Blame the cat!

[Lilith]

Is it just me or do you guys think this is scaremongering?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06 ... d=webmail3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For a start the cat's owner didn't go blind, but did lose the sight of one eye (which I'm very sorry to hear about, naturally.)

Nowhere does it say that the cat scratched her before her health problems began.

Also there is no definite proof; the doctors 'deduced' (guessed, pounced on a handy theory?) that this owner's problems were down to the cat.

I heard of cat scratch fever decades ago but having been owned (and sometimes chewed and scratched) by a zillion cats for nearly 60 years, I must say I've never had it, and never heard of it happening to the zillion other catty people I encountered along the way.

Anything could have caused this woman's problems but - very easy to blame the cat!

GRRROWWWLLL!

[Crewella]

Yep, scaremongering ... as usual.

Even if it WAS the cat, what are the chances of it happening? There are all sorts of dangers lurking out there that we all manage to survive every day ... this is just one of the many!

Just to note, we all know that animal bites and scratches can cause problems, and I'm careful to wash my hands, treat any scratches or bites and make sure I am covered for tetanus ..... beyond that I don't see what else people can do ..... short of living in a sterilised bubble!

[bobbys girl]

Horse Feathers!

Apart from the blindness, most of those symptoms could be put down to the menopause! Are cats responsible for that too?

[Lilith]

Ain't that the truth, Crewella, - scares me though that the gullible and the kind of people who shudder at sharing their living space with animals (SO unhygienic! Ha - would animals want to live with THEM!) will take this on board - oh, cats can make you blind. Another urban myth...

Uh oh Bobbys girl...now you come to mention it, ten years ago I DID have the menopause!

You don't think...it was...the CATS???

[Mrs Kane]

Bah! I hate these kind of stories! They're right up their with... well... this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... kills.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thankyou Daily mail for reminding me why your crosswords are the best thing in your newspaper.

In my opinion it possibly could be a cat related thing, but even so it's obviously not common or every cat owner with a scratch would be walking around with a white stick or a guide dog.

Honestly unless it's proven proven proven (yes, that many provens) I find it hard to believe anything anymore. Companies buy columns to prove their product is good only to prove it's bad only to prove it's good again and yadda yadda. And scientists release studies to make money without proper testing and bananas are killing the world and..... egh. And cling film could be killing us too. Maybe. We just don't know. Don't believe me? Just google "cling film bad". It's an entertaining few days.

Okay, so I'm a white, 26 year old, with a cat, poor eyesight and slightly mature acne... And a cat. What are my chances internet?

"You'll die on Friday."

Oh goody.

I'm still keeping the cat, my contact lenses and my clean and clear gel. (Without beads because we're killing fish with skin beads) (Egh)

[bobbys girl]

It's not 'your cat' that's making 'your child' stupid, it's your child's Cxxp diet and too much time staring at a screen!

If 'your child' spent more time outdoors playing with the cat, it would solve a LOT of problems.

The media, Govt. and 'Big Pharma' want us all to werrit (good northern word) over daft things - it takes our mind off what's really important. My OH calls it 're-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic'!

[Lilith]

Lol Mrs Kane and Bobbys girl, those posts made me laugh - 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic' - ain't that the truth!

As for the Daily Mail...well. I read the thing about how female cat owners are more likely to kill themselves because of the deadly lurgy that gets into their brain after 'handling cat faeces'...

Yeah right. We pick the stuff out of the trays with our bare hands...

Haven't these journalists heard of scoops and modern wormers?

What a load of well, faeces!

A couple of friends read this paper and then donate it to my snakes for their litter. The snakes love the Daily Mail - but not for reading purposes I'm afraid. Snake mess looks like a cross between giant bird droppings and cat diarrohea and smells like ripe sewage - oh apart from the royal python 'log' which only occurs about every two months, accompanied by solid wee (which looks like mint imperials) and a lot of liquid wee as well, which smells quite...well I couldn't describe it in polite terms...the Daily Mail is a lovely big thick paper and the only thing I've found to be capable of soaking up...oops sorry, back to faeces again, but frankly it's the best use I can think of for it...

Now THERE'S a missed opportunity for the media! Newspapers soaked in deadly snake (snakes are always 'deadly') faeces are infiltrating the landfills of a small Yorkshire town and emitting virulent fumes...are your children safe? Will Granny die of tularemia?? Shock horror probe!!!

Apologies to Daily Mail readers by the way

[bobbys girl]

I read the Mail (among others) and I agree! It does like to foam at the mouth about things - almost as much as 'Auntie' Beeb. Get a life people!

[Crewella]

Whenever I read pieces like that I just assume it's a slow day on the news desk!

[Mrs Kane]

A couple of friends read this paper and then donate it to my snakes for their litter.

Bet your snakes loooooove the weekend mail supplements Lilith!

As for the Daily Mail...well. I read the thing about how female cat owners are more likely to kill themselves because of the deadly lurgy that gets into their brain after 'handling cat faeces'...

Yeah right. We pick the stuff out of the trays with our bare hands...

Haven't these journalists heard of scoops and modern wormers?

What a load of well, faeces!

Don't you know that's the way of the woman?! We know nothing, just like Jon Snow. I'm amazed we've lasted this long

[Lilith]

I'm certain journalists/media people come from another planet - they can whip up a frenzy out of nothing...trouble is, people do believe them. I've known people who've had their cats pts because they (the owners) were pregnant

Lol, the snakes do love their 'Mail'. They almost always need cleaning out when I'm just settling down for the night, so I never notice what I've given them to 'read' until later. One of my royal pythons ended up with the headline - 'JUNGLE VIP', and another got a headline right underneath his heat lamp that said, simply - 'BASKING!'

Tonight was no exception; my 'ghost' corn snake (Spooky) required chambermaid service and as always had to inspect what I was doing: 'I did that, Lil! Isn't this fun, Lil?' Lolloping all over the place while I'm trying to clean up and disinfect. That snake is disgusting. I once saw her making a mess - curled round on herself and watching the process with great interest. Admiring her handiwork, you might say - or should that be tailiwork?

At least cats go into the tray, perform decently, cover it (well sometimes) and leave us to 'handle' the result...

[Mrs Kane]

I admit, as much as I love animals I can't quite get over snakes with their toilet habits. I owned rabbits for 14 years and got over the whole "eating poop is good" thing but I can't quite get over snake mess after babysitting a friends green snake. (Don't ask me what breed it was, all I know is her tarantula was much more friendly.(It was soo cute and fluffy!))

[Lilith]

I admit, as much as I love animals I can't quite get over snakes with their toilet habits. I owned rabbits for 14 years and got over the whole "eating poop is good" thing but I can't quite get over snake mess after babysitting a friends green snake. (Don't ask me what breed it was, all I know is her tarantula was much more friendly.(It was soo cute and fluffy!))

Ah rabbits are quite discreet about that re-digestion thing but snakes are just shameless! The green snake sounds cool, wonder what it was. If you had to feed it on insects it was probably a rough green snake - they're beautiful. Or if it just hung on a perch, all coiled up, it would have been a green tree python - stunning snake!

Ohh tarantulas - now if I had a house where I could keep a separate room for them, I would fancy a tarantula or three, but with inquisitive cats everywhere...no. If any disaster happened to cause the cats and spider to meet...oh no. Apparently most tarantulas, if they feel threatened, shoot the hair out of their backsides like miniature darts and it stings and irritates like hell - plus the spiders I fancy are the 'advanced' sort like cobalts and the orange baboon tarantula - OBT aka orange bitey thing lol.

I wanted to post a link on here but my computer's sulking, but it's of a green tree python - traumatic but funny (the snake enjoys itself lol!) Put it this way the owner doesn't use tongs when feeding...BIIIG mistake! If you've an idle moment, just google 'How not to feed a green tree python'

[bobbys girl]

I owned rabbits for 14 years and got over the whole "eating poop is good" thing

I had a dog who would ear rabbit poo! This is the same dog who came bilbery picking with us. She was a Lurcher - need I say more.

[Lilith]

Lol Bobbys girl, I've never owned a lurcher but all the dogs I've known have enjoyed a snack of bunny currants, and my Alsatian used to browse on blackberries. She was pretty disgusting in the house though; it was yonks ago, before I'd ever heard of hooded trays, and if I didn't beat her to it with the scoop she'd...errm, yes...my ex used to call it 'Alsatian's chewing gum'...

Lovely. What you might call a case of faecal attraction

Ah, ps, glad you've got your OH back home and best wishes for his full recovery - read about him on Greebo's fred

[Crewella]

I'm still slightly poo-watching here in case Pugwash resumes the revolting poo-eating habits he arrived with, but thankfully his palate seems to have refined since he started getting the right diet.

"faecal attraction"

[nannymcfee]

I could put my illness down to the cats, but as i have not felt 'right' since i was 17 , all the blame lies with my other half ! ( lack of money//hair turning grey/lack of teeth//hair falling out/ expanding waistline/depression/miserable.. and thats just him !

[bobbys girl]

I could put my illness down to the cats, but as i have not felt 'right' since i was 17 , all the blame lies with my other half ! ( lack of money//hair turning grey/lack of teeth//hair falling out/ expanding waistline/depression/miserable.. and thats just him !

Same here.

[Lilith]

Oh I'm glad Puggy's got out of that habit - can't imagine a cat doing that but when they're starving I imagine they'll try to eat anything that seems remotely like food, poor Puggy.

I once heard of a snake doing it too - it was captive and regularly fed so don't know why it did it...yuk.

Lol Nannymcfee and Bobbys girl - I bet you love them really!

Talking of relationships, doesn't say in that article whether that woman who lost the sight of an eye kept her cat. Do hope she did. Don't suppose we'll ever know but it's worrying. Some doctors will say anything just to appear all-wise