Not The Cat's Meow
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Robert Cohen, NotMilk.com
September 2012

"But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the cat.
"Were all mad here."
- Lewis Carroll

The Cat's Meow: (Merriam-Webster dictionary definition): highly admired person or thing

A few days ago, I wrote about Beagles being used for torture (they call it scientific research) and received a naive "sigh of relief" from one reader.

She signed her email "Cat Lover" and wrote:

It is an abomination what researchers do to dogs in the name of science. Let us count our blessings that cats are no longer used as experimental models. They banned feline research decades ago, probably as a result of so many complaints from cat lovers.

I've got some sobering news for those who believe the same inaccuracy as "Cat Lover".

The September issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery reported on the use of dog's blood for transfusions during surgery on cats.

Huh?

It's true. Do it too often, and the bloody practice is Twilight for cats.

In their abstract, the authors (Bovens C, Gruffydd-Jones T.) report:

...There may be rare occasions when treating an anaemic cat when compatible feline blood cannot be obtained, and where a transfusion with canine blood may need to be considered as a life-saving procedure.

Anaemic cats receiving canine blood are reported to improve clinically within hours. However, antibodies against canine red blood cells are produced rapidly and can be detected within 4-7 days of the transfusion, leading to the destruction of the transfused canine red cells in a delayed haemolytic reaction. The average lifespan of the transfused canine red cells is less than 4 days. Any repeated transfusion with canine blood later than 4-6 days after the first transfusion causes anaphylaxis, which is frequently fatal.

What scientist still possessing the majority of his cerebral cortex first thunk of doing this procedure? After all, having been a companion human to both cats and dogs, I have noticed quite a few differences between their physical features and behaviors.

Do cats and dogs have identical blood? The Simple answer is NO, but they do have
similarities. Both have four legs and a tail and are able to train two-legged humans to become their slaves. Both can hear better, smell better, and see better than their human friends.

As for genetics and chromosomes...
A cat has 19 pair, or 38 chromosomes.
So do pigs (19 pairs for a total of 38);
A human has 23 pair, or 46 chromosomes;
A chimpanzee has 24 pair, or 48 chromosomes;
A platypus has 26 pair, or 52 chromosomes;
A cow has 30 pair, or 60 chromosomes;
A dog has 39 pair, or 78 chromosomes;
A T-Rex also had 39 pair, or 78 chromosomes, which might explain the behavior of some Pit Bulls.

In the theory of more is better, dogs have the greatest number of chromosomes in this little group of mammals, while cats have the least.

No two creatures are exactly alike. That holds true for the blood flowing through the
veins and for the milk within their mammary glands and for the growth hormones, with the exception of humans and cows, whose most powerful growth hormone (IGF-1) is identical.

Many of the world's great philosophers regarded the cat with due respect:

"The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it."
- Doug Larson

"What greater gift than the love of a cat?"
- Charles Dickens

"The cat is the animal to whom the Creator gave the biggest eye, the softest fur, the most supremely delicate nostrils, a mobile ear, an unrivaled paw and a curved claw borrowed from the rose-tree."
- Colette

"The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that can be learned in no other way."
- Mark Twain

"When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up."
- Rodney Dangerfield


Return to Animal Rights Articles