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2012年6月2日 星期六

【新手篇】養貓前自我評估

【貓貓知識匯總】 >> 【貓之新手篇】 >> 【新貓飼養之準備】


貓咪是絕佳的生活伴侶,但是當你決定讓貓咪走入您的生活之時,你就需要對這隻貓咪的一生負責,所以,在決定養貓之前,請先仔細一項、一項地評估,自己是否適合當個飼主。
1. 有足夠的經濟能力嗎
「愛是無價的」,但確保貓咪能得到良好的生活與健康條件,是有價的,貓咪不應該因為飼主不願付出金錢,而過著品質低下的生活,所以,個人的經濟能力,仍然還是新手飼主在決定飼養貓咪之前,最需要先行評估的部分。

(圖取自寵物百科家族
2. 你是否是個有責任心與耐心的人
貓咪很聰明,也很獨立,但是照顧貓咪,大多數的時候,都像是在照顧個活蹦亂跳的小孩,你需要有耐心,不過,也請做好心理準備,貓咪可能會有一直改不了的壞習慣,這時你就得學著妥協,因此,先確定你有耐心面對,並且搞定一個很不聽話的小孩,而且你要有責任心,能對貓咪負責,因為,你是貓咪的主人,如果,你不是個有責任心與耐心的人,你並不適合養寵物。
3. 居住環境適合養貓嗎
如果你是租屋族,要先確定能找到能養貓咪的房子,許多房東會規定房客不得養寵物,請不要瞞著房東偷偷養,因為,如果東窗事發,要付違約金事小,自己與貓咪找不到安身之處才是事大,此外,住在高樓也要注意貓咪的安全問題,要確保貓咪不會有墜樓的危險。
4. 你選擇的貓咪適合你嗎
不論在決定養哪種寵物之前,都應該先做足功課,養貓咪也是,要養混種貓還是品種貓?要養短毛貓還是長毛貓?要養成貓還是幼貓?要養公的還是母的?有些品種貓容易有遺傳性疾病,長毛貓需要每天梳理毛髮,成貓與幼貓的不同等等,都應該事先列入考慮,再來決定哪種貓咪最適合你。
5. 家人與伴侶都同意你養貓嗎
不少飼主都會以搬回家住,家人不喜歡貓,家人對貓毛過敏,或是要結婚了但伴侶不喜歡貓,孕婦怕弓漿蟲,生小孩之後,小孩會過敏等等各種原因為理由,而選擇將陪伴自己生活的貓咪送走,甚至是遺棄,這是非常不好的,在決定養貓咪之前,一定要先取得家人與伴侶的同意。
6. 你願意為貓咪付出時間嗎
貓咪的平均壽命,約為15歲左右,所以,當你決定帶貓咪回家時,你就已經對貓咪許下照顧她一輩子的承諾,雖然與狗狗比起來,貓咪是種很獨立的動物,不用每天都要帶出門散步,但是,貓咪依舊是需要你花時間照顧與陪伴的,因為你花時間在貓咪身上,貓咪同樣也把時間花在陪伴你身上。
7. 領養或是購買
基本上,領養貓咪應該是最好的方式,收容所裡有許多大大小小的貓咪,正在等待一個家,他們並不需要你額外的花費,你的一個選擇,就可以拯救一條生命,如果你真的只鍾情於特定品種的貓咪,也請選擇良心貓舍繁殖的貓咪,真正的「血統證明書」,是用來證明貓咪的父母、祖父母都很健康,沒有遺傳性疾病或是過敏體質,不是一種「名牌」的保證。
8. 可以忍受貓的破壞力嗎
貓與狗都是破壞狂,有的愛咬塑膠袋、有的愛咬紙、有的愛咬椅子,有的愛咬床墊,總之傢具與文件可以用體無完膚來說明,很多重要資料常常這樣被毀於一旦,如果要養貓務必把東西收好,如果沒收好就請在災難發生以後,學會寬容以對。
9. 可以忍受貓的脾氣嗎
養貓以後,你得勤勞一點,每隻貓的個性不同,也許你會養到一隻乖巧的貓,但也有可能是頑皮的貓,貓與狗的個性不同,比較難教導,並不是不聰明,而是他們有自己的態度且不希望被馴服,如果你想試著命令他們作什麼,有時候反而適得其反。

所以,在決定養貓之前,請仔細地逐項自我檢視,確定自己是適合養貓的,因為,飼養寵物不是兒戲,而是對一條生命負責,養了他,就不能遺棄他。

原文網址:【寵物百科家族】

你考慮清楚了嗎?真的要把我接回家嗎?這可是一生的承諾唷~

2012年6月1日 星期五

【視頻類】如何DIY貓公寓?(英語)

【貓貓資料分類】 >> 【視頻資料類】


此視頻取自YouTube,如被刪除,敬請見諒

Original Website:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9WNam-L2tI&feature=relmfu

:不錯唷,這樣可以幫媽咪節省不少錢呢~~~

2012年5月31日 星期四

【英文類】Cats do not spread brain tumours (News)


【貓貓資料分類】 >> 【英文資料類】

As anyone who has lost a loved one to a brain tumour knows, the disease can be devastating.

So headlines claiming that cats may be responsible for brain tumours – based on limited and tentative evidence – are not only misleading but also deeply insensitive to patients and their families.



Despite recent advances in treating brain tumours, we’re still largely in the dark about the causes of these cancers. This is partly because brain tumours are relatively rare, so studying their causes is much harder than for more common cancers, such as lung, bowel or breast.

Investigating the cause of a disease often involves delving into large sets of data and look for patterns. Sometimes these patterns turn out to be the cause itself – such as the well-knownlink between smoking and lung cancer. Other times it’s something else – a relationship between two things that simply hints at an underlying cause, such as the link between the age a woman starts her periods and her risk of breast cancer (which is probably related to overall levels of hormones over her lifetime).

Either way, finding a link is just the first step on a long road: a promising clue, which may – or may not – yield further clues on further investigation. History is littered with examples of ideas that don’t hold up once further evidence is gathered. But this doesn’t mean doing this research is pointless – rather, that’s exactly how science works.

It was looking for these sorts of patterns – these ghostly signals of causation or correlation – that led a team of French scientists to investigate links between rates of a common infection, Toxoplasma gondii – which is spread by eating infected meat or by handling cat faeces and rates of brain tumours.

Publishing their latest results in the Royal Society’s journal, BiologyLetters, they found that countries that reported higher brain tumour rates also tended to have higher rates of T. gondii infections.

This is an intriguing morsel of evidence. But it certainly doesn’t mean, as many newspapers have unfortunately stated, that ‘catsmay be spreading brain cancer to their owners’, nor that infected cats ‘couldalmost double their owner’s chance of developing brain cancer’.

So what’s the real story behind the headlines? And should cat lovers be concerned?

What do we know about brain tumours?
There are many different types of brain tumour, often with long, tongue-twisting names like astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, or primitive neuroectodermal tumours.

With all these different forms, it’s impossible to assign one over-arching cause to ‘brain cancer’, and its likely that they’re triggered by different things. But there are a few things we do know – increasing age, certain inherited gene faults, and increased exposure to X-rays can all increase the risk.

There’s also some evidence to suggest that people with weak immune systems are more likely to develop brain tumours. This is important and we’ll come back to it in a minute.

As well as these definite risks, there have also been a number of long-running, high-profile controversies over other causes of brain cancer; most notably mobile phones, but the spotlight has also shone on hairdyes, cured meats, and power lines. None of these has been conclusively proven, and they’re unlikely to play a significant role in the disease.

And finally, there have been hints of a link between certain brain cancers and infections.  Several studies have found a link between glioblastoma multiforme and a common virus called cytomegalovirus , but others have found no link.

So what about this cat parasite?
Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic infection that reproduces in cats, but can infect other mammals, including humans, causing a condition called toxoplasmosis. According to the NHS website:
Up to half of the UK population will have a toxoplasmosis infection at some point in their lives. Once infected, a person is then immune from further infection for life.
Toxoplasmosis can cause mild flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature and muscle aches, but these will usually pass without treatment after a few weeks.

The NHS link above is well worth a read for more info about the parasite and the disease it causes.

What about the new research?
Our former colleague Ed Yong has written an excellent and comprehensive article about the new research on his blog, Not Exactly Rocket Science. As he explains:
[The researchers] compared national figures from 37 countries and found that brain cancers are more common in countries where T.gondii infections are more common. Brain cancer was 1.8 times more common in countries where T.gondiiwas most common, than in those where it was virtually absent.
However, these countries also differ in other important ways. Wealthier countries have more sophisticated technology that is better able to detect brain cancer, as well as more accurate cancer registries. To account for that, [the researchers] adjusted their results for national wealth, along with latitude (T.gondii is more common in the tropics), and cell phone use (which has been spuriously linked to brain cancer). None of these adjustments changed the link between T.gondiiinfections and brain cancer rates.

But, as Ed goes on to point out, the big problem with drawing conclusions from this is that the study is an ‘ecological’ study, “one of the weakest designs in the hierarchy of medical research”, and says nothing about the risks of individual people living in the countries examined in the study.

So why did they find a link?
One obvious thing to say is that it’s equally plausible that brain tumours cause an increase in T. gondii infections – i.e. the exact opposite of what the media reported.

As we said above, brain tumours are more common in people with weakened immune systems. These people could just be more susceptible to parasitic infections, which would neatly explain the link.

It’s also possible that, as with reproductive history and breast cancer, the infection is a ‘marker’ for something else. After all, millions of people in the UK have been infected with T. gondii, yet fewer than 5,000 people each year develop a brain tumour. Even if the link stands up to future research there would have to be another factor at play – possibly genetics, or maybe another infection.

A word about the headlines
As we’ve seen, this is a preliminary expedition into the relatively uncharted territory of brain tumour risk. Understanding what causes this varied set of cancers is a problem that needs urgent attention, but because of the complexities of the cancers – and their relative rarity – progress is slow and painstaking.

This research paper builds on previous studies, but is categorically not a definite link by any means. But reading many of the news reports, you would be forgiven for thinking the science was more certain than it is.

For example, the media’s claim that infected cats ‘could almost double the risk’ of brain tumours is plain wrong. The ‘doubling’ (actually a 1.8-fold increase) refers to the difference between nations, not between people with and without cats.

But more importantly, pointing the finger at the family pet over something as heart-wrenching as a brain tumour, in our view, fundamentally misrepresents the state of the evidence, and does a grave disservice to people worried about why they or their loved ones have the disease.

For the record, here’s the statement we issued to one media outlet (at their request) last night, but which didn’t even make the “19th paragraph”.
“As the researchers admit themselves, this study does not prove a link between T. gondii infection and brain cancer – it merely highlights a statistical link that requires further investigation. Cat lovers should not be at all alarmed by these findings.

The idea of ‘cancer-causing cats’ makes a great headline – but we question the decision to cover the story in this way, and fail to see how this helps cancer patients and their friends and relatives make sense of this terrible disease.

Reference:
Thomas, F., Lafferty, K., Brodeur, J., Elguero, E., Gauthier-Clerc, M., & Misse, D. (2011). Incidence of adult brain cancers is higher in countries where the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is common Biology Letters DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0588

2012年5月30日 星期三

【趣聞類】一樣的事,不一樣的角度想法(塗鴉)


【貓貓資料分類】 >> 【貓貓趣聞類】



A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, 
provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... 

They must be Gods! 

A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, 
provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... 

I must be a God!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

對狗而言,這叫"握手",但對我而言,這叫"扶著朕",懂了沒~~小李子...............(!!!!!)



2012年5月29日 星期二

【疾病篇】如何給貓貓餵藥?-Dr. Rod Winchester (視頻-英語)

【貓貓知識匯總】 >> 【貓之疾病篇】 >> 【貓生病時之處理】

此視頻取自YouTube,如被刪除,敬請見諒




My mom also gives pill to me like Dr. Rod Winchester does~  

2012年5月28日 星期一

【简体类】「唱盘猫抓板」大受欢迎(新闻)


【貓貓資料分類】 >> 【簡體資料類】 

2011年底英国网站SUCK UK 推出一款创意「DJ 唱盘猫抓板」,老唱盘造型、加上充满街头味的贴纸,圆板部分还真能像唱片一样转动,让猫咪上去「磨爪」时,就像DJ 在刮唱盘般可爱!日本一名人气部落客也买来给家里猫咪们玩,并发表开箱文,分享爱猫们当起DJ 的逗趣模样

日本养猫的人气部落客Kachimo,
买了爆红的「唱盘猫抓板」
给爱猫们试玩。(图/Kachimo)

猫咪「卡斯特拉」(カステラ) 
果真像个小DJ,
用爪子刮唱片。(图Kachimo) 


这款猫抓板在网络上发表后大受欢迎,目前也引进到日本。在当地的人气猫家族「年糕与长崎蛋糕」,也买了一组给家里的猫咪们玩,并写下「开箱文」跟大家分享。好奇的猫咪们果真伸出猫爪,像DJ 刮盘一样在上面小试身手;甚至还有只大猫直接站到唱盘上,非常逗趣。
让我们欢迎「猫DJ ──Hijiki (ひじき)」
(图/Kachimo)   
大猫「羊羹」也来小试牛刀。
(图Kachimo)  

最后干脆整只猫站上去!(图/Kachimo)
「DJ 唱盘猫抓板」原要价15英镑 (约新台币700元),到了日本却要卖¥3,680 日圆 (约新台币1400元),整整贵了2倍!

不过根据动物行为专家戴更基医师在过去讲座中分享,猫抓板的纹路最好是「直条纹」,比较符合猫咪磨爪的需求。一般坊间往往都卖横条纹的猫抓板,其实并不是非常符合「猫爪功学」。因此这项老唱盘造型的产品,其实是趣味性大过于实用性,猫奴们要是喜欢又有多余的预算,想看一看家里宝贝变成DJ 的模样也无伤大雅!

原文网址: 「唱盘猫抓板」大受欢迎 日本人气猫家族变DJ! | ETtoday宠物动物新闻 | ETtoday 新闻云 

妈咪,我也想玩这个耶,折合港币都不到200元,买给我玩玩吧!妈咪,我最爱你了~~~喵噢~~~

2012年5月27日 星期日

【新聞類】「多趾貓」有26根腳趾頭


【貓貓資料分類】 >> 【新聞資料類】

一般貓咪有18根腳趾,而美國這隻名叫「Daniel」 (丹尼爾) 的貓咪,竟然多達26根趾頭!目前牠是一間動物救援中心的宣傳大使,因為該中心被迫遷移,需要一筆龐大的建設費用,負責人急中生智,以「多趾貓」丹尼爾號召「每人捐贈26美元」,來幫助重建。

有26根趾頭的貓咪丹尼爾
(圖/Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center)
這間位在美國德莫尼(Des Moines, Iowa) 的「蜜兒瓦奇動物救援中心」(Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center)裡,有一隻差點被安樂死的「多趾貓」丹尼爾。
正常情形下,貓咪前腳各有5根趾頭,後腳各4趾,加起來一共也不過18趾;不過丹尼爾卻多達26趾!收容中心的負責人艾咪羅薇(Amy Rowell) 當初救牠時,也非常驚訝。


有這麼多趾頭
不知道玩起逗貓棒是不是更靈活?

(圖/MARC)
然而這隻特別的「多趾貓」,現在成為該中心「宣傳大使」。原因是它們的收容所房租大漲,艾咪羅薇和其他人深思熟慮之後,決定遷移,而且要建立一間屬於自己的收容救援中心,讓動物們有更穩定、更理想的空間,不再被迫搬家。艾咪羅薇表示,自己的組織反對安樂死,但要是無法順利搬遷,這些動物可能會被迫面臨這樣的下場;但她決心要全力以赴,絕對不讓這種事情發生。


她們已經找到新的地方,也希望提升設備,讓毛孩子們住得更舒服。不過頭期款就需要高達40000美元(約新台幣120萬元),要在2011年11月15日前交付。
艾咪羅薇急中生智,讓「26趾貓Daniel」出來當宣傳大使,號召「每個人捐款26美元」(約新台幣780元),也就是為Daniel每一個腳趾頭捐贈一元,盼望能在期限內達到第一波目標。

據外電報導,在媒體的助力下,截至2011年11月7日止已經順利募得$37,966.38 美元。艾咪羅薇感動地說「我們從一開始就知道Daniel 是一隻與眾不同的貓,現在更感謝牠成為我們的支柱,帶給大家非常多的鼓勵。」

「多趾貓」,現在成為該中心「宣傳大使」
(圖/MARC)

Daniel 的與眾不同
為救援中心帶來特別的力量
(圖/MARC)














原文網址:「多趾貓」有26根腳趾頭 比一般貓咪多8根! | ETtoday寵物動物新聞 | ETtoday 新聞雲


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