right just over 50 percent of the time. "People often think the tone or emotion in their messages is obvious because they 'hear' the tone they intend in their head as they write," Epley explains.

At the same time, those reading messages unconsciously interpret them based on their current mood, stereotypes and expectations. Despite this, the research subjects thought they accurately interpreted the messages nine out of 10 times.

The reason for this is egocentrism, or the difficulty some people have detaching themselves from their own perspective, says Epley. In other words, people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from another person's perspective.

"E-mail is very easy to misinterpret, which not only triggers flame wars but lots of litigation," says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the e-Policy Institute and author of guidebooks E-Mail Rules and Instant Messaging Rules. Many companies battle workplace lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail, according to Flynn.

People write absolutely, incredibly stupid things in company e-mails," said Flynn.

Friday, May 26, 2006

"Balance" viewpoints and the White Tiger Fraud

So on Cat's Reality TV for the Meowies blog entry, which I mentioned previously, I was engaging in an energetic debate with another of her readers, who called my views one-sided. Thus far, it has culmulated in this post by moi - and the feature debut of another personal bugbear - the White Tiger Fraud being propagated by zoos and entertainment acts worldwide. Here's the whole hog if you don't mind jumping in without reading the preceding posts, whic,h imo ,you don't really need anyway.

... Cool, you have a view, and so do I. Does that mean my view is any less "balanced' than yours? Balance is what I believe in too, but the image of a level weighing scale, with symmetric shapes and substance on both sides, which seem to constitute your idea of balance, this kind of balance cannot be in the absence of the vital caveat emptor - equality. So the views on my weighing scale is stacked heavily, just so I can find the balance in the issue.
I'll use another example - conservation, specifically, tigers. Now, I do understand the reasoning behind the necessity of captivity and breeding programs, in the name of 'education' , 'bringing wildlife to the masses', and 'species preservation aka conservation'.
One of the hippest and most popular gimmick is to tout 'Save the Endangered WHITE Tiger', in zoos all over the world, even the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Why gimmick?
Consider, the tiger genus has 8 sub-species apread over Asia, 3 of which are extinct. But whether still struggling for survival or gone the way of the dodo, the white tiger is NOT one of these sub-species.
Instead the white tiger is a mutant, it was first noted in the bengal tiger, and in the wild only 1 in 10,000 tigers are white.
There are, in total, 6,000 wild tigers, estimated, surviving in the wild now. Of these, only 2-3000 are bengal tigers.
So, where did the captive white tiger population, numbering hundreds, in zoos, circus and private collections around the world come from??
Captive tiger, or anything, breeding, like cat/dog pedigree breeding, entails selective breeding - carefully choosing specimens with the desired traits and then mating them.
The white tiger occurs because of a reccessive gene. Leaving it to nature to decide whether a cub would be white or not, is like playing the lottery, and no breeder can afford to wait on that 1/10,000th chance.
So captive-bred white tigers are bred from related tigers - father-daughter, father-granddaughter... you get the picture.
It is common knowledge that mating of related specimens, holds true for humans too, heightens the chance of genetic defects.
For every handsome white tiger being exploited to earn tourist/customer moola, there may be anything from 60 to a few hundreds failed white tigers - some are stillborn, some suffer delibilating birth defects throughout their lives - blindness, deafness, cross-eyes, hip/leg deformities etc, most don't live long and die early.
But remember, selective breeding is still a chancy thing. There's no guarantee you'll get white tiger babies every single time. So what happens to the non-white tiger babies? Abandoned, killed, abused, tortured... just like the kittens and puppies of kitten and puppy mills. Some are sold to the chinese medicine trade.
"...The white tiger population in todays zoos traces its ancestry to a single white male named mohan, collected in 1951. Successive inbreeding in captive populations for the variation has resulted in the approximately 250 white tigers in existence today. The inherent genetic problems associated with the required father/daughter/granddaughter pairings, resulting in the white tiger lineage, often manifests itself in other abnormalities including crossed eyes, bone deformations and reduced immune system functions. These factors have created a controversy among zoos, animal rights groups and those facilities who chose to breed and display the white tigers. At the root of the problem is the fact that white tigers are a popular exhibit, helping increase attendance and revenues at zoos and animal parks, while on the other hand their breeding serves no conservation purpose." (source)
(More information about white tigers and their breeding, and the very real implications for the tigers involved, as much victims as the ten cats in the Meo Mix gimmick if not more so, can be accessed here: The story of Zabu and Cameron, The White Tiger Fraud [check out especially pics 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 - this is how most white tigers tend to look like, the ones the public don't see], The White Tigers of Rewa, White Tigers, Breeders have over-exploited their appeal, This is a White Tiger. Other exotica breeding and abuse: Detailed information on tiger coloration, Hybrid and Mutant Big Cats)
Putting aside the sheer waste of life, the tiger is afterall a highly endangered species, the conduct of captive white tiger breeders and the zoos/people who support them are equally despicable.
If there is no demand, there will be no supply is the common refrain. So if people will look beyond the enchanting allure of the White Tiger Conservation movement, and ask zoos how this fits into the more vital TIGER conservation, then maybe there is hope for the true tiger conversation effort. Because, given all the facts, white tiger conservation cannot be discussed outside the context of tiger conservation per se.
In this case, say what you will of my views, I cannot find a balance where support for the zoos exist with the opposition of captive white tiger exploitation can balance each other out - so I tilt prominently towards against, and no longer have the desire to pay to visit zoos. Nat Geo and Animal Planet are good enough for me.
(But, here again, as a little sidetrack, I do not see the consumer savvy that you're so confident of in the pet issue issue. I also agree that with your statement:"natural law is you have to pay a price for something you want, nothing's free". But I find that people do not like bad news, and don't want to know the truth. They prefer to be deceived by untruths, as long as they are pleasant. People would pay, but they prefer to PAY for happy deceptions. Personally, I believe that is why the horrors of factory farming and circuses got so out of hand, and, disgustingly, is still on-going.)
Anyway, that is why I do not form firm opinions based on prima facie evidence anymore. There is always a need to probe deeper, and ask the WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHY.
IT behooves us to.
Frankly, no matter how balanced your view is, as long as you take a side, you've 'sided'. And the balance is tipped already.
So again, imo, the formation of a so-called balanced view must be preceded by equality of facts and the situational information, where there is no equality, there can be no balance.
And yeah, so there! =)

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Defenders of Wildlife - Take Action: Belugas on the Brink

Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales are in serious trouble. Facing pressures ranging from pollution to increased ship traffic, their numbers have dropped by half in the last decade. Now, this isolated population of white whales may disappear forever. Click here directly to take action Please also consider checking out the Defenders of Wildlife's Take Action page, and signing up for alerts. Current list of urgent actions needing your help:

Help Save Alaska's Wolves. Alaska has taken action to reinstate its aerial gunning program. Under the program, marksmen can gun down wolves from the air or run the wolves to exhaustion, then land and shoot them at point blank range. Help us put an end to this brutal practice once and for all.
Stop Fueling Exxon Mobil's Anti-Wildlife Agenda. It’s time to hold ExxonMobil responsible for putting corporate profits over protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat. Join Defenders of Wildlife in urging ExxonMobil to clean up its act.
Stand Up for Endangered Species. In September, the House of Representatives passed Congressman Richard Pombo's (R-CA) "Wildlife Extinction" bill, which would gut the ESA. The fate of the Endangered Species Act will ultimately be decided in the Senate. Help us ensure that the Pombo “Wildlife Extinction” bill does NOT become law. Send a message to your Senators now!
Don’t Let Great Cats & Rare Canines Vanish Forever. Did you know that many of the world’s great cats and rare canines are disappearing? Every day, animals like the cheetah, African wild dog, clouded leopard, and Ethiopian wolf face threats to their very existence. You can help save these magnificent creatures.
Help Save the Wolves. Once all but wiped out in the lower 48 states by extermination campaigns, wolves are just now struggling for survival again in the wild. But they need your help for their fragile recovery to continue.

- Go to CARE! for more actions - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Reality TV for the Meowies

Cat (who took a hiatus from the blogosphere) added this news about a US pet food maker exploiting shelter cats and reality TV to her blog. She said: Don't know how you feel. In my books, reality tv just crossed the line. I don't want to repeat so here's the comment I left on it: Yikes... crossed the line indeed! I do think it's a despicable thing petstuff manufacturers do, when they tout or involve shelter animals in any way. Cat, you probably know my shtick with pet food... anyway, I took a peek at the Meow Mix offering. Typical of Meow Mix's offering, Meow Mix Original Choice ingredient list: Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E), Turkey By-Product Meal, Salmon Meal, Oceanfish Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Phosphoric Acid, Animal Digest, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Calcium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Added Color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2 and other Color), Salt, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, L-alanine, Niacin, Vitamin Supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Citric Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite. E-4541 It's horrible that the very first ingredient in the Meow Mix Original is not even a protein source, and worse that the first protein source we see is in position 3! Coupled with the next 3 ingredients, the top eigth are all by-products and corn fillers, Yikes! How shameless of Meow Mix to brandish the slogan: "Tastes so good, cats ask for it by name!" It's really the pits, to me anyway, when a poor quality pet food like Meow Mix raises its profile and people think it's a good food to give to their cats. And most people will, because most people won't bother to read the ingredients list. So easy to lead people on. I don't know which is sadder, businesses like Meow Mix getting away with gimmicks like this reality tv thing or the naivete of people in lapping it all up, hook, line, sinker. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

A snapshot of MooMoo's Journal

There are some great souls out there. Like Lynn, who among other wonderful and commendable things she's doing, tried to help little Cookie find a home. But sometimes, things aren't just meant to be. Cookie's story reminds me very much of Angel and her babies - out of 5 babies, Aidan died very soon after going into foster care, the 4 were rehomed successfully, but of these 4, another 1, Ariel, died just 2 days after going to his new home. (as of now, Angel is still waiting for a home of her own) Kudos to Lynn for her TLC to Cookie, and to Moo Moo for his generosity, his concern for Cookie, his sensitivity, and being there for Cookie and Lynn until the end. - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Brain Damage - A plausible vaccination after-effect

Like humans, cats may suffer brain damage, from head trauma or high fever. Trauma may of course stem from accidents or abuse, and high fever is often caused by diseases like Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIE) (aka feline parvovirus (FPV)/feline panleucopenia) I just got to know about a kitten who suffered brain damage from fever after being vaccinated. Again, like people, vaccinations do induce fever, but mostly it is something that will subside in 1 day to 1 week's time, depending on your cat's reaction and if it's a first vaccination or booster. Aside from the risk of VAS (Vaccine Associated Sarcoma, also VIS-Vaccine Induced Sarcoma, Vaccine Associated Fibrosarcoma, vaxosarcomas), which killed cats like Sylvia, and allergy reactions, the possibility of brain damage is another potential outcome to weigh. If you decide on vaccinating your cat, please monitor his/her condition carefully, especially if it's the first round of shot/booster, or if your cat is geriatic (in which case, you might want to consider ceasing vaccinations anyway. Vaccination schedules) In addition, please refer to this page for more detailed info, and note the "Vaccination site Recommendations". Especially since VAS became more understood, vaccinations between the shoulder blades should NOT be conducted by your vet anymore. Now, despite all that's said against vaccination, and the contrarian views, please do not dismiss the purpose of vaccination outright. Talk to you vet about your concerns and see if there are alternatives for your cat... but if your vet dismisses totally the concerns, he/she isn't much of one. Anyway, after I got to know about the hapless kitty, I googled and though I didn't find info on vaccinations and brain damage, I did find this heartbreakingly heartwarming story of a kitten whose mum helped him rehab from brain damage caused by a possible anaesthetic overdose: The Cat Who Survived In Spite of the Vet I really like this very educational piece too - there is no excuse to ostracise disabled cats or other animals, jsut like there's no excuse for ostracising handicapped people: LIVING WITH A DISABLED CAT - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education

Animals don't suffer? The point is moot

From Silent suffering (AVMA Animal Welfare Forum addresses pain management in animals):

"The scientific evidence is overwhelming that animals do feel pain," said Dr. Sheilah A. Robertson, opening speaker at the 2001 AVMA Animal Welfare Forum, held Oct. 14 in Chicago. "What we need to do is now move on and discuss the more important topics like how can we help them." ... between 17 and 20 million animals are used in research annually in the United States, most of those being rodents. Dr. Robertson estimates there are at least 20 million dogs, 60 million cats, another 60 million feral cats, and an undetermined number of farm animals are exposed to painful procedures in the United States... (calsifer: think puppy mills and factory farming for a start) ... although animals may not experience pain exactly the same way humans do, that does not detract from an ethical responsibility to alleviate animal suffering, Dr. Robertson said, ... To experience pain, an animal must have a functional brain and be conscious. If an animal is unconscious, as when a research animal is undergoing procedure and never regains consciousness, for example, it cannot perceive pain, Dr. Robertson explained. "Pain [occurs] if you're aware, have a functional brain, and receive those incoming messages," she said. "So pain is always a personal experience. It's unique to each individual person and each individual animal."

Ref: Consider The Lobster (pdf) by David Foster Wallace - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

Sun-burning cats and lumpy skin

From the Nana Roxy Mama Suki Lala blog:

Like how cats that are black-and-white with white/pink noses are prone to squamous carcinoma caused by lack of pigment (melanin) at their noses and they will start to nosebleed. Apparently, it's treated by tattooing the nose so sunlight won't get to the cells. Amazing ... (* A Wildlife Veterinarian *)

squamous carcinoma (disturbing pic of cat with bleeding nasal area)

Cats are even better sun worshipers than people and most of them can lie in it all day without burning or damaging their skin. However, this is not true for some cats - like pale skinned people, cats with white non-pigmented areas of skin (often with only a sparse covering of hair) can suffer damage to the skin which can be very serious... more

Teddy is a pure white non-pedigree, a DSH. Now I feel better that he doesn't have sunbath opportunities - the orientation of our home just makes it really moot.

Additional ref: Causes of Pigment & Color Changes in the Skin & Coat

- Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education

Na ni ka? When age and dashi can't meet

After all that weighty TLC talk, I figured a little levity is in order. If you're able to follow this chat excerpt between 2 long-ago Jap lang students, AND appreciate the drift, I feel sorry for you. Taihen desu ne. L: my hotmail is acting up again! me: ditch it lah L: we still likes hotmail me: does you precious L: i'm on the hotmail beta version, 2 GB L: it's buggy me: sou desu ne L: hahah....anata no nihongo wa ii-desu ne? me: ii e me: watashi wa nihongo wa nogood desu me: eh.... watashi no L: hehehheh me: honto ni battsuni L: watashi no nihongo wa sucks-ass desu me: ii-e anata remembers 'no' while watashi totally forgot desu ne L: watashi remembers 'no' because anata used it too, wakari-masu?? me: ii e anata used it soshite watashi corrected jibun no mistake ne me: my gawds teraishi sensei zettai fits if she sees this yo L: hahahahha - Go to Pawprints: TNRM - Go to SINGAPORE UGLY / Casefile: Cruel Singapore. Hack-care Singapore. - Go to HDB bans cats - government body chronically misconceived - Go to Singapore's Love-Hate Relationship with Trap-Neuter-Release Management - Check out the purrsNswipes Adoption Guidebook - Meet our homeseekers - Go to for cat minon requisite education - Go to SOS and see how you help some Singapore animals in need

FiP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis

What is FIP? FIP is a viral disease of cats that can affect many systems of the body. It is a progressive disease and almost always fatal. It is found worldwide and affects not only domestic cats, but many wild ones as well, including cougars, bobcats, lynx, lions, and cheetahs.
Which cats are more likely to develop FIP? As you would imagine, the cats most likely to develop FIP are those with the weakest immune systems. This includes kittens, cats infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and geriatric cats.
The largest number of FIP cases occurs in young cats. Kittens are often infected when they are 4 to 6 weeks old, when the antibody protection they received from their mothers through the milk is declining. Kittens usually start showing signs of FIP when they are between 3 months and 2 years of age. Most of the kittens with FIP die between 8 and 18 months of age.
When infections with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were more common, infections with FeLV and FIPV were often seen together because FeLV suppressed the immune system. Now that FeLV is less common only 5% of cats with FIP are also infected with FeLV.
We rarely see FIP in cats between 3 and 10 years of age. However, starting at 10-12 years of age, the immune systems of these older cats apparently decline, making them more susceptible.
FIP has been shown to be more common in certain breeds and lines. It appears to be more common in Persians, for example. It is unclear whether these breeds are more susceptible because of their genetics or whether they are exposed to FCoV more often since many of them live or come from catteries.

We've not encountered FiP personally, but in the last 6 months, have come to know of 3, all involving kittens 6 months or younger. So if you have kittens, please be careful. And if you have more than one, isolate and get them tested before allowing interaction. This may make all the difference in the mortality rate for your kittens. - Go to Pawprints: TLC for cat minon requisite education

If we had a calling-card for what we do outside of the moola-getting stuff, it'd likely read: ARMCHAIR advoCATS & HUMANITY CYNICS @ Kitty-Grub Delivery * Feline Mojo Robbery * Cat Rehoming (outsourced foster-care) * Home-Slacker Coddling * Petition Signing * Bureaucracy Rattling (Part-time) * Word Spreading - Because People Need To KNOW @ Members of "Listen To The Earth - We are not Cassandras for telling you there's only one Earth!" (Powered by mental-brainjuice of 2 two whacked-out sibs)

: Name: calsifer

purrsnswipes has moved! We're the Tipped Ear Clan at wordpress.com. See you there, calsifer

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The Street Gangs (they whose homes are the fickle streets of Singapore)
The Home Seekers (earnestly seeking personal laps and chin-ticklers)

Adoption Guidebook - thoughts and views on the rehoming-gig

The Home Slackers - the fat bums who have staked claims over sofa and bed
The Associates - felines and furries slacking in other homes

TLC (Must-knows and oughta-knows for your cats' utmost comfort while they lord over your life)
TNRM (a.k.a Feline Mojo Robbery & After-care)

Handy contacts for the Singapore animal guardian

Cat-ffervescence: Sneezes of Laughter
Caterati (get your Cat-ducation, appreciate Catculture)

About Cats (All about Cats and Kittens - Cat Care - Cat Behaviour - Cat Health)
Cat Vaccines Your online resource for understanding the benefits, risks, and latest research on feline vaccines
PetEducation.com>Cats (Anatomy, Behaviour & Diseases of Cats and Kittens)

CatQuotes.com (Never be left defenseless without a kitty quote anymore)

Cats Quote of the Day