Category: Cats

Posts just about cats.

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Wal-Mart Chicken Jerky Tests Positive For Melamine

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Tests have found melamine in the chicken jerky Wal-Mart removed from shelves in July. The affected brands are Chicken Jerky Strips from Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co. and Chicken Jerky from Shanghai Bestro Trading. As reported before, Wal-Mart removed these treats after receiving customer complaints, but they didn’t make any announcement to warn consumers. At this point, the FDA still doesn’t have anything about it on their site.  Super.

There is a very well maintained list of safe (not part of the previous huge recall) pet foods at PetSitUSA.com. I strongly encourage you to check it out.

You can find out much more on previous recalls on my Pet Food Recall Archive Page.

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Feline Hyperthyroidism Linked To Flame Retardants

felinethyroid.JPGA new study has found has levels of flame retardant chemicals to be three times higher in cats with hyperthyroid disease than in normal, healthy cats. These flame retardant chemicals are called PBDE’s (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) and are used in things like upholstery, carpet, mattresses, and even televisions. It’s thought cats are exposed to PBDE’s when they groom because they’re ingesting contaminated household dust from our furniture and carpet and from their bedding.

The study also found that canned fish and seafood flavored cat food had significantly higher levels of PBDE’s in them. And a diet of canned food may have levels of PBDE’s twelve times higher than a diet of dry food. It’s estimated that pet cats might be receiving as much as 100 times greater dietary PBDE exposure than American adults.

Sweden started limiting the uses of PBDE’s when it was found in human breast milk. The state of Washington passed legislation banning PBDE’s this year.

Read about the symptoms of and treatments for feline hyperthyroidism.

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We Like: The MouseRat Cat Toy

mouserat.jpgRaven, The Director of Feline Toy Testing, at PetProject has long loved the MouseRat by MetPet (scroll to bottom). MetPet has three Classes of FlyToys—there are some really neat looking ones. New MouseRats make Raven growl. She will “request” vigorously and endlessly that we play with her, if we happen to even be in the room where the toy lives on top of a shelf. She absolutely does not like Sage, her co-worker, to play with the MouseRat. It is hers and we’d best remember it!

The MouseRat and the other FlyToys from MetPet are made the same way flies are tied for fly fishing, minus the hook of course. The MouseRat is made from deer hair, which Raven loves. They are very durable and last a long time. You need to put them away when not in use. They come on nylon line and an acrylic rod. We actually prefer a longer piece of lighter weight line, so I retrofit mine with fishing line.

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DNA Reveals Origin Of Domestic Cat

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Scientists have found that all domestic cats descended from wild cats from the Middle East—in particular, from the Fertile Crescent, which was located in what is now Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. This means that domestic cats in different areas didn’t originate from the wild cats in those areas as was once thought. Domestic cats in Europe did not come from the European wildcat. Today’s domestic cats all descend from five female cats from the Middle East. It was due to humans transporting their cats that domestic cats spread throughout the world.

Archaeological evidence points to cats being domesticated much earlier than once believed. It has long been thought the Egyptians first domesticated the cat around 4,000 years ago (2,000 B.C.) But, findings published in 2004, revealed that a Neolithic site on Cyprus had provided the earliest archaeological evidence of domestic cats from 9,500 years ago (7,500 B.C.) The DNA and archaeological evidence supports the theory that cats and people began sharing their lives as humans began to settle and farm, and had grain stores that needed to be protected from vermin.

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