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Designer genes: Every cat has them
By Gina Spadafori
January 30, 2008
The Sacramento Bee’s animal-loving Cynthia Hubert writes so many blog-worthy stories she’s practically a guest-blogger. Her latest:
Despite thousands of years of breeding, most modern-day domestic cats are quite genetically close to their ancestors, according to a new study of the feline family tree.
As with humans, the “cradle of civilization” for cats lies in the Middle East, in a region once known as Fertile Crescent, veterinary genetics researcher Leslie Lyons [of the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine] and her colleagues have concluded.
Humans first employed cats as hunters and later adopted them as pets. But as any owner of a well-fed but rodent-obsessed feline knows, they have never become fully domesticated, even after more than 5,000 years.
“Cats are not as domestic as you might think,” says Lyons, who worked primarily with doctoral candidate Monika Lipinski on the research. “They are probably allowing you to live with them, not the other way around.”
Lyons and her colleagues study feline genetics in an effort to identify inherited conditions, from coat colors to kidney disease, that are of interest to breeders and might lead to treatments for genetic illnesses in both cats and humans. They also trace feline ancestral histories.
Read the rest.
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Other places: Newsday’s Denise Flaim writes about the HSUS taking in the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. Our related blog posts here and here. … Famed cookbook author Mark Bittman writes in the New York Times about the fuel-sucking, earth-polluting problems with factory farms. I’d like to think that we will end up banning these “farms” because they’re cruel in the extreme, but if we do because they’re wasteful and polluting (not to mention contributing to the development of superbugs through antibiotic overuse), well, that’s good, too. … Dr. Patty Khuly writes in her Dolittler blog about her problems with greyhound racing, in hopes that a Florida proposal to save the tracks by putting in slot machines would fail. Didn’t work: It passed, by a wide margin. The dogs’ll keep running. … From dogs to horses: On the one-year anniversary of his death, Barbaro now has a final resting spot at Churchill Downs, where he won the Kentucky Derby. Bill Ordine of the Baltimore Sun has a lovely piece on how the life and death of a single horse few had heard of before that first Saturday in May has had a lasting effect on thoroughbred racing and veterinary medicine.
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I was kind of happy to see the enviro issue on mega-farms raised in this sub-topic. I think it should have its own seperate topic.
Ive said for many years now that the centralization that occurs as the megas take over is grossly inneficient. With smaller farms crops are hauled much shorter distances to the barn. Often this is well under a mile even with mid range farms like I had. Then the manure has to be hauled out which is a much bigger problem since water disposal is a much larger issue.
Small farm disposal of water usually is taken care of by a simple drain field and it is put back into the ground or evaporates. When you have thousands of cows in a single facility the ground immediately surrounding the barns is quickly overwhelmed well beyond its ability to absorb it. So, you have to haul the water away too. The dry matter portion of manure is really not that heavy. Think composted leaves. But anyone who has carried a sprinkling can knows that water is very heavy. You now have to expend a huge amount of fuel to get this as far away as possible.
Smaller farms tended to be contiguous plots of land. As farms got bigger the opportunity to expand to a neighbor’s farm on your immediate border became a rare event. So, whether by ownership or lease (more likely the latter) crops have to be hauled farther and farther from several farms over or even in other townships or other counties.
Needless to say, there is the temptation not to evenly distribute the manure to the land wich produced the original feed stuffs. They try to minimize hauling costs by packing as much on to the closest available land as they can. This leads to over application and given the high percentage of water often leads to run off especially if a rain follows shortly after application.
Also, the cost of storing manure is high. When I built a facility the recommended minimum was 1 year storage even if you spread both spring and fall. We opted for 18 month storage to allow for bad weather years when spreading was hindered by rains. Today large farms have lagoons that hold less than half a year’s production. So, they spread in the winter.
When you spread this brown half digested goo on frozen ground any kind of quick melt or rain will wash it off like a hose rinses suds off your car. The result is stream contamination and in really bad cases rural wells start spouting brown water!
Here in Manitowoc County we have nearly 50 well contamination events every year. In decades past this NEVER happened unless a well was located too close to a barnyard which was prohibited by health dept rules way back in the 30s.
These operators claim they are more efficent which is allegedy why they feel they have effectively taken over. But the truth is that their supposed efficiency comes from other factors.
1) They are entirely dependent on bovine growth hormones to keep the milk flowing - NOT good management. This causes a dependency on Canadian replacement stock since the BGH exhausts the cows and can no longer reproduce after their fist calf. Canada banned BGH when it first came out.
2) In most states (including Wisconsin) regular industrial labor laws do not apply to farms. They are not even required to have workman’s comp for employees although recently some have opted for it because of law suits stemming from injuries. Minimum wage laws do not apply either. And, almost all of their work force is Mexican and pretty reliably - illegal below the radar and frequently off the books altogether.
And oh yeah… health insurance? We dont need no stinking health insurance! Like Dubya says, “They get health care! They can go to the ER!” Who pays for that I wonder?
Its a dirty dirty business and I’d like to see it ended but people like their cheap chow just like they like their cheap Chinese consumer crap at Wally World. Melamine anyone?
That’s the rant for the day from dairy land.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — January 30, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Bernie, again, thank you for your voice of experience. We really struggle with how much to write about animal issues beyond those of “pets” because this is, after all, the Pet Connection blog.
But you know of my extreme interest in agriculture topics, so we’ll try to continue to figure out a place to make the link and fit these subjects in within our framework here.
Have you ever thought of writing your own blog? I’d sure read it, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 30, 2008 @ 8:56 am
I agree that Bernie should start his own blog.
Bernie, you write well, you understand the issues, you don’t get scared when other people disagree with you, and you have the time.
Unlike Bernie, I am ALWAYS right! ;-D Therefore, you should go to it, buddy!
Dorene who in 3 weeks starts her seeds and won’t have the time to comment on all these blogs, take surverys, etc.
Comment by Dorene — January 30, 2008 @ 9:16 am
Bernie … see the most recent post. Your wish is my command!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 30, 2008 @ 9:36 am
Factory farming is indefensible. Thank you, Bernie, for your comments. And I think you should have your own blog too!
Comment by Susan Fox — January 30, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
I do not eat cows, nor does my husband, son, or daughter.
There are so many “meat and milk” farms here in Colorado! However, cats need their beef and fish.
Clara is adorable—I enjoy seeing how she is doing. Pretty relaxed, I would say, and pretty satisfied with her life as she takes over the chair that you, Gina, probably use.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — January 31, 2008 @ 5:56 am
By the way, my girl cat who is 14 yrs. old is going under the knife tomorrow.
One of her mammary glands is malfunctioning and the veterinarian is going to loop the nipple off, for it is exuding odd liquid.
Trying to be calm about it, even though not.
People have said, “Well, she is 14 years old”. I tell them you want to see them okay at any age.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — January 31, 2008 @ 6:46 am
CT … best wishes for your kitty. Doesn’t matter the age, she is your “baby.” :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 31, 2008 @ 8:32 am
Thanks, Gina. That is exactly how I feel.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — January 31, 2008 @ 8:34 am
CT - keeping your girlcat in my thoughts today!
Let us know how she does, okay?
Comment by The OTHER Pat — January 31, 2008 @ 10:45 am
Sure will. Thanks, The OTHER Pat—I have an excellent veterinarian so Brandy should be okay under his knife.
One never is quite sure, though.
I expect to post the outcome tomorrow on this blog. Now I feel less alone, for only true animal lovers understand what the owner goes through when taking an animal in for an operation.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — January 31, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
Brandy, my diabetic cat, had her nipple removed successfully. The vet believes he cleaned out the trouble spot and will send it to the lab for analysis. She also had her front tooth removed.
Thanks, Gina, for the discussion on pain medication. Before, I thought the cat would do better without any. Now I am going to use it for sure. My vet always sends home a few droppers or vials (I am not sure what they are called), one to be used each day, and THIS time I will use them.
I do not want her to suffer needlessly.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — February 1, 2008 @ 12:42 pm
Thanks for posting the update. I’ve been keeping her in my thoughts today!
Please give her a gentle hug from me!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — February 1, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Sure will, The Other Pat, she will need that gentle hug, and a few gentle head and body rubs, too.
Thanks for keeping her in your thoughts!
Comment by Colorado Transplant — February 1, 2008 @ 2:47 pm