LSM1303 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR : cats

Stray Cat Sterilisation Project At Bukit Merah View (2000)

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:38:18 GMT

Lou, E. H., 2000. Stray cat sterilisation project at Bukit Merah View. Singapore Veterinary Journal Online, 24.

Note the charts legends 1 and 2 are mixed up.

Singapore Veterinary Journal Online, 24."/>

A review of feral cat control

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:30:50 GMT

Robertson, S. A., in press. A review of feral cat control. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2007.08.003

Domestic cat vocalisations

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:05:19 GMT

A very amusing collection of cat vocalisations which sound like words! Domestic cats may vocalise more to owners than to each other due the reinforcement they receive from the former.

As for cat chirping and chattering:

www.youtube.com/v/phWw8sZEeQk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355">

"I'm obviously not a cat person"

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:38:00 GMT

Kathleen Cochrane, a field reporter with American TV station Fox8, was reporting on an animal abuse story live from a shelter. She is seen holding an obviously digrunted cat, but unused to cats or focused on reporting, ignores Becky the cat's signalling of her discomfort. Kathleen hangs on to her, even saying "This lil' guy's having fun" with somewhat comical results! Thankfully neither reporter nor cat was hurt in this episode!

I found a few things interesting:

The cat communicated its intent clearly - as a result, many viewers were able to anticipate trouble and paid close attention to the rest of the report! (See comments in various youtube clips).
Kathleen failed to notice what many (including non-cat familials), thought was unambiguous vocalisation.
Was she betrayed by the furry, soft feeling of an animal? Her familiarity with dogs? Or was she oblivious, as she later claimed, because she had to focus on reporting - I actually think the last is plausible; you can, when focused on a task, ignore al other stimuli.
She didn't toss the cat away when it struck out at her but allowed it to drop down to the ground safely.
Why didn't shelter staff intervene? They would have recognised the cat's warnings? It is of course possible they were frantically signalling from behind the camera!
Becky the cat yowled much more than she struck (i.e. "bark" worse than bite).
Becky also demonstrated economy of action, a couple of quick swipes at Kathleen, enough to be released.
The nex day's follow up story (see below) potrayed the cat sympathetically.
Kathleen's studio colleagues and the the weatherman all blamed her, albeit in a genial manner, but pretty much ensured that message got across!

She blogged her side of the story on MyFoxCleveland.