Ten scientific benefits of owning a cat
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Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Obviously biased study. Everybody knows you don’t “own” a cat! You “own” a dog, you “feed” a cat.
Dogs have masters, cats have staff.
Yeah– “Cats have staff.”
My front door mat says– “The Cat & it’s housekeeping staff, reside here.”
(I like dogs, just happen to have a Cat.)
Interesting historical factoid–
-Newton is often credited with “inventing” the “cat-door” or “cat-flap.” –I can’t vouch for it’s authenticity, but it’s a good tale.
-Many old Churches in Europe have an inconspicuous “cat-door,” often located at the base of their main front-door, for easy ingress/egress of the resident Cat.
I can’t resist….
Retirement of “Eric the Red”
>Rodent Control Officer, CSS Acadia.
(He spent 16 years keeping the ship rodent-free.)
https://youtu.be/GD0oJMq_1RM
1. OWNING A CAT IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
If you’re worried about your carbon footprint, it’s better to own a cat than a dog. A 2009 study found that the resources needed to feed a dog over the course of its life create the same eco-footprint as that of a Land Cruiser. Meanwhile, cats—which eat less in general and are more likely to eat fish than corn- or beef-flavored products—only have the approximate carbon footprint of a small hatchback.
Unless you let them roam outside then they genocide the bird population.
One negative is Toxoplasmosis
“Unless you let them roam outside then they genocide the bird population”
Not in my neighborhood; they quickly discover they aren’t at the top of the food chain.
Wiley Coyote does appreciate the easy meal to be had from these fat, sluggish, pampered, spoiled and socialized creatures. There’s probably a metaphor in there somewhere……..
I just like them around. They are fierce and playful when young, then turn into cheap heaters for my yorkie, and generally remind me what happens when you lose your fur and develop opposable thumbs – you get to go to work and they get to sleep the day away :-)
AFAIK, cats were created by the ancient Egyptians to protect their Nile harvests from vermin such as rats and birds. I suppose cat psychology still expresses the attitude of being employed as guardian of wealth by the Sun God on Earth.
Another interesting historical factoid-
Centuries ago, in Europe, cats were, for a variety of reasons including the powerful catholic church declaring them evil, routinely exterminated. Of course, when the cat population dwindled, the rats flourished. When the rats flourished, the plague flourished. After a while, people started to notice that families who chose to keep cats weren’t getting infected by the plague at the same rate as other families and the cats made their comeback.
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Cats-and-the-Black-Plague