Music for Cats, Anyone?

Given the healthy Kickstarter support and satisfied early customers, will “Music for Cats” soon be topping the Billboard Singles and Download Charts? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Yes, folks, it is actually a thing and basing on the Kickstarter support during the past few years and satisfied early customer testimonials, it seems like the New York Times actually got it right when it called Cat Music as the number one idea of the year 2009. Music for Cats was born out of cellist David Teie’s scientific theory on the fundamental nature of music appreciation by mammals. He contended that every species has an intuitive biological response to sounds present in their early development. Felines establish their sense of music through the sounds heard after they’re born – i.e. birds chirping or their mother’s purr. With this premise, Teie composed Music for Cats, incorporating feline-centric sounds and their natural vocalizations with respect to a cat’s frequency range of hearing. An independent study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and published in Applied Animal Behavior verified that Music for Cats resonates conclusively with its target audience – namely cats – and writing that “cats showed a significant preference for and interest in species-appropriate music.” 

Cellist David Teie was born into a musical family, spanning three generations of professional musicians and a long line of musicians, composers and professional instrumentalists. Since 2014, Teie has been the conductor and music director of Washington D.C.’s premier chamber orchestra – the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra – and currently serves on the faculty at University of Maryland’s School of Music. His career has spanned performing as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra under Russian maestro Mstislav Rostropovich, acting principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony where he performed as cellist on Metallica’s 1999 album S&M. His research has been published in the Royal Society Biology Letters and in Evolution of Emotional Communication. 

According to Teie, cats were our first choice because they’re widely kept as pets, allowing us to easily share music with them. While the most mellifluous of Debussy’s compositions seem to be largely ignored by cats – i.e. most human-centric music seems to be ignored by cats and raising the volume only drives them away. Testimonials by those who already manage to purchase the CD or download the music and tested Teie’s Music for Cats on their own cats say that it has a relaxing and calming effect on their cats, making them less hyperactive and more able to adapt in the indoor domestic environment. Will there soon be hi-fi audio gear specifically designed to please cats? 

Intrigue at the Birmingham Dog Show?

Though a full toxicology report is still pending, is the Birmingham Dog Show now a center of intrigue of this recent Irish setter poisoning case?

By: Ringo Bones

The prize-winning Irish setter known as Thendara Satisfaction – or Jagger for short – died after leaving the Birmingham Dog Show. His owners and a preliminary toxicology report points to the cause of death as the ingestion of poisoned beef. Given the terrible crime, will the Birmingham Dog Show, the Kennel Club and Crufts now be under uncomfortable scrutiny by both dog lovers and the press alike?

Co-owner Jeremy Bott said he did not think that the dog was targeted, but the culprit may have been acting on “a grudge against dogs or the Crufts show”. The Kennel Club said it is currently the only dog poisoning case that’s being investigated. “The Cruffts Committee and all championship show dog committees will have to look at security”.

Jagger came second in his class at the show at Birmingham’s NEC on Thursday, March 5, 2015. He died after returning to Belgium with Ms. Lauwers. Jagger ,to his family was priceless and he serves not only as a family pet but as pet therapy in the local elderly care homes. Jaggerwould sit there and give the residents some delight in him just by being around. The Kennel Club said it was awaiting toxicology report from Belgian police. It said it had not received any other reports of sickness in dogs at Crufts. 

Dog Blood Therapy, Anyone?

Given that some skilled veterinary clinics already offer blood transfusions for dogs in case of a major trauma or surgery, can donated dog blood also improve the health of another ailing dog of the same blood type?

By: Ringo Bones

A t present, donated dog blood is primarily used in transfusions of dogs undergoing emergency major surgery in cases of extreme trauma that involve cars. Though transfusions can be a lifesaving procedure for your beloved pet, can a dog blood transfusion from a compatible but much healthier donor improve the health of your ailing pooch?

Dog blood is currently considered as the primary lifesaving medicine during emergency pet surgery, but some dog owners have noticed a marked improvement of their dogs overall vitality after receiving blood form a compatible but younger and healthier donor in a transfusion done during a major medical operation. Given that no synthetic dog blood or substitute had been developed yet, dog blood is – for a few years now – considered the most valuable medicine on the veterinarians operating table.

Is Debarking Animal Cruelty?

Often performed on dogs to reduce the sound level of their barking does the veterinary surgical practice of debarking be considered animal cruelty? 

By: Ringo Bones 

The case against the controversial veterinary surgical procedure called debarking recently happened when a Westminster Dog Show prize winning dog died 4 days after winning prizes at the prestigious dog show due to complications incurred during a recent debarking procedure. Debarking - though controversial - is often performed on show dogs to reduce the noise level of their barking usually involves a qualified veterinary surgeon strategically poking holes in the dog’s vocal cords. 

During the past few years, debarking had been a point of contention of animal rights activists – like PETA – not only because it exposes dogs to unnecessary risky surgery which could result in death and / or painful complications but also show-dogs, even in prestigious dog shows such as the Westminster Dog Show, are often bred for good looks with utter disregard to the animal’s long-term health and well-being. And it is not only dog shows that promote unnecessary debarking, some gated communities only allow households to keep debarked dogs on their premises. 

Should the cruel practice of debarking be outlawed? Well, some petitions and campaigns are already out on various social media sites like Facebook but only time will tell when there’s enough of an outcry against debarking that this rather barbaric and unnecessary surgical procedure on dogs should be ended once and for all. 

Cat Ownership In New Zealand: Not Economically Viable?

After a prominent New Zealand economist label them as “natural born killers” and therefore is a liability, is cat ownership no longer economically viable in the country of New Zealand?

By: Ringo Bones

Unless scientifically verifiable evidence to the contrary emerges, cats had been introduced by the first white European settlers in an otherwise cat-free land of what is now New Zealand about couple of centuries ago.  During their tenure, cats had lead to the extinction of 9 native bird species in New Zealand and have pushed other native fauna to the brink of extinction thus therefore are seen from an ecological perspective as an invasive species in New Zealand. But will a draconian measure of a prominent New Zealand economist of spaying and neutering cats and not replacing the ones left to allow them to gradually go extinct in New Zealand even be an “economically viable” option?

The rather draconian cat ban by Gareth Morgan, a prominent New Zealand economist who is now labeled as the “anti-kitty economist” by his detractors (mainly cat lovers and cat owners) proposes that by spaying and neutering stray cats and even cats with owners and allowing them to gradually die out is the most economically viable way to solve the native wildlife extinction problem in his country. Given that the New Zealand government had set aside large tracks of the country as a protected nature preserve and those outside the country have seen these via last series of movies by Peter Jackson – i.e. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit – is economist Gareth Morgan’s plan for a “cat extermination” the most economically viable way to solve New Zealand’s native species extinction problem? After all, tenured ecologists have since pointed out the three main threats to native wildlife all over the world are pollution, climate change due to excessive greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere causing global warming and an over encroaching human population into ecologically sensitive areas.

According to Bob Kerridge, president of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says economist Gareth Morgan’s proposal is too cruel for New Zealand’s feline pets – economic viability or not. Even though being a prominent economist is not yet an elected position in New Zealand, Gareth Morgan could well kiss his future in New Zealand politics goodbye because cat lovers and cat owners in New Zealand won’t be voting him into public office anytime soon.

Man’s Best Friend: Man’s First Garbage Collector?

Recent genetic forensic evidence had shown that mankind started to domesticate dogs not as hunting buddies – but as garbage collectors?

By: Ringo Bones

During the start of the 21^st Century, the National Geographic Society had shown evidence – via genetic science – on how humanity migrated out of that lush prehistoric savannah on the African continent for which we had evolved and migrated throughout every corner of the globe. And as of late, recent genetic studies of canis lupus familiaris – also known as the domestic dog – have shown that the domestication of man’s best friend is much more recent than previously thought.

Previously accepted conventional wisdom suggests that mankind first started domesticating the dog from captured wolf pups that are later trained to be hunting and foraging “assistants” about 30,000 years ago. But recent genetic forensic evidence obtained by the DNA analysis of the genetic material of dogs in a study recently conducted by Cambridge University suggests that the domestication of the dog occurred much more recently – about 11,000 years ago – about the same time when mankind discovered the rudiments of agriculture and started settling into large communities - a result that somewhat rewrites the domestication timeline of man’s best friend.

According to Dr. David Sargan of Cambridge University, the recent DNA-based findings suggest that wolf varieties that were better able to digest the starches found in wheat, barley and other grain crops first domesticated by mankind 11,000 or so years ago were the ones that gradually evolved into the present breeds of domestic dogs. For all intents and purposes, wolves first start to gradually evolve into dogs in the ancient garbage pits of the dawn of our agricultural society 11,000 years ago. The findings not only explain why dogs, until the present day, developed the taste for biscuits while their wolf cousins have never been partial to such treats. Does this mean that the real origin story of man’s best friend – the domestic dog - is rather mundane and somewhat a tad ignoble? 

Pet Social Networks For Our Increasingly Social Animals?

Given that pets now have their own social networks, are they now competing with us humans who are previously the only supposedly “social animal” on planet Earth?

By: Ringo Bones

The issue might seem trivial or esoterically academic to the general public – but it is now official, your pet can now apply for his or her own social network profile at mysocialpetnetwork.com. And besides, we humans had been hogging Facebook during the past few years. But are social networks for your beloved pet just too facetious and trivial for everyday practicality?

Some folks already have the “bragging rights” that their dog’s Facebook profile got 200 friends during the first week of joining and so does another who owns a 150 US dollar koi whose Facebook friends are already nearing the 1,000 friends mark. But unbeknown to their owners, a dedicated pet social networks can have uses that could one day save your dog’s and other pet’s life. As some human Facebook users already have testimonials on how they met someone with compatible blood and kidneys on the famed social network that had saved their life.

In more affluent parts of America and Europe, medical advances in veterinary medicine and veterinary healthcare already rivals that of humans and even though it may still cost 5,000 US dollars for your dog to get an artificial hip replacement for life-extension purposes – your dog’s vital medical information – like blood type and organ histo-compatibility – could prove a lifesaver if you have access to extra dog blood that’s compatible to your dog. And probably the most practical way to get such data is that if your pet dog had joined a kind of pet social network. And assuming your dog wins enough prize-money at dog shows to pay for upmarket veterinary surgery, then access to other dogs willing to donate compatible blood for surgical use can prove to be a lifesaver.