On Cats

[Andy Hayter]

10 hours ago, Hobby said:

On that basis if a kitten is given milk then it, too, won't be lactose intolerant? I have to admit that we've had several cats that loved milk and suffered no ill effects, present one included. I always find it strange that this instruction not to give cats milk has suddenly appeared whereas many old films show cats being given milk. I wonder if it's somehow linked with the seeming increase in more humans having food allergies, perhaps modern diets and additives have more to answer for than we realise.

 

I think the change in view is based on modern bio-chemistry.  If you search on lactose intolerance in mammals you will get a lot of information - provided you can understand all of the -oses (sugars) and -ases ( enzymes to break down the -oses so the mammalian body can use it).  As to giving a kitten milk from early on - and you need to start pre-weaning - maybe it will work and maybe not.  There are plenty of humans raised on milk who have been found to be lactose intolerant.  Lactose tolerance in Humans looks to be very first world centric as well, suggesting the suppression of intolerance is a relatively new event.  

 

One of our cats that we got as a kitten had been rescued and fed for several weeks on goats cheese* before we got him.  He still eats indeed demands cheese of all types with no ill effects.  Not so with others we have rescued.

 

When I was an ankle biter, if you had hedgehogs in the garden you put a saucer of milk and bread out for them.  Absolute no-no today.

 

* There is a belief that goats cheese is good for the lactose intolerant but it contains about 80% of the lactose of cows milk cheese so is far from lactose free.

[Classsix T]

1 hour ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

I think the change in view is based on modern bio-chemistry.  If you search on lactose intolerance in mammals you will get a lot of information - provided you can understand all of the -oses (sugars) and -ases ( enzymes to break down the -oses so the mammalian body can use it).  As to giving a kitten milk from early on - and you need to start pre-weaning - maybe it will work and maybe not.  There are plenty of humans raised on milk who have been found to be lactose intolerant.  Lactose tolerance in Humans looks to be very first world centric as well, suggesting the suppression of intolerance is a relatively new event.  

 

One of our cats that we got as a kitten had been rescued and fed for several weeks on goats cheese* before we got him.  He still eats indeed demands cheese of all types with no ill effects.  Not so with others we have rescued.

 

When I was an ankle biter, if you had hedgehogs in the garden you put a saucer of milk and bread out for them.  Absolute no-no today.

 

* There is a belief that goats cheese is good for the lactose intolerant but it contains about 80% of the lactose of cows milk cheese so is far from lactose free.

 

1 hour ago, Andy Hayter said:

When I was an ankle biter, if you had hedgehogs in the garden you put a saucer of milk and bread out for them.  Absolute no-no today.

As is feeding the ducks with bread, who knew!?

 

C6T.

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Andy Hayter said:

When I was an ankle biter, if you had hedgehogs in the garden you put a saucer of milk and bread out for them.  Absolute no-no today.

 

 

No, it's changed (to keep this on track, it's the hedgehog equivalent of "more than one way to skin a cat"!).....

 

 

[eastglosmog]

Result of a recent visit to Ireland, the Kilkenny Hurling Club mascot:

[Tim Dubya]

Cows milk is for calves and nobody else.

[Harlequin]

It's been a long day for Bruno, so he's having a long rest:

 

He brought me a vole and a blue-tit today. He lost the vole (thanks, cat!) but after he'd tossed the bird around for a while he ate it whole in front of me! Not very pleasant and it didn't stay down for long... Oh, what fun!

 

I took a parcel to the Post Office this afternoon and he was clearly intending to follow me the whole way. He wasn't worried at all by the dogs, people and cars on the road but I was worried for him. So I had to come back home and lock him in!

 

I don't think he would sit patiently outside the Post Office, tied to the railings on a lead like the local dogs. I imagine I'd come out to find a shredded end dangling loose and people cowering in doorways while a tornado of teeth and claws whirled around the square.

 

We're gradually getting used to each other - he only bites me in play now.

 

Edited February 2 by Harlequin

[BR60103]

Marco has been spending a lot of time lately looking under the fridge and another bookshelf. He's even skipped a few of his evening teats. This morning I woke up to a call that there was a dead mouse (or possibly a cat toy) at the bottom of the stairs.  It was a mouse -- quite cleanly killed -- which then went into the composting.

Marco has been behaving more normally today , sitting in my lap at the railway workbench.

A bit of looking under things tonight.

 

[Hobby]

10 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

Cows milk is for calves and nobody else.

 

Neither is soya meant to be made into milk, but people do... At least we humans have been drinking the cow stuff for thousands of years and it tastes nice! ;)

[Chris116]

11 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

Cows milk is for calves and nobody else.

Well for the past sixty years I have been enjoying at least two pints of milk a day and since I retired it is normally four or five pints that disappears. About a pint in coffee and the rest enjoyed cold.

[Captain Kernow]

11 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

Cows milk is for calves and nobody else.

That's right mate, it's local milk for local calves...

 

[Hobby]

And only sold in a local shop... ;)

[eastglosmog]

16 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

Cows milk is for calves and nobody else.

Well it certainly should not be used for making Yoghurt 🙂

[TT-Pete]

10 hours ago, Chris116 said:

About a pint in coffee

 

Crikey! Now that's what I call a latte...

 

[franciswilliamwebb]

1 hour ago, TT-Pete said:

 

Crikey! Now that's what I call a latte...

 

The mug must be big enough to hold a few Maine C00ns 😉

Edited February 2 by franciswilliamwebb
Battling against the wokechecker🙄

[Chris116]

10 minutes ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

The mug must be big enough to hold a few Maine 😉

The mug holds half a pint so two coffees during the morning is the first pint of milk of my day.

Edited February 2 by Chris116

[eastglosmog]

1 hour ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

The mug must be big enough to hold a few Maine C00ns 😉

No Way! Tilly wouldn't even fit into a quart mug and shes not a very big MaineCoon.  You would have needed a gallon one for Badger.

[Classsix T]

23 hours ago, Harlequin said:

It's been a long day for Bruno, so he's having a long rest:

I often call Mia 'tiger-cat' (though much if not all of her stripeyness has disappeared), Jette (all black) was 'panther-cat'. Your fella there has some real puma vibes going on!

 

C6T.

[Craigw]

Earlier in the GWR rolling stock sub forum there was an enquiry about Saints running with 4000 Gallon tenders. I pulled out a book to have a bit of a look. Not long after, the "help" arrived.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

[Sidecar Racer]

 

 

[Re6/6]

Ruby's favourite place!

[Tim Dubya]

17 minutes ago, Re6/6 said:

Ruby's favourite place!

 

Polecat 😜

[Cowley 47521]

4 hours ago, Re6/6 said:

Ruby's favourite place!

Mine does that too!

 

I also left the train room door open the other day and not for the first time one of the cats completely ignored the “Keep Out!” sign on the old baling machine…

[Il Grifone]

Ours seem to like knocking rolling stock onto the floor...

[Classsix T]

On 03/02/2024 at 08:37, Craigw said:

Earlier in the GWR rolling stock sub forum there was an enquiry about Saints running with 4000 Gallon tenders. I pulled out a book to have a bit of a look. Not long after, the "help" arrived.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

Obviously a fascinating read...I end up in much the same state when folks start extolling the alleged superiority of Swindon.

 

(Joking!) C6T.

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, Classsix T said:

Obviously a fascinating read...I end up in much the same state when folks start extolling the alleged superiority of Swindon.

 

(Joking!) C6T.

The same happens over here, too; for example when comparing say the Pennsylvania RR to the New York Central RR. Although I prefer the Pennsy, both had some decent power back in the steam era.  One sample tidbit: PRR had more H-class 2-8-0s (over 3000) than than a lot of railroads hadtotal  locomotives.