Stress can make cats ill: study

Researchers hope cat owners and vets will look at a sick cat's environment before deciding on euthanasia.

In a three-year study, Ohio State University researchers found healthy cats showed signs of illness when stressed and sick cats became healthier when stress levels were reduced.

The 20 sick cats in the study were all diagnosed with a chronic pain syndrome that affects a cat's bladder and were scheduled to be euthanised.

Advertisement: Story continues below

The researchers say about 1.5 per cent of house cats have lower urinary tract diseases and many pet owners can't stand the messes that come with them.

As a result, they say millions of sick cats are euthanised or turned over to shelters every year.

To cats, stress might be unwanted attention, a dirty litter box or strange noises.

source

Strange but True: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets

Sugar and spice and everything nice hold no interest for a cat. Our feline friends are only interested in one thing: meat (except for saving up the energy to catch it by napping, or a round of restorative petting) This is not just because inside every domestic tabby lurks a killer just waiting to catch a bird or torture a mouse, it is also because cats lack the ability to taste sweetness, unlike every other mammal examined to date.

The tongues of most mammals hold taste receptors—proteins on the cellular surface that bind to an incoming substance, activating the cell's internal workings that lead to a signal being sent to the brain. Humans enjoy five kinds of taste buds (possibly six): sour, bitter, salty, umami (or meatiness) and sweet (as well as possibly fat). The sweet receptor is actually made up of two coupled proteins generated by two separate genes: known as Tas1r2 and Tas1r3.

When working properly, the two genes form the coupled protein and when something sweet enters the mouth the news is rushed to the brain, primarily because sweetness is a sign of rich carbohydrates—an important food source for plant-eaters and the nondiscriminating, like humans. But cats are from the noble lineage Carnivora and, unlike some of its lesser members, such as omnivorous bears or, even more appalling, herbivorous pandas, they exclusively eat meat.


Click here to read more

Why do cats hate citrus?

Citrus is an acid. Ever wondered why snorting sherbert gives you a bleeding nose (just on the off chance you ever tried it)? It hurts and irritates, and cats are so much more sensitive in terms of the senses (except for taste, apparently). So they get much more annoyed when they smell it, and hence don't like it at all.


http://ow.ly/3xQ2X

Which colors do cats see?

In scientific tests, cats have responded to the colors in the purple, blue, green and yellow range. Red, orange and brown colors appear to fall outside the cats color range and are most likely seen by them as dark to mid shades of gray.
Cats appear to see less saturation in colors than humans, meaning cats do not see colors as intensely or vibrantly. Purple, blue & green appear to be the strongest colors perceived by cats.


http://ow.ly/3tuEB