CHRISTIAN COTRONEO: “Cat No One Would Touch Is So Grateful Someone Finally Hugged Him”

Everything about Valentino suggested people not give him the one thing he needed more than anything: human contact.

The cat’s hardened fur was riddled with grime.  He suffered from sarcoptic mange, a condition that’s highly contagious to both cats and humans.  His eyes were so caked and swollen, they were sealed shut.

And Elaine Seamans didn’t care.

While passing by his cage at the Baldwin Park Animal Shelter last week, she heard his faint cry for help.

“He reached out with his little paw and made the tiniest meow,”  Seamans tells The Dodo. “It was like he was screaming without verbalizing it:  ‘Please help me.’”

“There are times when it’s not an option to keep walking,” she adds. “You just have to stop.  This was one of those times.”

And she opted not to wear gloves, but to press Valentino directly to her heart.

“When I picked him up, he put his little head on my shoulder,” Seamans says. “That was it. I had to get him out.”

Then Seamans, founder of the At-Choo Foundation and a regular visitor at the shelter, let Valentino make the call for help himself.

While still holding the cat, she dialed her friend, Toby Wisneski, founder of Leave No Paws Behind.

“When I was talking to Elaine on the phone and she let me hear his little meow, I said, ‘That’s it.’” she tells The Dodo. “I could hear him. That sealed the deal.”

Wisneski picked up Valentino over the weekend, taking him directly to a veterinary clinic where — although he couldn’t see the staff — Valentino could feel his world changing for the better.

“He couldn’t move and he couldn’t see. But God love him, he’s a fighter.” Wisneski says. “Everybody just adores him and they’re very protective of him. His prognosis is excellent and once he gets through this, he’s going to have a long life ahead of him.”

“His heart is good.” she adds.

But then again, that’s one thing that a veterinarian didn’t need to confirm.

Seamans knew that as soon as she took every risk in the world to hold a mange-ridden cat close to her own heart — and let him know he wasn’t alone.

“He’s so loving,” Wisneski says. “You can tell he is very grateful. He will purr for them and try to rub up against the veterinary staff. He knows he is safe.”

When Valentino finally opens his eyes, it will be to a brand-new life. One with a family.

Maybe that could be you.

 

Get in touch with Leave No Paws behind here.

And if you would like to help support Valentino’s recovery, consider making a donation. 

You can also get updates on Valentino’s progress through the group’s Facebook page.

JANE MEGGITT: “Ways Cats Understand Physics”

You probably don’t think Fluffy has much of a grasp of scientific principles — but you’re wrong. A recent Japanese study indicates felines use their sense of hearing to predict where prey may be located, although they can’t see the intended victim. Cats perceive a prey’s whereabouts through non-visual clues.

Of course, if you play with your cat, you already know he understands string theory…

The Kyoko University study may win an award for the most adorable science project ever, as much of it consists of videotaped cat reactions. While the study proved that cats have an elemental understanding of physics and cause and effect, it also showed that cats score well in the common sense department. It’s not easy to fool a cat… unless you’re using a laser toy.

The experiment

Researchers showed 30 cats “either an object dropping out of an opaque container” or nothing dropping out when the containers were turned over. First, scientists shook the containers with objects to produce a rattling sound, but also shook the empty containers which didn’t produce noise. The felines then were allowed to roam around and explore the area where the experiment was conducted. Fifteen — or half — of the cats “actively explored” containers with an object that made noise in them. Just 10 cats explored the “no object and no sound” containers.

The results showed that cats looked at the container longer when there was noise than when there wasn’t — an action known as “preferential looking.” They also peered longer when an “incongruent” event occurred — such as an object dropping out of a container that didn’t make a noise, or no object dropping out of one that did rattle.

The researchers concluded the result “suggests that cats inferred the existence (or absence) of the object based on the rattling sound (or no sound) and predicted the appearance of the object (or not), applying a physical rule.” They surmised this reflects natural feline hunting ability, as they must often discover the location of prey solely by sound. Since cats are basically nocturnal — although as any cat lover knows, they sleep day and night — their primary hunting hours are spent in the dark. The study shows cats use cause and logic regarding noise to determine the presence of invisible objects.

Feline hearing

Dogs have a fantastic sense of smell, but felines possess exceptional hearing ability and beat the canines in the aural department. Although cats have good vision, hearing is their sharper sense. A typical feline’s audible range is 79 kilohertz, or about 10.5 octaves. Human hearing is in the 20 kilohertz range. That means a cat can distinguish the very high-pitched sounds made by rodents, inaudible to the human ear. He can tell the difference between similar ultrasonic sounds several yards away.

Feline ears have 22 muscles in the outer ear, or pinna. Consisting of cartilage and covered with hair, the pinna is designed to catch sound waves, sending them down the ear canal to the eardrum. You’ve certainly noticed that your cat can move his ears separately, and often communicates his emotional state via the ears.

Deafness

Does this mean a deaf or hard-of-hearing cat can’t hunt? Not necessarily, although he’s unlikely to perform this task well. In an area where prey is abundant, the deaf cat may still catch mice or other animals. It also depends on prey drive — there are some cats that really enjoy hunting and will pursue it enthusiastically even if they aren’t particularly successful. Of course, deaf cats really belong indoors, as the outside world is too dangerous for them.

Do try this at home

The Kyoto University experiment is one that you can try to replicate at home with your own kitties. The Kyoto University team used metal balls as items in the opaque containers. You can use anything that rattles, but consider expanding the experiment. Along with ordinary rattling items, switch to toy mice or similar objects resembling prey.  See if your cats show more interest in prey-like pieces than other noisy articles.

In simple terms, cats understand an action leads to a reaction. Researchers still don’t know “what cats see in their mind’s eye when they pick up noises,” so further study is necessary.

—Jane Meggitt

 

 

 

 

 

~via TheAlternativeDaily.com